50. Finn
Chapter 50
Finn
E very inch of my body aches, but it’s the uncertainty churning in my gut that’s really killing me. Stone is deliberately avoiding my eyes, and the way he deflected my questions about the blood tests has my anxiety spiking. I can feel Hailey’s fingers threaded through mine, her thumb stroking small circles against my skin. It helps, but barely.
Jax’s footsteps on the stairs seem to echo in my head. He always moves so quietly for an alpha his size, but right now, each step feels weighted with whatever news they’re about to share. I try to sit up straighter against the headboard, but my ribs protest and I can’t quite suppress a wince.
The door opens, and Jax slips inside. Even with everything else going on, my breath still catches at the sight of him. He’s changed into fresh clothes, his hair still damp from the shower, but there are shadows under his eyes that speak of more than just physical exhaustion. He meets Stone’s gaze across the bed, and something passes between them that makes my heart rate kick up another notch.
“Okay,” I say, trying to keep the tremor out of my voice. “Everyone’s here now. What’s going on?” Well, everyone except for Ren. My throat tightens and I try not to think about that. Seeing him earlier had made some part of me yearn like it never had in a long time. Him not being here…I miss him.
Fuck. I’m so fucking confused.
The scent marking, the feel of them and Hailey. I’d been so convinced leaving was the best thing I could do for myself. Now I don’t know.
The mattress dips as Jax settles behind me, and despite my determination to get answers, I can’t help but lean back into his solid warmth. His hand finds the nape of my neck, thumb brushing that spot behind my ear that always makes me melt. It’s a dirty trick, and by the knowing rumble in his chest, he knows it.
“Stop trying to distract me,” I manage, though it comes out embarrassingly breathy. “What tests was Dr. Greene talking about?”
His fingers still for a moment, and I feel him draw in a deep breath. The silence stretches, making my stomach twist. Stone’s still stroking Hailey’s hair, but there’s tension in his shoulders that wasn’t there before. Whatever this is, it’s big.
“It’s about you and Hailey,” Stone finally says, and my hand tightens around hers instinctively. She squeezes back, and I catch a hint of her scent—honey and that sweet vanilla that’s made me feel safe right from the start. Right now, though, it’s tinged with the same anxiety I’m feeling.
“What about us?” I hate how small my voice sounds. The adrenaline from earlier has completely drained away, leaving me feeling raw and exposed. Every bruise and scrape seems to throb in time with my heartbeat, a constant reminder of how close we came to losing everything tonight.
“Nothing bad,” Jax murmurs, his breath warm against my ear. “I promise, sweetheart.”
But promises aren’t answers, and right now, I need answers. The memory of Dr. Greene’s knowing smile, that cryptic congratulations, makes something flutter in my chest. “Then why won’t you just tell me?”
Stone shifts, careful not to jostle his injured arm. In the dim light of the bedroom, the fresh bandage seems startlingly white against his skin. Another reminder of tonight’s violence. More evidence of how we could have lost it all. And more evidence I’m nothing like a usual omega. That thing I did at the mall, attacking that alpha, paled in comparison to tonight. I don’t remember thinking with that baseball bat. Only swinging. I wonder if it all has something to do with the tests I didn’t know Dr. Greene was doing.
“Hey.” Jax’s grip tightens slightly on my neck, pulling me back from that dark thought. “I can smell where your mind’s going. Stop it.”
“But—”
“No.” His voice is firm, alpha-firm, but gentle, too. “You protected your pack mate. You fought like a warrior.”
“With a baseball bat,” I mutter, but warmth spreads through my chest at his praise.
“And it was hot as fuck,” Stone adds unexpectedly, making me snort despite everything. Hailey lets out a small laugh, and her eyes meet mine. For a moment, I’m caught in them. There’s something there, something that’s always been there, if I’m honest with myself. A pull, a recognition, a sense of rightness I’ve never been able to explain.
The air feels different suddenly, charged with something I can’t name. Stone’s watching us with an intensity that makes my skin prickle, and I can feel Jax’s heartbeat quicken against my back.
“The tests,” I say again, forcing myself to look away from Hailey. “Please. Just tell me.”
Stone takes a breath, like he’s about to speak, but Jax cuts in. “We noticed something. About the way you two are together.”
I try not to breathe too shallow. “What do you mean?”
“The way you move around each other,” he continues, his voice low and careful. “The fact you melded with each other from the start.”
“That’s just…” I trail off, uncertainty creeping in. “We’re close. Hailey’s never given me a reason to not like her.”
“You are,” Stone agrees. “But there’s more to it than that.”
“I don’t understand,” I whisper, but maybe I do. Maybe I’ve always known, somewhere deep down, that what Hailey and I have isn’t typical, even for packmates.
