Page 26 of Alpha Awakened

“Good.” Ortiz leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “We’re not letting this go.”

Gibbs rose from his seat and straightened his jacket. “I know you won’t. And I’m confident that you’ll get him next time.”

Major Ortiz replied in an icy voice filled with the promise of payback. “Damn right we will.”

* * *

The team returned to their barracks and fell into bed for some much needed sleep.

In the morning, once everyone was up, they went out for their run. After that, they spent the day washing uniforms, taking care of their gear, and filling out after action reports. By that evening all of their post mission tasks were complete, but they were still filled with annoyance over the way Arizona had gone down. The frustration tinged all of their scents, strong enough that it broke through their blockers to cloud the common room where they’d all gathered.

Hazard sprawled in one of the arm chairs. Ortiz sat at the kitchen table, nursing a Tab soda while drumming her fingers on the tabletop. Ice stood in the open doorway to his room, one shoulder braced against the doorjamb. Jax sat on the edge of the couch, leaning forward with his elbows perched on his knees.

“It pisses me off that we weren’t able to bring Cortez in,” the corporal said.

“Same here,” Ice agreed in his low, rough voice.

“What pisses you off more, Captain?” Hazard asked. “The failure to bring him in or the fact that you were nearly roasted alive?”

“The failure.”

The flat, quickly given answer made Hazard snort a laugh. Ortiz and Jaz both chuckled as well. That laughter finally snapped the band of tension that had been squeezing them tight all day.

Jax relaxed from his stiff position and scooted back to sit fully on the couch.

“Cortez had to have been tipped off that we were coming,” he said after a long exhale.

“Maybe Lewis made contact with him.” Hazard lazily offered the opinion. He was starting to get tired.

“He is a wolf,” Ice pointed out. “He could have sniffed out the humans watching him.”

“Right now, there’s no way of knowing how he knew we were coming,” Ortiz said as she got up to join Jax on the couch. “Someone could have informed him that we had Lewis in custody and from that he knew to get out of Dodge.”

Both Hazard and Jax grumbled their agreement. They knew they wouldn’t be getting any answers tonight, but they didn’t like it.

They went quiet, but now the mood was peaceful instead of tight with tension. The scent of annoyance faded from the air, leaving only the smell of the beef stroganoff they’d had for dinner earlier.

“Let’s take our mind off things and go to the Legion anniversary celebration in the mess tonight,” Ortiz suggested.

Jax was the first to agree. “Sounds good.”

Hazard perked up at the mention of the party. He looked over to where Ice still stood leaning in his doorway. A now familiar tingle of attraction swept through him when his gaze touched on the alpha. It was a warm, effervescent sensation that glowed warm within his chest. He’d decided not to let his attraction to the captain bother him since he had no intention of acting on it. He fully expected it to go away once he truly got used to being around the powerful yet quiet alpha. But for now, it was a nice feeling that was his and his alone.

“Are you coming with us, Captain?” He didn’t know if Ice would accept. Although he had accepted Hazard as a member of the team, he wasn’t exactly buddy-buddy with any of them.

Ice stared at him with those lovely dark eyes for a brief moment before he nodded once in answer.

Hazard smiled. “Good. We could all use a few hours of distraction.”

Chapter 11

Thirty minutes later, Ice went with his team up to the mess hall, where the Legion anniversary celebration was already underway.

Lance Corporal Ryder Boone, a young alpha with sandy brown hair and freckles, and a member of their support team, sat at the sign-in table next to the front door. He checked their IDs, then gave them each three drink chits.

“Don’t get too crazy tonight,” he playfully cautioned in a thick, Southern accent.

Ortiz laughed. “We’ll be on our best behavior.”