Chapter 13
After a solid six hours of sleep, Ice woke up refreshed. He showered again, dressed in casual uniform and left his room. The common area was empty and his senses told him the bedrooms were as well. After a simple breakfast of toast and oatmeal, he went outside to grab his boots and hose them off. To his surprise, they were sitting there by the front door already cleaned and left to dry in the sun. He took them inside and deposited them neatly on the floor at the foot of his bed.
Ice left the 448 barracks, setting out across the base without a particular destination in mind. It was a cool and sunny fall day. As he walked, he wasn’t specifically looking for Hazard. But he stopped when he saw him.
The corporal sat on a fence rail. A trio of soldiers stood in front of him, raptly listening to whatever he was saying. All of them were shifters. Alphas. The hackles on the back of Ice’s neck rose. Without stopping to question why he didn’t like seeing the soldiers clustered around his teammate, he strode over to their little group, stopping behind Hazard.
Hazard leaned back on the fence rail, balancing precariously to look at him upside down. “Hey, Captain Anderson,” he greeted him.
Ice reached out and put a hand on the spot between Hazard’s shoulder blades. “Don’t fall,” he quietly cautioned.
Hazard smiled. “I won’t with you behind me.”
Ice looked down into those smiling green eyes. The heat of Hazard’s body warmed his palm through the layers of his glove and Hazard’s thin T-shirt. He didn’t return the smile, but he kept his hand where it was until Hazard was sitting upright again.
He looked directly at each of the three soldiers in turn. Two were of equal rank to Hazard. One was a sergeant. All were big, strong, and muscular. One by one, they dropped their gazes, heads slightly twisting to the side to submissively show their necks. They returned to their conversation with Hazard, but it wasn’t long before they made their excuses and left.
Hazard turned around on the fence to face him. A small smile curled up one side of the omega’s mouth and his eyes sparkled with humor. The sun made the light green irises brighter. But even in the direct sunlight, his hair was still inky black. It looked incredibly soft. Ice wondered how it would feel to run his bare hand over it. His palm tingled inside his glove.
Of course, he wouldn’t touch his squadmate’s hair. Or the hard line of his jaw. And he certainly wouldn’t trace the curve of his plump lips. Or even touch a fingertip to the tip of his nose. Hazard was off limits. He knew that. But something within him was starting to stir, trying to convince him otherwise.
“What are you gonna do now that you have me all to yourself, Captain?”
A flush crawled up the back of Ice’s neck. Why had he chased off those soldiers? “Wasn’t trying to get you to myself,” he denied.
“Of course you weren’t,” Hazard said softly.
Hazard clearly didn’t believe him. But to try and deny it again would only look more suspicious, so he changed the subject.
“I wanted to check up on you to see if there were any issues after the mission.”
“Nope.” Hazard shook his head. “I’m right as rain. In fact, I’m about to go for a shifted run if you want to join me.”
Run at Hazard’s side. He’d never gone on a run with another wolf that was solely voluntary and not part of a training exercise. That type of pack activity was unfamiliar to him. And the thought of running with only Hazard by his side felt intimate in a way that jogging together as humans didn’t. He turned down the offer.
“I can’t. I have paperwork to take care of. Have to submit the official transfers for those two lieutenants. But you enjoy your run.”
“And you enjoy your paperwork,” Hazard said teasingly. He hopped down off the fence. “I’ll see you later.”
He was already walking off when Ice remembered his clean boots. “Hazard!” he called out.
Hazard slowed and turned around to walk backwards. “Yeah?”
“Thanks for cleaning my boots. I appreciate it.”
Hazard shrugged. “I was hosing mine off so it was no trouble to turn the water on yours too.” He turned around again and continued on his way.
Ice watched him until he disappeared from sight, headed for the path that led to the wooded area used for training exercises and wolf runs. With no reason to linger at the fence, and since he really did have paperwork to do, he headed for his office in the main building.
As soon as he turned, he spied Ortiz, casually leaning against the corner of the recreational building. Of course, Ice knew her too well to believe she was casually hanging out. The woman was too busy for that. She was obviously waiting for him so he made his way over to her.
“Major.”
She nodded a greeting before she spoke. “You and Hazard are getting along.”
Ice tilted his head in question. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“It is. It’s going even better than I’d hoped.”
