Page 207 of Ruthless Knot

The Omegas around me are staring.

Not with the usual hostility—this is something different. Something that looks almost like... awe? Or maybe confusion. Like they can't quite reconcile what they just witnessed with their assumptions about who I am.

Protecting her, one of them whispers, not quite quietly enough.They're actually protecting her.

The crazy bitch, another responds.Why would anyone?—

Doesn't matter why, a third voice cuts in.Did you see what happened to Marcus? He's still on the ground.

This is so unfair, someone else complains.She doesn't deserve?—

I stop listening.

The words don't matter.

What matters is the warmth still lingering on my cheek where Jett touched me. The way my heart is racing. The unfamiliar sensation of being defended, being valued, beingclaimedin a way that's protective rather than possessive.

"Heart rate abnormally elevated."

Ro's voice cuts through my thoughts, clinical and matter-of-fact.

The announcement isloud.

Loud enough that several nearby Omegas hear it, their expressions shifting from confusion to something that looks almost like vindication.

See? She's affected. She's not as cold as she pretends.

I feel heat rise to my cheeks.

Blushing.

Actually blushing, like some romance novel heroine instead of a killer with a body count.

But instead of embarrassment, what I feel is... amusement.

A smirk curves my lips as I look across the gymnasium, finding my pack.

My pack.

They're standing together near the Alpha section—four men who should be my enemies but somehow aren't. Four Alphas who just demonstrated, publicly and violently, that messing with me has consequences.

Sage catches my eye and winks.

Blaze grins, sharp and satisfied.

Jett nods once, barely perceptible.

And Kai—Kai is watching me with an expression I can't quite read. Something calculating, maybe. Or something closer to approval.

They protected me.

Without hesitation.

Without being asked.

Without expecting anything in return.

The realization settles into my chest like a weight.