Page 137 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

My hand closes at her waist, holding her there like I can keep every terrible possibility at bay through touch alone.

"You can’t expect me to be okay with you fighting."

The image is alarmingly easy to conjure. A tiny, impossible piece of our Pack that should have never existed and now might.

I see Halley with her belly rounded under my palm, her scent turned rich and milky with it. I see a pup with her eyes, her mouth, and her temper. I see that little version of her growing safe inside the body that I can’t stop myself from wanting, protecting, and fearing for.

I never built room in myself for that kind of hope. I certainly never let myself picture a life with a family, and now I can’t seem to stop.

Our Pack is already a family, but if there was something small and precious…

That is worth fighting for. It's worth her being angry with me if it means I can keep that dream alive.

Her expression flickers as raw uncertainty passes through her eyes.

"We don’t know yet," she says softly.

Her hand comes up and settles over her stomach without thought. I know she feels it too, that dangerous hint of possibility.

Then she draws herself up again.

"Besides," she says, refocusing on me, "I have my Omega Command, Knox. If it can save our people, it's my duty to use it."

"Duty isn’t everything."

She stills, staring at me with widening eyes.

Then she laughs.

The sound breaks out of her like a bark, and it catches me so off guard that I jolt.

"I never thought I’d see the day Prime Alpha Knox said duty isn’t everything."

Despite myself, my mouth twitches. "Yeah. Well."

Her smile stays, and the worst of my anger goes with it.

I’m still scared, and she’s still stubborn. Neither of us has backed down, and I know we’ll probably be arguing about this again before the day is over.

But right now, she’s here. Her hands are on me, and mine are on her.

She isn’t the problem.

She’s the reason I’m trying to solve it.

"You changed me, Princess," I say. "This is the consequence of your actions."

I cup her face with both hands and kiss her gently, trying to wash away the harsh words we've exchanged.

"I need to say this while we still have the time." I swallow and make myself hold her gaze. "If this ends badly, if none of us make it out, loving you is the best thing I’ve ever done."

I force myself to keep going. She deserves the whole truth, not the guarded scraps I usually hand her.

"I never knew how to want anything for myself before you. I knew duty, rank, and orders. Then you came along and refused to give up on me, even when I gave you every reason to never look my way again." My voice drops lower. "I made myself hard to love, princess, and you loved me anyway."

Her eyes shine, and it nearly wrecks me, but I won't look away.

"You taught me how to be more than what I was created to be."