Page 165 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

Below us, the Humans are about to come around the bend.

It dawns on me that this is the last moment we'll have as a Pack before there is nothing left to do but fight until we either win or die.

I look at Knox, Viper, Blaze, and Shade, and panic claws at my throat because I have loved them with everything I have, trusted them with my body, my bond, my life, and there is still one piece of them I don’t know.

Their names.

Their real ones.

The ones they had before the army stripped them down to ranks, callsigns, and weapons.

I never asked because those names belong to them, and I wanted them to offer that part of themselves when they were ready, and I thought we would have time.

"I want to know…" The words catch before I can finish them.

Knox pauses, lowers the radio, and steps back into our huddle.

Shade tips his head, his mouth curving in that soft, patient way he always gets with me. "What is it, baby girl?"

My fingers twist together. "Will you tell me your real names?"

Frack, I feel stupid and needy for asking. This is such a terrible time to be doing this.

Heat rushes into my face, and I hurry to explain. "You do not have to. I know that. I just…" I swallow, but the panicked feeling of running out of time to know such a fundamental part of them doesn't lessen. "If this really is the end and we are about to die here, then I want to know who I am mated to. Not the names the army gave you. Yours."

Shade lowers his gaze for a moment, working his jaw. When he looks back at me, the smile he gives me is small and a little broken around the edges. His deep brown eyes don't glow like an Alpha’s, but they never need to. Shade has never once lacked presence.

"Yeah," he says quietly. "Yeah, sweetheart. You can know."

Relief loosens the tightness in my chest as he lets me lace our fingers together. It suddenly feels unbearably intimate, learning the name he had before the army got its hands on him, because this is not just a name. It's a piece of himself he's kept buried for years, and he is choosing to give it to me anyway. Just because I asked.

"My name is Sebastian," he says carefully, like the vowels feel unfamiliar on his tongue.

"Sebastian," I repeat, making sure I pronounce it with the same inflection that hints at a dialect or accent he's long buried. "It's a beautiful name."

His eyes flick back to mine. "You think so?"

"It suits you," I tell him, with a warm smile. "It really does."

A quiet laugh leaves him, though there is no real humor in it. "My little sister used to call me Bast."

The bond shifts again, heavy with old grief. I feel his ache for a life cut off so long ago that he barely remembers it. His sister, his parents, and the family he was stolen from before he was old enough to fight back.

I lift our joined hands and press a kiss to his knuckles. "Thank you for telling me."

His expression softens, the strained lines around his mouth easing, but when I ask, "Do you want me to call you Sebastian?" he shakes his head.

"No, baby girl," he says. "That boy is gone. I’m your Shade."

My Shade.

"Blaise reporting for duty, Sparkles," my wildcard Alpha says with a jaunty salute, nudging my shoulder with his own. I'm certain that Blaze will slip right back into the driver's seat the moment this conversation is done, so I enjoy seeing him smile for what might be the last time. "I bet you can't guess Knox or Viper's names."

I glance between them, my own smile fading as I realize I might have pushed for too much this time. "You do not have to tell me just because Shade and Blaise did."

Viper steps forward a little, almost awkwardly, and gives me the smallest wave I have ever seen from a man his size. "Hi, I’m Eden."

The name catches me so off guard that I blink.