22. Chapter 22 #3
The response came as love so fierce it burned, wrapped around absolute certainty. He wasn’t coming alone. He was coming with his pack, with everyone who’d chosen to stand with him against threats like this.
And he was coming for her not because she was bait, but because she was his partner. His mate. His equal.
***
Sage moved to the window. The compound was settling into night routines, guards changing shifts, lights dimming in the main buildings.
Garrett was visible through a window in the main building, seated across from the logistics coordinator she’d spotted earlier.
Papers spread across the table. Whatever network Thornwood maintained with neutral packs ran through that room, and Garrett trusted that wolf enough to meet at this hour.
She added it to what she knew.
The eastern blind spot was still dark. No sweep had covered it since sundown.
Somewhere beyond the walls, Declan was planning the extraction. Nolan was positioning his team.
They were coming for her.
But she wouldn’t wait passively. When Declan reached her, she’d fight. She’d use every skill she’d honed over years of hunting to disrupt Thornwood’s plans from the inside.
The certainty that arrived back was absolute. His faith that she was strong enough to survive until he reached her.
I’m ready, she promised. Come get me. I’ll meet you halfway.
***
Sage spent the hours before dawn preparing.
She couldn’t escape. The guards were too alert, the compound too secure. But she could gather information. Map the layout more precisely. Identify which wolves seemed uncertain about Garrett’s plans and which were true believers.
The young guard who’d brought dinner avoided her section entirely. Someone else delivered breakfast, older and less talkative. Sage ate mechanically, maintaining her strength while her mind worked through possibilities.
The bond had shifted from stretched to taut. Declan was holding position somewhere close, waiting for the right moment. She could feel Nolan’s presence too, a steadying influence through Declan’s awareness. The pack was in position.
Now it was just a matter of timing.
Garrett appeared mid-morning with Valen and four guards. Satisfied, confident. The look of someone who believed his trap was perfect.
“We’ve contacted Blackridge.” He settled into his usual chair. “Declan agreed to the meeting. Noon today at the waypoint. He comes alone, we release you. Simple exchange.”
“He’s not coming alone.” Sage held her voice level. Certain.
“He agreed to the terms.”
“He agreed to your terms knowing you’d break them.” She met his eyes. “Because that’s what you do. You manipulate and coerce and use people’s love against them. But Declan’s not predictable the way you think.”
“We’ll see.” Garrett stood. “When we move you to the waypoint, you will be visible? Secured. A reminder of what Blackridge stands to lose.”
The words should have terrified her. Instead, something quiet and fierce settled in. The investigator who’d tracked monsters across three years. The woman who’d crossed into wolf territory alone because she refused to let fear stop her.
“You’re going to lose.” She stood, meeting his eyes. “Not because Blackridge is stronger. Not because Declan is more violent. But because you fundamentally misunderstood what you were dealing with.”
“And what’s that?”
“A pack that covers its own. And a woman who’s done being anyone’s victim.”
Garrett’s face flickered, just for a moment, with something that might have been doubt. To Valen.
“Keep her secured until noon. Then we move.”
The door closed behind him. Sage stood alone in the too-comfortable cabin and let herself breathe.
Noon. They were moving her at noon. Thornwood expected Declan to walk into an ambush. Expected his love for her to make him stupid.
They didn’t know Declan the way she did.
She moved through the cabin systematically. Checked the bathroom for anything useful. Found a metal towel rod that could be loosened with enough leverage. Filed that away.
Tested the window frames. The one in the bedroom had a latch that stuck but wasn’t truly locked. She could force it in under ten seconds.
The young guard was back on rotation. She could see him through the window, shifting his weight, avoiding looking at her cabin. He’d told her more than he should have. That doubt was useful.
Sage positioned the single chair near the door. Not blocking it. Just close enough that anyone entering would have to step around it. A small disruption. A half-second delay.
Small advantages added up.
Something pulsed through her awareness. Declan’s approach. Nolan’s team moving into position. The certainty that Thornwood’s trap was about to become their own undoing.
She was Sage Whitmore. Declan Cross’s mate. Blackridge’s newest member. And she was done being underestimated.
They’re moving me at noon, she sent. Come before that.
His answer came wordless. Pure determination. He was coming.
Sage composed her expression and waited. Let the guards see what they expected. A frightened human. A compliant hostage.
They had no idea what was coming.