Page 56 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

Stone lifts one hand, and the medic steps forward.

Our Pack tenses and locks onto him.

"The transport is ready," Stone says. "The Pass is being reinforced as we speak. Omega Specialist Sparks will be escorted there under emergency authority. If she cannot walk, she will be sedated and carried. If her Pack interferes, they will be detained."

Halley’s scent picks up another notch, and my next inhale makes my head swim.

Ripe Omega. Breedable Omega. My Omega.

My thoughts drag, and my body responds to her call without my consent. Heat moves through my blood, filling my muscles with restless territorial urges. My skin feels tight and my cock thickens in my trousers. Every breath drags more of her into me, and every instinct I have turns toward the medic, the guards, and the General behaving like Halley belongs to him. She doesn't.

She belongs with us, with me. Her heat is calling my rut awake.

I register that's what is happening to me at the same time Blaze goes unnaturally still beside me.

'Fight the rut,' Shade says down the bond, his voice strained and frantic. He says something else, but I can't focus on anything other than Halley and the threat to her.

Knox feels it too. I know he does because his scent deepens, his shoulders lock, but he stays controlled. Our Prime Alpha is fighting the same vicious need to get Halley behind a locked door and stand between her and the rest of the world.

Blaze bares his teeth at the medic. He looks ready to bite the syringe being prepared in the man's hand and take the fingers with it.

My own restraint thins with every breath.

I know what losing control feels like. Blood Lust stripped the reason out of me until there was nothing left except rage. This is different. Rut leaves the reason intact and gives it one purpose.

Protect her, claim her, and keep every threat away from our Pack's most precious Omega.

Knox takes one controlled breath. 'Be ready,' is all he says through the bond, and my instincts immediately know the answer.

No one touches her.

"No," Knox says.

He doesn't elaborate or make excuses. He doesn't have to. Halley isn't General Stone's anymore. She's ours, and while we care about the survival of the Demi-human race, we care about our Omega more.

The guards shift, hesitation in their postures, but ready to act on the orders of their General. The aide swallows hard and looks at the floor, his hands shaking around the datapad. They can all feel that we're reaching an impasse. Something is going to have to give… but it won't be us.

Shade speaks, his voice finding the calm he had missed earlier. "If an Omega Command is needed, we will deploy Halley when requested. Upon our review of the situation, of course. She is under our protection and will never be a fixed asset waiting for danger."

If I didn't know he was just as pissed off as I am, I'd feel almost betrayed by the dismissive way he refers to Halley.

I have no such ability. I try to unclench my fists that want to beat the entitlement out of this presumptuous Alpha. Beyond General Stone's threats, I feel incensed by the mere sight of other Alphas this close to her.

"I've given you an order, soldier," Stone snaps.

Knox’s voice stays calm, despite the stakes climbing higher the longer we stand here with an Omega going into heat. "Why are you making me repeat myself? Pack Scorch does not answer to you."

A couple of Betas further down the corridor slow their steps, pretending they’re not listening, but everyone in Blackgate is always listening.

Stone notices the attention and tries to keep his control. He can't let others see his authority being challenged. He lifts his chin and squares his shoulders, playing to the observers as much as he’s playing to us.

"You’re forgetting your purpose," he says. "We are at war. You do not get to take this fortress’s most valuable asset, hide her in a filthy hut, and play house."

Blaze makes a low growl beside me, and violence pushes through his side of the bond so strong it makes my teeth ache.

His rut is coming on fast, but it isn’t scattering his focus like the promise of battle usually does. It’s narrowing it.

He isn’t looking at Stone, and I doubt he's even hearing the words the old Alpha is saying. No, he's studying the two Alpha guards flanking him.