Page 23 of Ravaged Saints

Bryn walks in, tears streaming down her face, and it stops me in my tracks. “What happened?” I step toward her, Dante right beside me. Her eyes are red, her hands trembling, and I glance behind her, expecting to see Aspen.

“Bryn.” My words harden, the weight of them pressing down on the air. “What the fuck happened?” She takes a step back, her body tense, and Dante moves closer, his presence steady as his hand lightly brushes her arm.

“You fought with Aspen?” he asks gently, a contrast to the tension hanging in the room.

She shakes her head, and an icy chill runs down my spine.

“Bryn!” My temper flares, and I’m barely holding it together.

She flinches. “Aspen—” She sniffs, and my entire body stiffens. “She left.”

Ryker doesn’t hesitate. He’s already moving, his boots pounding against the floor as he sprints for the stairs, taking them two at a time. Max steps in close, his hands flexing like he wants to reach for her but doesn’t, and Ethan shoves off the couch, tension rippling through his shoulders as he straightens, his jaw locking tight.

“Left?” Dante towers over her, his tone sharp.

Bryn nods, and panic surges through me.

There’s no way she could have left; the base is locked down. Fuck.

“She isn’t here!” Ryker calls out from the bottom floor.

“Max, Recon, with me!” I bark. “Dante, Ethan, outside.”

It’s pitch black outside, and that little brat slipped away right under our noses.

Fucking hell.

Ryker and Max are already behind me, and I glance at both exit doors, my mind racing. We need to pick one, but if we choose the wrong path…

“The back gate,” Dante says, pointing. “I left it open when I went to feed the animals. She probably saw it.”

Without hesitation, we move. Our combat boots dig into the dirt as we break into a steady pace. Ryker takes the lead, his sharp eyes scanning the terrain.

She’s smart. She wouldn’t just run in a straight line.

My breathing stays controlled, but my thoughts are in chaos. When I get my hands on her, she’s going to wish she’d never fucking deceived me!

Ryker kneels, grabbing some twigs. He smirks. “She’s playing us. Changed routes away from the path.”

I scan the ground. The snapped branches are deliberate, meant to lead us one way while she veered off another. Clever. But not clever enough.

“She’s trying to throw us off.”

Max moves left, Ryker and I keep center, cutting through the underbrush. The further we move, the more the moonlight disappears, swallowed by thick tree limbs. The night is silent except for our footfalls and the occasional rustle of leaves in the wind.

Then—a sound.

A misstep, too sharp, too unnatural.

I still, hand raised.

She’s close.

Max glances at me, eyes narrowing. He hears it too. A hitched breath and an almost silent curse.

This kind of hunt is the primal thrill I haven’t felt in years. Chasing her through the woods under the cover of night is intoxicating. The air is thick with the scent of damp earth and her fear. I roll my shoulders, tension coiling tight.

“She’s mine.” I growl.

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