Page 64 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

"Like what?"

"That! Your smirk and those sexy damn eyes. Stop looking so good!"

I blink. "I… look too good?"

"Yes. It's making things…"

"Yes?"

"…Slippery."

My smirk grows into a full grin.

"You and your stupid face are sabotaging my anti-heat efforts. Go away," she demands through gritted teeth, waving her hands at me to ward me off.

My mere presence arouses her, and while I feel cocky about it, I can't genuinely enjoy the feeling. Her heat is quickening and growing more intolerable with each moment she spends apart from our Alphas.

Her naked body glistens with sweat, and her muscles are bunched from the strain. She can't go on much longer like this, but our girl is stubborn and won't give in to her heat until our Pack is together.

"The others will be here soon," I tell Halley in my gentlest voice.

Her eyes are wild as she watches me from the middle of the nest.

"Don't lie to me," she replies in a low, dangerous tone. Her eyes flash with accusation. "They just threw a live grenade into a fortress of disenfranchised soldiers. That shit is going to take time to sort out."

I grimace in agreement.

Another shout reaches us through the stone. It’s distant, but Halley hears it, and fresh need pours through her scent until my focus slips.

I reach down the bond before she can ask me to.

'How is everything going out there?' I ask down our bond in what I hope is a nonchalant manner, but I know there is a strained edge to my tone.

'Knox has convinced them to not kill us… yet,' Blaze replies, and I can't tell if he sounds relieved or disappointed by the fact that our executions aren't impending. 'Something about the Prime Alphas being allowed to challenge for the right to become the new General.'

I focus and find Knox filled with frustration and tension. I can only imagine the accusations that are flying around that he has to answer, but I trust he has the experience and training to get us out of this mess.

The least I can do is keep things calm and under control here.

Halley rips one of Viper's shirts in two, places a strip on each side of the nest, then sits back to look at it before scowling and hurling both pieces out with a cry of outrage.

I wince, grateful I'm not within striking range.

Yeah, calm and control might be optimistic, but I’ll do my best to soothe Halley. It's fine. Sure, my sweet Omega is a little prickly and bitey, but I'm a soldier. I've faced worse.

I don't share this update with Halley. It will only upset her. I certainly don't add that Viper is probably, at this very moment, narrowly avoiding getting garroted by an angry mob.

If I’m honest, Knox did me a huge favor sending me away with Halley. There is a significant probability that a loyal soldier of General Stone will attempt to assassinate one of our Pack members in retribution. As a Beta, my survival rate is lower than the Alphas’. Halley and I are hopefully safe in the den behind a dense layer of Blaze’s traps and Pack protection.

Even so, it might be hours before they can gain control of the situation.

Halley returns to her anxious nest-building, small whimpers escaping her as she pants through the waves of discomfort that wash over her body.

"If you would just let me into the nest, I could—"

Blaze's other boot comes flying at my head, and I dodge a moment too slow. The laces whip across my face.

"Ow," I pout and rub the sting away. "Rut-dammit, fine. I get it. You want your Alphas, not a knotless Beta."