Chapter 16
Hunter
As the sun came up through the window, Jada was warm against me, her body soft, tucked into mine like she belonged there. Like we belonged. For a second, I let myself believe it.
Her slow, even breaths whispered against my chest, and I tightened my arms around her, just for a heartbeat, absorbing the peace. The quiet. The rare, foreign feeling of having something good. Remembering how she’d felt around me. Her sighs. Her moans.
Then I remembered the rest.
The way she’d gasped in pain.
The way I’d thrown her.
I inhaled sharply, my chest going tight as the memory clawed its way back—too fast, too real. My nightmare, Jada reaching for me, me not recognizing her in that second of blind panic. I’d grabbed her before I’d even woken up.
My pulse pounded in my ears. I forced myself to slow down. To breathe. I forced myself to look .
The bruises on her arms were faint in the low light, but they were there. Ugly, dark smudges against her smooth skin. Proof of what I’d done. A weight settled in my gut, sharp and cold.
This was the very thing I’d been afraid of. I wasn’t always in control of myself. I needed to go. I should’ve never stayed this long.
She was better off without me.
Sliding carefully out of bed, I held my breath as Jada shifted, murmuring something unintelligible before settling again. I took a second to memorize her like this—peaceful, untouched by the mess of me.
Then I grabbed my bag from the corner of the room. It was still packed. Of course it was. I never unpacked. Three years of wandering from place to place had taught me it was easier to just keep what I needed in my duffel and backpack, ready to go.
Jada had started making a place for herself here. Maybe it had been instinctual, but I’d watched her put her things away, watched her carve out space in the small cabin like she was laying down roots.
I pulled on my jeans, shoved my boots on, then sat on the edge of the small wooden table near the window, staring at the blank page of the notebook Jada had left there. I picked up a pen but wasn’t sure what the hell to say.
My hand tightened around the pen, then I scrawled out the words before I could think better of it.
I can’t stay. I’m sorry.
It wasn’t enough. Not nearly. But it was all I had. I tore the page out, folded it once, then set it on the nightstand where she’d see it when she woke up.
I didn’t look at her again. Because I knew if I did, I might not leave. And leaving was the only option.
I stepped out into the early morning air, the cabin door clicking shut behind me. The chill hit my skin, sharp and bracing, but it didn’t wash away the disgust crawling under my skin.
I climbed into the truck and pulled onto the dirt road. Every instinct screamed at me to take off without talking to anyone, but I couldn’t do that. Not to Jada and not to Lucas. My cousin had offered shelter when he hadn’t had to. To take off with no word would be a slap in the face. Even I wasn’t that big of an asshole.
By the time I pulled up to the Resting Warrior Ranch lodge a few minutes later, my jaw was locked tight, my fingers stiff around the wheel.
Lucas was exactly where I expected him to be at dawn—on the porch, coffee in hand, gaze sharp as ever. Next to him sat Lachlan Callaway, the Garnet Bend deputy, his own cup resting on the porch railing as he studied me with that unreadable cop expression.
Lucas didn’t say a word at first. Just gave me that look. The kind that made it clear he already knew something was wrong. My cousin had been giving me that look our whole lives.
I killed the engine, shoved the door open, and stepped out before I could rethink this.
“You’re up early,” he finally said, voice even.
“I’m leaving.” No point in dragging it out. “Just wanted you to know. Jada doesn’t have a car—she’ll need someone to check in on her. But mostly, she’s been hanging out over at Pawsitive Connections with Lark, so she’ll be fine.”
Lucas’s expression didn’t change much, but he set his coffee down carefully, like the words needed a little extra space to settle. Lachlan didn’t say anything. Just watched.
Lucas exhaled through his nose. “And that’s it? Just like that, you’re gone again?”
“Just like that.” My cousin was used to it by now.
For a long second, no one spoke. The crisp morning air stretched between us, filled with nothing but the rustling trees and the occasional distant whinny from the horse paddock.
Lucas tipped his head toward the empty chair across from him. “Sit down. Have some coffee first.”
Everything in me told me to walk away. Get in the truck. Keep moving. Instead, I gritted my teeth and dropped into the damn chair. My hands flexed on my thighs, my knee bounced, restless energy coiling tight in my muscles.
Lachlan still didn’t say anything, but his sharp gaze flicked between me and Lucas. I’d met the man a few times before—he was a good guy. Solid, straight shooter. Mostly, Lucas and the Resting Warrior guys dealt with Charlie Garcia, Garnet Bend’s sheriff, but rumor was, he was retiring. So Lachlan had been around more and more.
