Page 125 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

I toss him over my shoulder and stride toward our cabin.

"You need sleep," I tell him, ignoring the sharp jabs to my ribs.

The curses he uses are creative and definitely stolen from Blaze. He pitches a minor protest once I drop him in the nest, but once the scent of the bedding wraps around him, he's out like a light.

Our nest smells like a sleepy, calm Omega. It's basically a sleeping pill, and Shade never stood a chance.

I slip out of the cabin, moving on to my next self-imposed mission.

Find Blaze.

Save whoever his current target is.

Redirect Blaze to guard Halley.

I might be the General's murderer to every other person in this fortress, but to my Pack? I'm their rut-damn lieutenant.

I’m halfway up the hill from our den when the Pack bond pulls tight around my ribs. My steps slow as I try to parse out what I'm feeling.

This feeling belongs to Halley.

I close my eyes and focus on her through the bond.

This isn’t the anxiety that’s been sitting in all of us since Everlyn said we had to wait two weeks, either.

Halley is frustrated.

I close my eyes and follow the thread of her through the bond. She’s close. Inside the fortress, two levels up, in one of the smaller strategy rooms near Knox’s temporary command office.

Another pulse moves through the bond, tighter this time, and threaded with irritation. Someone is saying something profoundly stupid, or ignorant, or both.

Blaze can wait.

Whatever trouble he’s found will still be problematic later, and if it isn’t, then someone will have learned an important lesson about watching their surroundings.

The strategy room door is closed as I approach, but voices carry through the old stone.

Prime Alpha Revik is speaking when I reach it. I know his voice from two corridors away because he always sounds seconds from starting a fight. "If Omega Command is our strongest advantage, then Specialist Sparks must be permanently deployed to the front line like General Stone ordered."

My hand stills on the handle.

Knox answers before anyone else can. His voice is low and controlled, which means he’s already angry. "Specialist Sparks is standing right here, why don't you ask her what she wants to do?"

A brief silence follows.

Then Zero says, "Choose your words carefully."

At least one Prime Alpha in that room has sense.

I push the door open without knocking.

The room turns toward me. Knox stands at the head of the table with both hands braced on the surface. Zero is beside him, arms crossed, expression carved into professional disapproval. Several Alphas crowd the map, all rank, muscle, and instincts packed into one overheated room.

Halley stands at Knox’s right side.

My attention goes straight to her.

My pretty girl looks calm. Her chin is lifted, her shoulders are set, and her hands rest loosely in front of her instead of curled into fists.