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CHAPTER 1

JAXSON

“No… no… please, stop!”

Screams assault my ears the closer I get to the closed door. My team has the shack surrounded and awaits my signal to breach it. I close my eyes and silently pray before raising my boot to kick in the door. Skin slapping skin and grunting noises rise above the pleas of a woman.

“Alpha team, go,” I growl at the same time my foot connects with the flimsy piece of wood.

I’ve seen a lot of fucked up shit in my life, but the scene in front of me threatens to drop me to my knees. Five men litter the room in different stages of undress, and four of them are stroking their flaccid cocks. The fifth man is gripping the hips and thrusting wildly inside of the sobbing female who’s tied to a table on her stomach.

My eyes seek out hers. I want her to know that the good guys are here, but when she turns her head, only a vacant look stares back at me. The man rutting into her is so far gone that he hasn’t even noticed that I’ve entered the room.

The other men start screaming as the rest of my men descend. The kidnappers reach for their guns, but they’re too slow, and each one drops as a bullet hits their forehead, ending their miserable lives. The fucker raping the woman finally comes out of his sex-fueled haze, picks a knife up off the table, and charges toward me.

“Come on, motherfucker,” I taunt.

He swings the knife, but I grab his wrist and flip it back toward him, jabbing him in the stomach. He sags to the floor, the grin on his face nothing but pure evil.

“I broke her,” he says with a laugh. “We marked her. She’ll never be safe.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” I lift my gun and fire one bullet between his eyes, watching him slump over.

“Rivers,” Thomas calls out. “She won’t let us near her.”

I rock back on my heels and turn toward Aurora. Someone already cut her free from the table. They also covered her with a blanket which she's currently cowered under in the corner, but the flimsy material isn't larger enough to hide her.

I shift toward her with my hands in the air so she can see that I don’t have any weapons and mean her no harm. “Aurora,” I call out softly.

“No, please,” she begs. “No more. Kill me. Please, just kill me.”

“Aurora,” I say more firmly. “Your dad sent us. You’re safe. We’re here to take you home.”

She shakes her head. “Can’t trust anyone.”

I lift my brows and look around at my men. Thomas shrugs and moves to grab Aurora before I can stop him. A blood-curdling scream reverberates off the walls.

“Back the fuck off, Thomas,” I grit through my teeth.

Thomas takes a step back, his hands up in surrender. “I wasn’t going to hurt her.”

“I know that, but she doesn’t.”

Keeping my hands raised so she can see them, I step forward slowly. After a few steps, I drop to my knees, my hands placed in front of me. I will my facial muscles to relax so as not to show the looming anger that threatens to rise to the surface. Those fuckers died too quickly for my liking. I wish I could’ve taken my time and made them suffer the way Aurora and the others before her have. We recovered twenty-five other women before finally locating our main target.

“You don’t know us, but I swear we’re the good guys. I’m going to take off my shirt so I can cover you up.” I toss my helmet and bulletproof vest to Thomas, who catches it with ease, and slowly pull my shirt off. Aurora flinches, smacking her head into the flimsy wall. “Fuck… are you okay?”

She doesn’t answer but watches me, wide-eyed. Now that my shoulder is exposed, she can see my ink. A skull with an oar and knife crisscrossed behind it with gnarly wings on the side. Every Marine Force Recon has one on our team.

“Winchester,” I say with a silent prayer.

Aurora’s face lights up with recognition. “My f-f-father sent you?” she whispers.

Before we left, General Parks pulled me aside and whispered Winchester into my ear. He explained that it was their safe word and one that Aurora would recognize. I assume it’s because of his love of guns.

Relieved, I nod. “Yes, we’ve been looking for you for ten days.”

“It’s only been ten days?” she says mostly to herself. “What happened to Lace?”

“Who’s Lace?”

“The girl that was with me.”

I gulp, not wanting to cause her any more distress. “We haven’t recovered anyone by that name. I’m sorry.”

“This is a fucking nightmare.” Aurora pummels her head and begins pulling at the ends of her hair. Her eyes widen as she stares at the strands in her palms. “A real-life nightmare, and I can’t wake up.”

Aurora sobs harder, and her body shakes uncontrollably. She claws at her skin, drawing blood down her arms. Knowing that this might cause more harm than good, I move closer to wrap the little blanket around her tighter in an effort to stop her from hurting herself. Aurora swings at my head, but there’s no weight behind the punch because she’s so weak.

