Page 28 of Ranger’s Oath (Lone Star Wolf Rangers #5)
Rush lingers nearby, expression dry as ever. “You two are trouble. But useful trouble.” It’s as close to praise as he’ll give, and Cassidy beams at it like it’s gold.
Minutes later, my comm buzzes. Kari’s message flashes across the screen: Told you so. I shake my head, passing the device to Sadie. She laughs so hard she nearly doubles over, shoulders shaking, and the sound slices through the smoke like sunlight.
We regroup by the trucks, exhaustion settling over the team like a heavy cloak. The evidence is secured, the prisoners loaded. But none of us believes the fight is finished.
Gideon leans against the hood, drone feed flickering across his tablet. His expression darkens as he pinches to zoom, pulling up a packet trace. “We’ve got a problem. This isn’t Pier One. Encrypted short-burst relays—military-grade. Hardware way above their pay grade.”
Rush straightens. “What kind?”
Gideon angles the tablet so we all see it—an encrypted pattern riding the drone network, a signature too clean, too deliberate, nothing like Pier One’s crude systems. “Whoever financed this just showed their hand. And they’re bigger than the ones we burned tonight.”
The team goes quiet, the weight of it sinking in. The silence is heavy, every man and woman here sensing that what we’ve faced is only the beginning. Another storm builds on the horizon, a pressure that presses at the back of my skull like thunder waiting to break.
I slide my arm around Sadie, pulling her into my side, holding her as if to anchor us both.
She leans into me without hesitation, her warmth steady against the chill of the night, her strength wrapping around mine.
For tonight, we’ve won a battle. Tomorrow will bring its own war, one we’ll meet together.
But with her by my side and the way she looks at me, fierce and unflinching, I know I’m ready for whatever comes.I lower my mouth to hers again, sealing the vow with a kiss that promises more than words ever could. This is our happily ever after, scarred and imperfect, but real.
Six Months Later
The ranch house hums with life in a way it never did before.
Dinner is loud, plates passed, voices tumbling over each other, and laughter cutting through the occasional mock growl.
The long farmhouse table is crowded—Rangers and their women shoulder to shoulder, like the family none of us dared to admit we needed until now.
Cassidy swats Rush’s hand away from the bread basket. “You had three rolls already. Leave some for the rest of us.”
Rush lifts a brow, deadpan. “I burned three thousand calories by noon.”
“Bragging doesn’t earn you carbs,” Cassidy fires back, but the corner of her mouth twitches with affection.
Gideon smothers a grin behind his glass, while Dalton mutters, “Someone needs to muzzle the governor’s golden boy before his head gets any bigger.”
Sadie leans into me, stage whispering loud enough for the whole table. “If anyone’s getting muzzled around here, it should be you, Gage. Preferably by me.”
The table erupts. My ears heat, but I lean in close enough for only her to hear. “Careful what you offer, sweetheart. I’ll hold you to it.”
Her eyes flash, and she licks a drop of wine from her lip with a deliberate slowness that twists my gut. She knows exactly how to play this game.
Across the table, Kari rolls her eyes at the two of us. “Do you ever stop?”
“Not planning on it,” Sadie answers, smug. She steals my fork and eats the last of my steak, then sets the fork back down like nothing happened.
Dalton groans. “Why do we even bother? We used to terrify people. Now the lot of you have the lot of us wrapped around your fingers.”
“Funny,” Gideon drawls. “Says the man who can’t walk past my sister without checking if she needs anything.”
Kari tilts her head, sweet as sin. “That’s because he loves me.”
Dalton doesn’t argue. He just shrugs, one big hand on her thigh under the table, the look in his eyes promising a reckoning later. Kari blushes but doesn’t look away.
It’s domestic. It’s ridiculous. It’s perfect.
After dinner, we sprawl on the porch, the air heavy with heat and crickets. The women claim the rocking chairs, glasses of wine in hand, while we stand near the railing, trading quiet updates about security sweeps. But it never stays serious for long.
“Remember when you thought she’d be safer without knowing anything?” Gideon nudges me with his elbow, voice pitched low. “How’s that working out for you?”
I glance at Sadie, who’s laughing with Cassidy, firelight painting her skin in gold. “She’s trouble,” I admit. “But she’s mine.”
Gideon snorts. “We noticed.”
Sadie turns, catching me staring. Her smile is wicked, promise and challenge tangled together.
My chest tightens with the same hunger that’s been there since the moment we met, only now it’s sharpened by months of battles fought side by side, secrets unearthed, and nights that burned too hot to forget.
Later, when the laughter dies down and the porch empties, she finds me leaning against the railing. Her hand slides into mine without asking. “Six months ago, I didn’t know if I’d survive a week,” she murmurs. “Now look at us.”
I kiss her knuckles, slowly. “Now look at us.”
The night wraps around us, full of warmth, danger kept at bay, and the knowledge that whatever comes next, we’ll meet it together—Rangers, wolves, mates, family.
There are still cases pending, still bad men out there who think they can hide from us, and tomorrow we’ll hunt them.
But tonight belongs to love and laughter, and the reminder that this is what makes the fight worth it.
For the first time in years, I believe in forever.
If you enjoyed this series you might like Men of Echo Ridge. The first book Echo: Spark is a free prequel. Click here to download.
They were soldiers forged in fire… then betrayed and left for dead.
Rhett Kane built his Montana fortress to keep the world out. Colton Stryker tried to drown his demons at the bottom of a bottle. Alex Mercer turned the wilderness into his personal war zone. Dylan Rourke carries the scars of every life he was ordered to break.
Each man was abandoned by the very government they bled for. Each man should already be dead.
But when a shadow organization begins hunting these forgotten heroes, fate brings them together. Bound by brotherhood, haunted by the past, and armed with nothing but their skills and a code of honor, these broken warriors ignite the spark of something the Committee never saw coming: Echo Ridge.
A sanctuary. A brotherhood. A war.
This prequel introduces the Men of Echo Ridge . A series where danger runs high, bonds run deep, and every hero will risk everything for the woman meant for him.