Page 4 of Ranger’s Oath (Lone Star Wolf Rangers #5)

GAGE

E arlier I parked outside Rush and Cassidy’s penthouse.

The building is all glass and steel, rising over Galveston like it owns the horizon.

I swipe my keycard, step into the elevator, and ride it to the top.

My reflection stares back at me in the polished metal—hard eyes, clenched jaw, a man pretending he’s in control.

Cassidy leads me to Sadie’s room, where I catch a glimpse of her before Cassidy closes the door quietly and leads me back to Rush’s office.

It smells of old leather, premium whiskey, and salt air drifting in from the sea.

Team W sprawls across the space in varying degrees of tension—Gideon leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, Dalton pacing like a captive predator, Deacon flipping a pen between his fingers like he’s daring it to break.

Rush sits behind his desk, eyes steady, Cassidy at his side.

Her hand rests protectively on Sadie’s file.

The weight of that file presses into the room heavier than any storm.

I stand near the window, forcing my posture into calm discipline. Inside, my wolf prowls. Every time Sadie’s name is mentioned, I feel it, that restless pull in my blood I don’t want to even recognize, much less name.

My hands ball into fists once, too tight, before I force them open against my thigh. The small slip makes me curse myself for showing it. I count my breaths, but by the third I lose track and grind my teeth to cover it.

Rush clears his throat. “You all know about what happened in Aruba. The engagement party. The attack.” His voice is controlled, but underneath, I hear the scrape of rage.

“Sadie, saw something she wasn’t supposed to.

A cop executed in cold blood. They tried to silence her, and when that failed, they tried to finish the job when they landed in Houston. ”

Dalton’s pacing halts. “So why isn’t she dead? Cartels and mafia don't generally miss their targets.”

Cassidy’s voice cuts in, quiet but firm. “Because I changed her.”

The room goes still. Gideon swears under his breath. Deacon drops his pen. My chest seizes, and for a second, I forget how to breathe.

“You… turned your sister?” Gideon asks, incredulous.

Cassidy lifts her chin, bracing. “She was dying. I didn’t have a choice.”

Deacon shakes his head slowly. “There’s always a choice.”

“Not when it’s family,” Cassidy fires back, her voice trembling. “Not when it’s Sadie. I wasn’t going to watch her bleed out in my arms.”

Rush’s hand lands on hers, steadying. “What’s done is done. The question now is how we protect her.”

The debate ignites. Gideon leans forward, jaw tight.

“You inflicted the change on her without her consent.

My guess is she didn't know the truth about you, Rush or the rest of us.

I'm not sure that's saving. It sounds a lot more like inflicting something on her she might not have chosen for herself.”

Dalton bristles, fire in his voice. “I’d have done the same. You think I’d let Kari die if biting her was the only way to keep her alive? Hell no.”

“Don’t bring my sister into this,” Gideon growls, stepping closer.

“Enough.” Rush’s command slices through the room, but the fury simmers. Turning someone without their consent is a big deal to our kind, regardless of the reason. It's a slippery slope.

The air feels heavy, charged like a storm pressing against the walls, and every breath carries more than a trace of tension.

Deacon mutters about restraint, about the danger of untrained wolves.

Cassidy glares at him like she’ll burn him alive.

I keep silent, but the tension makes me grind my teeth.

Every instinct says danger circles closer than we know.

“Whoever ordered this hit won’t stop,” Rush continues. “We saw their reach in Aruba, and again in Houston. That makes Sadie this team's highest priority."

"Does the governor agree with that?" Gideon asks. The governor is the only one with jurisdiction over our team.

Rush shakes his head. "Doesn't matter. They’ve failed twice, and that will only make them more desperate.”

The reminder shoves ice into my veins. Two attempts already. A third will come, and so will a fourth, and so on and so on until they succeed. The thought of Sadie bleeding out nearly unravels me from the inside.

I hear the voices around me, but they blur into a low thrum pulsing through my system.

