Chapter 115 Carter
Carter
Gunfire ripped through the trees, shredding bark, spraying dirt. The ridge fight had been brutal, but this—this was closer. Tighter. Every shot felt like it was aimed straight at Harper.
I fired three rounds clean into the treeline, one body dropping hard, another staggering back. But even as I lined up the next, I kept a sliver of my vision locked on her.
She was crouched low, shoulder brushing mine, her eyes wide but unbroken. Fear was there, raw and sharp, but so was steel. She wasn’t running. She wasn’t freezing. She was with me.
That should’ve eased me. Instead, it burned hotter in my chest. Because the battlefield didn’t care about courage. It only cared about blood.
“Down!” I barked, throwing my arm back. She hit the dirt just as a spray of rounds chewed the air where she’d been. My stomach twisted, the near miss punching harder than any bullet.
River’s voice carried from the flank—calm, controlled. “Three more pushing left!”
Cyclone’s rifle kept hitting, Gideon’s rifle cracking sharp. The team was holding, but the line was thin. Too thin.
Redwood had numbers. We had resolve. And Harper—Harper was the reason I wasn’t breaking.
I dropped another man, chambered fast, and growled under my breath. “Stay behind me, Harper. No matter what.”
She nodded, quick and steady. Trust, not hesitation.
I turned back to the fight, my finger steady on the trigger, my body burning with one vow:
I’d spill every drop of Redwood blood before I let them touch her again.