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“Then don’t let it,” she replies, her voice soft but sure. “We’ve earned this, Ray. After everything... we deserve to hold on to something good.”

My throat tightens. I nod against her, not trusting myself to speak. Because she’s right. Wedodeserve this. But more than that—weneedit. In the midst of all the lies, all the hurt, all the gaping wounds we’re still trying to patch up, this—she—is my truth. My anchor.

I pull her tighter, heart pounding, soul aching, and make myself a promise. No matter what comes next—I’m not letting go.

24

RAY

“Security’s tight. Real tight. It’s a goddamn fortress,” Billy says, his voice grim.

His words hit harder than they should. I clench my jaw in the silence blanketing our front yard, tension crackling like static. The way he says it—low, gravelly, certain—it’s not a warning. It’s a verdict.

“At least twenty guards,” Billy continues, voice flat. “Armed. M4s, M16s. Rotating in pairs. No clear approach unless you’re a damn shadow.”

I clench my fists until my nails bite deep into flesh. The pain keeps me grounded, barely restrains the wild urge to destroy something. Not because I’m angry—though I am—but because I’m helpless. And I hate that feeling more than anything else in the world.

“Going in is suicide.”

Silence ripples out, cold and consuming—like blood blooming in snow.

Disappointment winds its way through our group, dragging morale with it. Raul doesn’t take long to break the stillness.

“Any blind spots?” Raul asks, voice tight.

I hear the desperation under it. Just enough to crack his usual steel.

“Maybe one. Cameras, most likely. But if we’re fast, we might slip through. There, at the back of the compound. We can leap from the trees to the roof. The schematics show a skylight in the design. But after you get in—” he pauses, letting that weight settle on our chests “—you’re not getting out the same way. The only way out will be the front door. Every guard will know we’re in and once they see us?” He shakes his head. “It’s over.”

“Fuck!” Raul slams a fist against his forehead like he’s trying to beat the frustration out. The sound of bone on bone makes me wince.

“What happened to the decoy plan?” Erica snaps, slicing through the tension like a blade. She’s trying to piece together the change in our attitude. “You were all about that idea ten minutes ago.”

Raul gives her a look that says she’s lost her mind.

“Did you hear anything Billy just said?” he snaps. “There are too many guards, Erica. Even if you distract half?—”

“There are still a lot left,” she finishes for him, eyes narrowing. She tosses a glance at me, and for a second, I catch something raw and wild flicker in her gaze. “I don’t care. They’ve got Sammy. This isn’t a choice.”

Her words drop like a stone into a still pond. None of us disagree it’s bad but no one wants to touch it. She glares at each of us in turn, stopping at Raul.

“Get me there,” she says. “You won’t have to worry about them. I’ll handle it.”

“Erica—” Raul starts, but she shoves her face in his.

“Don’t argue with me, you oversized oak!” she snarls. “I said I’ll handle them, and I mean it.”

I blink. She’s got our Alpha—a beast of a man and the strongest among us—backed into silence. And he lets her. Doesn’t raise his voice. Doesn’t argue. He nods once and turns to Billy.

Raul straightens. “We do this by the numbers.” His Alpha voice returns—steel in every syllable. “Notify the pack. Ten of our finest are going in. The rest, perimeter watch. Move out!”

And just like that, we move. No more debate. No more hesitation.

We pile into my truck. The engine growls to life, and adrenaline slams into me like a freight train. Every nerve lights up. The road ahead glows under the headlights, but all I see is Sammy. Locked up, alone, afraid.

“Tell me you’re not going in wolfed out,” Erica says, gripping the oh-shit handle as I tear down the dirt road.

“I’d love to,” I mutter. “But I can’t. I’ll need my hands to get Sam out.”