Wren
Step one was complete. Now came the impossible part—actually escaping.
The warehouse remained busy around her. Men loaded crates into trucks near the eastern loading bays while others patrolled the perimeter.
The blizzard outside had intensified, snow rattling against metal walls and broken windows.
The hidden exit the young woman had shown her sat along the western wall was so close, and yet impossibly far.
"What the—" he whispered to himself.
She kept telling herself to just keep moving as she ran for the door.
All she had to do was just reach the door.
She stumbled through the hanging tarps and slammed into the freezing wind outside.
The storm immediately swallowed her whole as snow blasted across her face.
Visibility dropped to almost nothing, but she was out of the warehouse—actually out, and that was all that mattered.
"Buck,” she whispered. She didn't even realize she was crying until he pulled her against his chest. She felt safe for the first time in days. Buck wrapped both arms around her like he never intended to let go again. His face was buried in her hair.
"Jesus Christ," he breathed. Wren clung to him just as tightly, because he came—of course he came. A second later, another pair of arms wrapped around both of them—Ghost.
"You stubborn little thing," Ghost muttered roughly. Wren laughed and cried at the same time. Ghost's forehead touched hers. "We got you,” he promised. For the first time since waking up in that cage, she believed that she was safe.
A gunshot shattered the moment, and Buck reacted instantly, spinning her around, shielding her body with his. Ghost drew his weapon, and the night erupted with shouting. Eli Mercer stepped out of the snow thirty yards away with a rifle aimed directly at them. His smile was pure hatred.
"Told you he'd come,” Eli spat. Buck handed Wren to Ghost without taking his eyes off Eli.
The movement was smooth—automatic, like they'd already done this a thousand times.
Ghost pulled her behind him, and Buck stepped forward—alone.
That was when Wren realized with absolute certainty—Eli had made one catastrophic mistake.
He thought he'd taken a hostage. Instead, he started a war.
Everything happened too fast. One second, she was clinging to Buck and Ghost in the middle of a blizzard, and the next, she was watching death unfold twenty yards away.
Eli stood in the snow with a rifle aimed directly at Buck, and Buck didn't move.
The wind howled between them, carrying ice and snow across the frozen ground while Ghost kept Wren tucked firmly behind him.
"Get down," Ghost ordered quietly. Wren ignored him. Her entire focus remained locked on Buck. He looked different—not like the man who tucked blankets around her legs. Not like the man who checked on her every twenty minutes. This Buck looked like the north itself—cold, relentless, and deadly.
Eli laughed harshly through the storm. "You really came."
Buck's voice carried surprisingly well despite the wind. "You took something that belonged to me." Heat shot through Wren's chest, and Eli seemed to notice as his grin widened cruelly.
"See, that's your problem right there." He adjusted the rifle slightly.
"You got attached." Ghost made a low sound behind her.
It was the kind predators made before they attacked.
Wren's pulse hammered painfully. There were still men behind Eli. She could see movement through the storm. She counted at least six—maybe more- and they were armed and waiting for Eli’s orders. This wasn't over—not even close.
"You should've killed me when you had the chance," Eli called out.
Buck shrugged. "I can still fix that mistake." The casual threat sent a shiver down Wren's spine, but Eli just laughed again.
His expression hardened instantly. "You know what really pisses me off?
" he shouted. "I spent years proving myself to the Kings.
" Ghost shifted beside her, and Wren could practically feel his hatred.
"One woman shows up," Eli continued bitterly, "and suddenly Buck forgets everything else.
" Buck's face didn't change. He didn't react, but Wren understood something suddenly.
This wasn't about routes, or money, or trafficking—not entirely.
This was personal. Eli wanted Buck's attention.
He wanted Buck's respect, and he'd never gotten it.
"You're pathetic," Buck said quietly. The words hit harder than a punch, and Eli flinched visibly as rage twisted his face.
"You chose her over your club,” Eli shouted.
"No.” Buck took one slow step forward. "I chose my club." He took another step. "You're the one who betrayed it." The truth of it hung in the frozen air as Eli's finger tightened on the trigger.
Wren’s heart stopped as she watched it happen.
"Buck!" she shouted. The gunshot exploded through the storm, and chaos erupted instantly.
Ghost tackled Wren into the snow as more shots followed.
Men screamed, and bullets tore through the darkness.
Wren hit the frozen ground hard enough to knock the breath from her lungs, and Ghost covered her body completely, protecting her.
Both of them would die for her, and that realization was nearly her undoing.
"Stay down!" Ghost barked. Another shot cracked overhead, followed by three more from somewhere on the ridge.
She was sure that it was the Kings. It had to be Reaper and a team of men.
The ambush had become a battlefield. Wren twisted beneath Ghost enough to see past his shoulder.
Buck was still standing and still moving.
He was charging straight through gunfire toward Eli.
"Oh my God,” she cried. Nobody should move like that. Bullets struck the snow around him, but Buck never slowed. He never hesitated. He looked unstoppable, terrifying, and completely out of his mind. Ghost saw it too.
"Jesus Christ," he muttered. "He's gonna kill him.
" Wren wasn't sure that was true. She was pretty sure Buck intended something worse for Eli.
The fight spread across the compound as Kings emerged from the tunnel entrance.
Hostages ran toward safety, and Vultures scrambled for cover.
In the center of all of it all, Buck reached Eli.
The collision looked brutal as both men crashed into the snow.
Fists flew and blood sprayed through the cold air.
The storm swallowed most of it, but Wren couldn't look away.
She should've been terrified; instead, tears burned behind her eyes because Buck came for her.
So did Ghost. They walked into a war for her and for strangers they'd never met.
They rescued women trapped inside that warehouse because it was the right thing to do.
Suddenly, Wren understood something she'd been avoiding.
It was something she'd been too scared to name—she loved them. Both of them.
Ghost looked down at her then, and concern immediately replaced the violence in his eyes. "You okay?" Wren laughed shakily despite everything. She wanted to tell him that she wasn’t okay. Nothing about this was okay, and yet she’d never been more certain of anything in her life.
"I love you both." The words slipped out before she could stop them, and Ghost froze. None of the chaos happening around them mattered for one second as his eyes widened.
"Wren—" he breathed. A scream cut him off, and both of them looked up instantly. The warehouse had exploded in flames on one side of the building. Orange fire erupted into the stormy darkness. Someone had triggered the explosives, and there were still people inside.
“Shit,” Ghost breathed as he looked at Buck, and Wren knew for certain that things were about to get a whole lot worse.