Page 55 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

My vision clouds.

"Scorch Squad," General Stone's voice booms, echoing off the stone walls. He stops a few paces away, closer than comfortable, invading our space. His coat is buttoned wrong, and his eyes are sunken from lack of sleep, but there is nothing disorganized about the soldiers with him.

I bristle.

This isn't an accidental meeting, and it won't be a civil conversation. He's here for a purpose.

His eyes dart to where he should see Halley, and the Pack stiffens, angling ourselves so he cannot see her.

Whatever General Stone throws at us, we won’t allow Halley to be part of it.

Beneath the alcohol, gun oil, and antiseptic, Halley’s scent keeps getting stronger.

I’ve noticed it all day. She’s been tucked close since the battle, alive in our arms, and her lavender scent has been changing since we left the Pass. I blamed the resurrection, the stress, and the bonds settling after everything her body survived.

Now the truth catches up. Her scent threads through the corridor with each uneven breath she takes.

Her scent is richer now, sweet lavender warm on my tongue, caramelizing until it's thick and dragging at my thoughts, making them blur around the edges.

Fuck, I know this scent.

I recognize it and it drags my mind back to training camp. Her first heat. Her flushed skin. Her soft sounds calling from the tent. Every Alpha instinct in me had woken for her, desperate in a way I’ve never felt before or since.

Halley has been ripening all day, and we were too wrapped up in war, death, grief, and survival to realize what it was.

Stone’s gaze flicks over Knox, Shade, Blaze, then me. He lingers on me longer than the others, eyes narrowing.

His reports must have told him I was lost to Blood Lust. Yet here I stand, alive and sane.

But that sanity might be fleeting, because Halley’s scent is still blossoming, and my head is getting fuzzier with every second that passes.

I meet Stone’s eyes and give him nothing.

"Scorch Squad," he repeats, voice carrying. "You didn’t report to me after your arrival."

It's an accusation.

"It's Pack Scorch," Knox replies coolly. He doesn't want to get into it with the old fossil, not with Halley in a vulnerable state, especially not after the stress we've endured, but he won't let our Pack be disrespected either. "We're not your Scorch Squad anymore."

Stone’s jaw tightens at the lack of deference. He recovers quickly. "You have my asset."

Knox willfully plays ignorant. "What asset?"

Halley is not an asset. She's our precious Omega.

Stone works his jaw, but he doesn’t take Knox’s bait. "Omega Halley is required at the Pass."

I hear Halley suck in a breath, and I clench my fists. Over my fucking dead body is she going to the front lines now.

"She’s been through enough, and she needs rest," Shade says. He tries to make his tone calm, but anger roughens every word.

Stone ignores him. "The Human threat remains active. We have intelligence that they may regroup within the next few hours. If they return, the Omega Command must be available. Especially after the success she had forcing the last wave to retreat."

Fuck all of this.

We need time to regroup, breathe, and figure out our next move before Stone sinks his claws into her again.

Knox’s voice stays level, though I have no idea how he manages it when I can feel my protective Alpha instincts clawing at my insides. "Halley will not be stationed at the Pass."