Chapter Thirty-One
Knox
We remain in the courtyard as the sun sinks behind the fortress, casting long shadows across the stone.
I work the bag until my arms feel like dead weight. Until my bones rattle with every hit and my knuckles split open, heal, and split again. The pain is grounding. It’s predictable and honest.
Viper stays. Doesn’t say another word to convince me to leave, just braces the bag. He knows I’m working through our conversation.
The thoughts are loud and sharp at first, then dull as bruises. It’s been a lifetime since I’ve had a bruise that lasts long enough to ache, but the one on my heart lingers.
I burn through each emotion, one after the other. I sweat out the rage, bleed out the shame. Let it all rise and boil, then fall quiet again.
I think about every time I snapped at her, punished her.
I think about each time her mere presence would push me to my limits until my Alpha roared at me to make her submit.
To mount her, mark her, until she knew her place was on her knees with her cunt around my knot.
I think about how I pushed her in training, almost breaking her in the name of meeting metrics.
But I also remember the moments I chose restraint.
I made her hot chocolate when the mountain wind howled too loud.
I kissed her by the waterfall, slow and careful, even though everything in me wanted more.
I walked away when her heat hit, because she wasn’t ready and I refused to take what wasn’t offered freely.
I hold on to those memories like lifelines. Proof that I can be more than a weapon. That softness lives in me, too. It’s not weakness. It’s a choice and I want to choose her, every part of her, with every part of me.
By the time my fists loosen and I drop my hands, I’m still not whole, but neither am I broken.
My self-loathing turns to determination.
Viper’s right. I can learn. Rut, I excel at learning. Top of every class, every drill, every goddamn test they ever threw at me. This won’t be any different.
Halley needs her Alpha.
So I’ll become the best version possible. No more excuses or hesitation.
Finally, I have a plan, and I feel like I’m ready to rejoin the Pack.
Viper throws out short quips of encouragement the whole way down the icy hill towards our new den, each one clipped and dry but weirdly comforting.
But I’m barely paying attention.
My brain’s too busy chewing on the apology I owe Halley. Third iteration in, and it still doesn’t sound right. Too stiff and scripted. Too much like the old me who shouted orders and expected compliance.
We reach the den.
Viper pushes the door open, and I step inside first—
And stumble to a halt.
Viper walks straight into my back with a grunt, but he goes quiet too.
“Woah,” he says.
“Is that a…”
“Yeah.”
“And are they…”
“Looks like it.”
It takes me a full breath to process what I’m looking at.
A nest.
Halley built a nest.
A proper one.
Shade and Halley are tangled up in each other’s arms. She’s got a death grip on Blaze’s hand, and he’s actually letting her. He’s peacefully sleeping.
Shade tilts his head at us, eyes dancing with pride and quiet amusement at our stunned expressions.
I swallow.
The memory of Halley’s first night with our squad slams into me with a ferocious force.
This is what she tried to make on that rickety cot with our pilfered bedding. And what did I see? Not a sweet, frightened Omega following her base instincts to create comfort. I saw a soldier breaking orders. I saw disobedience that needed to be corrected.
I was a fucking idiot.
I will never be so ignorant again.
Never.
No more barking orders without understanding the why. If I’m going to be her Alpha, then I have to be better than the Prime Alpha who stripped her safe place bare.
Hearing our arrival, Halley and Blaze rouse from their sleep. Halley blinks as she surfaces from a dream. Her limbs stretch in a slow, sinuous ripple, a soft mewl on her lips as she arches against Shade’s chest.
The movement is instinctive, unguarded, and intimate in a way that makes my Alpha perk up.
We close the door and start peeling off our outer layers. Cold sweat-damp jackets, stiff boots, and gloves stained with the blood from my knuckles.
A small sound draws my attention. It’s a strange chirping noise coming from Halley.
She’s finally noticed our presence and her gaze is half-lidded and unfocused.
She is still caught in that dreamy and open Omega headspace, soaked in tender, instinctive need.
It hasn’t lifted. If anything, it looks like it’s sunk deeper.
Next to me, Viper gives my shoulder a nudge and leans in just enough to speak. “You want to learn how to be soft with her? Watch.”
I let out a breath and nod.
Shade has slipped into his caregiver role with ease, as if he was born for it.
It's another element in our squad’s dynamics that I've overlooked. Our Beta Specialist has always taken care of our team, kept us grounded and off each other’s throats.
"Hungry, baby girl?" Shade asks, his voice low and soft, fingers threading gently through Halley’s hair.