All I can think about is the way my wolf reacts every time Sadie’s name is spoken.

The memory slams into me—Rush and Cassidy’s wedding, Sadie in a pale green dress that made her eyes look like sea glass.

One smile from her had sent my wolf lunging against its leash.

I’d buried it, ignored it, convinced myself it was nothing.

I told myself she was off-limits. Cassidy’s sister. A civilian. Not mine.

Now there’s no ignoring it. Fate has shoved her into my path again.

Rush pulls the room back to focus. “She needs protection. Day and night. No gaps.”

Every eye turns to me.

“No,” I say flatly. “Not me.”

Rush arches a brow. “You’re the best option. You fly. You hack. You disappear when you need to. And you’re the only one who’s dealt with her before.”

"I haven't dealt with her. I danced with her at your wedding. Besides,I’m not a babysitter,” I growl. The snap is sharper than I meant, my voice clipped short enough to draw Gideon’s eyebrow. I unclench my fist under the table before anyone else notices.

Dalton grins. “Pretty baby, though." He turns to the others as I smile. "You should’ve seen his face at the wedding when she walked in.”

Gideon piles it on with a laugh. “He looked like somebody gut-punched him.”

Deacon chuckles, shaking his head. “You're right. Besides, I've never known Gage to lose his cool that fast.”

Laughter ripples, the kind that cuts and bonds all at once. I don’t rise to the bait, but my wolf snarls inside me, wild and restless. Rush doesn’t laugh either.

“You know what this is, Gage,” he says quietly. “Don’t make me spell it out.”

I hold his gaze, but the truth is already clawing at me. My wolf knew before I did. Sadie isn’t just Cassidy’s sister. She isn’t just a case. She’s… something my wolf refuses to ignore. The word I don’t want to name claws at me, but I shove it back down, locking it tight.

Deacon’s voice breaks the silence. “Since Cassidy turned her without any kind of preparation or foreknowledge, I have to ask, is she volatile? You all know what those first few days can be like for an uninformed human. She’s going to need someone who won’t flinch when she loses control.”

“She won’t lose control,” Cassidy insists, sharp as glass.

Dalton shakes his head. “Deke isn't saying she will, but do you want to bet her life on that? Yours? Ours? I take it she knows about the rest of us.”

"I had to tell her."

Rush places his hand over Cassidy's. "Of course you did, babe. And despite what any of these assholes says, they'd have done the same and we all know it."

The words sting. Cassidy falters, guilt dragging her shoulders lower. I glance at her, and for the first time I see not only her conviction but also her fear.

Rush ends it with steel in his tone. “Gage will take her. End of discussion.”

My jaw grinds. “I’ll do it. But only until we find who’s behind this. Then I’m out.”

Cassidy exhales, relief softening her shoulders. “Thank you.”

I ignore the gratitude and force my attention back to the mission.

Boundaries. Rules. Professionalism. I stack them like sandbags against a rising flood, convincing myself that if I keep the lines rigid, I can control my wolf.

The truth? It’s already pressing against the bars, and every time Sadie’s name is spoken, the lock feels weaker.

I cling to the illusion of control because admitting otherwise would mean acknowledging the bond clawing at me.

The briefing doesn’t end cleanly. Dalton tosses me a look. “Good luck, Remington. She’s fire, that one.”

Gideon adds with a crooked smile, “Better you than me.” Gideon’s smile fades as his gaze lingers on me, sharper than the joke. He doesn’t say it, but I can read it in his eyes—he’s wondering how long I can keep my distance. Maybe he’s already decided I can’t.

“Knock it off,” Rush growls, but his eyes hold the faintest glint of amusement.

Even under fire, the team leans on banter. It’s how we bleed pressure without breaking. Cassidy and I leave them to it.

I lay my hand on Cassidy's arm. I like Rush's mate.

Always have. “I think it's understandable, and she will come around. Difficult I can handle,” I answer.

My voice is steady, but inside, my chest is a war zone.

"She's just going to need time and structure.