Lucas poured a cup of coffee, set it on the small table. I didn’t touch it. My stomach was already a wreck, a lead weight sitting low, dragging me down.
He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, studying me like he had all the time in the world. “Why are you leaving?”
I kept my eyes on the horizon. “It’s just time to go.”
Lucas hummed. “That so?”
I exhaled sharply, shoving a hand through my hair. I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want to sit here and explain myself like I owed anyone an answer. Not that the answer was that complicated. I was a fuckup, and everyone was better off if I left. Especially Jada.
“Did you and Jada fight?” Lucas pressed.
I shook my head.
He let out a sigh. “Then it doesn’t add up.”
I finally looked at him. “It doesn’t have to.”
Lucas didn’t blink. Just stared at me like he was waiting for me to stop bullshitting. I ground my teeth together, the words lodged somewhere deep in my chest.
Lachlan was the one who finally spoke. “You’re running.”
My shoulders went tight.
Lucas took a slow sip of his coffee. “Yeah, and I’d love to know why. This is definitely more than your normal itch to get to a new place.”
I set my jaw, the inside of my head a damn war zone. This was the problem with being around people who actually knew you. They didn’t just let you walk away without making you bleed first.
I scraped a hand over my face, breathing hard. “I had an episode,” I finally said, voice rough. “PTSD.”
Lucas’s expression didn’t change. “Go on.”
The words tasted like rust. “I hurt Jada.” My throat felt tight. “Not on purpose. I was…still in a dream. Didn’t know it was her. She tried to wake me up, and I—” My stomach twisted. “I grabbed her. Left bruises.”
Neither of them reacted. No wide eyes, no exclamations. Just quiet understanding. And somehow it pissed me off. Maybe because they weren’t surprised.
“How’d she handle it?” Lachlan asked after a beat.
I swallowed hard. Thought back to last night and the way she’d stayed. Stood with me in that shower until the water turned cold.
She hadn’t been afraid. She hadn’t run. I’d been the one coming apart, shaking, lost in the fog of my own goddamn head, and she’d been solid. Talking to me, grounding me, bringing me back like it was the most natural thing in the world. This woman who had known me all of two weeks.
“She wasn’t scared,” I admitted, voice low. “She—” I exhaled sharply. “She was calm. Talked me through it.”
Lucas set his cup down, watching me carefully. “Did she ask you to leave?”
I shook my head.
“Then what’s the problem?”
I let out a bitter laugh. “The problem is that there was no damn trigger.”
Lucas frowned. “What do you mean?”
I rubbed the back of my neck, every muscle in my body tight. “Normally, there’s a trigger. You know what I’m talking about—something that sets me on edge. But not this time. I wasn’t in a crowded place. I wasn’t cornered. It had been a good day. A fucking fantastic day. We worked over at Pawsitive, we got kittens, we had—” I stopped short, shaking my head. I didn’t need to kiss-and-tell. “Doesn’t matter. Point is, there was nothing that should’ve set me off.”
If I could snap like that, completely out of nowhere, I was a ticking bomb.
“If I can’t trust myself when things are fine, how the hell am I supposed to be around her?” I continued, my voice rough, jagged. “Around anyone?”
Lucas leaned forward, bracing his forearms on his knees. “You think running fixes that? I’ve been trying to get you to stay here at Resting Warrior Ranch since you got out of the Army. To slow down and let yourself heal a little bit. Hell, we created this place exactly for people like you.”
I shook my head. “We both know I’m not a sit-around-and-heal sort of guy. I have to do stuff. Animals are fine, and I like them and all, but that’s not for me full time. You know that.”
Lucas nodded like he’d been expecting this. Like he’d known I was going to show up here this morning, ready to leave.
“Interestingly, that very thing is what Lachlan and I were just talking about. Something I’ve had in mind for a while now,” he said. “Warrior Security.”
I frowned. “What?”
Lucas shot a glance at Lachlan, then back to me. “Me and the guys—our old SEAL team—feel like it’s time to start an official tactical unit here at Resting Warrior. A mix of security and private contracts. Part of Resting Warrior and our mission, but separate from the ranch itself.”
I sat back, brow furrowing.
He kept going. “Personal protection jobs, helping law enforcement as needed when they can’t handle it.” He tipped his head toward Lachlan. “No offense.”
Lachlan huffed out a quiet laugh. “None taken.”
“You know the drill,” Lucas continued. “We’ve had enough shit go down around here that it makes sense to have a team trained to handle it and be on ready.”
I nodded. That did make sense.
