The forest is deathly silent as we approach the ridge overlooking the old observatory. I move like a shadow, every sense sharpened to a razor’s edge. My strike team—twelve of our most elite enforcers—follows in perfect formation behind me. Maddox has taken the larger force to create a distraction on the western side. This is the quiet blade.
I can’t stop thinking about Sienna.
Even now, miles away, the bond between us thrums steadily. She is at the forward command point with Kali and my mother, safe for the moment. But I feel the strain in her—the pup’s growing restlessness, the slow poison of the contingency device trying to unravel everything we have built. Her gentle swell, the way our son kicked against my palm this morning… it all fuels the fire in my blood.
Stay with me, little hy
