Chapter 6

Rayne's eyes dropped to the ink.

"You just admitted your identity."

"You already knew it."

"Now I have proof."

"Now you have a reason to keep me from Cole."

He took the paper back. Our fingers touched, and the bond snapped hot between us.

Rayne inhaled through his teeth.

His face hardened. "What the hell are you doing to me?"

"Nothing. You're the one who keeps touching me."

"You feel it."

"I feel a lot of things. None of them are your business."

He lifted the signed page, then looked at the extradition order beside it. The black seal cracked beneath his thumb.

"Rayne," the guard warned. "You can't destroy a pack order."

"I'm not destroying it. I'm delaying it."

He tore the order down the middle.

The sound was small. It still hit me like a gunshot.

He tore it again, then dropped the pieces into the brazier. Cole's seal curled black in the flames.

I stared at it. Rayne had just burned his bridge with the eastern territory for a woman he claimed was a threat.

"The hold is active," he said. "For one hour."

"And after that?"

"After that, you tell me the truth."

"Or?"

He stepped closer, slower this time. His hand rose and stopped just short of my throat.

"Or I put you in irons and escort you to the border myself."

"You won't."

"You sound sure."

"Your bond won't let you."

His fingers flexed in the air. For one second, I thought he'd touch the scar beneath my collar.

Instead, he grabbed the front of my armor and pulled me against the bars.

Metal slammed into my back. His mouth brushed close to my ear.

"Don't use the bond against me, Sera."

My breath shook, but I kept my voice steady. "Then stop giving me openings."

A horn exploded outside.

The cell walls vibrated. A second horn answered from the eastern watchtower, followed by a crash that shook dust from the ceiling.

The guard drew his sword. "Commander! The east gate—"

"Report."

"It's under attack!"

Rayne released me and spun toward the door. Another impact split stone. Metal screamed beyond the barracks, and men shouted over the roar.

Far across the narrow courtyard, fire rose behind the outer wall.

Armored wagons smashed through the gate, one after another. Black wolf seals were painted across their iron-plated fronts.

Cole had come for me.

No delay. No negotiation. Just bodies and steel.

Rayne's hand closed around the hilt at his hip. "Lock the compound."

The guard hesitated. "The order was to surrender the fugitive."

"I tore up the order."

"They brought a full convoy."

"Then bring me every soldier who can stand."

"You want to fight the eastern territory over one prisoner?"

Rayne's eyes cut toward me. "She's not a prisoner anymore."

The loudspeakers crackled overhead.

Cole's voice rolled across the camp, smooth and cold enough to make every soldier stop.

"Ironfang soldiers, this is Alpha Cole Brandt. The woman named Sera Vaughn is wanted for murder, desertion, and the concealment of a forbidden bloodline. Surrender her immediately, along with the child she carries, or this camp will be treated as hostile territory."

My blood turned cold.

The child she carries.

He knew.

Not the hiding place. Not everything. But enough.

Rayne looked at me through the bars. The commander was back now—cold, lethal, and ready to break anyone who crossed him. The bond still pulled between us like a live wire.

"You said the pup wasn't here," he said.

"It isn't."

"Cole thinks you're carrying it."

"Cole thinks whatever keeps people afraid."

The loudspeaker crackled again.

"Commander Carter, release the fugitive and the forbidden bloodline. Resist, and Ironfang will answer for protecting an enemy of the eastern territories."

Rayne didn't look away from me. "What did you bring into my camp, Sera?"

"A problem you can't solve by putting me in chains."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one you're getting while Cole's men are breaking through your walls."

Behind him, soldiers ran toward the armory. Another blast rolled through the compound. The ground jumped beneath my boots.

Rayne unlocked the cell door.

I didn't move.

"If I let you out," he said, "you run?"

"If you keep me in here, you hand me to Cole."

"Answer me."

"I'm not leaving without the pup."

His eyes dropped to the armor covering my ribs. Wool, blood, and the faint scent of hidden life clung to the leather.

His jaw tightened. "You brought a child into an active war camp?"

"I brought the child near your camp. I didn't give it to you."

"You expect me to protect something you won't even show me?"

"I expect you to stop acting like everything belongs to you."

Another blast hit the gate.

Rayne stepped inside and pulled the door wider. He didn't shove me this time. He put himself between me and the corridor, blocking the only clear exit while the soldiers outside rushed past.

His hand closed around my wrist, firm but careful.

"You have one chance," he said. "Tell me where the pup is, and I can protect it."

"Can you protect me?"

His gaze dropped to my mouth. His thumb pressed once against my pulse.

"I don't know."

"Then don't ask me to trust you."

For a beat, neither of us moved.

The camp shook again. A shout rose from the courtyard, followed by the ring of steel.

Cole's voice cut through the noise.

"Last warning. Surrender Sera Vaughn and the forbidden bloodline she carries, or Ironfang will—"

The speakers died in a burst of static.

Rayne's grip tightened. He looked past me toward the corridor, then back at the armor over my ribs.

"We can't hold this compound for an hour," he said. "So here's the new plan."

"You have one?"

"I do now."

He released my wrist and drew the knife at his belt. The blade flashed between us.

I caught his arm before it reached the lower strap.

"Don't touch the armor."

"If Cole knows there's a child, he knows the armor is a decoy."

"You don't know that."

"No. But I know what he'd do if he gets you alive."

His breath warmed my cheek. His knife hovered beside the hidden buckle beneath my ribs.

"When that buckle opens," he said, "you'll either run with me through the armory tunnel, or you'll stay here and let Cole see exactly what you've been hiding—"