Griff ducked through the reinforced doorway, pushing the iono-stretcher into the Enclave. Thank fuck. He hated being out in the open with injured people.

His squad mates followed him in, all of them covered in dirt, sweat, and grime. Hell Squad had stayed behind to clean out the mine tunnels of any remaining aliens. They had orders to seal up the neighboring mine in any way possible. Griff was certain that would involve explosives. He suspected Hemi would have liked to help make that mess, but the guy was clearly worried about his brother.

Griff leaned over the stretcher, his gaze falling on Manu and Kate. She’d refused to get on her own stretcher. Manu was unconscious, and Kate was wrapped around him. She’d been whispering nonstop to him the entire trip back.

It was strange to see tough, no-nonsense Captain Kate Scott clearly head over heels for the oldest Rahia brother. He’d pegged her as cool, but seeing her with Manu made it clear she wasn’t.

Even though Manu was unconscious, the man knew his woman was with him. He had one strong arm wrapped around her, and he’d held tight to her the entire trip back.

They fit. Even Griff, who’d had his faith in women and relationships shattered into jagged pieces long ago, could see these two fit.

Kate hadn’t left Manu. Griff glanced at Manu’s mangled leg. He would have asked her to go and find a way out. Griff knew his friend well, and Manu would’ve wanted Kate out of there.

But she’d stayed. She’d fought at his side.

Unlike Griff’s faithless ex-fiancée.

He shook his head. Now wasn’t the time to think of Amelia.

“You’re going to be fine, Manu,” Kate murmured. “We’re back at the Enclave.”

Griff’s fingers tightened on the stretcher.

“You brought color into my life.” She pressed into Manu’s side. “You brought me to life. I’m not letting you go.”

Shit. Griff felt the hard shell around his heart crack a little.

Ahead, he heard running footsteps. Doc Emerson and her team appeared. Right behind them was another woman running fast on long legs, her dark ponytail flying out behind her. Indy.

Griff’s gut clenched. He always felt that sensation whenever he saw her. He couldn’t even remember when it started.

He’d grown up with Indy Bennett. Their families had been close friends and once, her brother Gareth had been his best friend. His brother.

For so many years, Indy had been Gareth’s kid sister. At first, cute, then annoying and loud-mouthed. Then she’d reached her teens.

She’d always been fucking gorgeous, but at about sixteen, she’d started flirting and throwing herself at Griff. Hell. He’d held her off pretty successfully until she was eighteen. He’d been home on leave from the Police Academy with Gareth.

At a party, she’d cornered him and kissed the hell out of him. His fingers tightened. Damn, he’d wanted her.

But she’d been too young and wild, and more importantly, she’d been his best friend’s little sister. Besides, he’d been focused on his career, passing the Academy, and working hard on his dream to be a cop like his dad.

To get Indy to back off, he’d been harsh with her. He’d hurt her.

His ruthless words about her being like a little sister to him, and that he’d never see her as a desirable woman had stopped the seduction attempts. Then she’d started avoiding him like the plague.

She’d also gone even wilder. She’d always been spirited, but over the next few years, the few times he’d seen her, he learned she’d gotten ink, been partying hard, and had a parade of biker and musician boyfriends.

A muscle ticked in his jaw. But he’d never stopped thinking about her. Hell, even when he’d been engaged to Amelia, he’d still had less-than-pure thoughts about Indy Bennett.

When he’d been incarcerated, she’d been one of the few people to come to see him in prison. He’d refused to see her.

His chest tightened. After the alien invasion and his escape from the supermax prison, he’d mourned his family, and he’d mourned Indy, too. He’d wake in the night, thinking about her.

Then he’d arrived at Blue Mountain Base and seen her among the survivors. Alive and more gorgeous than ever.

Indy had always been the color in his life.

“How are they?” She looked anxiously at the stretcher, worry etched on her face.

“They took down a buttload of raptors. They’re battered, but tough as hell, both of them.”

She glanced at him and nodded. Then her gaze moved past him to the rest of the squad. His fellow berserkers got a smile.

“Hey, babe.” Hemi slapped her ass as he walked past.

“Neanderthal,” she called out, no heat in the word. “Everyone in one piece? Nothing broken or bleeding?”

She didn’t look at Griff. Once again, she was ignoring him.

Indy breathed life into a room, and he was sick of her pretending he didn’t exist.

“You plan to kiss my boo-boos better?” Levi asked with a wink.

She smacked the tattooed man in the shoulder. “Chrissy would hit me in the head with her wrench, big guy. Then she’d come after you.”

As the others headed down the corridor, Indy moved to follow them. Griff saw the tight lines bracketing her mouth. She was still worried. He gripped her arm, his hand wrapping around the bright rose tattoos on her skin.

