Fulton Market.Rune didn’t know how he knew, but he did.The warehouse district.She was there.
He sent a silent prayer of gratitude skyward.The fates had given them another chance.
They ran.
Chicago’s streets blurred underfoot as they followed the tug of her presence, dodging burning cars and rubble, their ears filled with distant gunfire and the constant chatter of comms.Klarissa’s agony flared with each strike her father laid against her, but so did her defiance.Rune felt her courage, her fury.Her vow to protect the children with her own body.He could taste her strength like iron on his tongue, and it only made him run harder.
The warehouse came into view at last, hulking and gray against the smoke-stained skyline.Rune froze at the sight—guards everywhere.Armed men in gas masks patrolled the perimeter, rifles slung across their shoulders, movements sharp and organized.Too many.Far too many for just him and Kamon.
Kamon hissed a curse, ducking behind a burned-out van.“We’ll never get through them all.”
Rune’s jaw clenched.“We can’t leave her.”
He thumbed his comm, calling out.“Kieran.We found her.Fulton Market.Warehouse at the corner of Green and Fulton.Need backup—now.”
Static crackled, followed by Kieran’s voice, ragged and strained.“We’re pinned at the primary school.Dozens here.Can’t break free.”In the background, Rune heard children crying, Liam shouting.The line cut to static again.
Rune cursed, glancing at Kamon.“Victor?”
The ESE leader came through faint and distorted.“Hospital under siege.Can’t move.”
Silence pressed in after that.Just him, Kamon, and the impossible wall of enemies between them and their mate.
Rune’s chest heaved.He wanted to storm in, tear the doors off their hinges, burn the place to ash if it meant reaching Klarissa.His claws itched beneath his skin, the tiger inside clawing for release.But reason chained him down.Two tigers against fifty armed men was suicide.
“Then we go anyway,” Kamon said, his eyes blazing.
Rune met his gaze, ready to agree—to die at his mate’s side if that’s what it took.
A deep voice rumbled behind them.“Or you don’t go alone.”
Rune spun.The Holt brothers stepped out of the smoke, their massive forms looming.Blood streaked their clothing, their weapons slung over shoulders, but they stood tall, unbroken.Caleb cracked his neck, eyes blazing blue fire.“Library’s clear.Took five minutes.”
Jackson grinned, teeth sharp, feral.“Thought you might need help.”
Relief punched through Rune’s chest.He didn’t waste time asking why.They were here, and that was enough.
“What’s the plan?”Wyatt asked.
Rune pointed to the roofline.“Two guards up top.If you take the roof, you can breach from above.Kamon and I go in through the side windows, take down as many as we can before they raise an alarm.”
Caleb bared his teeth.“Perfect.”
They started to move, each man falling into place like pieces of a long-rehearsed dance.Rune crouched low, stalking toward the shadows along the warehouse wall, Kamon at his side.The lions moved like juggernauts, scaling the fire escape with terrifying grace.Every step closer, Klarissa’s presence burned brighter, her pain spiking, her defiance like a beacon calling them home.
They crouched beneath the windows, peering inside.Shadows moved across the concrete floor.Men paced with rifles.And in the distance, even chained to the wall, Klarissa sat defiant, blood streaking her face, her eyes burning fire even as Caruso loomed over her.
Rune’s vision tunneled.His tiger roared inside him, savage and relentless.
Jackson tapped the comm once, voice low.“Roof clear.Two down.”A muffled thud followed.“Make that three down.”
Kamon gestured sharply, and Rune followed, slipping through the broken frame of a first-floor window.The stench of oil and sweat hit him immediately.He padded forward on silent feet, his claws sliding free, each breath controlled.Two guards stood near a stack of crates, rifles loose in their hands.Rune moved like a shadow.One swipe, one muffled gurgle, and the man crumpled.Kamon mirrored him, a brutal snap of neck cartilage echoing softly.
They pressed deeper inside, every sense straining.Above them, muffled growls and the heavy wet sound of lion’s claws tearing through men announced the brothers’ progress.Blood dripped down through cracks in the ceiling.Rune didn’t look up—he didn’t need to.
Another patrol came around the corner.Rune’s tiger surged, and he was on them before they could shout.He half shifted, and his claws ripped through fabric and flesh, his jaws closing over a throat.The copper tang of blood filled his mouth, hot and savage.He dropped the body silently, eyes blazing.
Kamon wiped his blade on a dead man’s vest.“We’re getting close.”
