Page 315 of Knot What I Expected

Sixteen years.

Fuck.

Longer than that.

I've carried that night with me everywhere.

Proof.

That was what I made it.

Proof Monster was dangerous.

Proof I couldn't be trusted.

Proof eventually I'd hurt someone I loved.

“You really didn't know?” Rafe asks.

“No.”

“Jesus Christ.”

I swallow.

“I thought Monster⁠—”

“Havoc, you've got some of the best control I've ever seen in an Alpha.”

I almost laugh. Almost.

“You're full of shit.”

“I'm really not. You were a teenage Alpha Wolf dosed with magic designed to provoke exactly the instincts you were already struggling to understand, and you still didn't hurt anyone.”

Something burns behind my eyes.

Fuck that.

I blink it away. Gabby's fingers tighten around mine.

“You've always had control,” Rafe says. “Maybe it's time you give yourself some fucking credit for it.”

I don't know what to say to that.

So naturally⁠—

“Fuck you, Maccon.”

Rafe laughs.

“There he is.”

“Thank you.”

The words nearly kill me. His laughter stops.

“Anytime, Havoc.”