With the guilt you seem to be carrying, I'm not sure you or Rush is the best one to give either of those to her. "

We walk through the penthouse, past the gleaming kitchen and the wide sweep of windows.

Cassidy briefs me in a low murmur. “I don't know if you read the file, but right after we got home, someone tried to breach the building.

Security caught them on camera, but they got away before the police arrived.

The cops think it was a run-of-the-mill break-in, but I'm not buying it. I don't like coincidence. We don’t know if it was professionals or just a desperate opportunist, but a team for a random break-in makes me think professional.”

“Me too. Security footage?” I ask.

“Inconclusive,” she admits. “They were masked. But the way they moved—disciplined. Military, maybe.”

A low curse escapes before I can choke it back. This isn’t random. It’s coordinated, practiced. My instincts flare hot, my wolf pressing at the edges of control, certain that whoever is after Sadie isn’t finished; they’re only getting bolder.

Cassidy studies me. “She's never trusted easily. After what's happened, she's not just upset, she’s angry and hurt. Don’t push her too hard.”

“Rush didn't assign me to coddle her. He assigned me to keep her alive.”

Cassidy nods and says softly. “You’re here because you won’t let anyone harm her. Not even herself.”

Her words hit with the weight of both caution and promise, sinking into me like a line I can’t afford to cross and can’t help but heed.

I spot Sadie the moment Cassidy opens the bedroom door.

She’ssitting on the floor with her back to the balcony doors, knees pulled to her chest, hair a tangled halo around her face.

She looks fragile and furious all at once.

Her scent slams into me—wild, sharp, unbearably tempting.

My wolf surges, snarling and claws scraping against bone.

She lifts her head, eyes locking on mine. And the world tilts. The air between us tightens until it’s hard to breathe. I see the defiance in her posture, the brittle humor in the tilt of her mouth, the storm she’s barely keeping contained.

“Sadie,” Cassidy says carefully. “You remember Gage, right? He’ll be staying with us. To keep you safe.”

Sadie’s eyes flick over me, sharp and assessing. “Safe? Or leashed?”

Her tone slices, clever and caustic. I feel heat crawling through my veins. Damn if she isn’t exactly as I remember—sassy, intelligent, and already breaking through my defenses.

“Safe,” I answer, voice low. “Though leash might not be the worst idea.”

Her brows lift, challenge sparking. “Try it, Ranger. See what happens.”

Cassidy sighs, exasperated. “Please don’t antagonize each other.”

It’s too late for that. The spark is there, electric and undeniable.

I step further into the room, unable to stop myself. “Get up.”

Her chin tips higher. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. If someone gets past this security, the last place you want to be is on the floor. On your feet, Marlow.”

She doesn’t move, just narrows her eyes. “I don’t take orders from you, and even if I did, barking those orders at me wouldn’t make me more inclined to follow them. Do you think ordering people around makes you a leader?”

“No,” I say evenly. “Keeping people alive does.”

“Funny. I don’t recall asking you to keep me alive.”

My wolf pushes hard, demanding dominance. I keep my voice calm, even, laced with steel. My gaze hardens. “You wouldn’t be here to argue if Cassidy hadn’t.”

The room stills. Cassidy’s gaze bounces between us, tension sparking like live wires. For a second, I think Sadie will dig in out of sheer spite. Then, slowly, she rises, every line of her body radiating challenge.

“Better?” she asks, voice smooth but edged with steel.

“Safer,” I correct. I take a step closer, close enough to feel the heat rolling off her. “And until this threat is neutralized, I expect you to follow my lead.”

Her lips curve in a mocking smile. “You expect a lot.”

"That's because I usually get it.”

Her laugh is sharp, daring, and genuine. “We’ll see about that.”

My wolf rumbles low, a warning that coils through my chest. The sound isn’t about protection. It's about possession, raw and dangerous. Every instinct tells me Sadie Marlow isn’t just under my watch. She’s a storm I can’t hold back, and if I falter for even a breath, she’ll consume me.