Eli studied her expression carefully before laughing under his breath. “Well, shit.”
Wren looked back sharply. “What?”
“You really did choose both.” His grin widened slightly. “Didn’t think Buck had it in him to share.” Wren stayed silent because denying it suddenly felt impossible.
Eli stood slowly. “You know what’s gonna happen tomorrow?” She said nothing.
“Buck’s gonna come for you.” Eli shoved his hands into his pockets casually. “And when he does, he’ll walk straight into a slaughterhouse.”
Fear sliced through her. “What are you planning?”
Eli’s smile turned cruel. “We’re starting a war. One that I plan on winning.” He walked away before she could say another word. Wren stared after him with her heart hammering painfully against her ribs. She was certain that Eli was right and that Buck would come—Ghost too, and somehow that terrified her more than being trapped in a cage. Because if Eli was telling the truth, they were walking straight into a trap.
A soft sound came from nearby. Wren looked up to find the bruised young woman from earlier standing partially hidden behind a stack of crates. She was carefully watching Wren, and the fear in her eyes was unnerving. Then, very subtly, the girl pointed toward the far western wall of the warehouse to a door. It was hidden behind hanging tarps, but Wren saw it. And for the first time since waking up in a fucking cage, hope flared painfully in Wren’s chest. The girl disappeared immediately after, and Wren stared toward the hidden exit while adrenaline slowly flooded her veins. Okay—maybe she wasn’t helpless after all.
Buck
Buck had slept maybe twenty minutes total. Not real sleep, but the kind where your eyes close but your brain never stops moving. Every time he drifted off, he saw Wren—cold, terrified, and calling out for them. The thoughts were making him violent, like he wanted to burn the entire fucking world down to find her.
The clubhouse war room buzzed around him while snow hammered the windows hard enough to shake the glass panes. Maps covered the scarred wooden table with routes marked in red, while the Kings moved in and out carrying weapons and radios. Ghost stood beside Buck, drinking burnt coffee like it personally offended him.
“It tastes like shit,” Ghost muttered. Buck barely heard him because his eyes stayed fixed on the warehouse sketch Reaper had spread across the table. They were holding Wren at an old warehouse in Blackwater Ridge. It was an abandoned shipping depot near the frozen river crossings. The place was perfect for smuggling, perfect for hiding people, and fucking perfect for an ambush.
“They’ll expect us to hit the main loading bays,” Reaper said.
“Which means we won’t,” Buck answered immediately.
Ghost nodded beside him. “It’s too obvious.” Buck dragged a hand through his hair roughly, and every instinct inside him screamed to storm the building head-on and kill every man between him and Wren, but that’s exactly what Eli wanted. The bastard knew Buck too well.
“You thinking about her again?” Ghost asked quietly.
Buck shot him a flat look. “When am I not thinking about Wren?” he grumbled. Ghost smirked faintly. The truth was, neither of them had stopped thinking about her once since Eli took her. Buck could still feel the warmth of her hand slipping into his last night. He could still hear her whispering for them to come back safely. And Christ, the thought of her trapped with those men was driving him out of his damn mind.
“She’ll fight them,” Ghost said softly.
Buck’s jaw tightened instantly. “Yeah, that’s what worries me.” Wren wasn’t weak enough to stay quiet and survive politely. She had too much fire for that, and that fire could end up getting her killed.
Buck looked back at the map again before pointing toward the western side of the building. “What about the service corridor here?”
Reaper frowned, looking at the blueprint. “Too exposed.”
“No,” Ghost interrupted suddenly. “He’s right.” Buck glanced over at him. Ghost tapped the map thoughtfully. “Old depots always have emergency exits along western walls for fuel fires.” His pale eyes lifted slowly. “If I were holding hostages, I wouldn’t expect anyone to hit that side during a blizzard.” Buck’s pulse kicked slightly because that was the first sign of hope they had had since Wren was taken.
“What about the watch towers?” Reaper asked.
Buck looked toward the eastern ridge line marked on the map. “We position shooters here and here.” His finger moved sharply across the paper. “Nobody leaves alive if they touchedher.” The room went silent because everybody heard it. He didn’t say if they hurt her. He said if they touched her, and he meant it too.
Ghost leaned back against the table, watching him carefully. “You love her,” he said. He sounded as though he was accusing Buck of something. Buck froze, and Reaper immediately found another part of the room interesting. Buck slowly looked over at Ghost, and for the first time all night, the man didn’t smirk. He wasn’t joking. He just stood there waiting with the question hanging heavy in the room.
Buck exhaled slowly. “Yeah,” he admitted quietly. The truth settled into his chest with surprising clarity because he did love her. Somehow, he developed feelings for Wren impossibly fast. He loved her stubborn mouth and furious heart. He loved the way she looked at wolves like they were sacred. And he loved how she touched both him and Ghost like they deserved gentleness. But now she was trapped because of him, and he planned on changing that.
Ghost’s expression softened almost painfully. “Yeah,” he murmured. “Me too.” Buck looked at him, and Ghost shrugged. “I wasn’t planning on it.” His mouth twisted faintly. “Kind of happened anyway.” Emotion hit Buck hard enough to make his throat tight. Ghost loved her, and he loved him too. Somehow, none of it felt wrong—just terrifying.
Reaper cleared his throat awkwardly. “I’m gonna check weapons.”
He escaped the room immediately, and Ghost snorted softly once the door shut. “Pretty sure we emotionally traumatized him.” Buck barked out a rough laugh despite himself.
“What if we’re too late?” he asked quietly. Ghost went still, and Buck stared down at the map. “What if she thinks we abandoned her?”
