Page 10 of Alpha Awakened

Ortiz turned around, jogging backwards to face them. “You boys sound like you’re having fun back there,” she called out. “Do I need to up the pace and add a few more miles to make it strenuous enough for you?”

Hazard was quick to answer. He didn’t want this run to go on any longer than it had to. “No ma’am!”

She hit them both with a warning look before she refaced to the front. They continued on, the only sound that of their controlled breathing and boots hitting the pavement.

Hazard let his mind sink into the run. He watched the increasing activity on base without letting it distract him from the warmth of the rising sun on his face or the steady pace he maintained.

The mist had completely burned off by the time Ortiz turned and began the return trek. According to the mile markers on the path, from start to finish they’d jogged three miles. Back at their starting point, she slowed and came to a stop. The rest of the team followed suit.

“Good run, boys,” the major said as she started to stretch.

Hazard did a few deep knee bends. Then one by one, pulled his heels up to his ass to stretch his quads. He let out a groan at how good and warm his muscles felt. Catching Ortiz’s eye, he sent her a rueful smile. “Hate the run, love the way I feel afterward.”

Ortiz laughed. “Same here.”

“You’ll never hear me complaining about a run,” Jax teased. “We can do another mile if you want, Major.”

Ortiz snorted. “No.”

Ice remained quiet, stretching his long arms above his head and then changing position to stretch his hip flexors.

Hazard watched him. He didn’t know why his gaze was so often drawn to the captain. He’d worked with other alphas as big. Encountered other soldiers who wore a mask. And yet, something about Ice made him tingle with awareness.

Hazard abruptly turned to face the other way to focus on his stretches. He wasn’t here to ogle his squadmate.

Once they’d cooled down and had water, they headed for HQ. It was time for the debriefing.

The main headquarters was a large, three-story gray brick building. Inside, the white and green linoleum floors were so bright and clean, the bodies of all the personnel moving about were blurrily reflected on their surface. A painted mural took up a section of the wall in the entryway, depicting stalwart soldiers in combat.

Hazard followed along as Major Ortiz lead the way down busy halls, past offices, finally stopping at a set of glass doors. A small black plaque with Strategy Room 6 was mounted on the wall next to the right-side door. It was the same room they’d met in yesterday.

They entered the strategy room as the colonel’s assistant was putting brown folders down on the table in front of each chair. Hazard sat and opened the folder in front of him, slowly flipping through the pages inside. A moment later, Lieutenant Colonel Gibbs walked in and the meeting began.

“Good morning, 448. Congratulations on your successful rescue of Ms. Doucette.”

“Thank you, sir,” Ortiz said as the others nodded.

“I see from your report that there was no information to be gathered on site.”

“No, sir. It was strictly a holding location.”

“And the group defending it?” Colonel Gibbs asked.

Hazard answered. “They were good. Maybe a home-grown militia with some members from a private military company mixed in.”

“We’ll run down their identities and verify that possibility.” Gibbs looked at his aide, and they made a note in their folder.

Ortiz spoke again. “Before we continue, I’d like to take a moment to commend Hazard for his seamless transition onto the team.”

“Seconded,” Jax said. “First mission and it was like he’d already been with us for months.”

“Thank you, Jax. Major. I appreciate that.” He truly did. The team didn’t have to welcome him aboard with praise. They could have been business as usual. On many other teams that would have been the case. Taking the time to let him know he was fitting in, in front of the colonel no less, showed him the kind of people he was teamed up with.

He shifted his gaze to Ice, his new partner. Ice met his gaze head on. The alpha was silent and for a moment, Hazard thought he wasn’t going to say anything. Rejection was starting to sting in his chest when Ice nodded.

“Mitchell was a positive asset during the mission,” he said gruffly.

Hazard smiled. He didn’t ask for much. Acknowledgement that he’d done his part during the operation was all he needed. And it was nice to know that beneath Ice’s gruffness, he was decent enough to offer that acknowledgement.