Page 89 of Veil of Shadows

“Voss, don’t,” I warned.

Voss closed the distance between the two of them and stared the man down. “It’s not my fault you haven’t told her how you feel yet. It’s not my fault that you keep holding yourself back from her. It’s not my fault you’re a jealous fucking wolf that?—”

“That’s it,” Ronyn growled.

The second Ronyn shoved Voss, I stepped out of the way. My eyebrows rose as I slid my hands into my pockets, watching the brawl unravel. Voss landed a punch that made Ronyn groan. I grinned as I perched against the windowsill, watching the two of them tussle. Ronyn slammed Voss into a wall, holding that man up by his fucking neck. But Voss was quick. He swiped his leg against Ronyn’s and took that behemoth man to the ground with a shake. They tumbled around on the floor like schoolboys fighting over a crush on the school bus, and I stood back and watched the show.

They needed to get it out of their system anyway.

“Enough!” Merida exclaimed as the door to the sniper’s nest slammed open.

Voss and Ronyn immediately jumped to their feet. Voss raked his hands through his hair. Ronyn tucked his shirt back into his pants. I swear, Merida was more like the mama of the pack than anything else. I’d never seen two more powerful men straighten their asses up in all my life. You know, except when Bexley was here barking orders.

Dear God, we needed to bring that woman home.

“I’ve had it with the three of you chasing your tails,” Merida hissed as she slammed the door closed behind her. “I’ve had it up to here,” she said as she motioned with her hand against her forehead, “with the arguing, the fighting, and the side-stepping. I get it, you’re worried about Bexley. So am I. But fighting and beating one another to high hell isn’t going to get her home sooner, nor is it going to keep us safe.”

“She’s right,” I said.

That tugged Ronyn and Voss’s stares toward me, but I simply shrugged. Merida was right. We did too much infighting and not enough outward fighting. We didn’t stand a chance in hell of getting our mate back if we didn’t pull it together.

Merida pinned Voss with a look. “Ronyn’s right, by the way. As much as we all hate the fact that Bexley’s not here with us, we have to assume that she’s fine. That woman’s endured more than her fair share of heartache and sorrow while on the job. This won’t be any different.”

“How do you even know she’s alive?” Voss asked.

Ronyn growled. “Say that shit one more time.”

“Or what?” Voss spat.

“Silence!” Merida shrieked.

Her voice echoed around the sniper’s nest, and it caused me to jam my finger into my ear and wiggle it around.

“Jesus,” I said breathlessly.

Merida’s cold, hard stare volleyed between the two of us. “That woman has been beaten while on the job, raped just for fun, tortured for information, and that’s just the beginning stages of it. Her survival skills don’t just keep her alive in the forest, they keep her alive everywhere she goes. That woman pushes through pains you wouldn’t even believe. Chronic pains that I’ve helped her treat while she’s here just so she can rest a bit easier.”

That gave me pause. “Wait, what kind of chronic pain?”

“She’s been raped?” Voss snarled.

Ronyn’s face was stunned as Merida continued speaking. “She’s capable of more than the three of you will ever be, combined. So how about instead of fighting and ripping one another apart from the inside out like that vampire bitch wants, we band together and trust our instincts. Yeah? The three of you think you can give that a fucking shot?”

“Trust our instincts…” Ronyn muttered softly.

Merida scoffed. “Yeah, even the instincts you hate.”

Silence fell around us for the longest time. Even though I knew it would get me chastised, I couldn’t help but say the words rattling around in my brain.

“Did she tell you who raped her?” I asked.

“Names,” Voss simply demanded.

Merida rolled her eyes. “I swear to?—”

Ronyn cleared his throat. “I can help with the efforts to find a secondary place to call home. I’ll notify the troops patrolling the woods to keep an eye out for anything flat and suitable.”

Voss drew in a deep, sobering breath as the anger finally cleared from his face. “Ronyn, I’m going to put a specific tracking team together to go after Bexley. Think you can help me piece together a team?”

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