Chapter 19
LUNA
The cabin exploded into chaos again as glass rained across the floor, and everyone dove for cover instinctively.
The sharp red laser sight cut through the darkness like a warning straight from hell.
Luna hit the floor hard beside the overturned kitchen island, pain shooting through her palms while another gunshot cracked through the front window.
Wood splintered somewhere behind her. “Oh my God,” she shouted.
“Stay down!” Rocco barked. His voice sounded different now. Not just angry, but commanding. It was the kind of voice people obeyed without thinking.
Tony was already moving toward the side wall while Luca cursed violently near the front room. “We got another shooter!” Tony shouted.
Rain blasted through the shattered window now, cold wind tearing through the cabin while thunder shook the walls hard enough to rattle dishes from the cabinets.
And somehow, in the middle of all of it, Gunner looked just as shocked as everyone else.
Luna saw it clearly—the confusion, the anger, and even the betrayal.
“What the fuck?” Gunner snarled.
Rocco froze halfway toward him. “You didn’t come alone?” Another gunshot exploded through the cabin before Gunner could answer. The bullet slammed into the wall inches above Tony’s head.
“Jesus Christ!” Tony shouted. Luca fired back immediately through the broken window while Jonesy dragged an old bookshelf sideways for cover.
The cabin was filled with deafening noise, and still, Rocco kept staring at Gunner, because something had changed.
The look on Gunner’s face wasn’t tactical anymore. It was furious—at the shooter.
“Oh no,” Luna whispered. Rocco heard her instantly, and his eyes snapped toward hers. She saw the exact moment he realized it, too. Gunner wasn’t working with whoever was outside. Which meant that there was another threat—another player. There was another nightmare entering the situation.
“Down!” Luca roared. Everybody ducked again as more bullets tore through the front side of the cabin.
Gunner swore viciously and rolled behind the kitchen counter near Rocco.
It was pure instinct and years of training.
The movement happened naturally, and the horrifying part was that Rocco let him.
For one insane second, both men crouched beside each other like they were back overseas again—brothers, soldiers, survivors.
Luna saw it hit them both at the same time.
Gunner looked wrecked by it, and Rocco looked sick.
Another shot slammed into the cabin. “Who the hell is out there?” Tony snapped.
Gunner dragged a hand over his face roughly. “I don’t know.” Nobody looked convinced.
“Bullshit,” Luca snarled.
“I came alone!” Gunner shouted. A laser sight suddenly flashed across the kitchen wall as it searched for its next victim.
Luna’s pulse stopped as the red dot slid directly across Rocco’s chest. “No!” she shouted.
Luna moved before thinking. Rocco turned at the exact second Luna launched herself into him, knocking both of them sideways just as the rifle cracked outside.
The bullet tore through the cabinet behind them instead, and Rocco hit the floor hard beneath her with a stunned grunt.
“Luna,” he breathed. Her heart slammed wildly against her ribs while she clung to the front of his shirt. He was still alive, but for one terrifying second, all she could think about was losing him.
Another gunshot snapped her back into reality, and Rocco grabbed her face immediately. “What the hell are you doing?”
“You were about to get shot!” she said.
“That doesn’t mean you throw yourself in front of the bullets!” he said, his voice shaking.
Luna stared down at him, breathing hard, rain and broken glass scattered around them while chaos ripped through the cabin. And somehow, she still loved him enough to risk herself without hesitation. That realization hit hard.
A rough laugh suddenly sounded beside them, and both of them turned.
Gunner stared at them from behind the counter, looking almost dazed.
“He really got someone to love him,” he murmured.
The raw disbelief in his voice nearly shattered Luna, because no one had ever taught this man that he was worth loving, too.
Another bullet tore through the wall above them. Tony fired back immediately. “Can we unpack the emotional trauma later?”
“Working on it!” Luca shouted.
Rocco pushed Luna behind the overturned table again before looking toward Gunner. “Who would come after both of us?”
Gunner’s expression darkened instantly, and then, understanding flashed across his face, followed immediately by horror. “Oh no,” he breathed.
Rocco’s jaw tightened. “What?”
Gunner looked toward the shattered window like he could already see the answer out there in the storm. “When I disappeared—” His breathing roughened. “I wasn’t alone.” The cabin went dead silent except for the storm.
Rocco stared at him. “What are you talking about?”
Gunner swallowed hard. “There were others who survived the attack.” Every hair on Luna’s body stood upright. “They covered it up,” Gunner whispered. “And some of the men never forgave the ones who came home.”
Thunder cracked violently overhead, and then a deep voice echoed from outside the cabin through the rain—cold, and deadly. You should’ve stayed buried with the rest of them.”
Luna had officially lost control of reality because there was no logical explanation for any of this anymore.
Not the gunfire, not the dead soldiers showing up alive in the woods, and definitely not the fact that Rocco and Gunner were suddenly crouched beside each other behind the same overturned table while another unknown shooter tried to kill them both.
