Page 132 of Alpha Awakened

“True. But that’s still awful. Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“You want to know?” Ice was surprised Hazard didn’t let the subject drop. It wasn’t exactly a topic for a light, romantic outing.

“If you want to share it then absolutely,” Hazard said with a firm nod.

Hazard stuffed his trash in the diner bag, then crawled over to join Ice on his side of the truck. He sat next to him, warmly pressed up against his side.

“Tell me.”

Reassured by Hazard’s solid presence and calm interest, Ice spoke of his family’s tragedy for the first time in years.

“It was spring and my dad had come home from the Legion for a month-long leave. He and my mom wanted to go on a family vacation so we went on a cave exploration and rock-climbing trip. Since I was young we didn’t try anything too challenging. We did guided cave tours for day tourists and easy climbs that I could keep up with. Unfortunately, on the last day of our trip, there was a freak accident.”

Ice paused to gather his thoughts for the next part of the story.

“We were climbing a small mountain when an earthquake hit. It wasn’t a big one. But it triggered a landslide. Rocks came down and...”

Ice stopped. He didn’t want to picture the full memory of that terrible day. He cleared his throat and skipped ahead. “My mother and father shielded me with their bodies. I’m sure that’s the only reason I survived.”

“Your poor parents,” Hazard said in a voice thick with sadness. “They must have loved you very much.”

Hazard reached out for one of Ice’s hands, lacing their fingers together. He rubbed his nose on Ice’s shoulder, scenting him with soothing pheromones.

The scenting worked. It comforted him and kept his mood from becoming too heavy.

“I remember that they did.” The memories of his parents were faded but the love he’d felt from them remained strong, tucked away deep within him.

“What about your relatives?” Hazard asked. “You’re not from the shadow lands so why didn’t your pack take you in?”

“We weren’t on pack lands when it happened. We weren’t even in this country. Since my grandparents were deceased on my mother’s side and my paternal grandparents were deemed unfit, my father named his Legion buddy Walsh as my legal guardian. He was notified of the accident and came to get me. After my parents’ funeral, he installed me in an east coast military school instead of leaving me with my pack.”

Hazard dropped a kiss on his shoulder. “Guardian or not, he should have sent you home to Mystic Storm. I don’t like that you grew up as the only shifter surrounded by humans.”

“Walsh is human. He probably didn’t understand how pack dynamics worked and that someone would have taken me in toraise.” He shrugged. “What’s done is done. And I have you to teach me about all the shifter knowledge I missed out on.”

Hazard gave him more sweet affection, pressing a gentle kiss to his jaw.

“I’ll teach you about everything you need or want to know. I promise.”

“Like truck picnics.”

“Exactly,” Hazard agreed with a laugh. “But one day you should go home to your pack. See what it’s like there. You obviously didn’t want to lose all your connection to them since you embraced the tattoo tradition.”

“Maybe I will. One day.” He’d thought about it several times over the years. But that was a trip that wasn’t going to happen any time soon. “Okay, I’ve bared my soul. It’s your turn.”

“I’m an open book,” Hazard said as he spread his arms wide. “What do you want to know?”

“Why did you and your boyfriend break up?” His curiosity had been piqued earlier. Now was as good a time as any to satisfy it.

“Peer pressure.”

“What does that mean?”

Hazard sighed. “His friends were making fun of him for dating an omega like me. I’d hit my growth spurt and started to fill out so it was obvious I wasn’t going to be the typical dainty omega. They teased him that he might as well be dating an alpha since I was so big.”

“They sound ignorant.”

“They were. There’s nothing wrong with an alpha alpha relationship despite what some people believe. But the teasing got to my boyfriend and he dumped me. I was devastated. Hated myself for the way I looked. I drastically cut back calories, but starving myself wasn’t going to make me slender and it damn sure wasn’t going to change my height. That made me evenmore upset. My parents were worried, but nothing they said got through to me. I was a teenager going through my first breakup.”