Buck
“East ridge,” Mason answered quickly, breathing hard. “Radio cut out mid-check-in.”
Wren climbed off the bed behind him. “What happened?”
Ghost stepped closer beside him. “We’ll clear the ridge and come right back.”
Wren looked between both men, panic slowly creeping into her expression now. “You think they’re here already.”
Buck held her gaze steadily. “I think they’re getting bolder.” The room went quiet for half a heartbeat before Wren did something that nearly brought Buck to his knees. She reached for him. Her fingers curled around the front of his thermal shirt tightly while her eyes searched his face.
“Be careful,” she whispered. Christ. Buck covered her hand instinctively.
“You got my word,” he breathed.
Ghost made a low sound under his breath beside them, and Buck looked over at him.
Ghost leaned against the wall, watching them with an expression Buck couldn’t fully name.
Something rough. Something emotional. Then Ghost stepped forward, and without hesitation, Wren grabbed his hand as well.
The simple gesture hit all three of them hard.
Buck saw it happen on Ghost’s face too—that stunned softness like nobody had touched him gently in a very long time.
“Come back,” Wren said quietly.
Ghost swallowed before smirking faintly.
“Sweetheart, now you’re really asking for trouble.
” Buck barked out his laugh as possessive thoughts tangled together violently inside his chest again.
He needed to focus, to stay sharp, but it was hard when Wren looked at both of them like they mattered already.
Ghost squeezed her fingers once before stepping away reluctantly. “Lock the door after we leave.”
“And don’t open it unless it’s one of us,” Buck added immediately. Wren nodded, and Buck forced himself to let go of her to head to the hallway with Ghost beside him. The second the bedroom door shut behind them, the warmth disappeared, and cold purpose settled back into place.
“You good?” Ghost asked quietly as they headed downstairs.
Buck adjusted the knife strapped beneath his kutte. “No.”
Ghost snorted softly. “Same.” The clubhouse below buzzed with controlled chaos. Kings moved quickly between weapon lockers and radios while snow whipped against the windows hard enough to rattle glass.
Reaper met them near the front doors. “Truck’s ready.”
Buck nodded. “Keep everybody inside the perimeter until we know what we’re dealing with.”
Reaper’s eyes flicked briefly upstairs. “And the girl?”
Buck’s expression hardened instantly. “She’s upstairs. Keep her there, and keep her safe.”
The older biker studied him for half a second too long before nodding slowly. “Understood.”
Ghost smirked beside him once Reaper walked away. “You really do growl more now.” Buck ignored him, mostly because he wasn’t wrong.
Outside, the cold hit like a fist to the lungs.
Snow tore across the compound under floodlights while the black SUV idled near the gates.
Mason climbed into the backseat while Buck took the wheel, and Ghost slid into the passenger side.
The moment they pulled onto the frozen trail leading east, silence settled heavily inside the truck.
Buck focused on the road, and Ghost seemed focused on Buck.
“You’re distracted,” Ghost finally said.
“No, I’m driving,” Buck insisted.
“You know what I mean,” Ghost said. Buck gripped the steering wheel harder because, yeah, he did.
Everything felt different now. There’d been no taking it back after tonight.
No pretending anymore. Not after admitting what he wanted.
Not after seeing the same hunger reflected in Ghost’s eyes.
And definitely not after Wren reached for both of them, like everything happening between the three of them felt natural.
“She trusts us,” Buck muttered quietly.
Ghost looked out the frosted windshield. “Dangerous mistake on her part.”
Buck shook his head. “No. Dangerous for us.” That got Ghost’s attention.
Buck exhaled roughly. “I’ve spent years making hard decisions without hesitating.
” His jaw tightened. “Now every choice feels like it’s got her attached to it somehow.
” Ghost went quiet beside him, and Buck laughed bitterly.
“I don’t know how the hell Gorgon does this. ”
“Easy,” Ghost said softly. “He found someone worth being afraid for.” The truth in that punched straight through Buck’s chest. The truck climbed higher into the ridge trails while darkness thickened around them.
Snow-covered pines crowded both sides of the narrow road like silent ghosts watching them pass.
Then Mason leaned forward suddenly from the backseat and pointed out the front window.
“There,” he almost shouted. Buck’s headlights swept across the watch post—or what was left of it.
The small wooden structure sat partially collapsed into the snowbank with the radio antenna snapped clean in half.
Blood stained the snow outside, and Buck’s entire body went cold.
He killed the engine instantly, and nobody moved for a second.
Then Ghost spoke quietly. “That’s too clean.” Buck nodded. He knew that this was a trip. The realization hit both of them immediately.
“Stay in the truck,” Buck ordered Mason.
The prospect swallowed hard. “Got it.” Buck and Ghost exited the SUV silently, boots crunching through fresh snow while both men drew weapons. The wind howled across the ridge. It was too quiet. There were no bodies and no movement—just blood.
Ghost circled left while Buck approached the ruined post slowly, every instinct screaming inside of him.
Then Buck saw it first—a symbol carved into the wood beside the broken radio.
Three slashes through a circle—Vultures.
Buck’s jaw clenched because beneath the symbol, a second message had been carved deep into the wood.
SHE CHOSE BOTH.
Buck froze, and behind him, Ghost went deadly still, too, because somebody wasn’t just watching the compound anymore. Somebody had been watching them and knew exactly what was going on between them and Wren.
Buck stared at the words carved into the wood until rage settled cold and heavy in his chest.
SHE CHOSE BOTH.
The Vultures knew everything—not just about Wren, but about him and Ghost too. They knew about the thing growing between the three of them that Buck himself had barely admitted out loud a few hours ago.
