Page 153 of Knotted By my Pack

“I’m sorry, but I have a crew that depends on this to feed their families. It can’t be about what I think is right or wrong. Your father and brother are paying a lot of money for this project to be fast-tracked.”

“You don’t have to do this, man,” I tell him. “His legacy is rot.”

A voice cuts through from behind me. Cold. Clipped.

“Then maybe you should have told him that when you were doing his bidding all over the world. This town is the same as all the others we’ve worked in. You don’t get to have a moral high ground now, brother.”

Damien steps out from the side of the building like he’s been waiting. Dressed in tailored slacks, sleeves rolled, gun visible at his hip. His face is unreadable, too calm for the storm in his voice.

“You’re early,” I say.

“I always am. Unlike you. You’re late to everything. Especially the truth.”

He walks forward, stops a few feet from me.

“You want to sabotage this now?” he says. “When the permits are signed and the investors are watching?”

“This was never meant to be built.”

“You designed it for this town. To bring in revenue. Jobs. Tourism. You think I like this? Living in this backwater slum?” He shoves a hand through his hair. “But I do it because someone has to.”

“You’re doing it for him,” I say. “Not for us. And sure as hell not for me.”

“You think walking away made you better?” His voice is louder now. “You ran. You always ran. I stayed. I made the calls. I cleaned the messes. I built something from the ashes you left behind.”

“It’s not real,” I snap. “It’s fake—just steel and blood money.”

He takes a step closer, mouth twisted. “I keep the family name alive. You want to torch everything now? Go ahead. Set fire to it all.”

I glance toward the building, then back at him. “You think I won’t?”

“I know you will,” he says, almost laughing. “That’s why I brought this.”

He draws the gun.

Not slow. Not theatrical. Just precise.

“Put it away,” I say, body tensing.

“Not until you back down.”

Beckett takes a step away, raising both hands. “Hey. Let’s all calm the hell down.”

“You want to burn it?” Damien says, ignoring him. “Try me.”

“You honestly think you can get away with this?”

The moment the question is out, it dawns on me that this is probably not the first time my brother has done something like this.

A blur of motion flashes in the corner of my vision. Elias sprints across the dock, followed by Noah and Cora. Her feet barely touch the ground. Elias stops between us, breath ragged. What the hell are they doing here?

“Enough,” he snarls.

Damien’s eyes shift. The way he looks at Elias is different. Wary. This is the first time they’ve been this close since everything fell apart. Since Damien marked Elias’s mate.

“You have no idea what you’re doing,” Elias says. “Drop the gun.”

“This doesn’t concern you.”