The gate didn’t just open.
It unfolded, metal plates sliding over each other like the ribs of some enormous steel creature waking from sleep. The sound was low, mechanical, ancient — a warning and a welcome at the same time.
Lucien stepped through first.
Rhett followed, silent and steady.
Jax sauntered in with a grin, like he owned the place.
Cole walked last, eyes scanning every angle, every shadow, every possible threat.
I stood at the threshold, staring.
The Compound wasn’t what I expected.
It wasn’t a bunker.
It wasn’t a warehouse.
It wasn’t a clubhouse.
It was a fortress.
A massive structure rose from the forest floor — dark stone walls reinforced with steel beams, windows narrow and angled, the roof sloped and armored. It looked like it had been carved into the earth itse
