Chapter 38
brYLEE
It took surprisingly little to convince my mates to let me tag along.
“You said the lab was abandoned,” I’d pointed out, trying to keep my tone nonchalant despite the cinching sensation deep in my belly. “And there haven’t been any Noths spotted in that area for days, since it’s so close to the border.”
Ridge had growled something inarticulate, Colter had folded his huge arms over his chest and glared, and Luka had forked his fingers through his brown hair, disrupting the usually meticulous strands.
But Kylian? He’d simply grinned and flicked his dagger expertly between his fingers.
“She’s safer with us than on her own,” he’d pointed out.
And that, more than anything else, seemed to have changed my mates’ minds.
Though the overprotective assholes insisted on bringing a contingent of soldiers with us—mostly betas but a few packless alphas.
“To protect the prince,” Ridge had snarled.
I was getting my way, so I didn’t argue.
They also convinced an alpha medic to attend as well. She’s an older woman, probably in her mid-fifties, with thinning gray hair braided away from her face and surprisingly elfin, almost delicate features. Her grassy-green eyes are always hidden away behind a pair of thick glasses.
“She’s one of the best medics in the field. Before that, she was a virologist,” Luka had told me when I inquired about her purpose.
I understood that a medic was always handy to have when we’re in the field, but I’d assumed we would only be gone for a day or two at most and that we wouldn’t run into any trouble. Wouldn’t it make more sense for the best medic to remain at camp?
“Are you bringing her for me?” I’d whisper-hissed, righteous indignation rippling over me and prickling my fingertips.
Luka’s smile had softened. “Yes, but not for the reasons you seem to think. We don’t expect to run into any trouble.
The satellite images showed no heat signatures anywhere near this particular area.
However, none of us have any idea of what to look for in the lab.
We need someone who understands medical jargon.
I know a little bit, but not nearly enough to be useful. ”
Oh.
Now the car door groans like a dying animal as I push it open, the humid air of Noth territory clinging to my skin like a second layer of clothing.
It's thick, heavy, and suffocating, the feeling reminiscent of breathing underwater.
My boots sink into the soft earth as I step out, making a sucking sound that echoes in the sudden silence.
The bindings around my chest are tight, constricting. I hate that I have to don my “Teddie” persona after days of not needing it in the safety of my mates’ tent.
Stupid boobs. It’s all your fault.
Ridge emerges from the driver's side, his pine-and-leather scent cutting through the thick air like a knife.
It's clean, sharp, and everything this territory isn't. He scans the surroundings with practiced precision before his gaze lands on the contingent of soldiers he brought with us. Ten men, all armed, all standing at attention, awaiting their fearless leader’s orders.
Is it wrong that I find the way he commands the soldiers sexy? That I love watching them quiver in fear when he stares at them for too long?
Probably.
I make a mental note to speak to my therapist about this.
“Hide the vehicles,” Ridge commands them, his voice leaving no room for argument. “We proceed on foot from here.”
The men work efficiently to camouflage our transportation under branches and foliage. They move like shadows themselves, disappearing into the landscape as if they were born to it.
My other mates emerge from the car—Colter, his massive frame casting a long shadow in the fading light, his muscles rippling under his tactical gear; Luka, already studying a topographical map with intense focus, his brow furrowed in concentration; and Kylian, whose eyes find mine immediately, his gaze a physical touch that sends shivers down my spine despite the oppressive heat.
“The lab is two miles northeast.” Ridge points toward a dense thicket of trees that looks impenetrable. “We'll make camp in the clearing just beyond that ridge. Scout team will confirm the lab is abandoned before we approach tomorrow.”
As we walk, the forest seems to close in around us, the twisted branches like skeletal fingers reaching for the sky, knotted and gnarled.
Noth territory has always unsettled me, even before we officially declared war on them this time around.
There's something wrong here, something ancient and malevolent that seeps into the soil and the water and the very air we breathe.
The trees grow in unnatural patterns, their bark darkened as if burned from within.
The silence is too complete—no birds, no insects, just the sound of our own breathing and the crunch of leaves under our boots.
Maybe I’m being dramatic. Maybe. But…
But something just doesn’t seem right about this place. Then again, nothing about the Noths seems right.
Resentment ferments in the dark corners of my heart.
They’re the ones who started this war.
They’re the ones who killed my people.
They’re the ones who kidnapped and tortured me.
