Chapter 37
Ace
We don’t waste time.
“Gear up,” I order.
No hesitation.
No debate.
This ends tonight.
Blaze is already moving, pulling up a live map on his tablet. “Signal’s faint, but I’ve got a direction. He’s bleeding—that’s helping us.”
Good.
Let him bleed.
“Distance?” Trigger asks, loading a fresh mag.
“Half mile. Maybe less,” Blaze says. “He’s not moving fast.”
“He will be,” Beast mutters.
Yeah.
He will.
Because men like Daniel?
They don’t run to survive.
They run to finish what they started.
“Tessa stays.”
The words are out before I even think about them.
Firm.
Final.
Behind me, I feel her go still.
Then—
“No.”
I turn.
Slow.
“Tessa—”
“I’m not sitting this out,” she says, stepping closer. Her voice isn’t loud—but it’s steady. “He came for me. This ends with me there.”
My jaw tightens.
“Not happening.”
Her eyes flash.
“You don’t get to decide that for me.”
“I do when it puts you in his line of fire.”
“I’m already in his line of fire!” she snaps.
Silence hits.
Hard.
Because she’s right.
And I hate it.
“I can help,” she adds, softer now. “You said he’s not thinking straight anymore. That means he’s going to make mistakes. I know him. I can read him.”
I step closer.
Too close.
“This isn’t a conversation,” I say, low.
Her chin lifts.
“It is to me.”
Damn it.
This woman—
“She’s right.”
Blaze.
Of course it’s Blaze.
I shoot him a look.
He shrugs slightly. “He’s fixated on her. That makes her an asset.”
“She’s not an asset,” I snap.
“She’s the reason he’s predictable,” Blaze corrects.
That lands.
Because it’s true.
And I hate that too.
Trigger exhales. “We keep her in the middle. Tight formation.”
Beast nods once. “We don’t let her out of reach.”
I drag a hand through my hair, frustration burning through me.
This is a risk.
A big one.
But leaving her behind?
Not an option anymore.
Daniel proved that.
I look at her.
Really look.
She’s not backing down.
Not scared.
Not anymore.
Just… ready.
“Stay on me,” I say finally.
Her lips part slightly.
Like she wasn’t sure I’d say yes.
“I will,” she says.
And I believe her.
That might be the most dangerous part.
Tessa
The forest feels different at night.
Darker.
Closer.
Like it’s watching us.
Every step we take crunches too loud.
Every breath feels too sharp.
Ace is in front of me.
Close enough that I can see the tension in his shoulders.
The way he scans every shadow like something could step out at any second.
He hasn’t relaxed.
Not once.
Not since Daniel touched me.
My chest tightens at the memory—
But I push it down.
Focus.
That’s what matters now.
Focus.
“He’s heading somewhere,” I whisper.
Ace doesn’t turn.
“Talk to me.”
“He’s not just running,” I say. “If he wanted to disappear, he would’ve. He’s drawing us.”
“Into what?” Trigger asks quietly from the side.
I swallow.
“I don’t know yet.”
But I feel it.
Something building.
Something wrong.
Blaze slows suddenly.
“Signal’s stronger,” he says. “He’s close.”
How close?
“Fifty yards,” Blaze adds.
My pulse spikes.
Too close.
Ace lifts a hand.
We stop.
Everything goes still.
No wind.
No sound.
Just—
Waiting.
Ace
This is it.
I can feel it.
Every instinct I have is screaming.
Trap.
“Spread,” I murmur.
Trigger shifts right.
Beast moves left.
Blaze hangs back just enough to keep the signal locked.
Tessa stays on me.
Right where I want her.
Right where I can protect her.
I take one step forward—
Then another—
And the trees open up.
A clearing.
Small.
Too perfect.
My grip tightens on my weapon.
“Don’t like this,” Trigger mutters.
Yeah.
Me neither.
Then—
A voice cuts through the darkness.
“Took you long enough.”
Daniel.
I step forward, placing myself fully in front of Tessa.
“Show yourself.”
A beat.
Then he steps out of the shadows.
Blood soaked through his shirt.
Face pale.
Eyes—
Still locked on her.
Always her.
“You came,” he says.
Not to me.
To her.
Tessa
My heart pounds—
But I step around Ace.
Just enough that Daniel can see me.
“Tessa—” Ace warns.
“I’ve got this,” I whisper.
Daniel’s expression shifts.
Softens.
Just a little.
“There you are,” he says.
Like this is normal.
Like none of this is insane.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask.
I need to hear it.
Need to understand.
His head tilts.
“They took you from me,” he says simply.
My stomach drops.
“No,” I say. “I left.”
His jaw tightens.
“They made you think that.”
“No one made me do anything,” I fire back.
His breathing gets heavier.
Faster.
Unstable.
“I tried to fix it,” he says. “I tried to make it right.”
“With violence?” I ask.
“With what was necessary!” he snaps.
The sound echoes through the trees.
Trigger shifts.
Beast tenses.
Ace—
Ace is a wall behind me.
Ready.
Waiting.
“Come with me,” Daniel says again, softer now. “We can still fix this.”
I shake my head.
“There is no fixing this.”
Something breaks in his expression.
Cracks wide open.
And I see it.
The moment he decides—
If he can’t have me—
No one will.
“Ace,” I whisper.
He hears it.
Feels it.
Because he moves—
At the exact same moment Daniel does.