Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
THORNE
The evening air on the mountain carries that sharp, clean bite that always clears my head better than coffee.
Sadie walks beside me on the gravel path that winds behind the cabins, her hand tucked comfortably in mine.
Snow still dusts the higher branches of the pines, but down here in the clearing the ground is mostly bare and crunchy under our boots.
Sadie’s cheeks are pink from the cold. She wears one of my thick flannel shirts under her jacket, the sleeves rolled up so they don’t swallow her hands.
Every few steps she looks up at me and smiles, that soft, real smile that still hits me square in the chest every time.
Last night solidified something deep inside me.
She wants to stay. Not just until the threat passes, but forever.
The words keep replaying in my head, making the whole mountain feel different. More like ours.
We walk slowly, no real destination, just enjoying the space between the main lodge and the tree line.
I point out the new solar panels Boyd helped install last month, explain how the well system works, and tell her about the expansion plans Gavin has been talking about for the garden plot come spring.
She listens closely, asking questions that show she’s already imagining herself here long term.
When she laughs at one of my dumb jokes about the temperamental generator, the sound carries through the cold air and settles warm in my gut.
I stop near the edge of the clearing where the ground slopes gently toward the gate and pull her against me, wrapping my arms around her from behind. She leans back into my chest without hesitation, her head resting under my chin.
“This feels good,” she says quietly. “Just walking. No rush. No looking over my shoulder every second.”
“It can be like this every day,” I tell her. “Once we handle Magnus. Then it’s just us and the mountain and whatever kind of life we decide to build.”
She turns in my arms and looks up at me, eyes bright. “I believe you. For the first time in a long time, I really believe it.”
I lower my head and kiss her, slow and deep, savoring the way she melts against me.
Her hands slide up my chest and around my neck.
For a few perfect seconds the rest of the world disappears.
There’s only the taste of her, the warmth of her body through our coats, and the quiet promise of the future we both want.
The first gunshot shatters everything.
It cracks through the night like thunder, sharp and close. Then another. And another. Rapid fire. Automatic weapons. The sound echoes off the mountainside and turns the peaceful evening into chaos in an instant.
I yank Sadie down behind the nearest thick pine, shielding her body with mine. My heart slams against my ribs. My only thought, clear and loud above the noise, is keep her safe. Nothing else matters. Not the compound. Not my own life. Just Sadie.
“Stay down,” I order, voice low and hard. I pull the pistol from the holster at my hip, the one I started carrying everywhere since she arrived. More shots ring out. Shouts follow. I risk a quick glance toward the main gate.
Figures move in the darkness beyond the heavy iron bars.
At least a dozen men, maybe more, armed with rifles and wearing dark clothing.
They breached the outer perimeter somehow, probably cut through the fence line farther down the road where the cameras have a blind spot.
Bullets ping off the metal gate and spark against the stone walls of the lodge.
Glass shatters somewhere inside. A woman screams. Children cry.
The men of Haven 7 move like the trained soldiers all of us once were.
Silas is already shouting orders from the porch of the lodge, rifle in hand.
Rafe appears at the corner of the building, firing controlled bursts toward the gate.
Boyd and Wyatt take positions behind the thick log barriers we built for exactly this kind of threat.
Chase, Gavin, and Harlan move fast toward the generator shed to cut the exterior lights and make us harder targets.
Eli drags someone inside, probably one of the women caught outside.
“Thorne!” Silas yells across the chaos. “Get Sadie to the lodge! Now!”
I don’t need to be told twice. I grab Sadie’s hand and pull her up, keeping my body between her and the gate as we run low across the open ground.
Bullets whiz past us, kicking up dirt and snow.
One round smacks into a tree inches from my head, sending bark flying.
Sadie gasps but keeps moving, trusting me completely.
We make it to the lodge steps. I shove her through the door ahead of me and slam it shut, throwing the heavy deadbolt.
Inside, the women and children are already being herded toward the back hallway.
Harper has Poppi clutched tight to her chest, face pale but determined.
Kayley carries Aidan, who cries into her neck.
Fiona and Emma move quickly, grabbing medical kits and extra blankets.
Daisy and Hannah stand by the basement door, holding it open.
“Everyone downstairs!” Rafe’s voice booms from the doorway. “Now! Bunker protocol!”
The women move fast, no panic, just efficient fear. They drilled for this. Haven 7 has always known trouble might find us one day. Sadie hesitates at the top of the stairs, looking back at me with wide, terrified eyes.
“Thorne…”
I cup her face with both hands, forcing her to focus on me. “Go with them. The bunker is reinforced. Concrete walls, supplies for weeks, independent power and air. You’ll be safe down there.”