“Manu and Kate will be all right,” he said.

She nodded. “It’s hard listening to the fighting over the comms, and not knowing if you guys will come back in one piece.”

No way he’d be able to sit behind a desk and listen to the fighting. He’d always been a guy who preferred action, a man who believed in the law, and did whatever he had to do to protect it. He’d always thought right beat wrong, good beat evil. But life had taught him that wasn’t always the case with a big fucking betrayal he’d never seen coming, followed by the damn alien invasion.

Without thinking, he tugged Indy in for a hug. She went still, then stiffened, and tried to pull back.

But Griff didn’t want any distance between them and held her in place. She was a long, curvy handful, and smelled like she had years ago—of coconut.

“Let me go,” she said.

“You’re always avoiding me.”

“No, I’m not. I see you every day.”

“You look through me. You only look at me when you’re busting my balls.”

She glared at him. “Your balls are safe from me, Griff.”

Some indefinable mix of emotion roared through him at her words, and he backed her into the wall.

Her gray eyes narrowed on his face. “Back off.”

“I think it’s time we talk about us.”

“Us?” Her dark brows rose. “There is no us.”

“Let’s talk about why you’ve been avoiding me for years.”

“Ah, you were in jail, Griff.”

“Before that,” he growled. He wanted no reminder of the years he’d spent in that hellhole.

“We grew up. You became a cop and left.”

“Indy—”

“I’m not doing this.” She shoved at him.

He grabbed her wrists, but she yanked one free and, quick as a snake, she slammed her open palm into his nose.

“Goddammit.” He staggered back, checking she hadn’t broken his nose.

“You taught me that self-defense move, remember? So I could deal with pushy guys who wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk.” He glared at her.

“We have nothing to talk about.”

“We are going to talk, Indy.”

With a glare hot enough to melt his skin, she stomped off down the corridor.

Griff stayed where he was, watching the sway of her ass under her tight jeans. She was fighting him, but he’d been a cop a long time. He was good at reading people. He’d seen the flare of panic in her eyes when he’d told her they’d talk.

He thought of Kate’s words to Manu. That he’d brought color to her life.

Griff had been ignoring the shades of gray around him for a very long time. Life had ground him down, but now he was finally ready to risk it all to get some color back into his world.

To get Indy back into his world.

* * *

Kate woke to a steady beeping sound and the smell of antiseptic. And thankfully, no pain.

She rolled over, looked at the ceiling and blinked. She was in the infirmary. She touched her shoulder and felt smooth skin, no sign of her wounds. No doubt she had a shot of nanomeds to thank for that.

She turned her head, and her gaze fell on Manu lying in the bed beside hers.

Her chest tightened and she sat up. His eyes were closed and he was lying so damn still.

She reached up and pulled a small sticky monitoring pad off her chest, then she swung her legs over the side of the bed. She was wearing a stupid hospital nightgown and was naked beneath it.

Carefully, she pressed her feet to the floor and waited. There was no dizziness. She crossed the few meters to Manu’s bed and crawled in with him.

Curling around his body, she pressed her nose to his throat and breathed him in. He was so still, but his skin was warm, and when she pressed her palm to his bare chest, she felt the steady thump of his heart.

She looked down and saw that the blanket on his lower left side lay flat. Her heart lodged in her throat. His prosthetic leg was gone and if she wasn’t mistaken, some more of his thigh had been amputated. She stroked his chest. Once again, he had to face the hardship of rehab. She hugged him tighter. This time, she was going to be by his side every minute. She’d go out there herself and find him a new prosthetic, if she had to.

“A-hem.”

Kate lifted her head and saw Emerson standing at the end of the bed, looking equal parts annoyed and amused.

“We frown on sharing beds in this infirmary,” the doctor said.

Kate didn’t move. “You’ll have to drag me out.”

Emerson just shook her head.

“She’s not going anywhere,” Manu rumbled.

Kate quickly looked back at him. “Manu.” She touched his face, stroking his stubbled cheek. “How are you feeling?”

“Whenever I wake up with you, I feel pretty damn good.”

God, he melted her. She pressed her lips to his.

When she pulled back, Emerson was grinning at them. “Well, you two went through the wringer, but you both have a clean bill of health now.”

Kate clutched the sheet. “And Manu’s leg?”

“I’m sorry.” There was sympathy in Emerson’s voice. “Your prosthetic was completely destroyed and I was forced to amputate some more of your thigh.”

Kate swallowed, and beneath her, she felt Manu pull in a deep breath.

She tightened her hold on him. “We’ll find you a new one. A better one—”

He gripped her chin. “Kate.”

She didn’t stop to listen. “Whatever it takes, I’ll—”

“Hey, look at me.”

She looked into velvet-brown eyes. He was so strong and steady.

