Page 124 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

Chapter Thirty-One

Viper

Day Three

Last night, Shade laid out the numbers at the war council, and the truth became impossible to ignore. We are close to losing everything. Again.

The high of our Pack mating has burned off, and the reality of the world has come crashing back in. We may feel ready to start this new life as a mated Pack, but war is not going to wait for us to get settled. It has caught up, and it has cornered us here.

There is nowhere left to retreat. Blackgate Fortress and the Pass will be Pack Scorch’s last stand.

I hate that Halley is such a key part of this.

I wish she would go deep into Blackreach Province, find a settlement there to hide in while she still can, but she refuses every time we raise it. Win or lose, she wants to be here when we fight the final battle.

I want to be irritated with her for that stubbornness, but I can’t. Our Omega is strong, fearless, and fully capable of making her own choices. As her Pack, our job is to protect her, stand beside her, and respect the decisions she makes, even when they scare the fuck out of me.

So that is what our lives have become. A countdown.

How long until the enemy arrives?

And beneath that, another clock keeps ticking in all of us.

Eleven days until we know whether Halley is carrying our child.

It hangs there between us, loud as a gunshot. I've never been a man of many words, but I think Halley knows that I'll support her no matter what.

Halley has been glued to Knox’s side wherever he goes, and somehow her presence alone is enough to open doors that would have been slammed in his face. Even the most self-important Prime Alphas seem willing to listen when she walks in beside him. Add Zero to the picture, and the three of them have quickly become a force no one can ignore.

Shade has practically barricaded himself inside the Comms Office, surrounded by reports, transmissions, and scraps of intel, shaping them into briefings the war council can actually use. It is stretching even him to the limit. He looks calm, if you don't know him, but I do. He's scared. Out of all of us, he's the one who seems to grasp the full scale of how badly this might end.

Blaze has been left to his own devices, which is about as reassuring as it sounds.

And me?

My role is simpler. They don't need Stone's executioner in decision-making rooms. They need support and someone to hold this Pack together while the pressure tries to split us apart.

So I keep moving.

I take messages from Knox to officers who pretend they aren’t taking orders from him, but still carry them out. I collect the information Shade needs and deliver it before he has to ask twice. I bring Jason the updated roster for comms rotations, then swing by the armory to check Blaze hasn't been terrorizing them again. I make sure Halley eats before she walks into another room full of soldiers staring at her like she’s both a miracle and a nightmare.

Whispers follow me everywhere I go.

Murderer. Traitor.

They can say what they want, because their opinions won't change what I did, and I’m not interested in groveling for forgiveness to be more palatable. Hiding isn’t an option either. I’m out in the open where they can all see me, and if anyone’s stupid enough to try their luck, they can do it to my face. Some already did, and they’re with Everlyn in the infirmary now.

The pang that sits in my gut has nothing to do with regret, and everything to do with consequences. Stone’s death cracked the leadership open and left this army weak at the moment it needed to be its strongest.

I catch Shade in a corridor outside comms. His shoulders are tight and his eyes are bloodshot. He looks as if he hasn't slept in the last twenty-four-hour cycle.

I tell him so.

He denies it and keeps reading something on Jason’s datapad and pretending the numbers don’t scare him, but I can feel it through the bond anyway.

"You won't like this," I say, smiling in what I hope looks reassuring.

His head jerks up, finally looking at me with a frown. Okay, so not reassuring enough. "Not like what, Viper?"