Master of his heart (Max and Brielle)

But then, Brielle felt like her eyes were playing tricks on her.

Noir, looking majestic and proud, stood tall with his neck arched, letting out a roar at the other ten panthers. It wasn't a loud roar, probably because he knew they were still in danger. But immediately, the ten panthers got excited, pouncing on him. Soon, all eleven of them were frolicking together, playfully jostling, pinning each other down, and eventually licking each other's fur. Brielle was stunned. Was this an illusion? She quickly recalled what Isaac had mentioned earlier, "Noir, friend." So, these ten panthers were all Noir's buddies?

She glanced at Isaac for confirmation. He nodded, "Noir, friends, these."

Relieved, Brielle felt her entire body relax. She could barely stand now, thinking they had been done for.

Isaac approached her, offering a hand, but Brielle pulled him into a tight hug instead. "I was scared to death. Thought we were goners today. Next time something like this happens, you and Noir better run and don't look back."

Isaac stiffened for a moment, his heart warming at her words. "No, won't leave Brielle."

Tears welled up in Brielle's eyes. In moments of life and death, true feelings show. She hadn't expected Isaac, so young, to be so composed. He reminded her of Max, and of King. For a moment, she envied the woman who had Isaac. To have such an exceptional and beautiful child, that woman must have done something right in her past life.

Held in her arms, Isaac's cheeks flushed red. He tried to wriggle free, but Brielle lifted him up instead. "My little hero, you're amazing. And Noir, too."

Isaac kicked in the air a couple of times before realizing it was futile and stopped. Looking down, he saw Brielle's eyes filled with admiration, almost overflowing with affection. His cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red.

Brielle put him down and planted two big kisses on his cheeks, making a loud smacking sound. Isaac, feeling a bit uncomfortable, wiped off the saliva from his cheek.

Having narrowly escaped death,

Brielle calmed down. They both sat down, legs crossed, watching Noir and the other panthers play. They were in a safe spot, and besides, the mountain was vast, stretching for miles around. It would be nearly impossible for those men to find

them. They just had to wait for King

to arrive.

As night fell, Brielle and Isaac leaned on each other and fell asleep. Isaac felt cold, as the mountain air was misty. Brielle, half-asleep, pulled him closer into her embrace and moved nearer to Noir. With the ten panthers nearby, they both felt warm.

Back at the organization's base,

Sarah was left with only a small

window to observe the outside world

after being isolated. The foot traffic had increased recently, indicating something was brewing within the organization. And that young man who had threatened her with a gun had she seen him during her visits to Beaconsfield? Though her trips to Beaconsfield were solely to gather information about her daughter, she hadn't had time to make acquaintances. She could only guess that the man had probably spent time in Beaconsfield.

Sarah grew anxious. If she remained imprisoned, she would inevitably be used to threaten the Lynch family. She would

never allow heat

be endangered because of her, Fierce determination crossed her eyes. If it came to that, she would rather be shattered than whole and tarnished!

The night had fully set in, and as she strained to listen to the sounds from outside, she saw a key being thrown through the window bars, arcing through the air to land before her.