The Alpha’s Secret Triplets (Wolf Island Special Ops #1)

Chapter 1 - Alex

“ Requesting update status on all active units .”

The order came from my radio, crackling in the grim silence around us. The desert clung to my skin, grains of sand sticking to forearms, my face, made worse only by the sweat sliding down my back.

“Alpha unit update,” I said into my radio, “Raid successful. Targets dispatched. All members safe. Awaiting cleanup.”

“ Good work, Alpha unit .” I toed the body at my feet. The leader of the group I had taken out, along with my team, stared at the sky with unseeing eyes. I crouched down and pulled the black mask he wore back over his face. To look into a dead man’s eyes was to know his secrets, I thought. His last thoughts. I didn’t need to carry that burden.

“Alex.” A voice came from behind me, deep and coaxing. Zephyr, my second-in-command. “Cleanup’s on the horizon.”

I squinted into the desert landscape, my eyes adjusting to the haze above the dunes, and saw the massive truck approaching. The truck to clear up the bodies, do a final sweep of the target’s hideout, and then leave the scene clear and untarnished. I’d be long gone by then.

“ Alpha unit, stand down. Job complete. ”

“Copy that,” I said, trying to keep the relieved sigh from my voice. “Alpha unit signing off.”

Two hands landed on my shoulder, pulling me up from the pile of four bodies that we’d taken down. Fingers gripped my vest, pulling me up to stand. I turned, greeted by Zephyr’s grin. Now freed from his helmet, his hair hung to one side of his head. It was slick with sweat, like an oil spill, with the sides shaved. He had tattoos etched into the shaved sides, some pattern that meant something to his ancestors.

He pushed the hair off his forehead. “Helicopter’s waiting, man.”

I looked towards the chopper, waiting for us to board. Waiting to take us the hell away from this desert and its searing heat.

“Let’s go,” I announced. The four other guys in my unit all relaxed, and I watched as they sighed in relief, as if finally letting go of the men they had to be when on duty. As soon as we piled into the copter, still in our duty gear, they began to talk again.

Zephyr kicked his heavily booted feet up on the chair in front of him. “Thank fuck, that’s finally over.”

“Right,” I muttered, closing my eyes. The desert had taken a damn toll on me. The blades of the copter began to whirl, and we lifted into the air. Soon, that massive expanse of desert faded into a streak of orange.

A hand landed heavily on my shoulder. Frazer, our main muscle of the group, looked at me. “Come on, let it all go now.”

“It’s just crazy to think that those hideouts seem endless when we’re fighting in them. Look how small they get from up here.”

“The beauty of a bird’s eye view,” said Hector, our tech guy. He threw me a grin from beneath a heavy layer of light brown curls. The back and sides of his hair were shaved into an undercut, leaving the top curling. We were all damp with sweat, all desperate to peel off these clothes.

The radio crackled to life again. I pulled it from my vest to hoist up between the group. The other two guys on my team, Sweeney and Johnson, the damn shadow double act, propped their elbows on the backs of their chairs, looking at the radio. They weren’t twins, but they had been friends for so long they moved in synchronization, practically brothers.

Our commander’s voice came through the radio. “ Well done, Garson ,” she said, praising me. “ You led your team excellently, as always. Now—get the hell outta there and go have some well-deserved time off. If you so much as think about work, I’ll know about it. ”

I laughed—probably my first unburdened sound of humor in the last six months. Trailing the four men we’d dispatched that day hadn’t been something to laugh about, but I’d stolen moments between surveillance and attacks to be with my guys.

“On it, chief,” I called.

“ Stop calling me that ,” she tutted. “ Zeph, clock him over the head for me, will you? And make sure he actually relaxes. Alex, if you don’t know what that is, it's where you actually let go of your day job for once and chill the fuck out .”

“Right, right,” I muttered.

“ I’m serious, Alex Garson. You need the break. You all do. So get out there to that pretty island you’re heading for, and get some proper sun. A little R&R, you hear me ?”

“I hear you, Commander Tylen,” I said.

“ It’s Jocelyn while you’re on vacation. ”

Zephyr let out a cheer. “Officially on vacation, baby!”

“ And on that note, I’m out. See you when you’re back, Alpha unit .”

She signed off with a beep . From where he squinted at his screen, Hector reached a hand out for my radio. I held onto it protectively.

“Sorry, Jo’s orders,” he said. “I’m to take it off you so you don’t try to tune in to any other work. She knows you’re dedicated.”

“I wouldn’t try to do that,” I protested. “Besides, Azure Cove is small, remote. It’s exactly what we need.”

“ Exactly ,” Zephyr emphasized. “Hey, check this out.”

He pulled up the social media account that advertised the island. It was right over the Atlantic, a seemingly forgotten island designed for a blissful retreat, according to the website.

“Make a haven your home,” Zeph read aloud. “They have rentals, like the villa we’ll be in. Who knows, maybe it’ll be good to switch off, get back into normal life. Six months in this hellscape has fried my brain—literally.”

He continued to show me the nightlife there—bars and clubs, while few and far between, were packed wall to wall with tourists and locals. Zephyr’s eyes lit up. He was never one to turn down a night out.

