Page 40 of Alpha Awakened

It was a different feeling to be greeted as a pair. He was usually on his own. People called him a lone wolf. And perhaps he was. Just not in the way shifters used the term. Growing up the way he had, pack bonds had never been a part of his life. The few times he’d felt that something was missing living among humans, he’d reached out to his mentor looking for answers. He’d been told to focus on his training. And that’s what he’d done. He didn’t need pack or scenting to get his job done. He had skills and training.

The strategy room was empty when they arrived. Ice sat down on one side of the conference table and Hazard took the seat directly across from him. They chatted about the new shifter only football league starting next year — Hazard chatted and Ice listened with the occasional nod — while they waited for the others to arrive. Once the other half of the 448 and Lieutenant Colonel Gibbs showed up with his aide, they started the debrief.

Ice usually gave his full attention to the speaker during meetings. But today he found his attention wandering. Wandering to Hazard. The light from the screen fell on his face. Ice admitted to himself that Hazard was a beautiful man. His beauty was rugged, with intriguing contrasts. Golden skin and full, sweetly curved lips. A firm sculpted jaw with a hint of dark stubble determined to beat his morning shave. Pretty, long-lashed green eyes. Thick, strong neck.

The collar of his T-shirt was just low enough to expose his scent glands above his clavicle on either side of his throat. They weren’t required to wear gland covers although some shifters did according to their home pack customs. Hazard wasn’t in heat or trying to attract a mate, so his scent glands were barely noticeable bumps the same tan as the rest of his skin. Still, Ice’s gaze lingered there for a second longer than necessary before moving on.

His arms, muscled and lightly dusted with dark hair, carried several scars. Ice wondered where he’d gotten them. Most were undoubtedly from missions. But maybe some had a personal story.

He raised his gaze from his arms and saw Hazard was looking at him. When their eyes met, Hazard didn’t look away and neither did Ice. The colonel droned on in the background, the light blinking every so often as the image on the screen changed. And still they watched each other. Until Colonel Gibbs addressed him directly.

“Ice, what do you think?”

Ice returned his attention to the screen. “I think our job would be a lot easier if reconnaissance team put in more effort on surveillance. They’re too focused on being quick to report back. So what if our mission is delayed by an hour? Would rather not get shot because they rushed recon instead of taking their time.”

“Good observation, Captain. I’ll speak with Captain Lowe and see what he needs to do to tighten up. Maybe he needs more bodies on his squad.”

They moved on to the next topic, but now Ice determinedly kept his eyes on the screen and off of his squadmate.

* * *

Three weeks had passed since their last mission. They’d filled the time with training and reviewing tactics. But the sudden lack of field activity was starting to get to Hazard. He was bored and itching for some action. He was about to get up and see if he could join in on training some of the new privates when Ice came out of his bedroom.

Today the alpha was dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt, green and black camo pants, and combat boots. He didn’t have on his wolf mask but his balaclava covered him from the top of his head to the base of his throat, disappearing into the folds of his hood.

Hazard watched as the captain went into the kitchen and grabbed an apple from the bowl on the counter. This was the second bowl of the fruit. The team had quickly worked through the first bag of Granny Smith’s Ice had brought. Then yesterday, he’d bought another.

The alpha crossed his long legs at the ankle and leaned back against the counter. He bit into the apple, the crack loud in the quiet room. The scent of apples drifted into the air. Behind the mask, his jaw worked chewing the fruit. Without meaning to, Hazard stared at the captain as he ate. It didn’t take long for Ice to question him about his staring.

“What?”

“You like apples,” Hazard said in answer.

Ice shrugged. “I’ve had a taste for them lately.”

“Hmm.” Hazard didn’t want to make any assumptions, but it was an awful big coincidence that the captain had a sudden taste for Granny Smiths. He chewed his cheek to hold back a smile. “I’m restless. Let’s go for a workout. Get some cardio in.”

“Sounds good.”

He finished off the apple with a few more bites then uncrossed his legs and straightened. Once he threw the core in the trash, they headed out.

They walked side by side, heading across the base to one of the PT buildings. The sky was orange from the setting sun and dotted with gray from incoming storm clouds.

Inside the gym, there were a few people working out on the free weights. Other than that, the space was empty. All of the cardio machines were available. There was a quartet of treadmills on the other side of the room, facing three big windows that looked out over the course training grounds.

“Treadmill okay?” Hazard asked.

“Yeah.”

Ice stepped onto one. Hazard hopped on the one next to him.

“Thought you didn’t like to run,” Ice said as they began with an easy pace.

“On two legs? Not really. But I love to run when I’m shifted. So I go out for a wolf run about once a week. How often do you shift?” He’d run with Jax once and seen Ortiz coming back from a shifted run twice. But he’d never noticed Ice shifting.

“On the full moon.”

Hazard’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline in surprise. “That’s it?”