Page 241 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

I step closer.

"Now you’re standing in my fortress, waiting for my mate to take you through a route I helped make possible, into a sanctuary I saved."

Viper shifts behind me, pride flooding through the bond, as his scent wraps around me as a form of support. My father takes an involuntary step back.

"Don’t look at me. I’m not the one deciding your fate," Viper spits. "I won’t take you one step beyond that gate unless Halley says you go."

My father looks from Viper to the open gate, then to the mountain waiting beyond it.

I see the understanding settle over him.

His place in the line, his route into Blackreach, his chance at safety and a future all depend on me now.

Behind me, Knox moves one step closer.

"If she says you don’t go," Knox says, cold and controlled. "You don’t stay here either. I’ll exile you from Blackgate myself."

His fingers loosen around the bag strap after Knox finishes speaking.

"Your choice, pretty girl," Viper murmurs, placing a steadying and possessive hand between my shoulder blades.

I exhale, and all I can hear is the wind moving through the gate and the pounding of my own heart.

"Please, Halley," he says, his voice thinning. "I’m still your father."

I can see it in his face. He expects me to be cruel because cruelty is what he understands.

"I won’t do what you did." I turn to Viper and give him a firm nod. "He can go."

My father’s shoulders sag with relief, and I let him believe he is safe before I look up at my mate and smile.

Viper tilts his head, watching me with open curiosity.

"But you can treat him however you deem reasonable."

A big, wicked grin that could rival Blaze's spreads across his face. He turns to Zero and says, "Put him in my group. We're going to have some fun."

My father’s relief vanishes, replaced by horror, and I enjoy the sight more than I should. My mercy is mine to give, but I won’t interfere with whatever punishment my Alpha considers appropriate for the man who hurt his Omega.

"Is there room for one more on this merry little trip?" Blaze asks behind me, his voice dripping with a clear promise of pain.

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Halley

The patrol report in front of me stopped making sense ten minutes ago.

I read the same line again anyway, because apparently leadership means staring at a datapad until either it surrenders or my brain does. So far, the datapad is winning.

Knox’s office smells like old stone, cooling coffee, and the deep ink-and-spice trace he's left on every surface. General Stone’s desk still sits beneath the tall window, big and too ornate for the Prime Alpha currently trying to make Blackgate less miserable one logistics decision at a time.

Knox is busy helping coordinate the rollout of Shade's newest upgrades to the surveillance net surrounding the fortress. They're installing hundreds of cameras pilfered from an abandoned military base two days' drive from here. It'll make a big difference to the workload of our patrols, but it does mean I'm picking up the administrative slack in the meantime.

There are supply counts blinking in my inbox from the newly appointed Beta operations officer. He was a refugee, but is very, very enthusiastic about contributing, which, as a former storeroom officer myself, I appreciate. However, he is so enthusiastic that he sends a report twice daily, and I'm already five behind.

Once I review and sign off on those, the repair updates are waiting for my eyes. Then there is a list of patrol rotations that the Prime Alphas scrawled on an old paper map that need digitizing. It's half-pinned under my forearm because I set it down to read, couldn't make out their atrocious handwriting, then gave up and trapped it there like a captured enemy.

I should be grateful.