Page 24 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

"Stop, Halley," he hisses. "You can’t get between them when they’re like this."

I twist against him, already opening my mouth to argue, when the oddness of the scene hits me.

Viper isn't standing across from Knox as an equal, fighting against the sickness.

He's kneeling.

Knox stands over him, his face contorted in pain with… oh frack, with a gun pressed to Viper's forehead.

Understanding dawns, and my stomach drops.

Viper isn't fighting his Blood Lust. He's giving in to it.

And Knox isn't trying to stop him. He's going to shoot him.

"This can’t be happening," I rasp.

This isn't a rescue mission. It's an execution.

Every muscle in Viper is tense, and the cords of his neck bulge with effort. Those beautiful green eyes I could lose myself in forever are gone. Nothing but black, empty voids remain with angry red veins pulsing down his temples, more pronounced than I’ve ever seen them. Even in the hospital, when we first met and his sickness scared me most, he didn’t look this… beastly.

Back then, he was lost, but still fighting for himself.

Now, he looks terrifying, unnatural, and resigned to his fate.

His scent rolls over me, and my stomach lurches.

Fetid rot and corruption. The same foul wrongness I smelled in the camp when Alphas in Blood Lust attacked.

For some reason, I never placed Viper in the same category as those monstrosities. How could I? He’s my sweet, gentle giant. The Alpha who holds me with careful hands and unexpected softness.

But I can’t ignore what’s in front of me.

He smells like them and looks like them.

What if my Alpha isn’t in there anymore?

Why isn't he fighting against it?

The questions come, but I have no answers.

"Knox!" Shade shouts.

His voice cracks through the air like a whip, and the crickets stop chirping.

Knox flinches, his fingers tightening on the gun to steady his aim.

"Shade?" His voice is wrecked. "What are you doing here?"

"Stopping you," Shade says. "Knox, look at me. You don’t have to do this."

Knox's jaw locks with grim resolve, but his eyes betray him. Tears track down his face, catching in the moonlight as he blinks like he can force them back through sheer will.

"I do." His voice scrapes out. "You know I do."

"He asked you to do this because he thought Halley was dead." Shade takes one careful step forward. "She isn’t."

Knox doesn’t look at me, and I realize that he can’t. His whole focus must stay pinned to Viper to maintain the Alpha Command holding him in place.