It’s not me.
That was all.
Three words that detonated in my chest.
She knew.
She’d felt the shift before the call even came through. She’d understood Thomas’s move instantly—and instead of panicking, she’d warned me.
Notcome save me.
Don’t take the bait.
I closed my eyes for half a second—just long enough to lock everything into place.
Thomas wasn’t forcing a choice.
He was trying tofractureme.
Split my focus. Make me hesitate. Make me decide which piece of my life mattered more.
That was his mistake.
“Havoc,” I said into comms, voice steel now. “You stay on Rylie. No deviation. Saint, reroute Ace and two local units to Wolf’s perimeter—quietly. No sirens. No lights.”
“Trigger—” Saint started.
“I’m not leaving her,” I said. “And I’m not abandoning Wolf.”
The silence that followed wasn’t doubt.
It was understanding.
“You see it,” Havoc said.
“Yes,” I replied. “Thomas wants me to react. We’re not doing that.”
I typed back to Rylie with shaking fingers I refused to acknowledge.
I know. Hold. I’m with you.
I didn’t wait for a response.
I lifted my rifle again, eyes scanning the tree line, senses sharpened to a knife edge.
Thomas thought this was about pressure.
About forcing me to choose between the woman I loved and the family I’d sworn to protect.
But Rangers didn’t choose.
Wecovered all angles.
We adapted.
And when someone threatened our own?
We ended it.
