Page 79 of Alpha Awakened

“What does that have to do with me leaving?”

Sam couldn’t believe her captain was this deep in denial for what he felt about Hazard. The door seals would be enough to keep her and Jax from being bothered by Hazard’s heat pheromones. But the two of them weren’t attracted to or connected to Hazard in the way that Ice was.

A scent seal could only do so much. Some of Hazard’s pheromones would slip through and with the way Hazard and Ice had been dancing around each other, there was a high chance that Ice would be affected. She carefully pointed that out to her captain. Once he had a moment to digest that information, she asked him a question.

“Do you really think a locked door will be enough to stop you once Hazard is full into his heat?”

She stared up at the quiet alpha, waiting for his answer.

Chapter 30

Ice silently admitted to himself that Ortiz was right. Being enclosed in the same building with Hazard while he was in heat was a bad idea. If he lost control of the hold he had on his desire and went after what he wanted, a locked door would offer as much resistance as a barrier made from a sheet of paper. He needed to leave.

“I’ll go up to the hills for a couple of days,” he said. There was a campground to the east of the base with small cabins. He had one rented for his personal use.

Ortiz nodded. “Good. Take three days to be safe.”

Ice went in his room to gather up clothes and toiletries. Once he was packed, he got in his Jeep CJ-7 and drove off base to the strip mall where there was a small grocery store.

Inside, he went up and down the aisles, getting enough food to last for a week just in case. As he tossed steaks in the cart, he wondered what an omega would want to eat during their heat stay.

The thought was idle curiosity only. He wasn’t going to spend Hazard’s heat with him. That was out of the question. Not only was it against regulation for an officer to spend a heat or rut with an enlisted soldier, but he couldn’t imagine that he would let Hazard go after giving in and having sex with him. He was already struggling to keep the possessiveness he felt over the omega in check. It would be a lost cause if they spent a heat together.

Still, he was curious. He’d never helped an omega through their heat. That was the only reason he looked at the shifter aide store at the other end of the strip mall when he walked back outside with his bags. Deciding to go and check it out, he put his groceries in the back of his Jeep. Leaving the vehicle where it was parked, he walked down to the store. The sign above the building readMurphy’sin big, red letters and below thatThe One-Stop Shop for All Your Shifter Needs.

The clerk behind the counter greeted him with a friendly hello. Ice nodded in return before looking around. He was aware of this store but he’d never been inside. A glance up at the aisle markers told him which aisle carried heat and rut care books.

In the center of aisle three, he found the display rack of books. There were several each on alpha ruts and omega heats. Plus, books on sexual education for deltas and betas and even one thin volume for spontaneous secondary gender change. He picked up a heat book that had a small gray wolf and a glittery omega symbol on the cover. Flipping it open, he began scanning the pages.

Omegas needed to nest. He knew that. He learned that they liked to put items from their lovers or mates or even a trusted pack member in their nest. And they needed to be in familiar surroundings. That was probably why Hazard had requested to stay in his bunk instead of going to the omega building. Ordinarily that wouldn’t be allowed. But as there were only the four of them in their barracks, as opposed to the bigger ones which housed around fifty soldiers, it wouldn’t be an issue. Like Ortiz said, she and Jax wouldn’t be bothered. But in an environment filled with dozens of alphas and omegas, having one go into heat could lead to a barracks full of sex-crazed shifters.

Ice continued looking through the book. Out of nowhere, a sense of awareness tingled down his spine. He raised his headfrom the page he was reading. Something pulled at his chest. Still holding on to the book, he followed the pull to the end of the aisle and looked around the corner.

Hazard was there.

Ice slid back to his aisle to make sure he stayed out of sight. But he didn’t leave. Instead, he watched Hazard through the open back of the shelves. He looked annoyed, his face screwed up into a frown as he stared down at the package in his hand. Ice couldn’t see what Hazard was holding. Whatever it was, Hazard tossed the item back on the shelf with a sharp curse.

As he stood there secretly watching his squadmate, the smell of apples drifted over to him. Hazard’s scent. It was even stronger than it had been in that morning’s meeting. A wave of warmth slowly spread from Ice’s chest down to his cock. He started to harden and within seconds, his cock pressed uncomfortably behind his zipper. Not wanting to be labeled a pervert for touching himself in public, he resisted adjusting himself.

Hazard grabbed something else off the shelf, tossed it in his basket and went up to the check out.

Ice stayed in place, waiting to make sure he was gone. Then, he went over to the aisle where Hazard had been. His scent lingered in the air, faint but still detectable to him. Another slow beat of arousal pulsed in his cock as he breathed it in.

He looked down to see what Hazard had purchased. The items on the shelf were cold packs, each of them labeled with different scents. One package was carelessly tossed on the shelf, laying on its side. This must be the one Hazard had discarded. Ice picked it up and turned it over to read the label. Cedar. His chest lit up with satisfaction when he realized that Hazard had contemplated buying something that hadhisscent on it. He’d decided against it in the end but it had been on his mind.

Another wave of warmth chased over his skin. Hazard wanted to smellhimwhile he was in heat. Fuck. Of course he did. He’d wanted to share his heat with him. Turning him down had been the right decision. But that wasn’t what he’d wanted to do. He’d wanted to roar out a yes, pick Hazard up, and carry him away to his den.

He would take such good care of Hazard. Put him in his bed at the cabin. Lick him all over, tasting the sweat on his skin. Give him what he needed with his body, his cock. He would fuck him and pleasure him as many times as he wanted. Sliding his cock deep inside him again and again.

He could imagine how hot and tight and slick Hazard would be on his cock. Could see his plush lips parting on a moan, his pretty green eyes hazy and heavy-lidded with lust.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t realize he was squeezing the cold pack in his hand until it popped open and the smell of cedar flooded the air. “Damnit.”

Ice took the ruined package up to the counter to pay for it. He purchased the heat care book too. Just out of curiosity. To research and fill in the gaps he had in his shifter knowledge. That was all.

* * *

Following the suggestion of the medic, Hazard swung by the store to get what he would need for his heat stay. He had to go by the motor pool and borrow one of the base’s vehicles for the trip because he didn’t have a car of his own.