Mei stayed close at his side as they rejoined the crowd, her fingers brushing his hand, her smile quiet and luminous. Than knew that no matter how many people surrounded them now, the promise he’d given her was already locked in place.
Soon.
Fly saw it the moment they came back into the light. The way they stood. Oh, yeah, they’d been kissing.
Mei stayed close to Than’s side, her body angled toward him without thought, one hand resting lightly at his arm as if it belonged there. Than’s attention was wholly on her, quiet and protective, a subtle recalibration Fly knew well. The kind you didn’t fake. The kind you didn’t miss if you were paying attention.
Fly met Mei’s eyes across the crowd.
There just a soft, bright, unmistakable certainty without embarrassment or apology. He smiled, warm and real, and gave a small nod that said I see it, and I’m glad. When his gaze shifted to Than, the nod deepened, steadied by affection and trust.
Two of his favorite people, inexplicably joined.
Fly drifted back, giving them room the way he always did when something mattered. He saw Than lean in, saw Mei turn toward him without thinking. He loved them both, and he was pulling for them to make this last. Knowing Than, that wasn’t in question.
Later, a toast. Community. Care for the water that shaped them all.
Fly stood with a glass in his hand, looking out at the river, the lights, the people who mattered. He felt the quiet weight of it. This was what leadership looked like too. Not command or rank. Just showing up. Standing beside people when it mattered. Protecting what couldn’t protect itself.
Mei and Than found their way back to him near the edge of the lawn.
“I’m really glad you came,” she said. “Both of you.”
Fly nodded. “Wouldn’t have missed it.”
Her parents called her name from across the terrace. She hesitated, then reluctantly let go of Than’s hand, though not before slipping a folded piece of paper into his palm. Her eyes lingered on him as she walked away, promise written clear as anything she might have said aloud.
Than opened the note, and something in his expression shifted.
He smiled, his eyes darker, more feral than Fly had ever seen them.
“I’m going to be taking overnight liberty,” he murmured, closing his fingers around the note.
Fly met his gaze and nodded once. “I’ll see you when I see you.”
11
RCMP WILD Headquarters, Conference Room, Outskirts of Kamloops, British Columbia.
Blair didn’t turn. “Sir, you didn’t answer your phone.” Her voice shook, but it was clear it was from fury only. Her body posture was broadcasting a clear and present danger.
“I was at a very important event!”
Blair faced him fully, her voice even. “An undercover operation was compromised because I was not informed. We nearly lost lives today. This briefing was happening whether you were present or not.”
Darrow scoffed. “It was need-to-know. Clearances were limited, especially with Tier 1 Navy SEALs involved.”
“I needed to know,” Blair snapped, loud enough that even Ice blinked. “I’m second in charge here, and I didn’t have the information I needed to handle the situation as effectively as I would have if I had known.” She turned to him, pointed at him. “This is Petty Officer First Class Kelly “Breakneck” Gatlin, the undercover man who was arrested for defending himself against a cartel hit. The constables who arrested him wouldn’t listen to him. He was brought here for processing in cuffs, treated like a criminal, and he is the one you should thank. It’s a goddamn miracle we don’t have bodies lined up in the hallway.”
Darrow reddened, barely glancing at him. “Watch yourself, Blair.”
But Blair stepped closer, eyes like fire. “If Petty Officer Gatlin hadn’t been who he is, if he hadn’t convinced me, if he hadn’t fought like hell, we’d be writing eulogies. Your personal head games nearly got officers killed.”
Breakneck felt the room freeze.
She leaned in even closer, voice a whisper only he and some of the SEALs could hear. “I’m taking point. From now on, all WILD operational coordination goes through me. I will liaison with the Americans. I will handle the DEA, and you will stay out of the way.”
Darrow sputtered. “You can’t?—”
