Wounded

⸻

Will crossed the room in three long strides, crouching beside me without hesitation. “Tell me what you need.”

“I need pressure on Del’s side—here.” I guided his hand to the worst of the bleeding. “I can’t tell how deep it is yet, but she’s lost a lot. We need to stabilize her before we even think about moving her to surgery.”

Will nodded and pressed down without flinching, his other hand already reaching for gauze from the tray beside him.

“Remi.” Rae’s voice cracked. “I lost my Dexcom.”

I turned to her, already working on wrapping her leg. “When?”

“When I fought Jason. I think it got ripped off in the swamp. I haven’t had one on for a while.”

I stopped cold. “Rae—how long is a while?”

She winced. “A couple days. Maybe more. I’ve been checking manually, but I… missed one. Or two. I don’t know.”

Will swore. “She needs glucose. Now.”

“I’m on it.” I grabbed the kit from my bag and pricked her finger—her number was dropping fast. I passed her the glucose gel. “Take this, now. Then fluids. You’re not crashing on me.”

Just then, Trey’s voice came from the bed behind us—hoarse, but alert.

“What the hell is going on?”

I looked up. Trey had shifted himself to sit more upright, his monitor beeping a little faster.

“Jason,” I said without looking away from Rae. “He found Rae and Del. Ambushed them. Del’s critical. Rae dragged her out and brought her here.”

Trey looked from Rae to Will, his expression hardening. “What do you need me to do?”

“You’re recovering,” I snapped. “What I need is for you to stay in that bed.”

Will turned, lifting Del into his arms with steady strength. “I’ll get her to surgery. You bring the hospital up to speed

“I’ll meet you there,” I said, already snapping on gloves. “Rae’s stable enough for now. Trey—stay alert. I’ll need your head on this soon.”

Trey gave a tense nod, glancing from Rae to Will. “Got it. But Remi—who’s Jason?”

Rae’s breath hitched, her voice raw. “You don’t know him. He wasn’t part of your pack. He’s… from our past. Mine and Del’s. From before.”

Will frowned as he turned back. “If this guy’s not local, how the hell did he find you?”

That answer hit me like ice in my veins.

“He found them in the swamp,” I said slowly. “The one place only I and Del knew about. Not even Will knew the coordinates. Not even the Council.”

Trey’s eyes widened. “You’re saying—”

“I’m saying someone’s been watching. Tracking. Hacking was just the start.” I met Rae’s shaken gaze. “And we walked right into it.”

Rae’s voice dropped, hollow. “I thought I was luring him away from Del. But it was a trap from the start. He wanted us scared. Running.”

“And now he wants us exposed,” I said grimly. “He came onto our territory and left a message written in blood.”

Will turned back to the door, Del cradled carefully against him, his jaw tight. “Then we answer it. Hard.”

He disappeared down the corridor, and I turned to Rae, wrapping her arm around my shoulders.

“You’re staying here now. You and Aspen. This is your home too, even if it’s for the first time.”

Trey watched silently, a storm brewing in his expression as realization set in.

We weren’t just dealing with rogue violence anymore.

This was personal.

Someone had drawn a line in the dirt, and crossed it.

But they didn’t know what we’d do to protect our own.

Not yet.

But they would.