Chapter 34 Wolf
Wolf
The explosion rippled through the foundation, shaking dust loose from the ceiling and sending a crack down the far bunker wall.
“DOWN!” I barked, pulling Nora behind me as Trigger dove in front of the door and Havoc braced against the concrete divider.
Saint’s screens flickered, rebooted, then surged back to life.
Sheriff Tate’s voice roared through the bunker. “They blew the side entrance! We’ve got multiple intruders inside the building!”
Trigger cocked his weapon. “They’re making a move on the bunker.”
“Let them,” Havoc growled. “I’m ready.”
I forced my breathing even. “Trigger — status on the security doors?”
“Upper level sealed,” he said. “But the outer layer took damage. They’re coming fast.”
Nora clutched the scarf in her hands so tightly her knuckles went white. I stepped in front of her, shielding her from every angle I could.
Her voice trembled. “Wolf… they found us?”
“They think they did.” I lowered my voice. “But they’re not getting through this door.”
A second explosion rattled the building — smaller this time, like a controlled breach.
Saint looked up from his tablet, eyes wide. “They’re not using force to get in. They’re testing weak points.”
Trigger’s lip curled. “Like a trained recon team.”
Havoc added, “Like the kind that used to break into compounds overseas.”
Sheriff Tate checked his sidearm, jaw clenched. “We’ve got deputies converging. They’re coming.”
But something in the way he said it made my stomach tighten.
He wasn’t confident.
He was stalling.
Trying to reassure us while knowing the truth:
Whoever broke into the sheriff’s office tonight wasn’t stopped by deputies.
They slipped past them.
On purpose.
Nora
The room felt like it was shrinking.
Each boom from upstairs vibrated through my ribs.
Every shout echoed like someone was standing right behind me.
I pressed a hand to the wall to steady myself. “Wolf… what if they get down here?”
He turned immediately, crowding into my space, lowering himself so his eyes met mine.
“Look at me.”
I did.
“You’re with me,” he said. “That’s the safest place in this entire building.”
My breath hitched. “I’m not afraid of being hurt. I’m afraid of them taking me.”
His jaw flexed. “Over my dead body.”
Trigger muttered, “They’d have to go through Havoc first.”
Havoc cracked his neck. “They can try.”
Saint cleared his throat. “Actually — they might not need brute force.”
All heads snapped toward him.
“What?” Wolf demanded.
Saint tapped the screen with an expression that made my heart drop. “They had inside help.”
Sheriff Tate moved to the screen so fast his chair toppled behind him. “Run that again.”
The footage rewound — then played forward in slow motion.
A figure in uniform.
Inside the sheriff’s office.
Unlocking a door that should have been sealed.
The camera angle shifted as Saint enhanced the image.
Trigger’s breath caught. “No way.”
Havoc muttered a curse.
Wolf’s eyes darkened into something lethal. “Who is that?”
Saint zoomed.
The face came into view.
My stomach flipped.
It wasn’t a stranger.
It was Deputy Markson.
Sheriff Tate’s expression fell into stunned silence — betrayal and fury mixing into something hollow and dangerous.
“No,” Tate whispered. “No… I vouched for him.”
Trigger stepped forward. “Sheriff, he let them in.”
Saint added, “Not only that — he walked them through the security bypass. He knew exactly where the blind spots were.”
Havoc cracked his knuckles. “Traitor.”
Wolf’s voice came out quiet — too quiet.
“He was stalling you.”
Tate sat heavily in the nearest chair, rubbing a hand down his face. “He volunteered for Nora’s detail two weeks ago. I thought he was being helpful.”
My blood ran cold.
Trigger pointed to the footage. “He was scouting her patterns.”
Saint added, “And he fed intel to the men outside.”
Wolf turned toward me — slow, deliberate.
“How long,” he asked softly, “did Markson know you were alone at night?”
My throat tightened. “I—I don’t know. He knew I closed the library at five, except on Thursdays, when I closed it at eight. He’d walk by sometimes. He said he was keeping watch.”
Wolf’s eyes went molten with fury.
“He was not keeping watch,” he growled. “He was keeping track.”
I felt sick. “Wolf, I—”
He grabbed my face gently but firmly. “Listen to me. This is not your fault. Not one second of this has anything to do with you being careless or trusting. This is on him. Understand?”
Tears burned my eyes. I nodded.
Then—
A metallic bang echoed through the bunker door.
Trigger spun, rifle raised. “Breaching!”
Sheriff Tate snapped to his feet. “Positions!”
Saint grabbed his tablet and typed rapid-fire commands. “I’m activating secondary lockdown — but they’re overriding the system. Someone gave them the master codes.”
Wolf snarled, “Markson.”
The metal groaned under pressure.
A hinge squealed.
Dust drifted from the ceiling.
“BACK!” Wolf barked, shoving me behind him so fast the air rushed from my lungs.
Trigger and Havoc flanked the door.
Sheriff Tate held his weapon centered.
Saint moved behind a concrete pillar.
The door buckled inward.
A sliver of darkness appeared through the crack.
My heart raced so hard I felt it in my fingers.
Then—
A voice filtered through the opening.
Low.
Calm.
Familiar.
“Nora.”
My breath shattered.
My knees nearly gave out.
Wolf stiffened like a statue carved from stone.
Trigger whispered, “That’s one of them.”
Havoc’s eyes narrowed. “He knows her name.”
Wolf’s hand slid behind him until it found mine — gripping, anchoring — and without looking at me he said, in a voice that could kill:
“Don’t you dare answer him.”
The voice came again, closer this time.
“Nora… we’ve waited a long time.”
My blood turned to ice.
Wolf’s entire body vibrated with rage. “Trigger, Havoc — when they come through that door, you fire on my mark.”
Sheriff Tate set his stance. “We’ll stop them here.”
But Saint looked up from his screen, face suddenly pale.
“Guys,” he whispered. “There’s a third signature on the cameras.”
Trigger froze. “A third?”
“Where?” Wolf asked.
Saint swallowed.
“Inside… the building.”
Wolf’s eyes snapped to me instantly.
Not looking at the door.
Looking past me.
“Nora,” he said quietly.
My breath hitched. “Wolf—?”
His voice dropped to a level of deadly calm I had never heard before.
“Don’t turn around.”