Page 39 of Alpha Awakened

Tired, but no longer tense and pissed off, Ice walked into the barracks with his team. Knowing they were as hungry as he was, he went in the kitchen and pulled the big pot of spaghetti that he’d made yesterday from the fridge. He put it on the stove to heat up and grabbed four plates from the cabinet. Then, he leaned back against the counter to wait.

“I don’t know about you guys but I’d be happy to eat that cold,” Jax said.

Hazard instantly agreed. “Yeah, I’m starving.”

Ortiz shook her head in amusement. “You animals. Cold spaghetti it is.”

Ice turned off the flame and stepped back to let them dish up plates of cold spaghetti. He didn’t mind eating it cold either.

They sat down and ate, too tired to do much talking, eyes hooded with exhaustion. It didn’t take them long to finish. One by one, they got up, washed their empty plates and headed to bed.

“Thanks for dinner, Ice.”

“That was good.”

“It really hit the spot.”

Ice was the last to leave the kitchen. He turned out the light and went to his own room, ready for a good long sleep. But he had to shower first.

As he stood under the hot spray, he replayed the mission in his head. His gut twisted as he thought about the instances that had come close to wounding his teammates. He soaped up, running over what he could do next time to be better, faster,and make sure those close calls didn’t happen. When he worked alone the mission was his only concern. But on a team and with a partner by his side, he had to watch out for their well-being. Sometimes, that concern made him regret accepting the call to join the 448.

By the time he’d turned off the water and stepped out of the shower to dry off, he’d compartmentalized the op and mentally filed it away.

After leaving the bathroom, Ice pulled on a clean pair of briefs. A headache was settling in at his temples and the base of his skull. He popped a couple of aspirin, turned off the lights, and got into bed.

Ice lay there in the dark with his eyes closed, waiting for the pain meds to kick in. He was full, but he had a sudden taste for an apple. But not any apple. He wanted a bright, crisp Granny Smith. Too tired to get back up, he made a mental note to check the mess hall in the morning to see if they had some. If they didn’t, he’d make a run off base to the store and pick up a bag of apples for their barracks.

He thought of Hazard’s request for the team to scent each other. That was...unexpected. It was uncommon for shifters to scent each other in the military. In fact, some officers, those who were human and lead human majority teams, wouldn’t even allow it. But they were a squad of all shifters — a rarity in the US Legion. It made sense that they’d want to do something common to their kind, especially with a shifter as their leader.

Ice turned on his side, finally starting to doze off. He’d buried his more wolfish traits deep within him years ago. His Instinct was pushed so far down he hadn’t felt it in years. Scenting was fine for the other members of the team, but he didn’t need to engage in that kind of wolfish behavior. He was happy to leave them to it.

Chapter 14

The next day, Ice walked back in to the barracks carrying a bag of Granny Smiths. When he’d woken up earlier that morning, he’d still had a taste for the tart apples. The mess hall hadn’t had any, so he’d made a run to the grocery store.

Major Ortiz was sitting on the couch, a clipboard and pen in hand. She looked up when Ice walked in.

“Morning. We’ve got mission debrief in twenty.”

Ice nodded. He went over to the kitchen and grabbed an old plastic mixing bowl from the cabinet. It wasn’t a fruit bowl but it would do. He upended the bag of Granny Smiths into the bowl, gently, so as not to bruise them.

Grabbing the one on top, he polished it on his shirt and bit into it. Tart juice burst onto his tongue and the sweetly crisp scent of apple hit his nose. He sighed with pleasure as he chewed. The fruit was hitting the spot. Exactly what he needed.

Hazard came out of his room. Their eyes met and Hazard offered him a smile in greeting. Ice nodded in return. The omega went and joined Ortiz on the couch. Ice listened to their conversation reviewing yesterday’s mission, but didn’t join in. When he finished the apple, he tossed the core into the trash.

“I’ll see you up there,” he said to Ortiz before leaving to go to HQ.

Outside, he’d barely gone a few steps when the door to the barracks reopened behind him.

“Wait up, Captain,” Hazard called out. “I’ll walk with you.”

He didn’t respond. But he slowed and waited for Hazard to join him. Hazard didn’t say anything else. They walked to HQ in companiable silence. Inside, the building was busy as usual. Soldiers greeted them in the halls as they passed by.

“Ice. Hazard.”

“Good morning, Captain. Morning, Corporal.”

Ice acknowledged each greeting with a nod, while Hazard responded with a friendly greeting of his own.