Ice didn’t respond to that. If Ortiz had something to say she could say it. He rarely spoke for himself. He certainly wasn’t going to speak her words for her.
“Can’t help but notice that you seem a little territorial around the corporal.”
She’d seen his foolish display at the fence with the alphas. Ice drew his shoulders back. However, before he could offer any protest, Ortiz held a hand up, stopping him from speaking.
“I want my team bonded so that we can work together as smoothly as possible. I don’t care how that bonding happens. I only care about safe, successful missions.”
Ice met her gaze. He didn’t see any anger there or anywhere on her face. Ortiz meant what she said. He nodded once. “Understood, Major.”
“Good. Hope you got enough rest. We’ve got a new mission coming up this week.”
“I’ll be ready.”
“I know you will.”
She pushed off the building and walked away, leaving Ice to wonder if she’d given him a pass regarding Hazard or a warning. Maybe she’d given him both.
* * *
The mission was a shit show. They were sent up to Oregon as part of a joint task force operation. Each of them had been itchy from the moment their boots hit the X and rightly so. Intel was bad on both the number of enemy operatives and the location of the nerve agent they were there to retrieve. Plans had fallen apart and they’d been forced to improvise on the fly. The team got the job done but there’d been too many close calls for their comfort.
Now, they were back in Oklahoma, silently gearing down in the ready room. No one talked, their usual post-mission jokes absent. Hazard’s teeth were clenched tight, making his jaw ache. He saw at a glance that the others were in a similar state. Jax’s shoulders were up around his ears. Ortiz’s brows were drawn together in a frown. Ice’s gloved hands repeatedly balled into fists before flexing loose and then balling up once more.
Hazard was glad they’d all made it back safe, but the agitation scratching under his skin wasn’t eased. He knew what he needed to shake the gritty, unsettled feeling. He needed to scent his squadmates to reassure himself with their presence and reestablish their pack bond. But they were barely bonded as a team. They certainly weren’t bonded as pack. And he’d never seen them scent each other. Not even once. It stood to reason then, that they weren’t going to do so tonight either. That frustrated him. Scenting was a part of who they were as shifters. It didn’t make sense that they didn’t do it.
Uncharacteristically clumsy in his agitation, Hazard dropped his helmet on the floor. The sound of the helmet hitting the tile floor in the tense, silent room was as loud as a gunshot. When he went to pick it up the toe of his boot caught it and sent it skittering over to Jax.
Hazard cursed from between clenched teeth. “Damnit.”
Jax scooped up his helmet and held it out to him.
“You alright there, man?” Jax asked in concern.
Not one to lie, Hazard shook his head.
“What’s up?”
Instead of answering, he looked at his squadmate and asked a question of his own. “Why don’t we scent each other?”
Jax’s eyebrows rose at the question. “I don’t know.” He turned to Ortiz. “Why don’t we, Major?”
“It never came up,” Ortiz said. “Do you want to scent, Hazard?” she asked.
Hazard blew out a frustrated breath before answering. “Yeah. We’re a team and I know that. But I would feel better, more settled, if we did something to bond as a pack. Especially after that fucked up mission.”
“Then let’s do it.” She smiled and beckoned him over.
Surprised that it was that easy, Hazard crossed the ready room to go to his unit leader. He put his head on her shoulder, close to the scent gland on her throat but not touching. With a deep inhale, he breathed in the smell of mint. It was slightly dulled by blockers and tinged with sweat and gun smoke. But it was what he needed. His pack alpha letting him know they were safe. She pressed him close for a moment. Her wrist brushed over the back of his neck, the gland there transferring her scent to his skin. Relief washed over him, and the tight knot of tension in his gut slowly began to unravel. After a final deep breath in, he raised his head and stepped away. “Thanks, Major.”
“You’re welcome. Anytime you need it, just ask.”
The relaxed, easy smile was still on her face, replacing the pinched frown that had been settled between her eyebrows for hours. Hazard was glad that she seemed happy to scent rather than thinking the request was foolish. And since she was their leader, hopefully she’d gotten something from scenting one of her teammates.
A cough came from the other side of the room. Hazard looked to see Jax waiting for him with his arms open wide.
“Come here, bro.”
With a grin, he went in for a bro hug with Jax. The roughly affectionate contact transferred their scents to one another. Hazard breathed in, inhaling Jax’s fresh grass scent. He drew back, pretending to wince at the playful punch Jax landed on his shoulder. Jax and Ortiz scented each other as well.
