Page 75 of Knotted By my Pack

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I ask, stepping fully inside. The door slams behind me, and the sound echoes.

Julian lifts a brow lazily, like I’m an inconvenience. “Let me guess. She ran to you. How noble.”

I move closer. “She’s outside crying. Again. Because of you.”

“And?” He grabs a glass from the counter and pours whiskey like I haven’t just walked in ready to rip him apart. “You want me to be sorry? You’re not her keeper, Noah.”

“No,” I say, “but someone needs to call you out for being a goddamn coward.”

He chuckles. Low. Mean. “You think this is about courage?”

I step closer, the space between us shrinking. “You fucked her, treated her like she mattered for five minutes, and tossed her the second things got complicated. She came here to apologize. She came here with dinner.”

Julian leans against the counter like this is a casual conversation. “I never asked her to.”

“You didn’t have to,” I say. “You knew exactly what she was doing. And you let her come anyway, just so you could cut her down.”

He sips the whiskey, eyes narrowed. “You think she’s some innocent little flower? That girl’s a mess.”

My fist connects with his jaw before I even register the swing.

He stumbles back, glass crashing to the floor, shattering across tile. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and laughs, blood smeared across his lip.

“There it is,” he says, voice sharp. “There’s that fucking Beta rage.”

I don’t move. My hands are clenched. Every muscle in my body is ready to drag him through his own goddamn house.

“You’ve been in love with her for years,” he spits. “But you just sat there. Watching. Waiting. Letting every other Alpha sniff around while you stayed quiet like a good little lapdog.”

“Don’t,” I warn.

He grins. “But now it’s different, isn’t it? Now that someone else touched her. Now you’re angry. Jealous. Thinking maybe if you had the balls back then, it would’ve been you first. Only you.”

I move again, grab him by the collar, and slam him against the wall hard enough for the drywall to groan.

“You don’t get to talk about her like that,” I hiss. “You don’t get to mock her, use her, throw her out, and then make jokes about it.”

“She came to me, Noah,” he says through clenched teeth. “Don’t forget that.”

I release him, shoving him hard. He stumbles but stays upright.

“You think you’re untouchable,” I say. “Like none of this matters. Like hurting her is just another fucking Tuesday for you.”

Julian rolls his jaw, blood still on his lip. “If she’s so fragile, maybe she shouldn’t be playing with Alphas.”

“You’re not an Alpha. You’re a coward who hides behind his title and money and ruins everything decent that gets near him.”

He moves toward me again, but I don’t flinch.

“You think you’re the better man?” he says. “She’ll always pick the ones who ruin her. That’s who she is.”

“No,” I say, voice sharp, cold. “That’s who you made her think she has to be.”

He freezes, something flickering behind his eyes.

“Stay the fuck away from her, Julian,” I say. “This thing with the hotel, whatever game you’re playing, leave her out of it. She doesn’t owe you anything. And you sure as hell don’t deserve another second of her time.”

He doesn’t answer. Doesn’t try to stop me.