The door creaks open, and a blonde figure stumbles out, uniform covered in dust and blood. I freeze.
Something familiar.
Something wrong.
"Teddie?" Ridge asks, stepping forward. "What the hell are you doing here?"
The figure straightens up and wipes blood from a cut on their cheek. As they turn toward us, the waning sunlight catches their features. My heart stops.
Not Teddie. The face is similar, but the eyes—those are Brylee's eyes. Wide with shock and recognition, the same deep blue that I've seen filled with laughter, with desire, with trust.
"Brylee?" The name escapes my lips, barely a whisper, lost in the aftermath of battle.
She flinches, then her expression hardens with determination. "I had to come. I had to. I needed to see you and…"
My world tilts.
Our omega.
Our mate.
Here.
In the middle of a war zone.
Dressed as her brother.
Driving a bus under fire.
Rage and relief war inside me, a storm of emotions so powerful I can barely breathe. I want to shake her for her recklessness and pull her into my arms all at once. Behind me, I hear Kylian's sharp intake of breath and Luka's muttered curse.
She's alive.
She's safe.
And she's going to be the death of us all.
35
BRYLEE
The driveback to camp is silent, but the air is so thick with unspoken fury that it feels like I'm choking on it. The other soldiers were picked up by a spare bus, but me?
I don’t get that luxury.
I can feel each of them like a furnace enveloping me. Colter's massive presence is a wall of simmering rage, Kylian's usual golden energy is replaced by a sharp, dangerous crackle, and Luka's silence is somehow more terrifying than any shout would be. Ridge sits in the driver’s seat in front of me, his jaw set so hard I'm surprised his teeth don't crack. He hasn't said a word, and that's the most frightening thing of all.
When we exit the vehicle and reach the relative privacy of their large command tent, the dam breaks.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Ridge explodes, his voice a low, dangerous growl that vibrates through the canvas floor of the tent. His eyes blaze with a fury so intense it almost makes me step back. Almost. "What in God's name were you thinking?"
Shedding the hat and wig, letting my natural hair tumble down my shoulders, I stand my ground and cross my arms over my chest. My uniform is stiff with dried blood and grime, and I'm exhausted down to my bones, but I won't break. Not yet.
"I was thinking that my scent matches were sent to the front line without me, and I couldn’t let that stand.”
"You took Teddie’s place! A-fucking-gain!" Kylian paces restlessly, his hands running through his hair. "You drove a bus through an active firefight! Brylee, that's not…that's not something you do!"
"I’ve trained for this," I shoot back, my voice rising with my own frustration.
