WING C

NIKOLAI

They were going to die in Alaska.

Nikolai had accepted this about thirty minutes ago, when the guard count went from twenty to fifty, when the exits locked down, when it became clear Project Seventh had turned Wing C into a kill box specifically designed for them.

"How many rounds you got left?" he asked Dimitri through the comm.

"Two mags. You?"

"One. And three grenades." Nikolai peered around the corner. Counted hostiles. Lost count at thirty. "This is going to be close."

"Close." Dimitri's laugh was sharp. Bitter. "That's one word for it."

They were pinned in the medical wing. Anya had gone for her sister, successful extraction, from the sound of her war declaration that had echoed through every speaker in the facility. But now she was trapped in Building C with Katya, and Nikolai and Dimitri were trapped here, and Alexei...

"Alexei," Nikolai keyed his comm. "Status?"

Static. Then: "Still breathing. Barely. Extraction team is ten minutes out."

Ten minutes. They needed to survive ten more minutes.

The guards opened fire. Sustained burst. Rounds chewing through the doorframe where Nikolai was sheltered.

He returned fire. Controlled bursts. Making every round count. Dropped two. Three.

But more kept coming.

"They're not trying to capture us," Dimitri said. Realization dawning. "This is an execution."

"Noticed that." Nikolai threw a grenade. Blind. Heard the explosion. Screaming. "Eleanor doesn't want prisoners. She wants us dead."

"Then let's disappoint her."

They pushed. Aggressive. The kind of tactic that was either brilliant or suicidal. Probably suicidal.

Nikolai went high. Dimitri went low. Crossfire. They caught the guards in a choke point. Eight down. Ten. Twelve.

But there were so many. Too many.

A round caught Nikolai's thigh. He went down. Cursing. Not fatal but fuck it hurt.

Dimitri was there. Dragging him back. Returning fire one-handed. "Stay down!"

"Do I have a choice?"

Another round. This one hit Dimitri's vest. Body armor held but he grunted. Winded.

They were losing. Slowly. Inevitably.

Then Nikolai saw them. The guards reloading. All at once. Synchronized. Professional.

Also stupid.

"Grenade!" he screamed.

Threw his last one. Perfect arc. Landed in the middle of the reloading guards.

The explosion was catastrophic.

Bodies. Everywhere. The guards who weren't dead were screaming. Wounded. No longer a threat.

"That's my brother," Dimitri said. Proud. Fierce. "Violent and beautiful."

"Save the compliments. We still need to..."

The wall exploded.

Not the door. The wall. Someone had driven a vehicle, a big vehicle, straight through reinforced concrete.

Dust. Debris. Rebar sticking out like broken bones.

Through the hole came a truck. Military grade. Armored.

The door opened.

Alexei.

Alive. Bloody. Grinning like a maniac.

"Miss me?" he called.

"You're early," Nikolai said. "Extraction was supposed to be ten minutes."

"Got impatient." Alexei's grin widened. "Also, I brought friends."

Behind the truck, more vehicles. Twenty of them. The PMC contractors. Armed. Armored. Ready to fuck shit up.

"Cavalry's here!" one of them called. Former SAS, if Nikolai remembered right. "Let's evacuate these civilians and burn this place to hell!"

They moved. Fast. Professional. The PMC contractors laying down suppressing fire while Nikolai and Dimitri limped toward the truck.

"Can you walk?" Alexei asked Nikolai.

"Can I walk? I got shot in the leg, not the balls. Yes, I can walk."

"Good. Because we need to move. Anya and Dimitri are in Building C with the sister. We need to extract them before..."

The building shook.

Not an explosion. Something else. Deeper. Structural.

"What the fuck was that?" Dimitri demanded.

One of the PMC contractors, former engineer, was staring at his tablet. "Oh shit. Oh fuck. They're collapsing the building."

"What?"

"Building C. They're bringing it down. Controlled demolition. They'd rather destroy the evidence than let us escape with it."

Nikolai felt cold. "Anya's in there."

"I know."

"We need to..."

"We are." Dimitri was already moving. Toward Building C. Toward his mate. "Alexei. Get these people out. Nikolai. With me."

"Dima, you're wounded. I'm wounded. We can barely..."

"I don't care." Dimitri's voice was pure alpha command. The kind that brooked no argument. "My mate is in that building. I'm getting her out."

The bond. Nikolai felt it, not his bond, but the echo of Dimitri's. The mate bond pulling so hard it was physical pain. Demanding he save her. Protect her. Die for her if necessary.

"Okay," Nikolai said. "Let's go save your Luna."

They ran. Or hobbled. Nikolai's leg was screaming. Dimitri was clutching his ribs. But they moved.

Building C was a quarter mile away. Across open ground. Completely exposed.

Guards appeared. More of them. Always more.

