Lucas sits in the gravel, making his wolf walk through the small rocks. I stand beside him, watching the road for approaching vehicles while my mind tries to process what just happened.
Multiple operatives. Colton faced a Committee assault team alone and survived. Killed some of them. Drove off the rest.
Because of us. Because a six-year-old boy witnessed a murder and now an entire shadow organization wants him dead.
Lucas looks up at me. "Are we going somewhere new again?"
"Yes, baby."
"When can we go home? I miss my friends. I miss my room."
My throat closes. How do I tell him he's never going to see his friends again? Never going to sleep in his own bed again? That everything familiar and safe is gone because he wandered off while I was distracted?
"I don't know," I say honestly. "But I promise wherever we go next, you'll be safe."
"You keep promising that." His voice comes out barely above a whisper. "But the bad people keep finding us anyway."
He's right. We ran to the safe house and the Committee found us in hours. Nowhere is safe when they have unlimited resources and institutional backing.
Colton emerges from the house, a duffel bag over his shoulder and his weapon secured. He's changed his shirt, the blood-soaked tactical gear replaced with a clean black t-shirt that still shows the outline of body armor underneath. The wound on his arm is wrapped with field dressing.
He approaches us carefully, keeping his movements slow and non-threatening for Lucas's benefit. "Reinforcements are minutes out. We'll extract to another location. Kane has arranged with some local operatives we can trust to handle the cleanup."
"Where are we going?"
"Echo Base." He meets my eyes. "It's the most secure location we have. My team is there, defensible position. The Committee knows it exists, but they've never successfully located or breached it."
"You want to take us to your base of operations."
"I want to take you somewhere the Committee can't reach." His voice drops. "Rachel, they found the safe house in under half a day. They're tracking us somehow, and until we know how, every location we move to is compromised before we arrive. Echo Base is our best option."
A convoy of vehicles appears on the horizon, kicking up dust as they speed down the dirt road toward the ranch. Armored SUVs moving in tight formation.
Colton's posture relaxes slightly. "That's them."
The vehicles pull up and a number of operatives spill out and disperse toward the house and the barn. Another man emerges from the lead SUV. Mid-thirties, dark hair, the same dangerous competence that radiates from Colton. He takes in the scene with a glance—Colton's injuries, me and Lucas in the yard, the house behind us that clearly saw heavy combat.
"Stryker." He nods once. "You good?"
"Good enough." Colton glances toward me, then back to the other man. "Rachel's sister?"
"Dylan has them. Relocated and secure."
Colton's shoulders relax slightly before he gestures toward us. "Rachel Donovan and her son Lucas. Rachel, this is Mercer. He's part of my team."
Mercer crouches down to Lucas's level. "Hey there. You've had a pretty scary day, huh?"
Lucas nods, gripping his wolf tighter.
"Well, we're going to make sure you're safe now. My friends and I are really good at keeping people safe." He stands andaddresses me. "We'll get you to Echo Base. It's a long flight, but we'll make it as comfortable as possible."
"Flight?" I look between them. "How far?"
"Long flight by private jet." Colton moves closer. "I know this is a lot. But it's necessary."
Hours in the air. To a military compound somewhere. With people I don't know, trusting them with my son's life because I don't have any other choice.
"Okay." The word comes out steady despite the fear churning in my gut. "Let's go."
