Page 26 of Rescued by Four Alphas (Claimed by the Four Alphas #2)

We reach the elevator, and one of the men, Bas, attaches a device to the control panel. "Bypassing security lockdown," he mutters. "This will take…"

The doors slide open unexpectedly. Inside stand three armed guards, surprised to see us, as we are to see them. For a split second, no one moves.

Then all hell breaks loose.

Gunfire erupts in the confined space. I dive to the side, returning fire as Rivera and his men engage. One guard goes down immediately, but the other two find cover behind the elevator doors.

"Throw the grenade," Rivera calls, and one of his men tosses a flashbang into the elevator. The explosion is blinding, and we surge forward through the smoke.

The guards are down, disoriented by the blast. We secure the elevator, and Vega immediately begins working on the control panel.

"Manual override required," he says, connecting a device to the exposed wiring. "Their security lockdown is more sophisticated than we expected."

"How long?" I demand.

"Three minutes."

"That's too long," I growl, moving to the emergency access hatch in the ceiling. "We climb."

Rivera grabs my arm. "That shaft is at least fifty meters deep. If you slip…"

"I won't." I shake off his hand and pull myself up through the hatch. The elevator shaft stretches above us, disappearing into darkness, and below us to the lower levels where Dahlia is being held.

I climb down, gripping the ladder bolted to the wall. The others follow reluctantly, and soon we're all climbing down into the depths of the facility.

"Update," I demand through my comms.

My earpiece crackles with Leo's voice, punctuated by the sound of gunfire. "We're pinned down near the main medical bay. At least ten hostiles between us and Dahlia's position."

"Hold on," I reply. "We're coming down the elevator shaft now."

As if the universe is determined to punish me further, my comms suddenly explode with urgent chatter from Team Alpha at the main entrance.

"Reinforcements arriving! Military-grade vehicles approaching from the north access road!"

"Sir," Jensen breaks in, "thermal imaging shows twenty-plus new hostiles entering the facility. They're wearing different uniforms and not standard security. These might be Reid's elite forces."

Of course, I know who they are. This is the black ops team that even the government pretends doesn't exist.

"Time estimate to reach Dahlia's position?" I ask as we continue our descent.

"Two minutes to the bottom of the shaft, then approximately four minutes to the storage area," Vega replies.

Six minutes. Too long. It's far too long.

We reach the bottom of the shaft and force open the elevator doors. Leo takes point, his weapon raised, as we come out into a sterile hallway with harsh white lighting. Immediately, my nostrils flare at the scent of blood… fresh blood, and lots of it.

"This way," I direct, following the scent. We encounter surprisingly little resistance, likely because most of the security forces are still engaged with Team Alpha and Onyx's group.

That changes when we round the corner into the main medical wing. Ahead of us, a squad of black-clad operatives has established a defensive position, blocking our path to the storage area where Dahlia might be.

"Eight tangos," Rivera mutters, assessing the situation. "Well… these aren't regular security."

"We need to get through them," I say. "Now."

"Direct assault is suicide," Rivera counters. "We need to…"

I cut him off. "Jensen, can you access the fire suppression systems on this level?"

"Checking," Jensen replies. After a moment: "Yes, I've got control."

"Activate them now."

Seconds later, sprinklers activate throughout the corridor, spraying water onto the surprised operatives. Simultaneously, a piercing alarm begins to sound, different from the previous security alarms.

"Smoke grenades," I order, and Rivera's men immediately comply, launching canisters that fill the water-slicked corridor with thick gray smoke.

We use thermal imaging to target the disoriented operatives.

The fighting is brutal and in close quarters; these men are trained killers with nothing to lose.

But so are we, and we have something they don't. Family.

Leo takes down one of Rivera's men, then another with his hands.

A bullet grazes my arm, but the pain barely registers in my head.

"Evan, you're hit," Leo says.

"It's a flesh wound," I reply. "Keep moving."

"Where is Dahlia?" I demand, grabbing the nearest soldier by his lab coat. "The pregnant Omega woman?"

"I don't know," he stammers. "There was an incident in Examination Room 3. She killed two technicians and escaped with Dr. Vasquez."

"Where would they go?" I press, shaking him. "Where?"

"I don't know! Maybe the emergency exit? Or…" his eyes dart to the side momentarily.

That's all I need. I release him and move in the direction he looked, down a side corridor labeled "Storage and Supply."

We round the final corner and finally see the door. At the same moment, Reid appears at the other end of the corridor, flanked by four armed guards. Our eyes lock across the distance, and his face contorts with rage.

"Leo, can you handle this? I order.

"Yes." He looks towards the storage room for a brief second. "Make sure she's fine." I nod and sprint toward the storage door. Leo's face distorts as he transforms, and gunfire erupts behind me.

I'm ten steps away, then five, then at the door itself.

I reach for the handle just as the most heart-wrenching sound I've ever heard pierces through my head. The sound drives through me, and it sends my wolf reeling. I push at the door, but it doesn't budge.

And then I hear a sound so small yet so powerful it freezes the blood in my veins. Unlike Dahlia's screams of pain, this sound is new, fragile, and filled with life.

From inside the storage room comes the unmistakable cry of a newborn baby.

My hand stops an inch from the door handle, my entire body rigid with shock as the tiny wail continues. Time seems to stop, and the gunfire fades to a distant roar as that slight, perfect sound fills my universe.

The babies are here.