The PMC contractors provided covering fire. Nikolai and Dimitri just ran. Ignoring the rounds kicking up snow around them. Ignoring the pain. Ignoring everything except reaching Building C.

They hit the entrance. The door was blown open, courtesy of Anya's earlier breach.

Inside, chaos. The building was coming down. Slow. Controlled. But inevitable.

Support beams groaning. Concrete cracking. Dust raining from the ceiling.

"Anya!" Dimitri's voice echoed. "Anya, where are you?"

Through the comm: "Basement! Service tunnel! We're heading for the north exit but..."

Static. Then nothing.

"Anya!" Dimitri was running. Down stairs. Through corridors. Following the bond that pulled him toward his mate.

Nikolai followed. Leg on fire. Vision swimming. But following.

They reached the basement. Found the service tunnel entrance. Started down.

The tunnel was collapsing. Ceiling coming down in chunks. Water pipes bursting. Electrical fires.

"This way!" Nikolai saw tracks in the dust. Fresh. Three sets of footprints. Anya, Dimitri's earlier prints, and smaller ones. The sister.

They followed. Fifty meters. A hundred. The tunnel was getting worse. Sections completely blocked. They climbed over debris. Squeezed through gaps.

Then they heard it. Voices ahead.

"...stuck! The exit's blocked!"

Anya. Alive. Trapped.

Dimitri moved faster. Nikolai didn't know how, the man should be unconscious from pain, but he moved. Reaching the collapse that blocked the tunnel exit.

On the other side, Anya. Katya. And another figure. Dimitri. Wait, no. That was earlier Dimitri. No, fuck, Nikolai's head was swimming. Concussion maybe. He was seeing double.

"Stand back!" Dimitri, the real one, the one beside Nikolai, started pulling at the rubble. Hands bleeding. Ignoring the pain.

Nikolai helped. Pulling concrete chunks. Rebar. Debris.

The gap widened. Barely. Just enough for a person to squeeze through.

"Go!" Dimitri called. "Anya! Get your sister through!"

Katya came first. Thin. Terrified. She squeezed through the gap. Nikolai caught her. Pulled her clear.

Then Anya. She crawled through. Bloody. Exhausted. But alive.

Dimitri grabbed her. Held her. The bond singing between them. "You're okay. You're okay. I've got you."

"We need to move," Anya gasped. "The building..."

The tunnel ceiling collapsed. Behind them. Cutting off the path they'd just taken.

"Fuck!" Nikolai looked at the exit. Fifty meters ahead. "Run! Everyone run!"

They ran. Katya stumbling. Anya helping her. Dimitri and Nikolai bringing up the rear.

The tunnel was coming apart. Sections falling. Water flooding in. The exit getting closer but not fast enough.

Thirty meters. Twenty.

The ceiling gave way. Right above them. Tons of concrete and rebar.

"Down!" Nikolai tackled Katya. Covered her body with his. Felt debris rain down. Felt something hit his back, hard, painful, not fatal.

Then silence.

Dust. Ringing ears. Darkness.

"Everyone alive?" Dimitri's voice. Hoarse. Pained.

"Here," Anya called.

"Alive," Nikolai confirmed. He rolled off Katya. "You okay?"

She nodded. Too scared to speak.

"Exit's ten meters ahead," Anya said. "I can see light. We can make it."

They crawled. Through the rubble. Through the darkness. Toward the light.

Burst out into Alaska air. Cold. Clean. Perfect.

Behind them, Building C collapsed completely. Imploding. Controlled demolition completed.

Evidence destroyed. The hybrid program. The torture rooms. Everything.

But they'd gotten out. Gotten Katya out. Survived.

"That," Nikolai said, lying in the snow and staring at the sky, "was too fucking close."

"Agreed," Dimitri said beside him.

Anya was holding her sister. Both of them shaking. Crying. Alive.

Alexei's voice through the comm: "Dima? Nikolai? Someone tell me you're alive."

"We're alive," Dimitri responded. "Barely. But alive."

"Good. Because we need to move. Eleanor's sending reinforcements. We've got maybe ten minutes before this place is swarming with federal agents and military."

"Copy. En route to extraction."

They stood. Somehow. Bodies screaming. But moving.

The extraction vehicles were waiting. The PMC contractors loading wounded. Preparing to bug out.

They piled in. Exhausted. Bloody. Victorious.

As they drove away, Alaska wilderness swallowing them, Nikolai looked at Katya. At the sister they'd risked everything to save.

"Welcome to the pack," he said.

She looked at him. At Anya. At Dimitri and Alexei. At the blood and violence and insanity.

"You people are crazy," she whispered.

"Yes," Anya agreed. "But we're your kind of crazy now."

The vehicles drove into the night. Toward safety. Toward recovery. Toward the war Anya had declared.

Project Seventh was coming. Eleanor Voss was coming. An entire shadow organization was coming.

Let them come.

The pack was ready.