Page 25 of Forest Reed (Seals on Fraiser Mountain #8)

Zoe

We regrouped at the service road below the gorge, the night air thick with gunpowder and the metallic tang of fear. Deputies dragged the last of North’s men into custody, headlights from Lane’s cruiser cutting sharp beams through the trees.

Forest leaned against the hood of the truck, silent, his eyes locked on the ridge where North had vanished. His shirt was ripped, streaked with soot and blood—his or someone else’s, I didn’t know. But the set of his jaw told me what I needed to. He wasn’t letting this go.

Jason shoved a hand through his hair, pacing hard. “We were never meant to catch him at the dam. The charges, the show, the buyers—it was all stagecraft.”

I folded my arms, trying to keep my voice steady. “Then what was the point?”

Jason stopped, eyes cutting to me. “The point was us. He wanted to measure us. How fast we moved. How far we’d chase. How close we’d get before he slipped the leash.”

Lane cursed under her breath. “So what—you’re saying the son of a bitch turned an entire valley into a proving ground just to study us?”

Jason’s jaw ticked. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Silence pressed down heavy. Forest finally spoke, his voice low steel. “Then he thinks we’re prey.”

I stepped closer to him, close enough to smell the smoke in his hair, feel the tremor running through him. “So what do we do?”

Forest’s gaze lifted to mine, steady and unyielding. “We hunt him back.”

North

From the ridge above, I watched their headlights carve paths through the dark. They looked so small from here—ants scurrying, convinced they’d won.

Amusing.

I lit a cigarette, the flame bright against the night, then exhaled slow. The smoke curled up toward the stars, dissolving as easily as their false sense of victory.

They had cut the wire. Saved the valley. Earned their applause.

But they still hadn’t seen the real stage.

I turned, sliding into the black SUV waiting at the tree line. The man in the sharp suit sat inside, his expression cold, his voice accented and clipped. “You promised a demonstration.”

I smiled, leaning back into the leather seat. “And you got one. You saw their skill. Their loyalty. Their… weakness.”

He studied me in silence, unimpressed. Finally, he said, “Then prove they can be broken.”

The door shut, the engine growled, and the mountain swallowed us whole.

Let them chase.

The real hunt hadn’t even started.