“Feel better?” Jax asked him.
“Absolutely.”
“So do I actually,” Jax said as he rolled his shoulders. “Thanks for bringing it up.”
“No problem,” he said before he looked to Ice. The black clad alpha’s back was to them. Hazard had a feeling he wouldn’t be up for it, but not wanting to reject him in case he actually did want to scent, he extended the offer.
“What about you Ice?”
“I’m good. But thank you.”
That was the answer Hazard expected to hear. “The offer stands if you ever change your mind.”
Ice nodded.
The mood was noticeably lighter after that. Hazard’s unsettled, itchy feeling eased, allowing him to finally relax. Ortiz softly whistled as she checked over the straps and buckles on her tac vest while Hazard and Jax traded good-natured insults over the mishaps they’d had during the mission.
Once everyone was finished gearing down and had returned their weapons to the gun cage, they left the armory. The team walked together back to their barracks, Ortiz slightly ahead, Jax and Hazard next to each other, Ice behind them.
“Are we making that a habit?” Jax asked.
Hazard certainly hoped that they were. “If you guys don’t mind,” he said aloud.
Ortiz threw her answer back over her shoulder. “It’s fine by me.”
“Fine by me too,” Jax said.
Hazard smiled. “Good.”
Jax slung an arm over his shoulders as they walked. “You’re good for this team.”
At the compliment, Hazard’s Instinct glowed warm in his chest. If felt good knowing that one of the people he wanted to establish a pack bond with was happy to have him around. Saw him as valuable.
Tonight, the 448 had taken their first steps toward becoming not just a team but a pack.
* * *
Tired, but no longer tense and pissed off, Ice walked into the barracks with his team. Knowing they were as hungry as he was, he went in the kitchen and pulled the big pot of spaghetti that he’d made yesterday from the fridge. He put it on the stove to heat up and grabbed four plates from the cabinet. Then, he leaned back against the counter to wait.
“I don’t know about you guys but I’d be happy to eat that cold,” Jax said.
Hazard instantly agreed. “Yeah, I’m starving.”
Ortiz shook her head in amusement. “You animals. Cold spaghetti it is.”
Ice turned off the flame and stepped back to let them dish up plates of cold spaghetti. He didn’t mind eating it cold either.
They sat down and ate, too tired to do much talking, eyes hooded with exhaustion. It didn’t take them long to finish. One by one, they got up, washed their empty plates and headed to bed.
“Thanks for dinner, Ice.”
“That was good.”
“It really hit the spot.”
Ice was the last to leave the kitchen. He turned out the light and went to his own room, ready for a good long sleep. But he had to shower first.
As he stood under the hot spray, he replayed the mission in his head. His gut twisted as he thought about the instances that had come close to wounding his teammates. He soaped up, running over what he could do next time to be better, faster, and make sure those close calls didn’t happen. When he worked alone the mission was his only concern. But on a team and with a partner by his side, he had to watch out for their well-being. Sometimes, that concern made him regret accepting the call to join the 448.
By the time he’d turned off the water and stepped out of the shower to dry off, he’d compartmentalized the op and mentally filed it away.
After leaving the bathroom, Ice pulled on a clean pair of briefs. A headache was settling in at his temples and the base of his skull. He popped a couple of aspirin, turned off the lights, and got into bed.
Ice lay there in the dark with his eyes closed, waiting for the pain meds to kick in. He was full, but he had a sudden taste for an apple. But not any apple. He wanted a bright, crisp Granny Smith. Too tired to get back up, he made a mental note to check the mess hall in the morning to see if they had some. If they didn’t, he’d make a run off base to the store and pick up a bag of apples for their barracks.
He thought of Hazard’s request for the team to scent each other. That was...unexpected. It was uncommon for shifters to scent each other in the military. In fact, some officers, those who were human and lead human majority teams, wouldn’t even allow it. But they were a squad of all shifters — a rarity in the US Legion. It made sense that they’d want to do something common to their kind, especially with a shifter as their leader.
Ice turned on his side, finally starting to doze off. He’d buried his more wolfish traits deep within him years ago. His Instinct was pushed so far down he hadn’t felt it in years. Scenting was fine for the other members of the team, but he didn’t need to engage in that kind of wolfish behavior. He was happy to leave them to it.