I closed my eyes, leaning back into my seat as I listened to my comrades and friends talk around me. Sweeney and Johnson were mapping out the island’s forest trails—of which there were no shortages—while Hector wanted to check out the local history of the town. Frazer and Zephyr were talking about the women, and placing bets on if the women would listen to their stories from duty.

I opened my eyes in time to see Frazer shrug. “I don’t need to tell stories,” he said. “I wear them on myself.”

Zephyr rolled his eyes. He couldn’t help himself when it came to chatting. He loved to boast about his time on surveillance, even if he knew to omit the finer details. “Dramatic, Fray.” He turned his dark gaze onto me. “What about you, Alex? Any plans for the island getaway?”

“Honestly, no,” I answered. “I’m ready to switch the hell off and spend every minute on the beach in the sun. Maybe get back into swimming, who knows? Eat some fucking pizza, man, I don’t know.” I laughed. It had been too long since I’d eaten pizza.

The helicopter headed towards our unit’s base, where we’d pack our belongings, and then we’d be on a one-way trip to Azure Cove for an indeterminate amount of time.

***

“Alright, alright, let’s see what Azure has to offer,” Zephyr shouted as we all headed out the door of our island villa. “We’re on the island of Azure, but will it hold allure ?”

“Oh, shut up,” Sweeney laughed.

“I’m just being creative,” he shrugged. “Hector, you liked my rhyme, right?”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, friend,” Hector called.

Zephyr rolled his eyes as we headed down the main thoroughfare through the island. Populated throughout, from beach villas to forest cabins, along with a generous cluster of small houses scattered around the town’s commercial district, I couldn’t help but feel the stillness of the place. The sun was setting in a blazing red, dipped into the waves on the horizon. The waves lapped softly against the sand as we walked away from the beach towards where the lights of the town beckoned.

Yet even though we passed clusters of people—couples, families, singular visitors—the air felt too still. Wrong. I tensed, but Frazer caught the freeze immediately.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, looking around, trying to spot danger. It was engraved in us all, this need to be on alert for threats. The rest of the group walked on, aware of my own pause, but trying not to make it look obvious. Zephyr’s hands slid into his pocket. If I knew him at all, I knew he had a switchblade in his pocket.

The four of them walked ahead while Frazer observed with me.

“I don’t know,” I answered. “But something feels off.” I glanced around, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. It felt like there were eyes on me. I just couldn’t see them. I shook it off. “It could just be after that damn desert for so long. Now, there are actually people around, and I’m aware of them being there, somewhere. Let’s keep an eye out for anything unusual.”

“Copy that,” Johnson called from up ahead. “But not too much of an eye out. This is a vacation. A very deserved vacation.”

“A vacation where we’re about to get very acquainted with the locals,” Zephyr added. “Even Hector forwent his specs for tonight’s occasion.” He nodded to where Hector had opted for contacts, giving up his glasses that he usually preferred to use when working with screens and tech.

“Locals,” Frazer laughed. “Does that translate to girls?”

Zephyr struggled. “Maybe. Who knows? The night is young, Fray.” He hooked around Frazer’s shoulders as they walked ahead, where we soon hit the lights of town.

Something was still off about this place. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I kept looking into the shadows, waiting to see someone. As a wolf shifter I was no stranger to the supernatural, but this was different.

It’s because you’re so used to the stillness , I told myself. Now, every noise of distant music and shouts, every rustle of the trees in the wind, and every crackle of tires on asphalt made me twitchy. Even a damn bird flying from its nest into the sky made me spin around, looking for the danger.

Get your head out of duty , I told myself. You’re here to relax, so relax.

Relax. Right.

Yeah, I could do that.

I played with the ring on my thumb as a comfort, an idle movement to keep my thoughts off impending danger.

“Come on, man,” Zephyr said. “Let’s find you a bar to unwind in.”

As we passed through the main town, there was a sign that read WELCOME TO AZURE COVE. SURROUNDED BY BEACHES, TOGETHER WE SHROVE.

“Shrove?” Frazer asked, cocking his head.

“It rhymes,” Hector said. “Shrove is basically them listening to your sins. So the island is pretty much designed for a retreat.”

“Sounds… Intense,” Sweeney muttered. His long blonde hair was pulled back into a high ponytail atop his head, making him a sharp contrast to Johnson, whose shoulder-length black hair was snatched into a messy bun at the back of his head. “I like intense places.”

Johnson sniggered. “Yeah? What sins do you have, Sweeney? You want to go confess?”

Sweeney shoved him playfully. “Listen, we have plenty of sins under our belt. Maybe we should have them listened to.”

Johnson scoffed. “You can go play the religious guy another time,” he muttered. “For now, keep your shroving—”

“Shriving,” Hector corrected.

“ Shriving ,” Johnson amended, grinning at Hector. “To yourself. Or to the island.”

“Copy that,” Sweeney answered, smirking. “Now, who’s up for a drink? I spy a bar up ahead.”

A neon sign with a cowboy boot hung over a dive bar that announced itself as the Swinging Boot. Zephyr’s face lit up.

“Boys,” he announced. “Let’s find out what the Azure Cove welcome holds.”