Page 192 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

And they're not moving.

Everything playful in me drops dead on the spot.

I reach for the bond again on instinct, desperate for proof that what I'm seeing is incorrect, but I struggle to force my mind to focus. I scream in frustration as I try harder to get my broken brain to click into place, and when it finally does, I gasp.

The bond is there, but it's faint and frayed. Torn to shreds and no longer humming with power.

I didn't feel it. How did I not feel the bond breaking like that?

Ah, no. That's not right. It's not broken, it's hollow. As if it were drained purposefully.

But it might break soon, because it feels so frighteningly weak.

I stop thinking and act.

My body flies into motion, and I sprint. Faster than I've ever moved in my life. I ignore the pain of my still-healing wounds and my messed-up knee, and push myself harder.

My boots slip on loose rock as I half run, half throw myself downhill toward them. I don't care that my wounds start to pump out more blood, making my head feel woozy. The only thing I can think about is Halley not moving.

Halley not getting up.

Halley lying there in the dirt, drained and empty, slipping toward death.

No.

Not while I still have breath in my lungs.

I make it halfway down the slope and I've lost sight of them, but I keep my focus on the bond.

It's so still it feels wrong.

My Pack is usually sparkling with life. Whatever happened drained them badly enough to put Knox on the ground, flatten Viper, and empty Shade out. Wrong, wrong, wrong!

I vault over a barricade, ignoring the shouts of the Alpha soldiers, and aim for the hole blasted in the road ahead.

Finally, I reach them and hit the road on my knees, sliding the last few feet to Halley.

"Sparkles!" I call, but the four bodies tangled together don't stir.

I catch Halley's face in both filthy hands, and she's so cold that it makes me feel sick. There is blood on her mouth, soot smeared across her nose, and shiny pink, partially healed burned skin on her cheeks.

A flashback to holding her dead body last time hits me, but this time I'm alone. My brothers aren't moving either.

I hold my hand in front of her parted mouth and force myself to stay still, holding my own breath.

A puff of warmth hits my hand, and another curse rips out of me in relief.

She's breathing.

I bow over her for half a second, forehead touching hers, and force myself to keep moving. Panic is useful only if I point it at something.

I fumble to check Knox, Viper, and Shade for a pulse. They're all still alive, but their heart rates are weak, and their breathing is shallow.

In the bond, the Alphas are reduced to a meager splutter. Shade is thinner in the bond than I have ever felt him, with all his usual steadiness stripped down to a trembling, dull thread.

I think I understand what happened here.

Halley's Command worked, but it took everything from them.