Jax
Chaos explodes around the safe house like a living storm.
Snow whips through the trees in thick white sheets, stinging my face and mixing with the acrid bite of gunpowder that hangs heavy in the freezing air.
My boots sink into the fresh powder with every powerful stride as I move low and fast along the tree line, rifle tight against my shoulder.
The cold burns my lungs with each breath but it does nothing to cool the fire raging in my veins.
Ava’s inside that cabin. And these cartel bastards think they can fucking take her from me.
“Target on the ridge, three o’clock,” Brock’s voice crackles over the comms in my ear, calm and steady like always. “I got him.”
A single suppressed shot pops somewhere to my left, followed by a distant grunt and the thud of a body hitting snow. Good. One less threat.
“I see them,” I bite back, voice lethal and unyielding.
I drop to one knee behind a thick pine trunk, the rough bark scraping against my jacket as I line up my shot.
The wind howls through the branches overhead.
My finger squeezes the trigger twice. Two quick, precise shots.
The first cartel gunman jerks backward, crimson blooming across his dark coat before he collapses.
The second tries to return fire, but my next round takes him down clean.
The recoil vibrates through my shoulder, a familiar jolt that keeps me grounded.
“Clear on the east,” I report, already moving again.
My heart pounds steady and hard, every beat screaming Ava’s name.
I love that woman more than I’ve ever loved anything.
Her spunky personality, the way she moans my name when I’m buried deep inside her, the trust in her eyes when she said yes to building a life with me.
These fuckers won’t touch her. Not while I’m breathing.
Gunfire erupts from the front of the cabin in a sudden barrage.
Bullets chew into the logs with sharp thwacks, sending splinters flying.
I break into a sprint, snow crunching loudly under my boots, cold flakes catching in my lashes and melting against my heated skin.
Ryker’s voice cuts through the comms. “They’re breaching the porch. Colt, cover the north window.”
“On it,” Colt replies, his tone growly and unshakeable.
I round the corner just in time to see three more cartel enforcers rushing the front door.
One of them kicks it hard, the wood splintering with a loud crack.
Rage boils hot in my chest. I roar and open fire, the rifle bucking in my hands as I lay down suppressing shots.
One goes down immediately, blood spraying dark against the white snow.
The other two dive for cover behind the SUV we arrived in, returning fire that zings past my head close enough to feel the heat.
“Jax, left side!” Mason’s voice barks over the comms. He appears like a ghost from the trees, laying down precise shots that pin the bastards in place.
I charge forward, using the chaos to close the distance.
My boots slip slightly on the icy ground but I stay upright, muscles burning with effort.
One of the gunmen pops up to aim at me. I slam into him like a freight train, driving my shoulder into his gut.
We crash to the snow in a tangle of limbs.
He swings a knife that glints wickedly in the dim light from the cabin windows.
I block it with my forearm, the blade slicing through my sleeve and drawing a hot line of pain across my skin.
Blood wells warm and sticky, but I ignore it.
I drive my elbow into his face, feeling cartilage crunch under the blow.
He howls in pain. I wrench the knife from his hand and slam the butt of my rifle into his temple. He goes limp.
“Got one,” I snarl into the comms, breathing hard.
Another crash echoes from inside the cabin. My blood runs cold. Ava. I’m on my feet in an instant, charging toward the porch when her scream rips through the night like a blade straight to my heart.
“Jax! Jax, help me!”
Pure terror laces her voice, high and desperate.
It tears something primal loose inside me.
I see it then. Two large cartel thugs dragging her kicking and screaming through the broken bathroom window.
Glass shards glitter in the snow around them.
Her coat’s torn, blood spotting her arms from the glass.
They haul her toward a dark van parked in the shadows just beyond the tree line, her small body thrashing wildly between them.
Rage explodes through me like wildfire. “Ava!” I roar, sprinting full speed through the snow. My boots pound hard, kicking up powder that stings my eyes. Bullets whine past me but I don’t slow.
