“Of course it’s yours.”
Wade stared at her for a long moment. Then he sat back. The movement should have made the room easier to breathe in, but it didn’t. His anger hadn’t gone anywhere. It was still there, just quieter and harder to see.
“Good,” he finally said.
Wade took the pistol from his lap and held it between his knees; one hand wrapped around the grip. With the other, he lifted the beer and drank. His breathing was hard.
“You listen to me,” he said, cold as stone. “If you ever try to leave me again, I’ll end all of us before I let anyone take my child.”
There was no response to a statement like that.
Wade leaned forward with the beer loose in one hand and the pistol in his other. Reese could see his fingers on the grip and the small movement of his knuckles every time they tightened.
Her eyes scanned the room. Door. Skillet. Knives. Fire iron. But there was no clean way out.
Something heavy hit the front door, and the whole cabin jumped.
Wade lurched upright, beer spilling on the floor. He grabbed Reese and yanked her off the couch. Pain flashed through her shoulder. Her feet barely hit the floor before he dragged her backward, away from the door, the pistol in his other hand.
The second hit came before Reese had any idea what was happening. The wood cracked, and the door blew inward against the wall. Then the room was filled with motion.
“He’s armed!” someone shouted.
A shield came through the opening. Reese saw black tactical gear and boots. She saw Blaze behind the shield, dropping the ram, and drawing his rifle. Siren entered tight behind them, weapons raised.
Wade hauled Reese against him, backstepping into the kitchen. “Back up!” Wade barked.
The pistol lifted beside her face, and she felt the cold shape of it on her cheek.
Chapter
Twenty-Six
Axel stood outside with Ryder,close enough to see the cabin light through the front window and too far away to put his hands on Wade.
He was supposed to stay back.
The order sat in his body like a chain restraining him. Ryder held the tablet angled low, the drone feed bright against the dark. Axel kept his eyes on it because it was the only thing keeping him from moving. Reese was still on the couch, her hands now free. Wade was beside her, drinking a beer.
Then the ram hit the front door. The sound cracked through the clearing, and the whole cabin jumped on the screen. Wade lurched upright. His beer dropped. Reese flinched. Wade grabbed her and yanked her off the couch so hard Axel’s vision went white at the edges.
Wade dragged Reese backward, away from the door. Her body twisted as he pulled her in front of him. Then Axel saw the gun.
It had been in Wade’s hand the whole time, but it had been out of their sight line. Now it was aimed at Reese’s face. The wolf hit Axel’s gut, and the restraint inside him snapped.
The second hit blew the door inward. “He’s armed,” Axel shouted through the comms. But Dom was already through, holding up his shield.
Axel could see all of it on the tablet and through the window at the same time. Blaze dropped the ram just inside the threshold and went for his rifle. Siren entered tight behind them, weapons up.
Wade had Reese locked against him at the back of the room, against the kitchen counter near the stove. Wade was using Reese as a shield.
“Back up!” Wade shouted.
Dom drove the shield forward half a step, then stopped.
Blaze shifted his rifle around the edge of the shield, trying to find an angle that did not exist. Siren moved to the other side, weapons steady, but Reese was in the line of fire.
Axel shoved the tablet back at Ryder and ripped the comm from his ear. Ryder caught his arm, but Axel was already past the point where a hand was going to stop him.