“Hailey’s our scent match,” Jax murmurs. “Though I don’t think she truly understands what that means yet. But we’ll get to that another time.” His fingers continue their soothing motion on my neck. “This is something different.”
I feel Hailey tense slightly beside me, and I squeeze her hand again. They’d figured out the scent match thing pretty quickly—it was hard to miss how the alphas responded to her, how their scents seemed to harmonize perfectly. Even Ren… My chest tightens again at the thought of him.
Stone clears his throat, drawing my attention back. “Hailey is our scent match, yes. Mine, Jax’s, and Ren’s. But she’s also something else.” He pauses, and I can feel the weight of what he’s about to say. “She’s imprinted on you.”
“ Imprinted ?” The word feels strange on my tongue. “What does that mean?” But I remember my web searches from those first few days. I remember clicking on a link that suggested the same thing. But all that came up were questionable websites and fan fiction that suggested even more questionable things. There was no science.
“Those are Dr. Greene’s words, not mine,” Stone says, his good hand still running through Hailey’s hair. “But essentially, it means she’s your mate.”
The world seems to stop spinning. “What?”
But the fact neither he nor Jax bursts out laughing tells me this is no joke.
“My…mate? That’s…that’s not possible.” I look between them, stil l waiting for someone to tell me this is a joke. “Omegas don’t have omega mates. That’s not how it works.”
“Not generally, no,” Jax agrees, his chest rumbling against my back. “But in this case, you do.”
I turn to look at Hailey, really look at her. She’s watching me with those wide innocent eyes that have always seemed to see right through me, her scent a complex mix of emotions I can’t quite untangle. It would explain so much—the instant connection, the way we’ve always gravitated toward each other, how I seem to know what she needs even before she speaks.
“Dr. Greene had more to say about it,” Jax continues carefully. “She has some theories about why it happened.”
Stone’s expression tightens slightly, and I can tell whatever’s coming next is delicate. “She believes Hailey imprinted on you partially because you’re male, which is unusual for an omega. But also…” he hesitates, and I feel Jax’s hand tighten slightly on my neck. “According to the literature she’s studied, this kind of bond can sometimes trigger in response to trauma.”
The word hangs heavy in the air. Hailey’s hand trembles in mine, and I grip it tighter.
“She didn’t ask for details,” Jax adds quickly, his gaze shifting to Hailey. “And we wouldn’t have told her about the Academy even if she had. That’s not our story to share.”
My mind is racing, trying to process everything. I think about that first day, when I found Hailey in that cabin. How something in me had recognized something in her, had wanted to protect her, comfort her despite the confusion and heartbreak going through me. How natural it felt to let her curl up in my nest when I know for a fact I wouldn’t have let any other omega even near the door.
My heart is pounding so hard it feels like it might crack my ribs, and every breath I take seems to catch in my throat. Jax’s words echo in my ears—she’s your mate. My mate? That’s not possible. That’s not how it’s supposed to work.
I glance at her again, at the slight quiver in her lower lip, at the way she’s trying so hard to hold herself together despite the tension coiling around her like a vise. Her honey-vanilla scent is tinged with nervousness, but beneath it is something else—something warm and steady that makes me yearn to pull her into me. It’s so familiar, so… right , but I don’t know how to make sense of it. I don’t know how to make sense of any of this.
“I don’t…” My voice breaks, and I swallow hard, trying to steady myself. “I don’t understand.”
“None of this has made sense,” Hailey murmurs, her voice soft but trembling slightly. Her fingers tighten around mine, and for some reason, that small gesture steadies me more than anything else could. “Not since I escaped the Academy. Not since I found all of you.”
There’s a weight to her words, a quiet vulnerability that makes me want to pull her into me even more. I can feel Jax shifting behind me, his hand still on the back of my neck, grounding me even as the world tilts on its axis. Stone hasn’t said anything else, but the way his jaw is clenched, the way his good arm cradles Hailey protectively, tells me he’s just as affected by this revelation as I am.
“You’re sure?” I ask quietly, looking first at Jax, then at Stone. My voice feels too loud in the quiet room, but I can’t stop the question from spilling out. “This isn’t some kind of mistake? Dr. Greene—she could be wrong, right?”
“She’s not wrong.” Stone’s voice is steady, but there’s a softness to it that catches me off guard. “I’m no doctor, but the signs are there. I’d be blind not to see them. You feel it, don’t you?”
I open my mouth to argue, but the words catch in my throat. Because I do feel it. I’ve always felt it. That pull toward Hailey, that instinct to protect her, to comfort her, to make her feel safe—it’s been there since the moment I met her. I thought it was just because she needed someone, because she’d been through hell and I couldn’t stand to see her in pain. But maybe…maybe it’s more than that .
