Page 53 of Alpha Awakened

“I’m on him, Captain.”

Hazard sprinted after the lieutenant. Still focused on his own prey, Ice heard Hazard take the lieutenant down. He threw a quick glance Hazard’s way, expecting to see him returning to his side with the prisoner secured. Instead, he saw a giant of a man round the side of the building, barreling toward Hazard. Before Ice could swing his gun around to take him out, the giant slammed into the omega. His momentum sent them crashing through a set of glass balcony doors and they both disappeared from sight.

Fuck. He wanted to get to Hazard, make sure he was okay, but he had to stay focused on the mission. He trusted in Hazard’s skills and knew he wouldn’t go down easy. Still, he wanted to get to him as soon as he could. And to do that, he had to take out these fucking guards and capture Petrov.

His teeth set in a snarl behind his mask, he went after his prey with laser focused intent. He fired his weapon again and again, until he ran out of bullets. Instead of reloading, he switched to knives — throwing them with deadly accuracy at enemies who were out of reach, and slicing his blade across the throats of those who were up close.

He killed with grim determination, all while hoping to hell that Hazard was still alive and fighting. Blood sprayed with each kill until he was wet with it from his mask to his boots. The smell of copper and gun smoke clung to him. Was thick in his nose. Finally, all of Petrov’s guards were down, either dead or on the ground incapacitated.

Petrov was left standing alone. He stared at Ice, his eyes wide with fear, and raised his hands in surrender without being told to do so.

“Hellhound,” he whispered in a heavily accented voice.

He was no hellhound, but he’d fought like a demon to make sure they captured this son of a bitch. “Don’t move,” he ordered as he strode over to the target.

Petrov nodded, otherwise remaining still while Ice got his hands cuffed behind his back.

“Petrov is secured,” he said over the comms.

“Roger that, Ice. Bring him out.”

Ice turned the prisoner over to Cole and Lewis with orders to get him to command. They could handle Petrov. His priority now was to check on Hazard. He ran across the courtyard to where Hazard had disappeared. There was no sound of fighting coming from that direction, which worried him. Ice stepped through the shattered glass doors just in time to see Hazard rising to his feet, while his opponent lay unmoving, face down on the floor.

With three quick strides, he crossed the room to get to his squadmate. “You good?” he asked as he visually checked him over.

Hazard nodded while clutching his side. “Bruised as fuck but I’m good.”

“You took that big bastard down.” He was impressed, but not surprised that Hazard had managed to do so.

Hazard laughed. He quickly cut it off with a pained wince, but the smile stayed on his face. “Like I told Private Bell. It’s not always the biggest size that wins fights.”

Seeing that smile, a sense of overwhelming relief suddenly swept through Ice. Before he knew what he was doing, he dropped his forehead to Hazard’s. Hazard gasped in surprise, but he didn’t move. Ice held his position, drawing in a deep breath. But that wasn’t enough. Following his instincts, he lowered his head further, tucking his face into the cradle of Hazard’s neck and shoulder. With another inhale, he took in the scent of apples. As he breathed, two words throbbed to life in his chest.Safe.Secure.

It was a shock to feel those words so strongly without Hazard speaking them. The sensation was odd, but he couldn’tdeny that it helped settle the worry and fear that had gripped his heart when he saw Hazard go down. After one more deep breath, he lifted his head and looked down at his partner.

“You’re good.” This time it wasn’t a question.

Hazard nodded, a smile lighting his pretty green eyes. “Yeah, Captain. I’m good.”

Chapter 21

The teams returned to base with Denis Petrov and all of his inner circle in custody. There were a few injuries. Several gunshot wounds, but none that were life threatening. A broken ankle on entry team. And of course, Hazard’s assorted bruises from his fight. Everyone had been treated by the base’s medics.

The 448 were currently in the largest common room on the base, celebrating their success with their hosts. Ice had relaxed enough to leave off his wolf mask after showering and changing into a clean uniform, but he still had on his balaclava. Everyone was talking and laughing, some shouting to be heard over the music playing on the radio. Someone had smuggled in a couple of bottles of whiskey. The COs turned a blind eye as they were passed around.

Ice didn’t begrudge them their celebration. It was always a good thing when all members of an operation returned alive with all of their parts intact. But the noise and the closeness of so many people was getting to him. He needed a moment to himself to truly wind down.

If he was at their home base he would simply disappear to his room or the gym or the half-dozen of other places he liked to go to be alone after a mission. Here, he was on someone else’s turf. They didn’t have individual rooms and out of respect, he wasn’t going to go skulking around their base looking for a private spot.

After a nod goodbye to his squadmates, Ice left the party and went outside. Without too many options for privacy, he settled for slipping down the dark space between the rec building and the one next to it to catch a few moments of solitude. In this spot, he could still hear the limited activity on base at that hour. But it was a low buzz of noise, easily tuned out. The dark and quiet let his senses ease back from the high alert they’d been on during the mission.

Finally, the tension drained from his shoulders and he relaxed against the wall. The night was cold, but he didn’t mind it. Ice sighed and leaned his head back to look up at the sky. A wide swath of stars twinkled across the black, so close and thick they were sharply visible despite the base’s lights. He stayed there, mind content as he stared up at the stars.

A few minutes later, someone approached his hiding spot. Ice recognized Hazard from his scent first. It was unmasked and sweet. He must not have applied blockers after his shower. Then the sound of his voice drifted over to him.

“You good, Captain?”

“Mmmm.”