Page 19 of Charged By the Razorbacks

“They don’t need mass deployment,” she said. “Not if they can target individuals or groups.”

Jarek’s attention flicked to her.

“They can destabilize leadership,” she continued. “Take out Alphas. Command structures. Anyone who poses a threat.” She closed her eyes for a moment, then exhaled. “This isn’t just a weapon, it’s a control system.”

Claire moved in last.

Her gaze didn’t go straight to the data. It went to Tamsin. Then Elara. Then back again.

“They’ve merged two systems that weren’t designed to work together,” she said slowly. “Elara’s base formula and Tamsin’s delivery mechanism weren’t meant to be integrated like this.”

Elara nodded. “They’ve forced compatibility. It’s unstable because it’s incomplete.”

Claire’s head tilted slightly. “Or because they don’t fully understand what they’re working with.”

Tamsin’s eyes widened for a moment, then her lips curved faintly. “Bingo.”

Claire stepped closer to the console now, her fingers finally moving, pulling up a secondary layer of data.

“If we can identify where the instability originates,” she said, “we might be able to reverse-engineer a failsafe.”

Riley nodded. “Or disrupt the trigger point entirely.”

Sienna’s gaze sharpened. “Or weaponize the instability against them.”

That got Jarek’s attention.

He glanced between them. Noticing, really noticing how it was between these amazing women. The way they moved. The way they built off each other.

Like they’d been doing this together for years.

Aleksy shifted beside him, subtle but there. Jarek didn’t look at him.

He felt it anyway.

The same realization settling in. They’re good. No. Better than that. They were—dangerously good.

Jarek exhaled slowly, dragging a hand down his jaw.

We’re lucky.

The thought came uninvited. And for once—he didn’t push it away. Because looking at them—at Elara, Riley, Sienna, Claire, their Tamsin—at the way they took something this twisted and immediately started pulling it apart, finding the weak points, mapping the solution?

Yeah. The E.S.E. has been getting stronger and stronger with the mates they have been lucky to have been fated for.

They were stronger because of this. Because of them. Jarek’s gaze shifted back to Tamsin. She wasn’t watching the screen now. She was watching the others.

Like she was already calculating how she fit into it.

His lips curved slightly. Yeah ... she fits.

Aleksy’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Can you stabilize it?”

Jarek’s gaze snapped back to Tamsin.

She didn’t hesitate, just shot his brother a look and said, “Of course I can.” Her expression shifted slightly. “But I won’t.”

Tamsin pushed off the console, straightening fully now, her posture shifting into something more deliberate.