Chapter 8
Hazard pushed his body back and forth in smooth, gliding motions. His skin burned hot, his thighs strained and trembled, and sweat dripped down his back. He was nearing the end of his work out on the leg press. The 448 didn’t have any missions or training today, so he’d elected to spend his morning in the gym.
His breath puffed out in controlled pants as he counted down the second to last set of reps. He had three more to go when the door opened and Ice walked in. The two of them made eye contact. Hazard nodded a greeting which Ice returned.
The captain went over to the corner to warm up with jump rope and stretches. Hazard watched him in the mirror from beneath half-lowered lids. He didn’t want to be caught staring but he didn’t want to look away either.
Today Ice was dressed in gray sweat pants and a snug-fitting black Legion T-shirt with a thin, black, long-sleeved tee beneath it. Instead of his usual combat boots, he had on black and white athletic shoes. And he wasn’t wearing the wolf mask, only the black balaclava. The outfit was nothing special. But the way Ice filled it out certainly was.
His body was thick with muscle. They weren’t pretty, sculpted muscles for show, but solid, conveying strength and hard work. They could crush an enemy or carry a wounded comrade to safety with ease. The military should take a picture of him and slap it on a recruitment poster to show the ideal alpha soldier.
Hazard knew he would never look like that no matter how much he worked out. Even though he wasn’t built like a typical omega, he still had omega genes, which meant he’d always be small compared to alphas and most betas. But he didn’t mind. In fact, he liked that alphas were bigger than him. Unfortunately, many alphas were uncomfortable having an omega partner of his unusual size. He wondered what Ice preferred. Did he only like small, delicate omegas? Hazard cursed under his breath. The answer to that question shouldn’t be of concern to him. But he was suddenly desperately curious to know.
Ice finished his warm up. He’d come in with his hands taped. Now, he pulled on a pair of black boxing gloves. By that point Hazard was done with his own workout. To cool off, he did standing quad stretches while sucking back his bottle of water. When Ice moved to the sandbag and started working it, Hazard slowly ambled over to join him.
At first he only watched, eyes tracking the swift and brutal punches that thudded into the heavy bag. Some of the combinations the captain threw were definitely ones he must have learned beyond the basic skills the military taught during initial training. Hazard didn’t interrupt his captain’s workout, but as soon as the other man paused to take a water break, he opened his mouth.
“If you’re tired of punching something stationary I’d be happy to spar with you.”
Ice lowered his water bottle, a slight smile quirking up one side of his lips. They really were full and pink.
“You think you could keep up with me?” His dark eyes slid down the length of Hazard’s body then back up again. “Little thing like you?”
Hazard ignored the shiver that raced down his spine from that look and being called little by the big alpha. He pushed his shoulders back and puffed out his chest. “First of all, I’m not little. I’m taller than average.”
“Taller than the average omega you mean.”
Hazard sensed that Ice was about to turn him down. But he really wanted to spar with the captain. And there was a part of him that didn’t want to spar only for the competition. He wanted to have the captain’s attention on him. Wanted to show off for the alpha. Later, he would have to figure out where that urge was coming from, but right now he needed to make the match happen. Thinking quickly, he switched tactics, trying an approach that would be likely to get the alpha to say yes.
“Don’t tell me you’re one of those alphas who won’t spar with an omega because you think we’re too delicate. Trust me. I can hold my own.”
Ice stared at him. Hazard stared right back. He held his breath, waiting to see if Ice would take the bait.
“Fine.” Ice pulled off his boxing gloves. Get your hands wrapped and let’s go.”
Success . “Yes, sir,” he said with a cheeky salute.
Ice waited for him to tape his hands and wrists. Once he was ready, they stepped onto the blue sparring mats.
“Hand to hand sparring. We go until one of us makes the other submit,” Ice directed as they tapped their knuckles together to signal for a good, clean fight.
“Yes, sir.” Hazard shook his limbs out, sizing up the captain as he did so. He was huge. Hazard knew the alpha was fast as well. And he’d seen the punches he could throw. But Hazard had skills of his own. The speed of an omega, training, and a slight mean streak that only came out when he was fighting.
“What do you say we add a wager to this?” Hazard asked as they started to circle each other.
“What are the stakes?”
“Hmmm.” Hazard thought about it while keeping his eyes on the captain. He didn’t want to be taken unawares. “If I win, you have to take off your mask and balaclava for twenty minutes in our barracks common area tonight.”
“And if win, which I will, what do I get?”
“What do you want?”
“You have to go an entire twenty-four hours without talking unless directly spoken to by a superior.”
Hazard almost dropped his guard. “That’s cruel!” he protested.
“Afraid to accept?”
Hazard couldn’t completely see Ice’s expression but he heard the smugness in his tone. It made him even more determined to win. “Hell, no. You’re on.”
He could tell that Ice was waiting for him to make the first move. And since he liked to be quick to attack, he obliged him. He moved in close and made as if he was about to do a spinning kick. But when Ice went to block it, he pulled back, ducked under Ice’s long arms and tagged him in the side of his torso with a punch.
“ Oof .”
The soft, nearly soundless exhale of air was the only indication that he’d landed the hit since Ice didn’t so much as flinch.
He threw another punch, but Ice was ready for him this time. The captain caught his wrist in a vise like grip. He twisted Hazard’s arm, then moved in close while still twisting, forcing Hazard down to one knee.