“She’s our scent match,” Jax says, his voice low but certain. “That’s undeniable. But this bond between you two, Finn…” He trails off, his fingers brushing the nape of my neck, a soothing gesture that makes my shoulders relax despite myself. “It’s different. It’s deep. And it’s real.”
“Why?” The question slips out before I can stop it, my voice cracking slightly under the weight of everything. “Why me? What kind of mate can I be? I’m not…I’m not an alpha. I don’t have anything to offer her that you don’t. This doesn’t make sense.”
“Finn—” Jax starts, but I shake my head, cutting him off.
“I’m serious,” I say, my voice rising slightly. “I’m an omega. I’m supposed to be the one who—who needs protecting. Not the other way around.”
“You think you don’t protect us?” Stone’s voice is sharp, cutting through my spiraling thoughts like a blade. His amber eyes are fiery as they lock on mine, and there’s something in his gaze that makes it impossible to look away. “You think what you did tonight wasn’t protecting your pack? You think the way you care for us, the way you’ve held us together, isn’t just as important as what Jax and I do?”
I blink, stunned into silence. Stone’s words hit me like a punch to the gut, and for a moment, I can’t do anything but stare at him. He’s always so steady, so sure, and hearing him speak about me like that—like I’m something valuable, something strong—it makes my chest ache in a way I can’t explain.
“Hailey doesn’t care about what you are, Finn,” Jax says quietly, his hand sliding down to rest on my shoulder. “Haven’t you seen the way she looks at you?”
I gulp hard, daring to slide my gaze in Hailey’s direction.
Nobody has to say it. I can see it.
Hailey looks at me as if I am some angel. Some perfect person who can do no wrong.
“What if this isn’t what you want?” I whisper. “What if you don’t want any of this? ”
Hailey shifts closer, her free hand reaching up to cup my jaw. Her touch is gentle, but it sends a shiver through me. “I don’t know what I want,” she admits quietly. “I’m still figuring that out. But I know I don’t want to lose you, Finn. I…” Her cheeks grow rosy even in the dim light. In a voice so quiet it’s almost lost to the silence, she continues. “I don’t want to lose any of you.”
Her words hang in the air between us, trembling with vulnerability and quiet conviction. I feel my heart swell, my breath hitching as I stare at her. The way she’s looking at me now—I don’t know what to do with that kind of attention, that kind of belief, because some part of me still doesn’t understand how I could deserve it.
I’ve spent so long trying to figure out my place in this world, trying to convince myself that I’m not just a burden. And now, Hailey’s looking at me like I’m something more, like I’m someone she needs, someone she wants .
“Do—” A lump forms in my throat that feels like a bowling ball as I swallow. “But do you want me, Hailey.”
It comes out as more like a statement than a question and she blinks at me, long lashes fanning over her cheeks. When her brows furrow, my chest constricts some more.
“Finn…”
Oh fuck. Here it comes.
“I—” Her gaze darts to Stone then Jax. Her shoulders stiffen slightly, and I can see the moment she forces herself to push through the hesitation. The words come out in a rush. “Of course I want you. You’re the one who makes me tea when I can’t sleep, who knows exactly which blanket I like best in the nest, who notices when I’m cold before I do. You’re the one who makes me feel safe just by being near, who looks at flowers like they’re precious miracles and then looks at me the same way. How could I not want you, Finn?”
The words slam into me with the force of a freight train, and for a moment, all I can do is stare at her. Her cheeks are flushed, but her eyes are steady, unwavering. She means it. I can see it in the way she’s looking at me, like I’m the only one in the room, the only one who matters.
“You…” My voice cracks, and I have to swallow hard before I can speak again. “You mean that?”
“Yes,” she says, her tone soft but certain. “I mean it, Finn. I don’t care that you’re not an alpha. I don’t care about any of that. You…you make me feel safe. You make me feel seen.”
Her words hit something deep inside me, something I’ve spent years trying to bury. I’ve always felt like I was too much and not enough all at once—too soft to be an alpha, too independent to fit neatly into the omega mold. I’ve spent my whole life feeling like I didn’t belong anywhere, like I didn’t fit. But here she is, looking at me like I’m everything she’s ever wanted, everything she’s ever needed.
“You…” My throat tightens again, and I have to look away, my gaze darting to Stone and Jax. They’re not pressuring me, not pushing me to say or do anything. They’re just…waiting. Giving me the space to figure this out.
And for the first time, I realize that I don’t have to figure it out alone.
“You’re sure?” I ask, my voice barely more than a whisper. “You’re sure you want me?”
Hailey’s lips twitch into a small, nervous smile, and she leans forward, her forehead pressing against mine. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” she says softly. “I don’t want to do this without you. I don’t…I don’t think I can. The thought of you leaving…it’s breaking me apart.”
