Page 193 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

They somehow took every scrap of strength in our bond and turned it into a Command that has the enemy eerily marching down the mountain.

My chest tightens.

"You crazy, beautiful idiots," I whisper, looking at all of them sprawled around her. "What the fuck did you do? Why didn't you wait for me? Why didn't you take more from me? I would have given it happily. I would have shared the load."

I almost let the fear have me.

Then I get mad.

Not the fun kind of mad that means I get to stab people and watch them bleed. It's an ugly anger that is fed by my fear.

"Oh, absolutely not."

I sit back on my heels in the middle of the blood and dirt and stare at the collapsed, dying idiots I call my mates. My Pack. My family.

My whole chest goes hot.

"You do not get to do this without me," I snap, pointing at them like they can see or hear me. "I leave you alone for one little suicidal side quest, and this is the bullshit you pull? Unacceptable."

Nobody answers, and it makes me angrier. There is no one sighing and saying, "For fuck's sake, Blaze. Would you shut up?"

I reach for the bond again, feel the empty, ravaged threads of it, and bare my teeth. Fine. If they drained it hollow, it's up to me to fill it back up.

"This is my dramatic battlefield return," I tell them, voice shaking with fury and grief. "You don't get to die before you appreciate it."

Then I grab hold of those frayed golden strands and smash them together, forcing them to fuse.

Pain slams through me, and my vision blurs. Every bullet still lodged in me lights up at once, searing through my flesh. My blood loss, torn flesh, and sheer exhaustion come screaming to the forefront, and I should stop, because sacrificing your own life force is probably not medically recommended while actively bleeding out.

I do it anyway because I know there is no life for me without my Pack. It just isn't an option.

"Take it," I snarl. "Come on. Take it and wake the fuck up."

I pour everything I have into them. Strength, anger, devotion, and all the wild, untamed love I carry for my Pack and my Omega. I force it down the bond until my hands shake and my breath turns ragged, and my heartbeat thumps against my aching ribs.

The bond stirs.

Halley flares first, faint but real, her little light flickering brighter. Knox surges after her, followed by Viper, and then Shade.

"There you are," I whisper, battered and furious and not done fighting for them yet.

The bond is still a disaster. It's frayed, dull, hollowed out, and hanging together by my stubbornness and love. All of us have one foot in the grave, and I am definitely missing enough blood to make Doctor Everlyn cry, but none of that matters right now.

I brush filthy hair back from Halley's pale face with shaking fingers.

"You scared the absolute shit out of me, Sparkles," I tell her softly.

Her mouth moves like she wants to smile, and that tiny almost-smile hits me harder than any bullet I took today. The sob I've been holding down finally rips out of me.

Around us, the mountain is still humming with the aftermath of her Command, but it's becoming distant as the army that came here to wipe us out turns and walks away.

Up at the barricade, and beyond in Blackgate Fortress, our people have finally understood what they are seeing. The cheering starts ragged and disbelieving, then swells until it rolls over the road as the Alphas and Betas realize they're going to live.

I stay on my knees in the blood and dirt with my Pack scattered around me and release a shuddering breath.

We did it.

Halley changed everything.