“I don’t give a fuck about my leg.”

Her mouth dropped open. “What?”

He shrugged. “You’re alive. I’m alive. That’s all I care about.” He kissed her, and it wasn’t a sweet, quick kiss. He deepened it, mastering her mouth, tongue delving deep.

“I see you’re both feeling better,” a dry, masculine voice said.

Kate let out a squeak of surprise. God, General Holmes had just caught her and Manu making out in the infirmary.

When she looked up, she swallowed a groan. It wasn’t just Holmes. Alongside him stood Niko, Tane, Hemi, and Marcus. Great. She dropped her head to Manu’s chest.

“I’m feeling pretty fucking great,” Manu said.

There were deep chuckles in response.

“We wanted a quick debrief, and to give you an update,” Holmes said.

Kate forced her head up.

“We cleaned out the abandoned mine,” Marcus said. “No more raptors or their damn landmines.”

“Fuckers,” Hemi said. “We had fun running the last of them down.”

“They’d been here, right under our noses for some time.” Holmes face was composed, but Kate knew him well enough to know he was clearly pissed.

“It won’t happen again,” Niko added darkly.

“Manu, you now have a collection of alien landmines to study,” Tane added. “We left them with your team.”

Manu nodded. “I’ll get to them, as soon as I’m back on my feet…or foot.” He winked.

Kate made a choked sound. How the hell could he joke about this?

His lips quirked. “Too soon?”

Hemi roared with laughter, while the other men smiled.

Niko cleared his throat. “We’re storing the landmines in a cordoned-off area in the old part of the Enclave that’s been sectioned off the main base.”

Kate knew they couldn’t risk storing them in the heart of the Enclave. With Manu studying the functioning mines, they could learn a lot. Find a way to stop the damn things affecting their laser weapons, and maybe even use the tech against the aliens.

Emerson stepped forward. “There’s something else. Manu, there was alien organic matter on your prosthetic.”

“The scales,” Kate said.

Emerson nodded. “It had started to embed into your skin as well, that’s the main reason for the extra amputation. We’re still studying it, but it was the same material we removed from Kendra’s injuries.”

“What?” Kate frowned. “This stuff is in the landmines?”

“Like a dirty biological bomb,” Tane said. “The damn mines aren’t just for blowing stuff up.”

“Like I said, I’m still analyzing,” the doc said. “But the landmines appear to spread alien DNA that searches for a host to infect.”

Holmes ran a hand through his hair. “It appears the Gizzida aren’t slowing down on their quest to turn us all into raptors.”

“I’ll keep working until I know more,” Emerson added.

“Gabe happy about that?” Tane’s dark gaze dropped to her belly.

Emerson pulled a face. “I’m pregnant, Tane. I don’t need to be wrapped in cotton wool and locked away. I can still do my job.”

“But it could be risky,” the squad leader said. “Remember Chrissy nearly blew herself up studying that alien tech she removed from the Hunter engine.”

“We have protocols in place,” Emerson said. “We have to find out what the hell the aliens have cooked up now.” Pain rippled over her face. “Or none of us, including my babies, will have a safe place to live.”

“Keep us posted, Emerson,” Holmes said.

Kate straightened, wishing like hell she wasn’t wearing this stupid skimpy gown. “We used a cineole grenade. It caused the raptors to bleed.”

All the men straightened.

“Really?” Marcus rasped.

Manu nodded. “Blood running out their eyes, noses, and mouths.”

Emerson’s face sharpened. “I’ll let Noah know.” She grinned. “We could be on to something.”

“And the octagon?” Manu asked.

Niko shook his head and let out a frustrated breath. “Nothing.”

Kate looked at him and then Holmes. “Permission to leave the Enclave for a scavenging mission. Manu needs a new prosthetic.”

“No,” Manu said.

“Manu—”

“I don’t want you out there.”

“And we need you back up and running.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Do you care if I have no leg?”

She gasped. “What? I don’t care if you have no legs and no arms, Manu Rahia—”

He yanked her down and she slammed against his chest. His kiss was hard and unforgiving. More masculine chuckles rippled around them. Oh, she was entertaining everybody today.

She shifted off Manu. “Foolish man.”

“No need for scavenging,” Tane said. “When we got Manu’s original prosthetic, we nabbed a few extras. We figured it couldn’t hurt to have some backups or extras around.”

Kate felt a burst of relief.

“We left them with Noah,” Hemi said with a smile. “They’ll probably be rocket-powered by now.”

“Well, tell Noah to get a replacement to me,” Emerson said, turning to look at Manu. “We can get you back up and running in no time.”

Manu’s arms tightened around Kate. “Actually, I’m not in a rush. I’m quite comfy here.”

There were more chuckles, and Kate rolled her eyes as her chest filled with warmth.