Her words melt the last of my resistance, breaking through the walls I’ve spent so long building. I feel my shoulders sag, the tension draining from my body as the weight of my doubts and fears finally lifts. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this—her, this pack, this family—but maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe it’s enough that they’re giving it to me .
I let out a shaky breath, my hand tightening around hers. “Okay,” I whisper, the word trembling on my lips. “Okay.”
Her smile widens, and for the first time in what feels like forever, I feel like I can breathe again. Her hand slips from mine to cup my jaw, her thumb brushing against my skin in a gesture so tender it makes my chest ache. “You don’t have to be anyone but yourself, Finn,” she murmurs. “That’s all I need.”
Her words wrap around me, warm and steady, but they leave a strange ache in their wake. I stare at her, at the way her lips curve into the softest, most hopeful smile, and I want to believe her. I want to believe that I’m enough just as I am, that I don’t have to be anything more than this broken, half-mended version of myself. But the doubt is stubborn, burrowed deep inside me like a thorn I can’t quite reach.
Her thumb brushes against my jaw again, and the tenderness in her touch nearly undoes me. “Finn,” she murmurs, her voice trembling slightly, “you don’t have to say anything else. Just…stay. Please.”
My chest tightens at the plea in her voice, and I feel the weight of her words settle over me like a blanket. She doesn’t know how dangerous it is to ask that of me, how fragile my resolve is. I’ve spent so long convincing myself that leaving would be better for everyone—that they’d be better off without me—but now, with her looking at me like this, I can feel my carefully constructed logic unraveling.
Her lips part as if to say something, but no words come. Instead, there’s just the faint rise and fall of her chest, the way her honey-vanilla scent wraps around me, warm and steady despite the tension lingering in the air. Her hand is still cupped lightly against my jaw, her thumb brushing along my skin like she’s afraid I might disappear if she stops touching me. That fear—whether it’s hers or mine—is enough to make my heart ache.
I don’t know who moves first. Maybe it’s her, maybe it’s me, or maybe it’s both of us at once. All I know is that one moment, I’m staring into her wide, searching eyes, and the next, her lips are on mine.
The kiss is soft, tentative, like she’s still afraid I might pull away. But I don’t. I can’t. Her lips are warm and gentle, and the way she leans into me, her fingers tangling in my hair, sends a shiver down my spine. Everything else fades—the tension in the room, the weight of Stone and Jax’s watchful gazes, the ache in my ribs—until there’s nothing left but her.
I kiss her back, my hand slipping to the curve of her waist, and she makes a soft, breathy sound against my lips that makes my chest ache all over again. It’s not desperate or hurried—it’s slow, controlled, filled with all the things I haven’t been able to say. Her fingers tighten slightly in my hair, and I feel her press closer, her body fitting against mine like she was made to be there.
Because… because she was.
When we finally pull apart, her cheeks are flushed, her eyes bright and searching. She looks at me like I’m something precious, something she’s terrified of losing, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to put into words what this moment means to me. But I don’t think I need to. I think she already knows.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I say softly, the words tumbling out before I can stop them. Her eyes widen, her lips parting slightly, and something about the way she looks at me in that moment makes my chest ache. “I promise.”
She doesn’t say anything, but the way her fingers brush against my jaw, the way her forehead tilts forward to rest against mine once more, tells me enough. I let out a shaky breath, my hand tightening slightly on her waist, and for a moment, everything feels like it’s going to be okay.
But then reality creeps back in.
Above us, I get the sense Stone and Jax are exchanging looks. I never did tell them I was planning to leave. Even before Hailey came into our lives. It’s the first they’re hearing it now. Something else to deal with on another day. For now, I can only focus on her. On the fragile, tentative bond we’re building, on the way her trust feels like both a gift and a weight I don’t know how to carry.
But as much as I want to stay in this moment, as much as I want to let myself believe the worst is behind us, I can’t ignore the unease twisting in my gut. The danger hasn’t passed. The Academy hasn’t forgotten about her. My mate. And they won’t stop coming.
I glance at Jax, at the tightness in his jaw and the way his hand rests protectively on Hailey’s knee. Stone’s dark eyes meet mine for a brief moment, and I can see the same tension reflected there, the same quiet understanding. We all know what’s coming. We all know this isn’t over.
Hailey shifts slightly against me, her head resting on my shoulder, and I feel my resolve harden. Whatever the Academy wants, whatever their plans are, I won’t let them take her. I won’t let them hurt her. I don’t care what it takes—she’s ours now. She’s mine . And I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.
Even if it means facing the Academy head-on. Even if it means destroying myself to tear it all down.