Page 24 of Forest Reed (Seals on Fraiser Mountain #8)

Forest

The echo of Jason’s cutters snapping the wire was still ringing in my ears when I caught the glint of movement on the ridge. Tall. Confident. That smile I’d know anywhere.

“North,” I muttered.

Zoe followed my gaze. Her breath hitched. “He’s taunting us.”

Not for long.

I was already moving, rifle tight in my grip, boots slamming over concrete as I vaulted the barricade. Gravel sprayed under my boots as I hit the service trail that snaked up the ridge.

“Forest!” Zoe called, chasing me without hesitation.

Jason’s voice cracked over comms. “Are you insane? You just ran a sprint marathon on adrenaline!”

“You can yell at me later,” I growled. “He’s right here.”

Zoe

Branches whipped my arms as we crashed through the treeline, Forest ahead of me like a relentless force of nature. My lungs screamed, my legs begged to quit—but quitting wasn’t in me, not with North dangling like a ghost just out of reach.

A shadow darted between trees ahead, deliberate, fast but not fleeing. Leading.

“He’s drawing us in!” I hissed.

Forest didn’t slow. “Good. Let him.”

Gunfire snapped behind us—Lane’s deputies clashing with the wolves at the dam—but I shoved the noise out. There was only North now, and the fire in my blood demanding we end this.

We crested the ridge, and there he was.

Standing on a rock outcrop, moonlight painting him silver, North looked like a man born from the mountain itself. Calm. Smiling. Waiting.

“You’re persistent,” he called, voice carrying like silk over the wind. “I like that.”

Forest leveled his rifle. “End of the line.”

North’s smile widened, almost gentle. “Oh, Forest. There’s never an end. Only another trail.”

And with that, he stepped back—vanishing into the dark like the mountain swallowed him whole.

Forest

“Move!” I shouted, bolting for the outcrop. Zoe was at my side, breath ragged, determination burning in her eyes.

But when we reached it—

Nothing. No trail. No tracks. Just sheer drop into the gorge below, water raging black and wild.

Zoe’s face twisted, fury blazing hot. “He planned this. Every second of it.”

Jason’s voice hit my ear, grim and low. “He’s not just running, Forest. He’s leading. And you just stepped into his hunt.”

I scanned the gorge, chest heaving, rifle ready. North wasn’t gone. He was out there. Watching. Always watching.

And this time… he wanted us to follow.