The room tilts dangerously. My lungs constrict as panic claws up my throat. He knows. Somehow, he's traced us to Blackwater Falls. The distance I thought we'd put between us wasn't enough. It's never enough.
"Amelia?" Tank's voice seems to come from far away. "What is it?"
I can't speak. Can't breathe. Can only thrust the phone toward him with shaking hands.
He takes it, reads the message, his expression hardening to granite. When he looks up, his eyes are cold and calculating, but instead of fear, I'm surprised to feel a wave of relief wash over me. This is a man who knows what he's doing. A man who's faced worse threats than my ex-husband.
And then, unexpectedly, he smirks.
"This is even better," he says, handing the phone back to me. "We have territory advantage here. Your ex has no idea what he's getting into."
"B-better?" I stammer. "He found us. He's coming here."
"Good." Tank's voice is calm, almost pleased. "Let him come to us. On our turf, on our terms. In Blackwater Falls, he's just one cop with a grudge. We're a united front with home field advantage."
Beast appears from the back of the cabin where he's been checking security. "Problem?"
"Opportunity," Tank corrects him, showing him my phone. "The ex is coming to us."
Beast reads the message and a slow grin spreads across his face. "Well, well. Saves us a trip to Riverbrook."
Their confidence should reassure me but panic still grips me tight. "You don't understand. Derek is... he's smart. Calculated. He won't just come barging in. He'll watch, wait for an opening."
"Let him watch," Tank says with a dismissive wave. "All he'll see is a wall of Savage Riders between him and you."
I wrap my arms around myself, trying to stop the trembling that's taken over my body. "He has friends in law enforcement everywhere. Contacts. Resources."
"And we have an entire town that backs us," Tank counters. "Blackwater Falls is Savage Riders territory. Has been for years."
"But—"
"Amelia." Tank steps closer, his massive frame blocking out everything else. Gently, he takes my shoulders in his hands, forcing me to look up at him. "I need you to hear me. Derek Mitchell is just a man. A cowardly one at that, who builds himself up by tearing down those weaker than him. Here, now, he's out of his element. Outnumbered. Outgunned."
His touch anchors me, slowing the racing of my heart, easing the vice grip of panic around my chest. His hands are warm and solid, a stark contrast to Derek's cold, punishing grip.
"He's going to hurt you," I whisper. "All of you. Because of me."
Something like tenderness flickers across Tank's face. "He can try."
"I've seen what he can do," I insist. "He put a fellow officer in the hospital for suggesting I looked tired at a department barbecue. Just for noticing I wasn't okay."
"And I've put men in the ground for less," Tank states. "I'm not saying this to scare you, Amelia. I'm saying it so you understand. The man you've been running from isn't the most dangerous predator in these woods. Not anymore."
A strange calm settles over me at his words. Not because the threat is gone, but because for the first time, I'm not facing it alone.
"What happens now?" I ask.
Tank releases my shoulders, and I immediately miss the warmth of his touch. "Now, you and Anna get some rest. Beast and I will take shifts keeping watch tonight. Tomorrow, we start making preparations."
"Preparations for what?"
"For welcoming your ex to Blackwater Falls," he says with a grim smile. "It'll be a reception he won't forget."
Beast chuckles darkly. "I'll call Steel and Rage. Let them know we're having a party."
"No killing," I say quickly. "Please. I don't want Anna to grow up knowing her father was killed because of us."
The two men exchange a look.
