Page 181 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

They're fighting like animals with their backs to a cliff.

This is what the last gasps of the Demi-human race look like.

I wonder if the Humans seeing Alphas behave so primal justifies their crusade. If they hate us so much because the only time they encounter Demi-humans is when an Alpha is tearing their friend in two with a vicious smile.

"Don’t slow down," Shade shouts from my left, his voice rough from smoke and strain as he slams what looks like his last magazine into his pistol.

I backpedal uphill, boots slipping on a loose rock while the Humans pour after us.

Behind them, the second barricade gives with a wrenching boom.

Our soldiers pick up the pace, firing as they retreat, but the enemy is coming harder now that the physical barrier is gone. The road clogs, and every step uphill feels like we're in the middle of a closing trap.

They're going to catch us before we can get behind the next barricade.

"Fuck!" Shade curses beside me.

He stops running and almost drops his pistol as he clamps one hand over his thigh. Blood pours through his fingers and the torn fabric high on his leg, running straight into his boot.

"Shade!" I shout.

"I’m fine," he says, waving me off with his pistol hand. "Keep going, Halley."

He tries to put weight on the injured leg, and his knee folds.

Knox catches him before he hits the ground, hauling Shade’s arm over his shoulder and locking one hand around the back of his vest. Shade’s face has gone pale beneath the blood and dirt, but he still lifts his pistol with a shaking hand.

The wound should be closing any second now. The bond should be helping him knit back together the way it always has since our Pack connection began to form, but his body is exhausted, and the torn flesh only pumps out more crimson.

The bullet has hit a vital vein, and he’s bleeding faster than he’s healing.

If we don’t get him off this road, he’s going to die here.

"Leave me," Shade grits out. "I'm slowing you down."

Knox doesn’t even look at him or acknowledge his plea.

Viper appears between them and the enemy, firing into the horde without stopping. "No one is leaving anyone, idiot. Shut up and move."

I fire past Viper’s shoulder as Knox drags Shade uphill, but we’re moving too slowly now, and the rest of our forces are already pulling ahead.

Soldiers are diving for cover behind the barricade in ragged waves.

We’re falling behind.

Shade leaves bloody footprints as Knox drags him along. His head dips, and his pistol lowers another inch.

"Stop," I shout.

Knox keeps moving. "We can’t."

"He’ll bleed out before we reach cover."

That gets through to him.

Knox drops to one knee and lowers Shade onto the road without gentleness because there isn’t time for it. Viper places himself between the Pack and the Humans, firing into the bodies spilling after us.

I hit the ground beside Shade and wrench at my sleeve. The fabric tears under my fist, and I quickly wrap it high around his thigh, above the wound. Blood coats my fingers before I get the first knot tied.