Page 37 of Saving Meri

As for him? He was going to make damn sure this was the last night DeLuca ever breathed.

Bear sat at the head of the long wooden table, the air in the loft thick with the gravity of what they were about to do. Fitz was at one end, idly spinning a wicked-looking knife between his fingers, while Archer stood with his arms crossed, his jaw tight as he stared Bear down.

There were maps spread across the table, showing the blueprints of DeLuca’s compound with every entry and exit point marked, security placements noted. They’d been tracking his movements, and the bastard had finally made a mistake—getting comfortable, thinking he had time to strike… he didn’t.

Bear leaned forward, pressing his palms flat against the table. “We end it tomorrow. We hit the compound at midnight. Silent entry, no fuck-ups. In and out before they know what’s coming.”

Fitz hummed in approval. “About damn time.”

Archer didn’t react. He kept his gaze locked on Bear, as if he was still deciding whether to punch him again. “And Meri?”

Bear’s spine straightened. He already knew where this was going.

“She stays here,” he said. “Locked down, with a team outside the door. She doesn’t leave, doesn’t move until we come back.”

The sound of a chair scraping against the floor cut through the conversation like a gunshot.

Meri stood, her eyes flashing, her hands planted firmly against the tabletop as she glared at him. “No.”

Bear’s entire body tensed, but she didn’t back down. Didn’t shrink under his gaze. She held her ground, her shoulders squared, her pulse steady. She had known, he realized. Known before he even said the words that he would try to keep her out of it.

“This isn’t your fight,” he said, his voice firm.

“If it’s anyone’s, it’s mine.”

Archer muttered something under his breath, but Meri didn’t even look at him. Her focus was entirely on Bear.

“I know how this works,” she said. “You take me out of the equation. You put me in a safe place, and you go off to finish this without me. But I’m not sitting here, waiting to be told I’m free when I haven’t fought for it myself.”

“Meri.” Archer said, his tone was low, comforting.

She ignored him, focusing her attention on Bear. “You didn’t save me to keep me locked away.”

Bear’s hands curled into fists. Every instinct in his body screamed at him to keep her out of this. To shelter her, protect her, wrap her up in something soft and ensure she was untouchable. But that wasn’t what she needed.

She needed this. She needed to fight. To stand. To reclaim what they had stolen from her.

Bear forced himself to look at her—not just to see her, but to look past the surface to see what she needed.

This wasn’t the woman he had pulled from that hellhole. This wasn’t the woman who had flinched when he touched her, who had woken in the middle of the night gasping for air, haunted by things she wouldn’t speak of. This was Meri—his Meri—her spine straight, her mouth set in a determined line, her fire burning so brightly it nearly stole his breath.

She wasn’t fragile anymore… not broken… not lost. She was fierce, and she was his.

Bear slowly pushed back from the table, his chair making the same scraping noise as he rose to his full height. He stalked toward her, slow, deliberate, watching as she held her ground, refusing to back down. When he was close enough, he reached out, sliding his fingers around the back of her neck, holding her steady as he tilted her face up to his.

“You want this?” he asked, his voice low. “You want to be part of this?”

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, but she didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

Bear dragged his thumb over the soft skin of her throat, feeling the steady rhythm of her pulse.

“Then you follow my lead. You listen when I tell you to move, when I tell you to stop. You don’t run off, you don’t take risks, and you don’t put yourself between me and a bullet. You fight, but you fight smart. You obey me. And if I fall, you obey Archer.”

Her breath hitched.

His grip on her tightened. “Say it.”

“I obey you.”

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