Page 19 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

"Blaze!" he gasps. "Fuck, come here. I need you to check. Rutting hell, I need you to check."

"What am I checking?"

‘My fine ass,’ the voice in my head giggles.

I bite the inside of my cheek to stop from laughing at that one.

Shade’s mouth opens, closes, then opens again. "Her heart. I swear on my life, Blaze, her heart is beating."

I stare at him.

Poor bastard. He’s kneeling over our dead Omega, hearing things that aren’t there. Maybe grief psychosis is contagious.

I sigh and shuffle closer, mumbling, "Rut-damn, and they all thought I’d be the first one to crack."

‘Can’t crack what’s already broken, my love. Now do what the handsome Beta says.’

Maybe I’ll have a partner in crime for my violent misdeeds. It’ll be fun to be the sane one for once. I bet there are some fucked-up ideas in that big brain of Shade’s.

I drop to my knees and stare at her for a moment.

"You’re so pretty."

Just as beautiful as the day she stumbled out of that transport vehicle and into our lives. Emotion rises from my gut and into my throat until a thick ball of soul-sucking grief lodges there.

I swallow it, shoving it right back down, as deep as I can get it. Blaise is the emotional one. I don’t deal with that shit.

"Please, brother, just listen. For a second, and then you can go back to... to... your fun."

'Do it.'

I huff and focus my Alpha hearing.

In the distance, I can hear the muffled sounds of the evacuation camp. Their movements are stiff and fearful. An owl hoots from a nearby tree, waking up for its nightly hunt. A gust of wind sways the branches, and they rustle softly against each other. Two sets of familiar footsteps move deeper into the forest.

Ba-dum.

Every muscle in my body clenches.

Ba-dum.

No. It’s not possible.

Ba-dum.

'Told ya, you cockwomble.'

Halley is alive.

Chapter Six

Halley

My eyes open, slow and heavy, as if I'm rousing from the deepest sleep of my life.

My vision is blurry. I strain to focus and the world swims before my eyes like a watercolor painting left in the rain.

The full moon hangs above the forest, spilling silver light over the branches swaying overhead. I stare at them for a few breaths, waiting for the haze to clear.