“This just keeps getting better,” Tony muttered sarcastically before firing another shot through the broken window. Rain blasted through the cabin in icy waves, soaking the floor while thunder rattled the entire structure hard enough to make Luna jump.
“You should’ve stayed buried with the rest of them.
” The man’s voice sounded cold and deadly when he said those words to them.
The voice outside sent chills straight down her spine.
Gunner looked pale for the first time since she’d met him.
Real fear cracked through his expression as he stared toward the shattered front room.
“Oh God,” he whispered.
Rocco grabbed his arm immediately. “Who is it?”
Gunner swallowed hard, jaw tight. “Mercer.” Nobody in the room recognized the name except Rocco. Luna saw it instantly—the tension on his face from the flash of memory, followed by sheer horror.
“No,” Rocco said quietly.
Gunner nodded. “He survived, too.” Another bullet tore through the wall beside the staircase, causing wood to explode everywhere.
“Fantastic,” Luca snapped. “There’s more of you.”
Tony looked toward Gunner. “You got an army out there?”
“No!” Gunner shouted back. “Mercer stopped being one of us a long time ago.”
Rocco’s face hardened instantly. “What did he do?”
Gunner laughed bitterly. “What didn’t he do?” Another crack of thunder shook the cabin, followed by silence outside. Luna hated silence now because silence meant that he was repositioning himself and planning his next move. He was hunting them.
Mercer’s voice drifted through the storm again. “You always were weak, Gunner.” Gunner visibly flinched, and Luna noticed immediately. Rocco did too.
“Hey.” Rocco grabbed the back of Gunner’s neck roughly, forcing eye contact. “Stay with me.” The gesture stunned her—not because it was aggressive, but because it was instinctively protective and brotherly even after everything. Gunner looked wrecked by it, too.
“I shouldn’t have come here,” he whispered hoarsely.
Rocco’s expression darkened. “You came after her,” he said, nodding to Luna. Gunner’s eyes flicked toward her instantly, and she saw the shame there.
“I know, I shouldn’t have done that,” he admitted. “I brought him right to your doorstep.” That caught everyone off guard.
Tony lowered his weapon. “You admitting you screwed up?”
Gunner laughed weakly. “Pretty sure stalking his girlfriend crossed a line.” Despite the chaos, Luna almost snorted, but Rocco didn’t smile.
His entire focus stayed locked outside the cabin now, and Luna realized something horrifying.
Rocco had shifted again—not into rage this time, but into combat leadership.
He wasn’t reacting emotionally anymore. He was assessing threats and making decisions.
That should have comforted her. Instead, it terrified her, because this version of Rocco looked like a man fully capable of walking into a war and not coming back out.
Mercer suddenly laughed outside. “You really teamed up with him again?” His voice dripped disgust. “After he left us?”
Rocco’s jaw clenched violently. “We didn’t leave anybody.”
“Bullshit!” Mercer shouted. The roar of his voice echoed through the trees, followed by gunfire exploding around them again.
Bullets ripped through the front side of the cabin while everyone dove lower.
Luna screamed as glass shattered across the floor beside her.
Rocco immediately covered her body again with his own while firing twice toward the tree line.
Everything around her became noise and adrenaline.
Tony shouted directions. Luca fired through the broken window. Jonesy dragged furniture for cover, and Gunner cursed beside Rocco while reloading his weapon with shaking hands. And underneath all of it, Rocco stayed terrifyingly calm.
“Three shots from the same angle,” he barked over the gunfire. “Mercer’s northeast of the tree line.”
Tony nodded instantly. “I’ll flank.”
“No,” Rocco snapped. “He wants to separate us.”
Gunner looked over at him. “He’s right.” Another bullet slammed into the cabin wall.
Mercer laughed again outside. “You still follow him like a dog, Gunner?” Rocco felt Gunner tense beside him. Luna saw it happen immediately—the manipulation and emotional targeting. Mercer knew exactly how to keep Gunner unstable.
“Don’t listen to him,” Rocco said firmly. Gunner looked at him like he’d been struck, because Rocco still sounded protective. He still sounded like his loyal friend, even after everything that he had done.
Mercer’s voice cut through the storm again. “You know what happened after they buried us?” he shouted. Nobody answered him. “They lied.” Rocco’s face hardened, but Mercer continued anyway. “They cleaned up the mess and left us to rot because dead soldiers are easier than broken ones.”
The cabin fell silent except for the storm, because nobody in that room could fully deny it. Luna looked toward Rocco and saw the pain flash across his face again. Not just for himself, but for all of them—for the boys they used to be before war hollowed them out.
Then Mercer said the one thing that changed everything. “You think you’re protecting her, Rocco?” A dark laugh followed. “You brought her straight into the graveyard with the rest of us.” Rocco went perfectly still, and Luna realized immediately that one hit hardest of all.