Page 29 of Forest Reed (Seals on Fraiser Mountain #8)

North

The plume of smoke rose against the morning sky, thick and black, curling into a perfect signal. I leaned against the hood of the SUV on the ridge, cigarette dangling from my lips, and watched the square below unravel.

Panic rippled through the town like fire through dry grass—sirens blaring, people screaming, uniforms scrambling to pick up the pieces. Exactly as I’d planned.

“Messy,” the suited man beside me remarked in his clipped accent.

“Effective,” I corrected, exhaling smoke. “They saved their dam. They saved themselves. And now they’ll learn it doesn’t matter. Safety is an illusion I control.”

I flicked ash onto the gravel, eyes narrowing on the figures in the square—Forest, Zoe, Jason, Lane. They were battered, blackened, but alive. Always alive.

Good. Prey that never quits is the most entertaining.

But then—movement.

I frowned, leaning forward as more figures sprinted into the chaos. Not deputies. Not locals. Larger. Faster. Moving with the kind of lethal precision you don’t buy—you’re born into.

Recognition hit, sharp and unwelcome.

Navy SEALs.

Fraiser’s broad frame cutting through smoke, voice booming orders.

Max with his steady aim, corralling civilians to safety.

Axel, fast and fierce, already pulling a wounded man from the rubble.

Nate, eyes hard, scanning rooftops for shooters.

And Jack Raider—the one they called untouchable—grinning like a wolf as he shouldered a rifle, ready for hell.

My cigarette stilled between my fingers.

So. The mountain had teeth I hadn’t counted on.

The suited man followed my gaze, his expression sour. “You said you had them contained.”

I smiled, slow and deliberate, though my chest burned hot. “I do. Containment doesn’t mean they won’t fight.”

Below, the SEALs converged with Forest and Zoe, forming a line of firepower I hadn’t expected to see this early.

Interesting.

I flicked the cigarette away, grinding the ember under my heel. “Then we give them more to fight for.”

And I turned toward the SUV, already calculating my next stage.