Page 104 of Knot Gonna Lie

Wood, plaster, stone—shattered under Luca’s force. He filled the threshold, wild and beautiful, icy blue eyes feral with promise of blood. Seth stalked at his side, one hand carrying his medical kit, the other curled around a shockstik. Jaxom anchored the doorway, steady as carved granite, his scent a storm waiting to fall.

Pack,my body screamed.

Zeke raised both hands in deliberate calm, voice still smooth, never wavering even as my clan advanced upon him.

“Gentlemen,” he said, amber eyes gleaming. “Shall we discuss business?”

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

ELARA

Zeke's gammas scattered like leaves before a storm within the compound. Smart. They recognized death walking among them, understood that no training could prepare them for alphas gone feral over a stolen omega. Violence sang through my veins, each heartbeat a war drum demanding blood for the offense committed against what was mine.

"Where is she?" The demand ripped from me, primal and sharp.

A gamma pointed toward the central tower with a trembling hand before collapsing under Eli’s strike. The bond pulsed, fragile but alive, Elara’s fear and exhaustion threading through with a single unshakable truth.

She knew we were coming.

The elevator ride stretched eternal. Eli’s scent—winter pine and barely leashed fury—clashed with my own until the space stank of violence. Seth checked his kit again, pointless repetition that steadied his hands. Jaxom flexed his hands, each crack of knuckles a countdown.

Each floor we passed felt like another moment stolen from me.

The doors slid open.

The ornate double doors loomed at the end of the hall. Locked. Reinforced. Behind them, her scent bled through—vanilla thickened with fear and the shimmering fury. She was fuming—her anger matched my own through our bond, projecting to her pack.

She was calling to us…

I slammed my fist against the wood. Pain bloomed across my knuckles, nothing more.

“Move.” Tobias shouldered forward, pulling a device from his backpack.

“You brought explosives?” Seth’s voice pitched sharp with disbelief.

“Always do.” Tobias pressed the charge to the lock. “Thirty seconds. Back up.”

We cleared the hall. The detonation cracked like a thunderclap, precise and contained. The doors sagged inward, hinges twisted.

The scene beyond stopped my breath.

Elara stood beside a luxury bed that dominated the opulent room, silk robe clinging to her trembling form. But it was Alpha Zeke who drew my focus—standing beside her with his arms clasped behind his back, a wild grin stretching across his face like he'd been expecting this exact moment. Amber eyes held that particular combination of power and loneliness that marked alphas who'd lived too long without their match—on the edge of sanity—but now they blazed with something else. Satisfaction.

"Such passion." His voice held amusement rather than concern. As if we'd played directly into his hands. "Though I expected nothing less from the alpha who stole his brother's identity for love. Explosives, Luca? How delightfully primitive."

“Let them go.” My command came raw. “My omega. My betas. Now.”

Eli’s snarl could have stripped paint. “You touched what wasn’t yours.”

“I borrowed what you weren’t protecting.” Zeke's grin widened as he stepped away from Elara, gesturing grandly around the room. “They’re unharmed. I’ll have my medics prove it—”

"I’ll examine them." Seth stepped forward, medical authority radiating from his smaller frame. "No one else touches my clan."

Zeke’s expression shifted—surprise, even respect. “As you wish. Then let’s talk like men, not the animals the matrons want us to be.”

Three strides and she was in my arms. Elara collapsed against me, sob shaking through her chest. The bond surged—reunion, relief, need.

Her skin burned elevated, not yet fever-hot. We had time… but she should be in the safety of her nest, surrounded by her pack, living amongst her clan, waiting for her appending heat. Not here.