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“The one and fucking only.” Knox takes a threatening step forward. “Can you take a guess as to who I am?”

“K-Knox Hastings?” he stammers over the name, swallowing hard. He’s sweating under our perusal, turning a sickly shade of gray.

“That’s right.” Knox takes another step forward. “So, I’m going to ask you a question, and you’re going to answer it.”

“O-Okay?”

“That omega you were with … tell me again what you were going to do to her.”

“I-I swear. I wasn’t g-going to do anything,” he replies, shrinking under Knox’s fiery gaze.

Knox turns to look at us, asking, “Did he not say he was going to fuck and knot … what was it now … that bitch?”

There is a peculiar fragility to the alpha now, stripped of bravado beneath our collective, unyielding gaze.

The swagger that once buoyed his stance drains away, leaving him rooted to the spot, shoulders hunched as if trying to vanish into his own shadow.

His face, once ruddy with confidence, has faded to an ashen pallor, beads of sweat gathering on his brow and trailing down his temples in thin, nervous streams. Hands that might have curled into fists hang uselessly at his sides, twitching with the urge to flee.

Yet, he can’t go anywhere. Tripp and I are stationed at the door, blocking his exit.

To leave here, he’s going to have to fight his way out.

I refuse to allow this pathetic excuse for an alpha out of this room without some bruises.

Maybe a busted lip. He’s going to feel our presence like sludge encompassing his body.

The alpha flicks his eyes between all of us again, noting the hostility in our gazes. “She’s yours, isn’t she?”

“Oh, now he’s getting it,” Knox deadpans, his smile anything but friendly.

Knox moves with a silent purpose, closing the gap between them in a single, measured stride. He straightens, rising to his full, imposing height—a looming figure whose shadow swallows the trembling alpha whole. The difference between them is suddenly, painfully evident:

Knox towers overhead, broad shoulders squared and jaw set, the very air seeming to compress and thicken beneath the weight of his presence.

The alpha shrinks back instinctively, eyes widening as he realizes just how small he appears under Knox’s unyielding scrutiny.

In this moment, Knox is a wall, an unmovable force, and the threat in his posture speaks louder than any words ever could.

“I swear, I didn’t know she was yours,” he says, trying to take a step back. Knox follows. “She didn’t act like she was mated. I didn’t see any marks.”

“You can still smell me on her!” Tripp’s voice booms as he takes a step forward. It’s my turn to hold him back, violence practically rippling across his skin.

The alpha shrinks under his gaze. Tripp is full of menacing promises of retribution.

Tripp is not the one to trifle with. He’s all action and no words. He’s the one who should be feared the most. He doesn’t care about his image or maintaining his reputation. He cares about taking care of what’s his and protecting that with a viciousness that rivals all.

Knox steeples his hands in front of him. “You’re going to go back out there. You’re going to apologize to our omega for being a cunt of an alpha. You will tell her what your plans for her were, and then you will disappear.”

“Why can’t I just disappear now?” he asks.

“Where would the fun in that be? She is an innocent omega. She doesn’t realize what can happen to her. She needs to know that not every person out there has her best interests at heart.”

He takes a step to the side, trying to get past Knox. When he does, Knox shoots an arm out, slapping his hand against the man’s chest. “On second thought …”

Knox explodes into a fury of movements.

Knox moves with the lethal certainty of a storm breaking over a fragile shore.

One moment, the air is bristling with the tension of unshed violence; the next, Knox is a blur—a brutal convergence of muscle and will.

His fist connects with the alpha’s solar plexus, folding him in half with a guttural wheeze.

Before the alpha can recover, Knox seizes him by the collar and slams him against the nearest wall, the impact echoing like thunder through the room.

Knox rears back, punching the alpha in the face once, twice, and a third time.

His aim is precise. He bloodies the alpha’s nose, and I hear a telltale crunch of the alpha’s nose breaking under the impact.

The alpha yells, cradling his face in his hands.

Knox pulls him up by the collar of his shirt, slamming him back into the wall.

He gets up into his face, his nose barely an inch away from the alpha’s face.

“Leave what doesn’t belong to you alone. Next time, ask about their mating status before you put your hands on someone. You’re getting off easily this time. Next time, you may not be so lucky.”

“You broke my nose!” he cries out, bending in half. “Fuck!”

Knox leans down close to him, whispering in his ear. “Be glad I didn’t end your life. Now go!”

The alpha staggers upright, blood streaming from his ruined nose, eyes wide and wild with shock.

He clutches his face and shoulders past Knox, desperation overtaking bravado.

He nearly trips over his own feet as he makes for the door, barely glancing at Tripp or me—just a blur of panic and humiliation.

He squeezes through the narrow space between us, breath ragged, the sharp tang of adrenaline hanging in his wake.

I unlock the door for him. With the door banging open behind him, he vanishes down the hall, leaving only the echo of hurried footsteps and the bitter scent of fear.

Knox straightens his cufflinks, a sense of a job well done. We file out of the bathroom …

And come face-to-face with a seething omega.