Six-foot-five of beard and muscle. A nightmare made flesh.
The lanky one spots me first. He freezes, eyes widening as he takes in my size, the knife on my leg, the violence on my face.
"Hey," he stammers, dropping the tablet to his side. "We didn't know anyone was?—"
I keep walking. I don't rush. I move with the inevitable momentum of a landslide.
The smoker turns, reaching inside his jacket.
Mistake.
I close the distance in three long strides. Before he can clear his weapon, I grab his wrist. I twist sharply, forcing the joint against its natural range of motion.
A sickening pop echoes through the clearing.
He screams, dropping to his knees in the snow. I don't let go. I wrench his arm behind his back and shove him face-first into the railing. The wood creaks but holds.
"Don't," I growl at the lanky one.
His hand hovers halfway to his belt. He stops, pale and shaking, staring at his partner groaning against the porch.
"We... we're just hiking," Lanky lies, voice cracking.
"Hiking with a tablet? Mapping routes?" I stare at him. "You think I’m stupid?"
I release the smoker, shoving him down into the snow. He curls up, cradling his wrist, whimpering. I loom over them, blocking out the sun.
"Who sent you?" I demand.
"Nobody," the smoker gasps. "We're just?—"
I step forward, boot crushing the cigarette butt he threw. "You littered," I state. "And you're trespassing. On private property. On Gunnar land."
The name registers. Recognition floods the lanky guy’s eyes. Fear. Real fear. They’ve been briefed. They know who runs these mountains.
"We didn't know," Lanky babbles, hands up. "We thought it was abandoned."
"It's not." I point to the cabin. "A woman lives here. She is under the protection of the Broken Halos MC. Do you know what that means?"
They nod frantically.
"It means if I see you here again," I drop my voice to a whisper far scarier than a shout, "I won't just break a wrist. I will disappear you. The snow is deep. It takes months for the thaw to reveal what gets buried out here. By then, the wolves leave nothing but bone."
The smoker turns pale, sweat beading on his forehead despite the freezing temp.
"Give me the tablet," I order.
Lanky hands it over with trembling fingers.
I look at the screen. A topographical map with a red line drawn right through Avery’s property, leading up the ridge toward the pass. My pass.
I drop the tablet onto the frozen ground. Stomp on it. The screen shatters with a satisfying crunch. I grind my heel into the electronics until nothing remains but plastic shards and silicon dust.
"Go back to whoever sent you," I say. "Tell them this route is closed. Tell them the Vanguard is watching. Tell them if they send anyone else near this cabin, I’ll send them back in pieces."
"We're going," Lanky breathes, helping his partner up. The smoker clutches his wrist, face gray with pain.
"Run," I bark.