Lucas’s gaze stayed locked on mine. “It’s like the stuff you do when you contract out to Citadel Solutions, but on a less international scale. Close to home. A team available as we need it for stuff like Kenzie’s kidnapping and all the other things that’ve happened here on the ranch over the years.”
I ran a hand down my face. I could see the appeal. “It’s not a terrible idea, but what’s it got to do with me?”
“We’d like you to consider heading it up,” Lucas said.
I blinked. Of all the things I expected him to say, that wasn’t one of them.
Lucas shrugged. “You’re a protector, Hunter, and a leader. You always have been, regardless of whether you want to accept it or not. Warrior Security would give you a reason for being here. A reason to stop running and a chance to take advantage of what we have to offer and start to heal. But most importantly, Warrior Security would give you an outlet.”
An outlet.
I stared down at my hands, the same ones that had bruised Jada’s arms, the same ones that had ended lives, saved lives. The same ones that had held her carefully hours earlier, like she was something breakable.
Part of me felt a pull—a sharp, almost instinctive yes to Lucas’s offer. This was what I knew. Tactical work. Combat. Protecting people. But another part of me—the part that had spent years avoiding any kind of roots—was already shifting into retreat.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. My voice was rough, the edges raw. “I’ve spent a long time running.”
Lucas nodded once, like that answer didn’t surprise him either. “Maybe it’s time you stopped. Stay and think about it. That’s all I’m asking. If you still want to go in a few days, you can. But do it right—not sneaking off. However much you think a bruise might’ve hurt Jada, this will hurt her much worse.”
Silence stretched between us. My cousin was right—fucker usually was. Finally, I nodded. “Okay. I’ll stay. No promises, but I’ll think about the Warrior Security thing.”
Lucas finished his coffee. “Good. That’s all I ask.”
Finally, I felt like my stomach could handle the coffee Lucas had set in front of me when I’d first sat down. I sipped it, ignoring that it had already gone cold.
“I’m glad you’re staying.” Lachlan was the one who finally broke the quiet. “But just so you know, Jensen and Kenzie will be back in the next couple days.”
I rolled my shoulders, forcing myself to relax. Jensen and Kenzie coming back wasn’t a surprise. They had lives here. Jensen had a business to run. Kenzie was part of this town.
I scrubbed a hand over my jaw. “Jada doesn’t know that Kenzie lives here part time,” I admitted. “Actually, she doesn’t know a lot of the details about the kidnapping at all. Since she can’t remember them, filling her in on them seemed a little cruel.”
Lachlan set his coffee down. “How much does she actually know?”
“Not much.” My throat felt tight. “I didn’t know much myself, not at first. And in Denver, she had enough to deal with.”
I clenched my jaw, thinking about the way Jada had been these last few days here—lighter, freer, finally feeling like she belonged somewhere. She loved the outdoors, loved the animals.
I hadn’t wanted to take that away from her by mentioning that Kenzie lived around here too part time. I wasn’t sure how long we’d be staying. If Jada and I stayed around the cabin and Pawsitive Connections, she probably wouldn’t see Kenzie at all. But if she decided she wanted to stay more permanently…
Before I could voice my thoughts, Lucas’s wife Evelyn called from inside the lodge. “Babe, can you come here for a sec?”
He gave me a long look before pushing to his feet. “Don’t go anywhere.”
I didn’t respond, but I didn’t move either. Lachlan took a slow sip of his coffee, eyes steady on me. Waiting.
I exhaled hard and looked out toward the corral. “Kenzie would be within her rights to make life hell for Jada here.”
Lachlan didn’t argue. He just nodded, watching me.
“She could make sure Jada isn’t welcome,” I muttered, my thoughts racing. “Could turn this town against her.”
“She could,” Lachlan agreed easily. “But the fact that she didn’t mention Jada to the police when they took her statement about the kidnapping and didn’t press charges means she probably won’t.”
I leaned forward, forearms braced on my knees. “No warrants. No charges. It’s what’s allowing Jada to have any chance at a normal life. I’m thankful she dropped it.”
Lachlan shook his head. “She didn’t drop it. There was never a warrant. As I said, Kenzie’s report didn’t mention Jada’s name. Only Alan Ard.”
I narrowed my eyes. Those cops had definitely been after her like she was a criminal at that hospital in Denver. They’d been coming to arrest her. And yet, according to Lachlan, there was no record of that.
But honestly, in terms of the list of things I needed to worry about, a nonexistent warrant was at the bottom. I was going to stay, at least for the time being.
And hope I wasn’t making a big mistake.