Page 150 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

We all know that once we leave this room, there may not be another chance to hear that result.

Still, Knox doesn’t protest. He made me a promise earlier. The Pack would follow my command in this, and now I am asking him to do the one thing he hates most. Let me choose a risk he can’t control.

His jaw tightens once before he nods.

"You heard the Omega," he says, his gaze lingering on me, so painfully full of love. Then his expression locks down, and the Prime Alpha takes over. "The result waits."

Knox turns to Everlyn. "What do you need, doctor?"

The question jolts us into our roles. We are done being merely ourselves. Now we have to be Pack Scorch, a symbol of leadership and hope to this rebel army.

Everlyn draws in a breath, squares her shoulders, and tucks the datapad against her chest. "I need to convert the mess hall for mass casualties."

Cold prickles across my arms.

Minutes ago, she was holding the answer to whether I’m pregnant. Now she needs dining tables cleared so she has somewhere to put dying or dead soldiers.

Shade’s thumb flies over his datapad. "I have the triage layout here. Clear the center tables, move benches against the walls, and bring the cots up from storage."

"I know how to set up a triage ward, sweetie," Everlyn says, though there’s no bite in it. "Send the medic team to me, and I’ll get them briefed."

Then she's gone, swallowed by the screaming corridor outside.

Another explosion shakes through the room, and dust sifts from the ceiling. Boots thunder past the infirmary door at a sprint, voices shouting beneath the sirens before another artillery hit rolls through the fortress.

Knox is moving.

"Viper and Blaze," Knox says, his voice sharp enough to cut through the sirens, "Go get our gear from the den and meet us on the battlement. Then you'll be with Prime Alpha Zero on the first deployment."

My heart pangs, but I purse my lips and don't say a word. I can't react every time my mates are deployed into danger, because it's only going to get much worse from here.

Viper straightens, his hands sliding from me with visible reluctance. "Got it."

Blaze bares his teeth in a bloodthirsty smile made for battle. "Finally."

"Shade," Knox says. "We need confirmation of their numbers and why we didn't see them coming." Shade nods once, not looking up from his datapad.

Then Knox turns to me and stops.

He didn’t hesitate with the others, but his gaze drops to my stomach before he catches himself and looks back at my face. His hand flexes at his side, and through the bond, I feel the raw Alpha instinct in him fighting to send me to safety.

Finally, he says, "Halley, with me."

Blaze reaches the door first, already turning toward the den and the armor and weapons stashed there. Viper follows close behind him, and Shade cuts the other way for the Comms Office.

Panic slams into me.

No.

Not like this.

"Wait."

My voice is not loud, but each one of them halts.

In the wail of the alarms and the pounding rush of troops outside, the five of us stand suspended in one strange, stolen pocket of stillness.

I swallow.