Page 21 of Rescued By the Alpha SEAL

She's runningfromsomething, not chasing us.

The Forge is a fortress.

Built on trust.

Discipline.

Safety.

I've spent years protecting that. Created this place out of guilt, out of fire, out of blood.

And now there's a woman inside it with secrets leaking from her pores—and every instinct tells me to get her out.

But I can't.

Because something deeper pulls at me.

The way she looked in the scope of a sniper rifle. The way she wouldn't flinch even when she should've begged. The way she hides behind sharp words and steady hands—just like I do.

And I'm not ready to admit what that says aboutme.

I move through the morning meetings with half my attention, one eye always tracking Sloane through Asa Vale's camera feeds.

He's our ghost in the machine, the man who sees everything but rarely leaves his tech nest. Five years of working together, and I still catch him watching me through his screens, cataloging patterns, reading tells that even I don't know I have.

Sometimes I wonder if he knows more about my habits than I do. Probably. That's why I trust him with the compound's security.

Asa doesn't miss details—and he never lets emotion cloud his data. In our line of work, that kind of precision keeps people alive.

Sloane follows Caleb through each section of the compound, asking questions I can't hear but can imagine. Her stance gradually relaxes, though her eyes never stop moving.

After lunch, I find them in the tactical gym. Caleb is demonstrating something with exaggerated flair, gesturing with those broad hands of his like he's painting the air. And Sloane?—

She laughs.

It catches me off guard.

The sound is brief, rusty, like something long disused.

But it transforms her face, softening the hard edges, illuminating something I hadn't seen before.

She looks younger.

Less haunted.

Almost beautiful in the weak winter light streaming through the high windows.

Something sharp and unwanted digs into my chest as I watch.

Something dangerously close to...

I know that laugh. I know what it costs when you've been running too long. I know how quickly it can disappear.

But for a few moments, I find myself wanting to preserve it.

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SLOANE