She shakes her head, gripping my wrists. “I don’t want to leave you.”
My chest tightens painfully. I hate this. I hate every second. But the gunfire outside grows louder, closer. Someone rams the gate. Metal groans under the impact.
“I have to fight,” I tell her, voice rough. “This is what we do here. We protect what’s ours. And you’re mine, Sadie. Which means I have to make sure those bastards never get close to you. I need you safe so I can focus. Please. Go downstairs. I’ll come for you when it’s over.”
Tears fill her eyes but she nods once, fiercely. I kiss her hard, pouring everything I feel into it. Fear. Love. Promise. When I pull back I look at Harper.
“Take her. Lock it down behind you.”
Harper nods and takes Sadie’s hand. “We have her. Go do what you need to do.”
The women and children disappear down the stairs. I hear the heavy steel door at the bottom clang shut and the locks engage. Only then do I turn back toward the front of the lodge.
The fight escalates fast. The main gate buckles.
Two trucks with reinforced bumpers back up and repeatedly slam into it.
Men on foot spread out along the fence line, firing suppressing shots to keep our heads down.
I grab my rifle from the rack by the door, check the magazine, and move to a broken window beside Silas.
“Status?” I ask.
“Fifteen, maybe twenty hostiles,” he answers, voice calm despite the chaos. “Well armed. Looks like Magnus brought his whole crew. They want her bad.”
Rafe slides in beside us, reloading. “Boyd and Wyatt cover the east fence. Chase is on the generator. If they cut power we still have the backup, but it won’t last forever. We need to push them back before they breach the gate completely.”
I nod and take aim through the shattered glass. My first shot drops one of the men trying to climb the fence. The others scatter for cover. Adrenaline surges through me, sharpening every sense. This is familiar territory. Years of training kick in automatically. Breathe. Aim. Fire. Move. Protect.
The next twenty minutes blur into controlled violence.
We return fire in disciplined bursts, forcing the attackers to stay back.
Boyd takes out the driver of one of the ramming trucks with a precise shot through the windshield.
The vehicle veers off and crashes into a tree.
Wyatt and Rhett work their way around the side, flanking a group that tried to breach from the west. Eli moves between positions, patching up minor wounds when anyone gets grazed.
But Magnus’s men are determined. They have numbers and firepower. A grenade sails over the gate and explodes near the woodpile, sending splinters flying. Another truck accelerates toward the weakened gate. The metal screams as it starts to give way.
Silas curses. “They’re coming through! Fall back to defensive positions around the lodge! We hold the line here!”
We retreat in coordinated pairs, covering each other as we move.
Bullets punch through the log walls in places, but the construction is solid.
Designed for this. I take cover behind an overturned table near the front window and keep firing.
My only clear thought, cutting through the noise and smoke, is that Sadie is downstairs.
Safe behind thick concrete and steel. As long as I keep these bastards from reaching the lodge, she’ll stay that way.
The fight grows fiercer. One of Magnus’s men makes it over the broken gate and charges toward the porch before Rafe drops him with two shots.
Another tries to flank us from the side and Boyd takes him down.
The air smells of gunpowder and burning rubber from the crashed truck.
Shouts and screams mix with the constant crack of gunfire.
I reload again, hands steady despite the chaos.
Worry gnaws at the edges of my focus. I don’t want to leave Sadie down there in the dark with the others, even though I know the bunker is the safest place on the mountain.
She’s probably terrified. But leaving her to fight is the only way to keep her alive.
I have to trust the men beside me. Trust the defenses we built.
Trust that every shot I fire is one less threat that can reach her.
Rafe moves up beside me during a brief lull. “We cannot hold them off forever like this. If they bring heavier weapons or more men, we need a plan to evacuate or counterattack.”
I nod grimly. “Then we make them pay for every inch. They do not get inside. Not while any of us are breathing.”
Another volley of gunfire erupts. I lean out and drop two more attackers who try to advance under cover of the trucks. My shoulder aches from the recoil, but I barely feel it. All that matters is the gate, the lodge, and the steel door downstairs that separates Sadie from the violence outside.
The battle rages on. Men shout. Bullets fly. The mountain that felt like a sanctuary just hours ago has turned into a war zone. But through it all, one thought burns brighter and clearer than anything else.
Keep Sadie safe.
No matter the cost.
I’ll fight until my last breath to make sure she gets the future we started dreaming about together. The Sunday dinners. The quiet mornings. The life on this mountain where she never has to run again.
For her, I hold the line.
For her, I win.