7. Chapter 7 #2
"But you want him. I see it every time he walks past. Every time he touches Phoenix and you watch. Every time you're in the same room and your face flushes and you can't meet his eyes." Daniel's voice was sad, not angry. "You want what they have. The pack. The power. The children. Him."
Phoenix finished his food. Grabbed Emma's finger with both hands. Looked at Daniel with those ice-blue eyes that saw too much.
She held Phoenix close, feeling his enhanced warmth, his impossible strength for such a small body. He settled against her chest, content and safe. Made soft sounds—not words, just comfort.
Her body was still hot from Gunner's brief presence. Still wet. Still aching for something she could never have.
Daniel stood. "I'm going to volunteer for the defensive fortifications. Tucker needs people."
"Daniel—"
"It's fine, Emma. I just... I need some distance. To figure out who we are now."
He left.
Emma sat alone with Phoenix, crying quietly while the baby patted her face with his small hand, trying to soothe her pain the only way he knew how.
She could still smell Gunner in the room. Still feel the shameful heat between her legs. Still wanted what her biology demanded but could never possess.
1447 HOURS — COMMAND CENTER
Rivera burst through the door without knocking. "Sir. We have a problem."
Gunner looked up from the tactical displays. "Report."
"Voss's scouts. They're accelerating. Thirty miles south as of this morning. They were supposed to be fifty miles out based on yesterday's tracking. They're moving faster than projected."
"How much faster?"
"Double speed. They'll be in visual range of North Haven in forty-eight hours instead of seven days.
" Rivera pulled up satellite imagery. "And there's more.
Comms intercept picked up encrypted traffic.
Our techs broke it. Voss is referencing 'high-value biological assets' and 'specimen collection protocols. '"
Gunner's jaw tightened. "She knows about the children."
"Yes, sir. The intercept specifically mentioned 'naturally-born enhanced specimens' and 'Phoenix protocol replication.'" Rivera's face was grim. "She's not coming to conquer, sir. She's coming to collect."
Tasha appeared in the doorway. She'd been listening. "If she has Gao's research, she knows what Phoenix and Storm represent. She knows they're more valuable than any adult enhanced human. She knows they don't degrade."
"How many scouts?" Gunner asked.
"Twelve-person forward element," Rivera said. "Enhanced, heavily armed, carrying specialized extraction gear. Tranquilizers. Containment equipment. They're not coming to fight. They're coming to grab and run."
"Not if we hit them first." Gunner turned to the tactical display. "Get Isabella. Tucker. Suzuki. I want a strike team ready to move in two hours."
"Sir, if we engage this close to the settlement, we risk exposing our exact position—"
"They already know our position. They're thirty miles out and closing. We hit them before they get visual confirmation. Before they can transmit detailed intelligence back to Voss." Gunner's voice went cold. "And we make sure none of them survive to report what they found."
Rivera nodded. "Yes, sir."
He left at a run.
Tasha stayed in the doorway. "If Voss knows about Phoenix Contingency, every scout team she sends will have the same orders. Locate the children. Extract them. Bring them back for study."
"Then we kill every scout she sends until she runs out of soldiers."
"That's not sustainable, Gunner. She has eight hundred. We can't kill them all."
"Watch me." He looked at her. At the woman who'd created him in a lab and then chosen to love him. At the geneticist carrying his daughter. "She's not taking our children. Not Phoenix. Not Storm. Not the baby you're carrying. I'll burn Voss's entire army to ash before I let her touch them."
Tasha crossed to him. Put her hand on his chest. "I know. But we need to be smart. We need—"
Phoenix's cry echoed from the medical building. Angry. Demanding.
They both turned toward the sound.
"Emma probably tried to put him down for a nap," Tasha said. "He hates naps."
"He's five months old. He should love naps."
"He's your son. He thinks sleep is wasting time." Tasha's smile was tired. Fond. "Storm's the same way. Isabella says she screamed for an hour last night because she was tired but refused to admit it."
Gunner pulled Tasha close. Careful of her pregnant belly. "If Voss comes for them, she's coming for you too. You're the geneticist. The one who created the modifications. She'll want you alive. For research. For replication."
"I know."
"I won't let her take you either."