She makes that chirp sound again, the one that shoots straight to my dick, and Shade nods toward the nearby plate of fruit. "Blaze will feed you."
Her expression clouds, and she shakes her head and hides her face in Shades chest.
"That's okay. Do you want to do it yourself?"
He offers her a thin slice of apple between his fingers.
Halley bats it away with a sharp little swipe. The fruit flies across the room and hits the floor.
My fist curls. That kind of disrespect would have earned her a barked reprimand and a clean-up order from me, minimum. But Shade? He just laughs. Taps her cheek with a teasing finger like she’s done something cute instead of insubordination.
“Ah, is my little brat hoping Daddy will feed her?” he coos, grinning like they’re in on some inside joke.
She giggles and looks up at the Beta with crinkled eyes of adoration and that damn glow.
He makes it look easy. Like giving in to her games doesn’t cost him a thing. Like being soft doesn’t scrape something raw inside. He just bends with her, seamlessly. I can’t stop watching. I don’t know how to do what he’s doing, but I want to.
Blaze slips to the edge of the nest. His shoulders slump. He stares down, looking about two breaths away from folding in on himself.
Shade shoots me and Viper a look. 'Help him. He needs to stay present with us. Don’t let him slip.'
Viper doesn’t budge. Just gives me a shove with his shoulder and mutters, “Go on. Practice.”
I arch a brow. “Practice?”
The big, silent fucker just shoves me towards Blaze.
Right. Be soft. Comforting. Vulnerable. With Blaze. What could possibly go wrong?
I sigh.
I’m gonna cock this up and get stabbed.
I cross to him slowly, careful not to step on any of the blankets spilling over the side of the nest. I sit beside him, leaving a beat of space between us, and place a hand on his shoulder. He jerks, startled, eyes snapping to mine. They’re wide with a mix of shame and confusion.
"Hey, you're doing good," I say, keeping my tone low.
His throat works, but no sound comes out.
I wrap an arm around his shoulders and draw him in. His head rests heavy against me, and I run my fingers through his hair, slow and calming, like Shade did with Halley earlier. It’s awkward as fuck, but I don’t stop because I can feel Blaze melting.
"When are we getting deployed again, Knox?" he whispers. "I need it. Keeps my head straight."
I know exactly what he means. When Halley left, it felt like something inside me had been carved out and the only thing that filled the hollow was war. The blood, pain, and noise drowned out everything else. Made it easier to forget the hurt.
But now we’ve got our Omega, and I won’t let either of us fall back into that pit.
‘We're not going back, Blaze,’ I push the thought into the Pack bond, willing him to hear it through the static. ‘You're staying right here with your Pack, brother. That's an order. The dark can't get us when we're with her.’
For a moment, I think the message gets lost. But then Blaze nods.
He stops shaking.
I cup the back of his neck and squeeze, scruffing him into a tighter hug against me.
It’s a hold Alphas usually hate, controlling and dominant, but this isn’t that.
This is comfort. This is Pack. This is me showing him that I’ve got him.
He belongs with us and I’m holding on tight. I won’t let him go.
Look at me. Two hugs in one day. Fucking miracles do happen.
"Good lad. We don't leave our own behind, Sergeant. Don't you forget that."
Viper grunts in agreement, the sound low and sure, and a wave of pride and approval hums through the bond, wrapping around me like a silent pat on the back.
We refocus on the nest, where our Omega is still being an absolute brat… and Shade seems to be loving every second of it.
He’s got her nestled between his legs, her back pressed against his chest, completely enveloped in his space. He gently taps an apple slice against her pursed lips, coaxing her to take a bite.
She bares her teeth and nips at his fingers with a defiant little snarl.
It clicks.
I think I get it. Kinda. Maybe. There is a dynamic between Shade and Halley that is happening under the surface.
It's not disobedience. She's testing him, putting him through his paces to see if he's worthy of touching and caring for her in the nest.
“Come on, baby girl. Open for me,” Shade murmurs, pressing a soft kiss to the crown of her head. He knows exactly how to handle her moods, meeting every flicker of resistance with calm confidence.
Halley glares for a moment longer, but then relents. She opens her mouth and takes the slice, wrapping her lips around it like she’s doing him a favor.
“There’s my good girl.” Shade smiles, and she purrs against him.
Yeah. I think I’m starting to get it.
Halley chirps again, that high-pitched sound bubbling out of her like a laugh, and a wash of warmth ripples through me.