Page 19 of BounBound By Scars

“The type of SOS they just sent means that we can assume they are both… deceased.”

Silence.

Nothing.

No one spoke.

No onebreathed.

But I had one more thing to say.

“Their SOS was coded with an attached message. They probably used the Bridgewood library.” My voice was hoarse, but I forced the words out.

I turned to Zane and mumbled. “I need your help decoding it.”

He exhaled slowly. And nodded.

“The other reason I called everyone here,” I continued, “There’s an almost certain possibility that Squad Six members—the Alpha Team—are in fatal danger. I wanted to bring up an officialStage IIlockdown on all members.”

Sebastian cleared his throat, immediately grabbing my attention. “I vote yes. You’re safe inside the compound, but I can’t guarantee anything outside these walls.”

Zarek nodded in agreement. “I second that.Stage IImeans free reign within the compound, and no electronic communication with anyone outside of us.”

Some of us who weren’t too numb, nodded. I felt Zarek’s sharp gaze as if the warning was for me. He knew I still kept in touch with Kavya, my sister, every now and then.

Then Logan stood, his hand finding Kaylan’s arm, guiding her out of the room. She looked lost, vacant.

Another family of hers was gone now. I winced.

Once Zane also left the room, I squeezed my eyes shut. I was dreading what message would be coded in that alert.

Zarek’s voice was quieter this time, directed at Leora. “I’m sorry,Mi Corazón. We’ll have to delay the wedding.”

Leora’s head snapped up at him. “You think I’m thinking aboutthatright now?”

She shook her head, dropping her gaze to the floor, her voice barely above a whisper. “We can just… have it here. But it’s not important. Not now.”

A long pause. Then, she softly murmured, “I hope she’s okay.”

Fuck.

Amelia’s small gasp filled the room. “Their families…”

“For fuck’s sake, Falcon,” Delara snapped, cold. “I’m sorry about your colleagues. Truly. I am. But we can’t care about that right now.”

My jaw tightened. Rage coiled inside me, sharp and unexpected. I wanted to snap back and defend Amelia.

But I couldn’t. Because technically—fuckingtechnically—Delara was right. We couldn’t be concerned about that.

“No contact,” she continued, voice final, hard as stone. “Am I clear?”

Sebastian’s voice cut through, sharp, biting.

“Alright, enough.”

Lia smirked and crossed her hands over her chest. “Actually,Shadow, my point about bringing up their families was to see if evenourfamilies could become targets.”

Oh shit. She’s right.

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