Arjun's POV:

The air in the forest was thick with tension, the distant sound of rustling leaves signaling my every step. My mind raced as I heard the sudden transmission over the comms—news of a kidnapping. A girl. Someone from the village.

"Arjun, we’re on it," Ravi’s voice crackled in my ear, but I was already moving before he could finish his sentence.

I didn’t need to wait for instructions. I’d been trained for situations like this. Adrenaline coursed through me, sharpening my focus. The world narrowed to a single goal: find her, get her out of there. I didn’t care who these people were or what they were after. No one would harm anyone under my watch.

I gathered my team quickly. We followed the trail. The deeper we went, the more intense the sounds of the struggle became. But then, something shifted. The sounds turned to silence, and I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"Arjun, we’re close," Ravi’s voice came again, but this time, it sounded more distant, muffled.

“Damn it,” I cursed under my breath. I checked my comms again. Static. We had lost the signal.

I pushed forward, moving quickly, determined to finish what we started. My boots crushed the dry leaves beneath me as I moved faster through the thick underbrush. I had no idea how much time had passed since the kidnapping or how far I had gone. But I wasn’t stopping. Not until I found her.

And then, I saw them. The men. They were holding her. The girl—her face bruised, eyes wide with terror. They didn’t see me coming. I didn’t give them a chance to react.

Before I knew it, the sound of fists meeting flesh filled the air. My team arrived just as I was taking down the last man, but I didn’t even look back. My focus was entirely on her.

I reached her, and she recoiled, fear evident in her eyes. But I didn’t give her time to think. I grabbed her wrist firmly, pulling her to her feet.

“We’re getting out of here,” I told her, my voice low and commanding, hoping she would understand.

But as I turned to signal my team, I realized—something was wrong. My team was nowhere to be seen. The forest was eerily quiet now.

"Where the hell is everyone?" I muttered to myself, scanning the area. My mind raced—no radio contact, no backup, no signal. Just the two of us, stranded deep in enemy territory.

I tightened my grip on her wrist. “Listen, I need you to stay close to me. I’m not leaving you behind. Understand?”

She nodded, her breath shaky. Her eyes flickered with a mix of fear and confusion. But at that moment, I didn’t care about anything else except getting us both out of this damn forest.

With the situation more dire than ever, I moved quickly, pulling her along behind me, deeper into the woods, praying I wasn’t too far from safety. The woods felt endless, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that we weren’t alone. We weren’t just being hunted—we were the prey.

I felt a surge of protectiveness, an instinct to shield her from the danger I knew was lurking ahead. But I also knew something else: this wasn’t going to be easy. Not by a long shot. And whatever came next, we were facing it together—alone.