Page 129 of Alpha Awakened

“It stopped my headaches,” Ice added in his quiet rumble.

Hazard smiled, pleased that his pack valued something he’d initiated. “Glad to help. Pack life is best for shifters. Being in the military doesn’t change that.”

“See!” Boone excitedly exclaimed. “We need that shit. It helps build tighter pack bonds which makes us better as soldiers.”

“Yeah, but the non-shifters don’t understand that,” Chin said with a shrug.

“Maybe one day they will,” Hazard said.

“All they have to do is look at the 448 pack to see how well you all are functioning and they’d make changes to unit assignments asap.”

“I doubt it’ll be that easy, Boone. But there are lots of us working on making things better for shifters,” Ortiz said.

They talked about shifter allowances for a little longer before the others got up to go about their day.

A few minutes later, Hazard rose with his squad to return their trays to the dishwash area. Then they too left the mess hall. Outside, Hazard tugged at Ice’s arm to get him to stop while Jax and Ortiz walked ahead. He rocked up on his toes to lean a bit closer to the alpha while Ice stared down at him with a question in his deep brown eyes.

“Yes?”

“You know I like you for you right? Not because I’m trying to prove anything about shifters being together in the military.”

Ice nodded. “I know.”

“How do you know?”

“You wouldn’t have put up with my determination to follow regulation and stay away from each other if you didn’t want me just for me. It would have been easier for you to find someone else who didn’t care about the fraternization rules.”

“That’s true,” Hazard agreed. He’d actually had a couple of officers hit on him. But he’d had no interest in anyone whowasn’t the alpha standing in front of him. “You were a hard man to win, Captain Anderson.” Hazard grinned. “But that makes my victory that much sweeter.”

* * *

“Do we have any peanut butter cookies?” It was late in the afternoon and Hazard had a taste for something sweet. He was certain he’d seen Ice stash some of the cookies somewhere in the kitchen.

“Yeah, they’re in the third cabinet top shelf,” Jax answered.

Hazard happily opened the cabinet but ended up cursing in frustration. The cookies were there. But they were on the highest shelf and pushed all the way to the back. He’d either have to climb up on the counter or stand on a chair to reach them.

“Damnit.”

“What?” Ice asked as he came out of his room.

“I’m trying to raid your cookie stash but I can’t reach it.”

Ice chuckled and came over. “That’s why I put them there. To keep you from eating them. But I’ll be generous and let you have a few.”

He didn’t wait for Hazard to clear out of the way. Instead, he picked up by the waist and set him aside. Then he reached up and easily grabbed the package of cookies.

“Here you go,” he said.

Hazard stared at the alpha with wide eyes as he slowly accepted the treats.

Ice cocked his head to the side in question. “What’s wrong?”

“Uh...” An embarrassed blush scorched Hazard’s cheeks. “That was hot.”

Ice looked genuinely confused.

“What was hot?”