Page 133 of Gunnar

“We’ve had intelligence that his organization’s fractured. Without him, there’s no reason for anyone to keep coming after her. So it’s safe for Alexandria to return home. We’re here to pick her up.”

I step out from the trees.

Snow crunches under my boots as I come into the open. All three bears turn toward me at once.

Gunnar shifts, eyes locking onto me.

I walk straight to him.

Stop close enough that I can feel the heat coming off him even in the cold. He takes my hand, enveloping it in his massive one.

“I heard,” I say.

I glance past him toward the car, then back again.

“I’m not going.”

Harris studies me through the driving snow.

“Your call,” he says. “We’ll note it that way.” He holds something out of the window. “Here’s your phone and… that other gadget.”

My Kindle. I snatch them up gladly.

He glances at Gunnar, then back to me.

“If anything changes, you know how to reach us.”

“I do.”

He holds my gaze for a beat, then gives a small, almost satisfied nod, like something’s resolved itself the way he expected.

“Take care of yourself,” he says.

“You too.”

The window slides up.

Engines turn over again.

The SUVs pull away, the sound fading as they disappear down the track.

I watch them go.

Then I turn back.

Gunnar’s still there.

Waiting.

I step closer, my hand coming up to his chest.

Something settles in his expression—deep, certain.

“Come here,” he says.

He pulls me in, arms closing around me, solid and warm.

I lean into him as we start toward the lodge.