Ghost stepped up beside him slowly, snow crunching beneath his boots. “Well,” he muttered darkly. “That’s unsettling.”
Buck ran a gloved hand over the carved symbol, his jaw tight enough to crack teeth. “Nobody outside the compound should know about us.”
“Exactly,” Ghost agreed. The implications hit hard because someone had been close enough to overhear. Or worse—someone inside the Kings had talked.
Behind them, Mason climbed carefully out of the SUV despite Buck’s orders to stay put. “Uh, guys?”
Buck turned. “I told you to stay in the truck.”
The prospect swallowed hard and pointed toward the trees.
“You need to see this.” Buck and Ghost exchanged one quick look before moving together toward the tree line.
Every instinct Buck had screamed now. The ridge felt wrong—too quiet and too staged.
The blood outside the watch post suddenly felt deliberate instead of chaotic.
Ghost crouched first near the snowbank beneath a cluster of pines. “Found one of the guys.” Buck moved closer. One of the missing prospects lay unconscious in the snow, wrists zip-tied behind his back. Blood covered the side of his face, but his chest still rose shallowly. He was alive—for now.
Buck dropped to one knee immediately. “Tyler.” The younger biker groaned faintly.
Ghost scanned the trees while Buck cut the restraints loose. “Second one’s missing.” Buck nodded grimly.
Tyler’s eyes fluttered open weakly. Panic flashed across his battered face instantly. “VP?—”
“Easy,” Buck ordered. “What happened?”
The prospect coughed painfully. “They hit us fast. Four, maybe five men.” His breathing shook. “They knew the watch rotation.” Buck went still, and Ghost looked murderous beside him. That confirmed that they had inside information.
Tyler grabbed Buck’s arm suddenly. “They kept asking about the woman.”
Buck’s stomach twisted violently. “What exactly did they ask?”
Tyler swallowed hard. “Wanted to know if she was sleeping in your room.” Ghost cursed viciously under his breath, and Buck felt something ugly uncurl inside him, because this wasn’t intimidation anymore. It was an obsession.
“They said she belonged to them now,” Tyler whispered weakly.
Buck stood slowly, every muscle in his body locking tight. Ghost saw it happen immediately. “Easy.”
“No,” Buck said. His voice came out terrifyingly calm.
“They hurt my men,” he said quietly. “They threatened her.” His eyes shifted toward the dark forest. “And now they think they know me.”
Ghost stepped closer carefully. “Brother?—”
“I’m gonna kill every single one of them,” Buck growled. The raw promise in his voice hung in the frozen air. Mason looked half terrified just hearing it. Ghost didn’t disagree with him, though, and he didn’t try to talk him down because Ghost looked just as furious.
Buck ran a hand through his hair roughly and forced himself to think past the rage. “Get Tyler back to the compound,” he ordered Mason. “Nobody leaves the main building without armed backup.” Mason nodded quickly.
Ghost watched Buck carefully once the prospect started helping Tyler toward the SUV. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Yeah,” Buck said. “This wasn’t random.”
Buck looked back toward the carved message on the ruined watch post. “No. This is personal.”
Ghost lit a cigarette against the brutal wind with steady hands.
“Question is, how personal?” Buck didn’t answer immediately because deep down he already knew.
The Vultures weren’t just targeting routes anymore.
They were targeting pressure points, and somehow, somewhere along the line, Wren had become his biggest one.
Ghost exhaled smoke slowly beside him. “You know what scares me?” Buck glanced over at him. Ghost’s pale eyes looked darker out here beneath the snow and moonlight. “You didn’t hesitate when you saw that message.”
Buck frowned. “Meaning?”
“You didn’t deny it.” Ghost flicked ash into the snow. “Not even to yourself.” Buck stared out into the frozen trees.
SHE CHOSE BOTH.
The words should’ve made him defensive. Instead, they’d sparked possessive satisfaction so deep it scared the hell out of him because she had.
Maybe not fully yet. Maybe not consciously, but Wren had reached for both of them tonight.
She had trusted both of them, and Buck already knew he’d tear this province apart before letting anyone take that away.
“She deserves better than this,” he muttered finally.
Ghost laughed softly without humor. “Probably.”
Buck looked down at the blood staining the snow. “I mean it.”
“So do I,” Ghost said. Silence settled between them again.
“For what it’s worth,” Ghost said quietly, “I never planned on falling for either of you.” Buck looked over at him, and Ghost shrugged one shoulder.
“You were always mine in some way. Didn’t realize how much until tonight.
” His mouth twisted faintly. “Then she walked in looking at both of us like we’re worth trusting.
” Buck’s chest tightened painfully. Ghost kicked lightly at the snow. “Kind of ruined me, honestly.”
That confession hit harder than Buck expected because Ghost hid everything behind jokes and smirks and sharp teeth, but this was real. Buck stepped closer slowly. “You really want this?”
Ghost met his eyes directly. “Yeah.” His voice dropped rougher now.
“I want her. And I want you. Maybe that makes me selfish, but I’m done pretending otherwise.
” Buck exhaled heavily. Years of repression and years of denying parts of himself, and now suddenly everything stood out in the open beneath a frozen northern sky.
It was terrifying, if he was being honest with himself.
Ghost’s grin returned slightly. “Besides, somebody’s gotta help keep your emotionally constipated ass from scaring her off.” Buck barked out a rough laugh despite himself before the radio clipped to his vest crackled violently, and Reaper’s voice exploded through the static.
“Buck, get back here now,” he ordered. Every muscle in Buck’s body tightened instantly.
“What happened?” he asked. Static hissed over the radio before Reaper said the words that turned Buck’s blood to ice.
“She’s gone.”