I’m almost there when a heavy body slams into me from the side. Kane. His arms lock around my torso like steel bands, yanking me to the ground. Snow explodes around us in a white cloud, the cold shock biting through my clothes.
“Get the fuck off me!” I snarl, fighting like a wild animal. My elbow connects with his ribs but he holds tight, grunting from the impact.
“You go after that van right now and you’re dead, brother,” Kane growls in my ear, his voice strained but firm. “They’ve got reinforcements waiting. We finish this here first. Then we hunt. Trust the plan.”
Ava’s screams fade as the van doors slam shut and the engine roars to life. The sound of tires spinning on snow before they catch and speed away rips a hole in my chest. I watch helplessly as the taillights disappear into the dark trees, taking my woman with them.
“No!” The word tears from my throat raw and broken. I buck hard against Kane but he refuses to let go until the immediate threats are handled.
The battle rages on around us. Brock takes down another shooter from the ridge with a perfect long shot that echoes like thunder.
Ryker and Colt move like shadows, clearing the porch in coordinated precision.
Mason appears at my side, helping Kane haul me up as the last of the visible cartel gunmen are neutralized.
Bodies litter the snow, dark stains spreading beneath them. Fucking victory.
We drag the surviving cartel members inside the cabin, zip-tying their wrists and ankles tight enough to cut circulation.
There are four of them left conscious, battered and bleeding but alive enough to talk.
I pace the main room like a caged beast, my boots leaving bloody tracks on the rugs.
My arm burns where the knife cut me, warm blood trickling down my skin, but the pain is nothing compared to the storm tearing through my soul.
Ava’s gone. Taken. The thought makes my vision tunnel red.
“Where are the others?” I demand, voice deep and deadly as I grab the closest one by his collar. His face is swollen from the fight, one eye already closing. “Where did they take her?”
The man laughs, a wet, mocking sound that sprays blood from his split lip. The others join in, their eyes defiant despite the zip ties and the guns pointed at them.
I lose it. My fist flies before I can stop myself, connecting with his jaw in a sickening crunch. Pain flares through my knuckles but it feels good. “Tell me where she they took her!” I roar, grabbing him again.
“Jax, easy,” Mason says, stepping in close. His hand lands heavy on my shoulder, firm and grounding.
Kane moves to my other side. “We need them talking, not unconscious.”
Brock leans against the wall, arms crossed, a dark grin on his face. “You heard the man. Where’s the girl?”
The prisoners laugh again, harder this time. One spits blood onto the floor. “You think we tell you? She’s already dead.”
Red floods my vision. I lunge forward but Colt and Ryker grab me, holding me back as I strain against them. My muscles burn, veins standing out on my neck. “I’ll kill every last one of you slowly,” I roar, voice shaking with the force of my rage. “Starting with you.”
Brock lets out a dark laugh and steps closer to the prisoners. “You better start talking, assholes. Or I’m going to let Jax here go loose on all of you. And trust me, he’s not in a forgiving mood right now.”
The men shift uncomfortably but still say nothing. Their silence is a knife twisting in my gut. I need Ava.
I feel out of control. Wild. Like the alpha inside me is ready to tear the world apart until I have her back in my arms. My hands shake with the need to hit something else, to make someone bleed until they give me answers.
Mason pulls me aside into the hallway, away from the prisoners.
His grip is iron on my arm, steadying. The woodsmoke from the fireplace follows us, mixing with the copper smell of blood on my hands.
“We’ll find her, Jax,” he says, voice firm with certainty.
His eyes meet mine, brother to brother. “You know we will. We’ve got tracking on the van.
Teams already moving. You’re no good to her like this.
Breathe, man. We end this the right way and bring your woman home. ”
I slam my fist into the wall, denting the log with a heavy thud. Pain radiates up my arm but it clears some of the red haze. Ava. I need her. I love her more than life itself. And I’ll burn the entire cartel to the ground to get her back.
The night is far from over. But I won’t stop until she’s safe in my arms again.