And for what? I still don’t know their motive or what they’d hoped to get out of that. What had they wanted me to confess on camera?
Stop thinking about this, Brylee.
I mentally slam the door on all those macabre thoughts and fortify it with steel.
The clearing Ridge leads us to is small but defensible, surrounded by thick undergrowth that provides natural cover.
The soldiers immediately begin setting up tents and organizing supplies, their movements efficient and practiced. They've done this a hundred times before.
Will this be me down the road? Do I even want it to be? Is it even possible, given my position and status?
“Brylee.” Ridge’s low, husky voice—intended for only my ears—sends goose bumps skating down my arms. “You'll take the center tent with Luka and me. Colter and Kylian will take the one to our right.”
A flush of heat washes through me, and I pray the scent suppressant I took this morning will hold even with my hormones counteracting it. But damn, these men…
I picture Luka’s hands on my breasts, the scruff of his beard abrading my skin, and Ridge’s lips lowering to my—
No! Bad, Brylee! This is a mission, dammit. You can’t have hot, kinky sex with your scent matches when a bunch of soldiers are sleeping in the tent next door. Besides, Colter will feel left out, and Kylian… Well…I still haven’t gone all the way with my psychotic lover.
My eyes instinctively drift to Kylian, who's watching me with an intensity that makes my skin prickle.
There's something different about him today—a restlessness beneath the surface that reminds me of a caged predator pacing the confines of its prison.
His fingers twitch at his sides, and his gaze keeps darting toward the dark forest beyond our camp.
Desire hums in my bloodstream, electric and insistent, clawing at my skin.
As the sun lowers, the camp comes alive with the soft glow of lanterns and the murmur of voices.
Ridge and Luka leave to discuss strategy with the scout team leader, while Colter stands guard at the perimeter, his masked face unreadable in the flickering light.
I've always wondered what Colter looks like under that mask—what he hides from the world, from us.
Will he ever remove his mask for me?
Maybe I can ask.
Maybe he can tell me why he started wearing it in the first place.
Maybe—
I turn in his direction, intending to go do just that even though I know the timing is horrendous, when a hand closes around my wrist and pulls me into the shadows between two tents.
I spin around, my knife already in hand, but it's Kylian who stands before me, his eyes gleaming with that unhinged fire that both terrifies and fascinates me. It's like looking into the heart of a forest fire—beautiful, deadly, and utterly consuming.
“They're all distracted,” he murmurs, his voice a dangerous caress that makes my tummy flip. “Perfect timing for a disguised princess to slip away unnoticed.”
Before I can protest—not that I really want to—he's pulling me deeper into the forest, his movements unnaturally silent.
I should resist, should call out to my other mates, but there's something intoxicating about Kylian's impulsiveness, about the way he takes what he wants without apology. It's like being caught in a riptide. Fighting is useless, and there's a strange sort of freedom in surrender.
We don't stop until we're far from camp, in a part of the forest that feels ancient and untouched. The waning sunlight struggles to penetrate the thick canopy above, creating an otherworldly atmosphere.
The air here is different. Cooler, charged with something that makes the hairs on my arms stand up. It's as if we've crossed a threshold into another world, one that exists parallel to ours but never touches it.
“Kylian, are you insane?” I say, but there's no real conviction in my voice. "Ridge will have our asses when he finds out."
"Let him," Kylian replies with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Sometimes a prince needs to escape his duties. Especially when he's not really a prince at all."
“What is this about? Kylian, I don’t—” A scream lodges in my throat when my most psychotic and unhinged mate lunges at me with his dagger.
Reflexes kick in, just barely, and I stumble to the side.
“Kylian!” I whirl on him, heat flaring in my cheeks, my hands curling into fists. “What the hell?!”
He laughs giddily and expertly twirls his dagger like it’s a baton. “I thought we could do some training. Like, for old time’s sake.”
“Training?” My brows scrunch together.
Kylian’s lackadaisical smile remains affixed on his face, but his eyes have sharpened, shimmering with unfettered intensity.
“You’re in Noth territory, my beautiful obsession. And yes, we believe this area is secure, but I’ll be damned if I lose you. You need to be able to defend yourself.”
The earnestness in his gaze strangles my breath. For a long moment, I can’t reply, my heart battering against my rib cage like a pounding fist.
Finally, I manage a weak and raspy, “I can defend myself.”
His smirk widens, like he was hoping I would say that. “Prove it.”