Page 45 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

"Fuck the Pass!" I shout, jerking against her grip.

Halley squeaks, but she doesn’t let go.

Her hand stays locked over mine while gunfire batters the truck around us. I glare at her, ready to snarl again, to wrench the brake free and drag every member of my Pack behind Blackgate’s walls if that’s what it takes to keep them alive.

But her words reach through my stormy emotions to the stoicism trained into me as a child.

She's right to make me stop.

My struggle against her grip falters.

I drag my free hand over my face, pressing into the scar over my nose until the sting cuts through the panic.

I get it now.

The rut-damn fucking Pass has to be the priority.

Zero isn’t abandoning the camp because he doesn’t care. He’s falling back because the Pass is the thing that matters most. If the enemy takes it, they pour straight into Blackreach Province, and every settlement beyond the mountains becomes a slaughterhouse.

If the Pass falls, the Demi-human race is finished.

"Fuck!" I slam my hand against the steering wheel.

Retreat was never an option. I just wanted it to be because Halley is warm beside me, breathing and alive, and every instinct I have is screaming to drive until the gunfire is miles behind us.

But that isn’t who I am. It isn’t who we are.

We're Pack Scorch. We're soldiers, defenders of our species, and Halley, my Omega, my mate, the woman I just got back from the dead, might be the only weapon strong enough to stop this.

The thought makes bile climb the back of my throat.

I release the handbrake before I can change my mind.

Halley threads her fingers through mine, her thumb moving over my knuckles with a tenderness that feels impossible in the middle of battle.

"This is what we’ve been training for," she says.

I pull in a breath, let her scent settle the worst of the panic, and force myself back into command.

"Shade," I call. "Talk to me."

I know my Beta Specialist. While I spent this skirmish panicking and drowning in an existential crisis, he will have analyzed the attack.

I twist my head. Shade is staring through the thick-paned glass in the back, eyes fixed on the treeline. His voice is steady, which means he has already found the cleanest path through this mess.

"The Humans won’t stop unless their Unit Leader orders them to," he says. "He’ll be behind their front line, close enough to direct the assault, far enough back to stay protected. We find him, take him alive, and restrain him."

My jaw locks.

"Once he’s restrained, Halley Commands him to order a full retreat from the Pass," Shade continues. "If the Command comes from their own chain of command, their soldiers should obey long enough for Zero to hold the Pass and for reinforcements to arrive."

"I won’t put Halley behind enemy lines," I snap.

"We take the truck," Shade says, already expecting the objection. "The armor gets us through the outer ranks. Viper and Blaze clear the immediate threat. You and I restrain the Unit Leader. Halley stays inside until the area is secure."

"Can’t we just torture him into ordering it instead?" Blaze asks, the manic glitter of his battle-high making his eyes look wild.

Halley’s voice is strangely calm with a note of confidence I haven't heard from her before. "This is our chance to see if Omega Command can defend the Pass."