I circle back through the trees, toward where the service exit should be. Where the victims will emerge if everything goes according to plan.
Minutes pass, each one stretched thin with anxiety and the constant awareness of him through the forming bond.
Then I see them.
The first victim stumbles out of the service exit. Male. Young. He can barely walk. Another follows. Female. Supported by a teenager who’s somehow mobile despite obvious injury.
More emerge. Trickling out. Fifteen in total, each displaying various states of injury and consciousness.
My role shifts. I have to get them to safety. Get them away before security reorganizes. I break from cover, running to the nearest victim. The male who came out first.
“I’m here to help,” I say quickly. “Follow me. We need to move.”
He stares at me. Doesn’t understand. Traumatized beyond coherent response.
I take his arm gently, guiding him toward the trees as quickly as I can without harming him further. The others follow, their instinct to flee overriding confusion. They move slowly. Some need support. All of them are broken by what they’ve endured.
I help them one by one, getting them into the cover of the trees. I keep them moving, putting distance between them and the facility.
But all the while, the bond pulls. Jericho is still inside. Still fighting. I can feel combat through the connection. Heat. Dragonfire. His presence burning bright and fierce.
My wolf strains toward him. The urge to go to him is almost overwhelming. But these people need me here.
Where is my pack?
As if summoned by the thought, I hear engines. Two vehicles crash through the undergrowth from the south. Not the approach road. Coming overland through rough terrain.
They screech to a stop. Doors opening. Wolves pouring out. Merric first. Then Rook, Sienna, Dane, Briar. All of them poised and ready. Relief floods through me so intensely that I nearly stumble.
Merric crosses to me in three strides. “Nadia.”
“Where were you?” The sharpness in my voice is unavoidable.
“Hit a Syndicate checkpoint on the main road. They’re running increased patrols in this sector. Had to detour fifty miles around their position.” His voice is grim. “Then the lead vehicle blew afucking tire on some back road in the middle of nowhere. Took twenty minutes to change the thing.”
Syndicate. Hunting for something. Maybe for Jericho. Maybe general security. Either way, it cost us critical time.
“I’m sorry,” Merric continues. “We got here fast as we could.”
“He’s inside. Alone. Extracting victims.” I gesture toward the facility. “Dragon guards. Heavy security. The original plan called for full team support, but—”
“I understand.” Merric is already assessing. Looking at the facility. The victims I’ve extracted. The situation. “These are the test subjects?”
“Some of them. Maybe more inside. He went back for one who wasn’t with the others.”
Merric nods and turns to his pack. “Dane, Briar, with me. We’re going in. Rook, Sienna—get these people to safety, then get your asses in there with us.”
They move immediately, coordinating without the need for communication.
I start forward. To follow.
Merric stops me with a hand on my arm. “Stay with the victims.”
“No—”
“Nadia.” His alpha voice. Not harsh. Just firm. “They need you here. And if I go in there with you, I’ll be watching you instead of watching the mission.”
He’s right. I hate it, but he’s right.