Hazard clenched his teeth at the burning pain in his arm. It hurt, but it wasn’t enough to make him submit. He tucked and rolled, the change in position easing the pressure on his arm. As he rolled, he grabbed Ice by both forearms. Using his momentum and damn near all of his strength, he flipped the alpha over his head and onto his back.
With gleeful anticipation, he started to press his advantage while Ice was down. Before he could do so however, Ice kipped up to his feet and spun around to face Hazard. In an instant, the alpha was back in his fighting stance.
Hazard’s eyes popped open wide. It was mind boggling to see someone so big pull off that agile move.
Ice grinned, revealing sharp, white fangs. The gleam in his dark eyes revealed that he knew he’d unnerved Hazard with that kip up.
Hazard grinned back. He liked the captain’s cocky confidence. “I see you’ve got a few moves, Captain.”
Ice snorted. “More than a few.”
Without warning, Hazard shot forward again, planning to use his omega speed to dart in, strike, and dart back out. He’d always had success using that tactic. Unfortunately, this time it didn’t work.
As soon as he darted in, Ice caught him in a hold. He wrapped an arm around Hazard’s torso, pinning one arm to his side. Hazard’s other arm was yanked up behind his head and bent at the elbow, his wrist again caught in Ice’s tight grip. Completely captured, he met Ice’s eyes. They were closer than dance partners, their bodies pressed together from chest to thigh. But this was no dance. The position put uncomfortable strain on his side all the way up to his arm pit and prevented him from using his upper body in any capacity. But that wasn’t going to be enough to end the match.
Hazard raised a knee, driving it into the captain’s muscled quad. Ice grunted, his hold on Hazard loosening slightly at the stab of pain. Hazard let his body go limp, which gave him just enough room to slip free of the loosened hold. With lightning quickness, Ice moved to catch him again, but Hazard leaped back out of his reach.
“Thought you had me, didn’t you?” he taunted.
He got an annoyed growl as his answer.
The mood changed, the air between them now crackling with tension. They both doubled their intensity, determined to win the contest. Attempting to dart behind Ice’s defenses clearly wasn’t going to work, so Hazard decided to try and throw the captain off guard by facing him head on instead. He threw punch after punch but Ice blocked every single one with astonishing ease. The alpha didn’t even look like he was breathing hard. Noticing that, the beginnings of frustration started to build in Hazard’s chest.
“Running out of ideas, Corporal?” Ice asked with a slight smile curling one side of his mouth.
This time Hazard was the one to growl. His eyes narrowed on the smile lingering on those damn pretty, pink lips. He was about to attack with a flying knee strike when a piercing whistle cut through the air.
“Yo! Ice. Hazard.”
At the interruption they both stopped and took a step back. Hazard looked over his shoulder to where the whistle had come from. Jax stood half inside the gym entryway, looking serious.
“We’re needed in the briefing room.”
Ice immediately started unwrapping his hands. “We’re on the way,” he said.
“I almost had you,” Hazard said as he copied the captain’s actions.
Ice scoffed. “Keep telling yourself that, Corporal.” He threw his ball of used tape in the trash, banking it in with barely a glance. “Do we have time to shower?” he asked Jax.
“No, come as you are.”
The three of them left the PT center and made their way to HQ. Inside the bustling building, they quickly strode down the halls until they reached the glass doors to the designated 448 briefing room. The major was waiting for them inside. Colonel Gibbs wasn’t there in person this time. He was on the video screen, the feed slightly fuzzy.
“Good, you’re here. Let’s get started. Colonel.” Ortiz gave him the nod to go ahead.
“Your capture of Mr. Brian Lewis paid off,” Gibbs began. “He let us know that someone new has taken over Vengeful Claw. The new leader has plans to disrupt shifter society.”
“Disrupt shifter society how?” Jax asked.
“We don’t know yet. But we do know the new leader’s name. Carlos Cortez.”
A picture of a young, clean cut Hispanic male popped up on the screen.
“What pack is he from?” It was possible to find out a shifter’s entire background starting with their pack majora.
“No pack,” Gibbs answered. “He’s from the shadow lands in Arizona.”
Hazard frowned in disappointment. “Ah. That’ll make it harder to track his history.”
“Indeed. That’s why I’m sending the 448 out for a retrieval. Bring him in so we can get to know him. It should be an easy task.”
Ice spoke, his voice deep and quiet.
“If you thought it would be easy you wouldn’t be sending us.”
“That’s true. I want this done right and I know you won’t let me down. Keep me posted on your progress.”
The colonel’s grainy camera feed blinked off, the screen switching to the Legion logo.
Ortiz spread out black and white photos of a busy commercial street on the table. They all leaned down to get a good look at them.
“From the information Lewis gave us, Cortez is in this building. The Mesa Shifter Outreach Center.” She jabbed a finger at a white building near the center of the block. “He has an apartment and office on the third floor. A local Legion unit has him under surveillance and they’ll be our transport on the ground. We’ll go in late at night when the public areas will be empty. With any luck, Cortez will be asleep in his bed and we can have him in custody before he realizes the soldiers in his room aren’t a dream. Any questions?”
Three voices responded no . Hazard was already buzzing with anticipation, ready for the op.
“Then, let’s get to it. Wheels up in one hour.”