Page 172 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

Viper’s answer is pure force. 'Absolutely not.'

Blaze turns and resumes fighting, but his intention is already set.

He knows the officer is too far for our Pack to reach without it costing us more than we want to pay. But Blaze has always been fast and tricky.

He can make it on his own, when the bulk of our Pack won't.

"Love you too," he shouts out loud.

My stomach drops as Blaze drives deeper into the Human crush, because this cannot be how we lose him. We said we would stay together. We said we would do this as a Pack.

"Blaze!" I shout, but he does not look back.

He cuts through the crowd in black armor streaked with blood, his rifle flashing as he clears a path no one else could reach. Humans close in behind him almost as fast as he drops them, swallowing the space between us until I can only see pieces of him through the bodies pressing from every side.

Viper lunges after him, but Knox catches the back of his vest and hauls him into place before the line around me breaks.

"Leave him," Knox barks, even though it clearly pains him to say. "Keep moving. Keep Halley covered."

Viper turns on him with his teeth bared, and for a breath I feel the fight in him, the panic, the rage, the brutal refusal to let Blaze vanish alone. Then a Human crashes between them with a knife raised, and there is no time to fall apart.

The blade punches into my shoulder.

Pain burns down my arm, but Viper is already there, roaring as he rips the Human off me and tears him apart with his bare hands. Shade fires over my other shoulder. Knox shoves me forward before the enemy can pin us in place.

I search for Blaze through the blood, smoke, and bodies, clinging to the stupid, desperate thought that he has gone rogue before. He always comes back. He always comes back grinning, filthy and pleased with himself, like death couldn't catch him because he was too slippery and fast.

Then I see him one last time, ducking beneath a rifle barrel as three Humans turn on him at once.

More bodies surge between us.

Blaze disappears.

I cannot follow him.

I cannot grieve him.

I lift my weapon and keep attacking, because Blaze is fighting to give us a chance, and I won't fail him by giving up now.

Chapter Forty-Three

Halley

'Incoming, ' Blaze's voice echoes in my mind.

I snap my head up just in time to see the enemy line buckle.

An officer stumbles out of the crush below us, shoving through his own men with a face twisted in fury and terror. His boots skid through blood. His shoulders wrench back while his legs keep dragging him forward, his body split between the order driving him and every instinct trying to resist.

Then Blaze’s will hits him again.

"Go to her."

I feel the Alpha Command through the bond even though I don’t hear it aloud. It carries Blaze’s particular brand of force, reckless and brutal, impossible to mistake for anyone else's. My breath catches as I realize my Command is not the only one that can pull strength from what ties us together. Blaze has channeled the Pack's support into his Alpha Command.

The officer lurches forward.

Human soldiers grab for him at once. They shout over one another, yanking at his vest and reaching for his arms, but he tears free and keeps coming. His rifle hangs loose from one hand. His jaw works around words he cannot force out. His eyes stay locked ahead, wide and panicked, because Blaze has him now.