Page 49 of Alpha Awakened
“Hmmm.” Ice conceded that what Hazard said made sense. But reading emotions couldn’t be the only reason scenting was important. “Why else?”
“It lets you know who is family. Who is pack. Unfamiliar scents let you know right away when someone is out of place. If a strange shifter was hiding out in Jax’s room, I’d know it.”
“That’s helpful. But again, anybody going stealth would be wearing scent blockers.”
“We can also use them to find a lost pack member.”
“Give me a real life example of you using scenting to find someone.”
Hazard leaned his head back to think. “When I was a teenager, we had a kid from our pack go out rock collecting without telling anyone where she was going. She got lost and was missing for hours. I found her by her scent.”
“Like a scent tracking hound.”
Hazard laughed. “Yeah. I suppose so. But it’s more than the smell that leads us to a lost pack member.” He pressed a hand to his chest. “It’s the feeling, the echo of the pack member’s soul that we carry within us that we track. And we can only get that connection by scenting.”
Ice couldn’t quite comprehend that since he hadn’t been part of a pack since he was five. But seeing the way Hazard looked as he described the feeling, he trusted that it was true. “Is that all?”
“I haven’t told you the most important reason yet.”
“Which is?”
“Scenting pack members, or a shifter that you’re close to gives you a sense of peace. There’s nothing better to soothe an agitated shifter than scenting a pack mate. And scent glands wouldn’t be a part of our physiology if Mother Wolf didn’t want us to use them.”
“Are you going to tell me that I should start scenting now?”
“Nope.” Hazard shook his head. “That’s your personal choice. If you want to, I’m happy to guide you into it. If you don’t, that’s fine too.”
“I appreciate that.”
“What did you think about the drills they had us trial running yesterday? Think the recruits will be able to handle them?”
Ice was glad for the change in subject. Training and skills. This he understood. “I think they were good for the most part. But there were too many that were there simply for the sake of being difficult instead of helping to develop an actual skillset that could be used in the field.”
Hazard nodded in agreement. “That’s what happens when you have officers who spend most of their time on base behind a desk coming up with field training exercises.”
They continued to talk, keeping their voices low so as not to disturb their sleeping roommates. Ice was no longer surprised at how easy it was to sit and talk with Hazard. He felt comfortable with him, able to relax in a way that he couldn’t manage to do with most other people. Sometimes he went quiet and simply listened to Hazard, enjoying the sound of his voice and watching the animated expressions on his handsome face. And as he sat there, he savored the scent of apples with every breath he took.
“How did you get the name Hazard?”
“You really want to know?”
“I asked didn’t I?”
“My old unit leader gave it to me. In trainings or in missions, if there was more than one way to complete an objective, I always chose the one that might be more dangerous but would have the best chance for success. One day when I came up with a particularly wild plan, he said I was hazardous to his health. The plan worked and the name stuck.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.”
Hazard grinned. “What about you? Why did people start calling you Ice?”
“I was sent after a target in the dead of North Dakota winter. My gun froze and jammed, so I killed one of his guards with a big, sharp icicle hanging down from the roof of his hideout.”
Hazard’s eyes went wide. “You’re kidding.”
When Ice only shook his head, Hazard gave him an admiring glance.
“Creative and thinking on the fly. Impressive.”
At a lull in the conversation, Ice noticed that the headache had released its vise grip on his temples. He guessed the glass of water was what he needed after all. Except, when he looked down, he realized he’d barely drunk any of it.