"I know that too." Tasha looked up at him. "But Gunner, if it comes down to a choice—if she's close enough to take either me or the children—you save them. You save Phoenix and Storm and this baby. You let her take me if that's what it costs."
"No."
"Yes." Her voice was firm. "I'm a scientist. I understand probabilities. The children are irreplaceable. Naturally-born enhancement that can't be replicated. I'm just the woman who figured out the formula. If Voss gets me, she gets research. If she gets the children, she gets the future."
"She's not getting either." Gunner's voice was absolute. "I don't make those choices. I protect all of you. That's not negotiable."
Tasha smiled. Sad. Knowing. "You're going to war for us."
"I'm already at war. Have been since Gao. Since Bertram. Since every warlord who thought they could control enhanced humans or use them as weapons." His hand moved to her belly, feeling the slight swell. "But this is different. This is for my family. Not for survival. Not for territory. For them."
"Then make sure you survive it," Tasha said quietly. "Because these children need their father. And I need you."
"I'm not planning on dying."
"Good. Because I have another eight months of pregnancy hormones and I'd hate to waste them being angry at you for getting killed."
Despite everything, Gunner smiled. "Noted."
Phoenix's cry echoed again. Closer. Emma was carrying him toward the command center, the baby reaching for his parents with both hands.
"Da! Ma!"
"He knows when we're nearby," Emma said apologetically. "Enhanced senses. He can probably smell you from across the settlement."
Tasha took Phoenix. He settled immediately against her chest, content now that both parents were in reach. Made soft sounds—not words, just satisfaction.
Emma looked at Gunner. At Tasha. At Phoenix between them. Her expression was complicated—love and longing and grief all mixed together.
"Daniel left," she said quietly. "Volunteered for Tucker's fortification crew. He thinks I'm too attached to Phoenix. To Storm. To..." She trailed off. Didn't finish.
"To the pack," Tasha finished gently. "Emma, you know we value what you do. The children need you. But if Daniel is uncomfortable—"
"I don't care." Emma's voice was firm. "These babies need me. Phoenix needs me. Storm needs me. And I'm not abandoning them because my husband can't handle that I love someone else's children."
Phoenix looked at Emma. Reached for her with one hand. "Em."
Emma's eyes filled. She took his hand, held it gently. "Yes, baby. I'm here."
"You can stay," Gunner said. "As long as you want. The children are safer with you than anyone else baseline."
"Thank you." Emma wiped her eyes. "I should check on Storm. Isabella said she was fighting sleep."
She left.
Tasha watched her go. "She's in love with you. You know that."
"I know."
"And she can't have you. Because she's baseline. Because pack hierarchy doesn't include her. Because biology is cruel."
"I know that too."
"Does it bother you?"
Gunner looked at Phoenix. At his son's ice-blue eyes, the same eyes Tasha had given him. "It bothers me that she's hurting. But I can't fix it. Can't change what she feels. Can only make sure she knows the children are cared for and she's valued."
"That's all you can do." Tasha kissed Phoenix's head. "Come on, little man. Let's get you to actually nap before your father has to kill people." Tasha looked at Gunner. "You will be back."
"I will."
She left with Phoenix, the baby looking over her shoulder at Gunner until they disappeared around the corner.
Gunner turned back to the tactical displays. Thirty miles south. Twelve scouts. Extraction gear. Coming for his children.
He started planning their annihilation.
1803 HOURS — ARMORY
Isabella checked her rifle, loaded magazines, strapped knives to her thighs and forearms. Storm was with Emma again, sleeping finally after an hour of furious protest.
Gunner entered. Started gearing up beside her.
"Twelve scouts," Isabella said. "Extraction team. Coming for Phoenix and Storm."
"Yes."
"We're going to kill all of them."
"Yes."
"Good." Isabella checked her pistol. "I've been waiting to see you unleashed. Books one and two, you were always holding back. Protecting settlements. Minimizing casualties. Being strategic."
She looked at him. Emerald eyes hard.
"But now they're coming for our children. You're not going to hold back anymore."
"No."
"Show me what the apex can really do when someone threatens his pack."
Gunner loaded his rifle. Checked his sidearm. Strapped tactical knives within easy reach. "They won't make it back to Voss."
"I know." Isabella smiled. Sharp. Predatory. "Because we're going hunting."