Chapter 3
The mission over, they flew back to base. Jessica had revealed that they’d injected her with a serum to prevent her from shifting. She’d stayed awake for most of the two days of her captivity out of fear that they’d give her something else while she was unaware. Now she slept, wrapped in a blanket and safely sandwiched between Mitchell and Ortiz, her head resting on the major’s shoulder.
Ice believed she’d been afraid. She’d stank of fear when he’d smashed open the door to her prison. But now, the scent of calm wolf was breaking through that sour smell. It made it past his mask to his nose as she snored her way through the flight.
Twenty minutes later, they began their descent to land and Ortiz shook the exhausted young woman awake. The bird touched down on the tarmac, and the rear hatch opened. After thanking the pilot, the team and Jessica disembarked. Medical staff was waiting to attend to Jessica, the blue lights of their van joining with the lights of the airstrip to brighten the dark night. But before the medics could get to her, two older women rushed forward.
“Jessica!” they cried out in near unison.
Councilor Doucette and her wife. Jessica burst into tears and sprinted across the tarmac to meet them. When the two women reached the young beta wolf, they enveloped her in a tight hug, their sobs revealing that they were desperately relieved to see their daughter returned safe and whole.
When the 448 members drew abreast of the crying trio, the councilor broke away from her family to speak with them. Councilor Doucette was as well put together as she always appeared when Ice saw her on TV. She wore a dark purple suit with padded shoulders, with a white silk blouse beneath, and high heeled black pumps. Her long braids were coiled in a bun at the nape of her neck, secured with pearl tipped hair pins. But while her clothes were impeccable, the lines of exhaustion and worry on her light brown face showed how stressed she’d been. And the bitter smell of worry still tinged her scent. Tears brimmed in her eyes even as she gave them all a genuine smile.
“Thank you all for rescuing my daughter. The past two days were the most difficult I’ve ever had to face.”
“You’re welcome, Councilor Doucette,” Major Ortiz said. “I’m happy we were able to return her safely to your side.”
“She was brave throughout the trip out of the warehouse. You should be proud of her,” Hazard added.
“Jessica is a tough cookie,” Councilor Doucette replied with a tired laugh. “Thank you all again. If there’s anything I can ever do for you, please let me know.”
“You’re welcome, ma’am,” Jax said.
Ice nodded in acknowledgement of her thanks.
She shook each of their hands before returning to her wife and daughter.
Their job done, the 448 headed across the base to gear down in the armory. In the ready room, Ice removed his combat gear — night vision goggles, helmet, tactical vest. All of it came off and went back in his equipment bag.
“Well, Ice, what do you think?”
Ice raised his head from unbuckling the straps on his drop leg holster to look at the major. What did he think about what?
At his silent question, Ortiz jerked her chin toward Hazard, making it clear what — who — she meant.
Ice turned his gaze to Hazard. He watched the young corporal talking with Jax, noting how well the two had already meshed together. He’d been grudgingly impressed with Mitchell’s work tonight. Mitchell followed orders well. The omega was maybe a little too chatty but it hadn’t detracted from the mission. And he’d done a good job keeping Ms. Doucette going until they had her securely on board the chopper.
But that was one mission. It was too soon for him to give a complete assessment. Turning back to Ortiz, he gave her his answer.
“No complaints so far.”
Ortiz snorted but let it drop. She knew him well enough to know that she wasn’t going to get anything more out of him right now.
“I’ve got something to handle up at HQ. Can you show Hazard to our quarters?”
Ice flicked his gaze from the major to their new member. It was obvious that Ortiz was asking him since they’d be working together the closest. She was probably hoping they’d make some kind of connection. Ice knew that they wouldn’t. Still, he nodded. Seeing that the omega was geared down, he called his name to get his attention.
“Mitchell!”
Mitchell immediately turned from his conversation with Jax to respond.
“Sir?”
“Get your stuff. I’m showing you to our barracks.”
“Yes, sir,” Mitchell answered with a nod.
Ice turned and walked out of the ready room, not waiting to see if Mitchell was following behind him. Outside of the armory, he crossed the base, heading toward the small building that exclusively housed the 448.
“No general barracks then?” Mitchell asked.
“No,” Ice said as he opened the door and lead his new partner inside. “It’s not pretty but it’s home.”
“Looks good to me.”
“There’s two empty rooms.” He nodded at the two rooms with open doors. “Take your pick.”
Mitchell didn’t move to choose. Instead, he looked up at Ice. In the bright indoor light, Ice saw that the corporal’s eyes were a pale jade green with flecks of gold.
“Which one is better?”
“What?”
“Does one have a draft? Does one have an odd smell and no one can figure out where it’s coming from?”
Ice stared at him, not comprehending why the answers to his questions mattered. “They’re rooms,” he said gruffly.
Another smile, this one with a hint of cheek as one side of Mitchell’s mouth quirked up higher than the other.
“Alright then.”
He watched as Mitchell poked his head in one room and then the other before choosing the first. He’d picked the one right next to Ice’s room. They would share a wall.
“Settle in,” Ice ordered crisply.
His job done, Ice went in his room and closed the door. Corporal Mitchell could explore the rest of the place by himself.
* * *
Hazard looked around the small room that was now his own. There was a bed just big enough to comfortably fit an alpha, with plain, serviceable sheets, a blanket in non-descript gray, and a single pillow. Against one wall was an armoire on short, stout legs for his belongings. On the other wall there was a small desk and ladderback chair. The floors were gray tile, the walls white and unadorned.
He opened the door on the opposite side of the room from the bed to see a small bath with a tiny walk-in shower. The room was bare and boring. But no worse or nicer than others he’d lived in.
Ortiz had specified that on-base housing was a requirement for this special operations unit. He appreciated that the 448 was all housed together. Wolves needed that closeness to help build a pack, but far too often they weren’t given that opportunity in the US Legion. As he started to unpack, Hazard hoped that he would bond with his new team the way that wolves needed to bond.
Once he had everything stored away with standard military neatness, he checked out the rest of the 448 barracks. The gray tile floor and white walls were repeated in the common areas. The closed doors he left alone, understanding those were the private quarters for his new team members. There was a fully equipped kitchen with a scarred butcher block table and four ugly mismatched chairs. In the common area, a big, overstuffed couch, two armchairs, a coffee table made of an old door sawed in half and set on top of two packing crates, and a TV crowded the room. Like Ice had said, it wasn’t pretty but it was his home for the foreseeable future.
Hazard sniffed the air. To his surprise, the scents of the 448 members weren’t layered together in the common area. Ortiz’s sharp and minty scent and Jax’s scent of fresh grass were there but they were separate, as if they didn’t often hang out in the space at the same time. And there was barely a trace of Ice’s — a warm cedar scent that was at odds with what he’d observed of the man so far. He detected the faintest hint of an old scent, something chalky, it must belong to the member who’d retired.
He’d just finished his inspection when the front door opened and Ortiz and Jax walked in.
“Pick your room okay?” Ortiz asked.
“Yes, ma’am. And all unpacked.”
“Good. We’ll eat dinner, then you can get some sleep. You’ve earned it.”
Hazard nodded. He was tired. A meal, followed by a hot shower, and then bed sounded like the perfect way to end a long day.
Before he went to sit down, he cast a glance at Ice’s closed bedroom door. He wondered if he’d passed the captain’s test. It’d be nice to know if he had Anderson’s approval. If he didn’t have it yet, he’d have to continue doing what he’d been trained to do until he earned it.