Page 113 of Knot So Lucky

The three of us share a look—understanding passing between pack mates who suddenly realize we're operating at levels we hadn't fully grasped.

On the main screen, Aurora's tracker continues moving through the city. But now there are additional signals appearing—multiple vehicles converging on her location from different directions, moving with coordinated precision that speaks to professional tactical operations.

Hart family resources, apparently.

Adrian breaks the silence first, voice carrying genuine curiosity beneath the tension.

"How many people do you have in this city?"

Cale doesn't look away from the screen. "Enough."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one you're getting."

Luca leans forward, elbows on his knees, studying the tactical display with the focus of someone whose brain is designed for strategy.

"They're boxing her in," he observes. "Three-vehicle perimeter, forcing the kidnappers toward this intersection where—" He points to a convergence point on the map. "—there's no escape route that doesn't involve going through your people."

"Correct."

I watch the display, my own tactical training—courtesy of a childhood spent learning how Bravati operations function—allowing me to appreciate the precision of what's unfolding.

This isn't brute force.It's surgical. Calculated. The kind of operation that requires significant coordination, real-time intelligence, and people who are trained for exactly this kind of extraction.

"How is this going to go down?" I ask, speaking to all three of them but really addressing the situation as a whole.

Because we're about to retrieve an Omega in Heat who was kidnapped by people threatening a Formula One champion, using resources from at least two different wealthy families' private operations, all while trying to avoid creating an international incident.

And somehow, we need to get Aurora somewhere safe before her biology overwhelms her completely.

Luca, Adrian, and I share another look—pack instincts recognizing that we're all invested in Aurora's safety now, regardless of how complicated that makes our collective futures.

"Carefully," Adrian finally answers, adjusting his glasses with the nervous gesture I'm learning means he's stressed. "This needs to go down very, very carefully."

On screen, the vehicles continue their coordinated approach, and Aurora's tracker moves inexorably toward the convergence point where Cale's people are waiting.

Ten minutes, he said.

I check my watch.

Seven minutes have already passed.

CHAPTER 20

Heat And Chaos

~AURORA~

I'm trying so hard not to fall asleep.

My eyes keep drooping, eyelids feeling like they're weighted with lead. Each blink lasts longer than the previous one, consciousness slipping through my fingers like water no matter how desperately I try to hold onto it.

Everything feels wrong.

My body is wrong. My head is wrong. The world around me is tilted at an angle that shouldn't be possible, and I can't figure out if it's me or reality that's skewed.

Voices filter through the fog—whispers and hushed tones that I'm trying to track, trying to understand, but the words keep sliding away before I can grasp their meaning.