Page 5 of Charged By the Razorbacks

He leaned against the hood of the truck instead, arms folded, gaze lowered—not to the ground, but somewhere between what was visible and what wasn’t.

“Three times,” Aleksy said quietly. “Same pattern. Same break point.”

Jarek huffed a sharp breath. “Yeah, well, it’s working. We can’t fucking find her.”

She wasn’t just evading. She was controlling the pursuit.

Every time they got close—she slipped them. Every time they adjusted—she was already ahead of it.

It had been two days of this. Two days of tracking a ghost that didn’t leave mistakes. Two days of coming just close enough to feel like they had her—and then losing her again.

Jarek’s jaw tightened. Fuck he hated this. Hated that she was out there alone, and they knew she was being hunted—and not just by them.

Didn’t like—

The thought cut off hard. Because it hit with no warning. Just—impact.

Jarek’s breath locked in his chest as something slammed through him, sharp and sudden, like a hook sinking deep and yanking hard.

Not pain.

Not exactly.

This was pure and raw, and it came with an immediate, unfiltered connection. His hand braced against the car beneath him as his body reacted before his mind caught up, muscles tightening, breath stuttering once before he forced it back under control.

“Jarek.” Aleksy’s voice cut through, sharp now, focused.

Jarek barely heard him. Because all he could feel was—her. Pain—sharp along his side, not his, but close enough that his body reacted like it was. Fatigue—held back, forced down, ignored. And underneath it—control. Tight but fraying at the edges.

“Jesus,” he muttered, voice rough.

The connection was strong, and uncontrolled in any way, as if she were no longer strangling that connection with him, like up until this point she had been fighting it instead of letting it take her under.

“She’s in trouble,” Aleksy said.

Jarek let out a harsh breath. “Yeah, no shit.”

But that wasn’t it, at least not all of it. His fingers curled into fists, grounding himself as the pull sharpened again, dragging his focus in a direction he didn’t question.

Didn’t need to.

Because this—this wasn’t tracking anymore. This was instinct.

“She’s in trouble, fighting,” he said.

Aleksy was already moving. “Get in.”

Jarek didn’t argue. Didn’t hesitate. He pushed off the car and moved, sliding into the passenger seat as Aleksy brought the engine to life in one smooth motion.

“Go straight,” Jarek said immediately.

Aleksy didn’t question it. Didn’t ask.

He drove.

Jarek leaned forward slightly, elbows braced against his knees, focus narrowing as the pull shifted, adjusted, guided.

“Left,” he said.