“Stay away from me!” she screams, digging at her skin once again. “I can’t get them off of me.”

Not wanting her to cause any more damage, I quickly wrap the blanket around her tight, pull her into my lap, and rock her. She struggles to get away from me, but I tighten my grip so she doesn’t hurt herself further.

“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but you’re safe now,” I murmur into her hair. “We’re going to take you home. It’s over. You’ll see.”

I glance at my men. The looks on their faces range from pity to rage. We were too late to stop the horrors she had to endure, but we got her back, and we will ensure she gets home safe to her father.

“Turn around,” I order my men. They all give us their backs. “Aurora, I’m going to drop the blanket now and put my shirt on you. We didn’t think to bring you any clothes, but this will at least fit you like a dress and keep you covered until we can get you home. We’re going directly to the airstrip.”

“Home?”

“Home,” I promise.

I pull it down over her head while she threads her arms through the sleeves, taking note of every bruise and cut that mars her skin. As I predicted, the shirt dwarfs her small frame. I stand, holding out my hand for her to grab and pull her to her feet. She stumbles forward, and I catch her before she falls. I cradle her bridal style against my chest, noting she weighs hardly anything.

“How long have I been missing?” Aurora inquires. “Everything is a blur. I hardly remember anything.”

“‘Bout fourteen days, give or take,” I respond.

“Jesus,” Bennett mutters. “Are you sure it’s only been two weeks? Look at her man.”

All I’ve done since we rid the world of those sons of bitches is stare at Aurora, but now that Bennett mentions it, her hair is brittle and grimy. Dark black circles have formed under her sunken eyes, and her cheeks are hallowed out. I’m not sure how skinny she was before she was taken, but her ribs are very noticeable.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Hudson inquires gently.

I admire this about my team. We’re all gruff, hard men, but we know how to tread lightly when necessary.

“I… I… I was in a warehouse somewhere with Russians,” Aurora explains. “Next thing I know, I’m on a cargo plane chained to a wall with a lot of other women. Omigod! The other women… Please tell me they’re okay.”

“Shhh, calm down,” I assure. “We found them a few days ago. They’re already back in the States.”

“Back in the States?” she asks, confused. “Where the hell are we?”

We all glance at each other, and Hudson rubs the back of his neck. “Uh… well… you see…”

“We’re in Sukhodil, Ukraine,” Carver answers.

Aurora turns her head to face him. “How could they get me out of the U.S. without a passport?”

Carver grimaces. “They smuggled you and all the girls out. Unfortunately, it happens all the time.”

Aurora trembles, so I hold her closer to my chest.

“Enough,” I state firmly. “We can discuss this more on the plane. Fall out, we don’t know if they have reinforcements on the way.”

“Roger that!” all my men say in unison.

Thomas takes point and leads the way out of the shack where Aurora was being held. Each man takes a defensive position around me and the precious cargo I’m carrying, guns drawn, ready to fire. We hike the two miles back to our abandoned Hummer where I gently place Aurora in the back seat between Carver and Hudson while everyone else piles in.

“Please,” Aurora begs. “Please don’t leave me.”

I toss the keys to Carver. “You drive. I’ll sit back here.”

Carver catches them easily and gives Aurora a lopsided smile. “We’ll be back at the plane in no time.”

Hudson hands Aurora a bottle of water, which she opens and chugs greedily. “When was the last time you had a drink of water?”

“I can’t remember,” she says, sheepishly. Her stomach takes this moment to growl in anger. “Sor?—”

Before I can step out of the way, Aurora’s face turns a sickening grayish color. She opens her mouth and projectile vomits the water she consumed all over my chest and pants, effectively soaking me. I lift her out of the Hummer and gently set her on the ground, where she continues to dry heave.

I rub my hand over my face. “Fuck.”

“Shit, sorry, Rivers,” Hudson says, handing me the blanket that we had used to cover Aurora.

Drying off the best I can, I lean down to check on her. “You, okay?”

Emerald eyes stare back at me. “I’m so s-s-sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Hudson answers before I can. “I wasn’t thinking. You’re probably severely dehydrated. That wasn’t smart of me to let you drink water that fast. Once we get you on the plane, I’ll get you set up with an IV and get some fluids in you. The fault is all mine.”

“He’s right,” I agree. “It’s not your fault. We weren’t thinking. Come on.” I assist her back into the vehicle. “Let’s get you home. Step on it, Carver.”

Their death was way too fucking fast.