Page 98 of Alpha Awakened
Jax looked slightly relieved at his joke. He tugged Hazard in for a one-armed hug and a quick scenting.
“Good. Your chatty ass livens up our missions. Makes catching and killing bad guys more fun.”
Hazard snorted a laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
They’d reached the strategy room. Hazard pulled open the door and they went inside. Ortiz was already there, an open mission brief folder on the table in front of her.
“Where’s Ice?” Ortiz asked.
“He should be right behind us,” Jax answered as he and Hazard took their seats.
As they waited for Ice, Hazard thought about what Jax had said — that he’d been too quiet lately. The privates he’d trained the other day had said something similar. Not to his face of course. The humans in the group had whispered complaints that his training was boring as they were leaving, forgetting about his shifter hearing until one of the shifter soldiers shushed them up.
Hazard sighed in frustration. He was doing his job. The way he was supposed to do it. It shouldn’t be a problem, but first the privates and now Jax were remarking on it. Had he gone too far in the opposite direction from his normal attitude in his attempt to get over Ice? Should he have stayed the same while he distanced himself from Ice? It would be glaringly obvious if all of a sudden he was chatty with everyone except the captain. Or, maybe it wouldn’t be.
Most people probably weren’t paying that close attention to him and the captain. More than likely, no one would notice their relationship had changed. Plus, Ice wasn’t exactly known as a social butterfly. If anyone did notice things were different, they’d probably assume he was respecting Ice’s preference for solitude. Either option left him free to be his usual outgoing self, while maintaining the necessary distance between himself and the captain.
The door opened and Ice came in. Hazard fought back his instinct to smile and welcome the alpha, deliberately keeping hiseyes on the table in front of him instead. After Ice took his seat, Ortiz rose to stand at the head of the table. She got the meeting started with a question.
“Remember Rufus Vaughn?”
Jax nodded. “Yeah. He’s the head of Vaughn Inc. And he’s funneling money to Cortez’s cause.”
“Vaughn isn’t the only thing he’s head of. He’s also the leader of the Heritage Den, a secret society for shifters.”
“Let me guess,” Hazard said. “Their society is all about returning to the traditional shifter way of life.”
“You are correct. This Saturday, the Heritage Den is having a black tie masked ball, hosted by Vaughn at his mansion outside Tulsa. Many of their members will be there. I don’t expect them to outright talk about any of their plans, but there may be some nuggets of information dropped during private conversations. But that’s not the only reason I’m interested in this party. I want the guest list for the event. It’s the quickest way to find out who is in this secret society. We can use it to start our own list of those who might be working with Cortez.”
“Sounds like it’s time for an undercover infiltration.” A beat of excitement pulsed through Hazard at the idea. He loved doing covert work.
“It is,” Ortiz confirmed. Hazard, you and Jax will pretend to be a couple and go in undercover. Scope out the party and listen to conversations. And most importantly find and steal that guest list. Ice will be on overwatch. And I’ll—.”
Ice suddenly spoke.
“Major, let me go in with Hazard.”
At the request, Ortiz paused before she flicked her gaze to Hazard. “That work for you, Hazard?”
Hazard knew she wasn’t asking his permission, more like checking that he was fine working so closely with Ice. And he was. He could separate business from his personal issues.
“I’m good to go, Major,” he said firmly. He resisted looking at Ice to try and determine why the alpha had volunteered himself. The reason was undoubtedly tied to strategy. There was no other reason for Ice to specifically request to work with him.
“Okay then. Ice and Hazard are inside. Jax is on overwatch and I’ll be outside the grounds with support team on standby in case things go tits up.”
“I’m assuming we can’t wear our dress uniforms to this shindig.” He hadn’t worn anything other than his dress uniform to special occasions since he’d joined the Legion, but that wouldn’t work for an undercover op.
“Yeah. And masked ball doesn’t mean you can wear that wolf mask, Captain.” Jax joked.
Ortiz laughed but agreed. “No dress greens and no wolf mask. The requisitions department will supply you both with tuxedoes and masks so neither of you will have to worry about what to wear. Now let’s go over the plans for the operation.”
* * *
Tuesday night, Hazard dressed in the tuxedo he’d been given. It was a soft dove gray with black velvet trim on the jacket lapels. The color was suitable for a high society omega. His white dress shirt was in the collarless style designed to show off mating glands. The passion bruise Ice had given him had faded by now. But if he still had it, it would have been fine, as civilian omegas often proudly wore their partner’s mark, even before they were officially mated.
Finished dressing, he reached for the outfit’s main accessory — a half-face Venetian masquerade mask. It was green with a black lace overlay and touches of silver on the edges. A trio of black velvet ribbons fell from the left side of the mask, draping over his shoulder. It was an elegant look.
Ready to go, he walked out of his room. Ice was already there, standing in front of the TV. Hazard came to a dead stop when he saw him. He’d seen the alpha in his uniform. Hell, he’d seen him completely naked. But this, seeing him in a tuxedo that fit him like a glove, had Hazard’s tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth.