“Riley – this is Reid Bishop,” the captain said.

I nodded as a greeting, but Reid only crossed arms over his chest and glared at me, then at the captain. He said nothing.

“This is all very sudden, I know, but Riley needs a partner,” Captain Hale said. “I think you two would do well together. You’re both trained in close combat and silent fights, and–”

“No. I work alone,” the man only said, his voice fed up, and walked to his wardrobe.

“Reid. You need a partner. You know how this works,” the captain continued while Reid pulled out a towel.

“And you know how I work,” he said as he turned back to us. “I don’t need a partner. They’re just slowing me down,” he added, giving me an unimpressed glance.

The captain let out a quiet sigh, taking a slow step toward him. 

“I get it… I do. You want to work alone, and I understand why you believe it’s better that way… But it’s not. It’s not good for you. Maybe you can’t see that yourself, but I can. You need a partner, Reid. It’s time we give it a go,” he said, then added quietly, “It’s been three years.”

Something about those words immediately flared up Reid’s anger. He lowered his head and growled lightly, baring his teeth. It was a highly hostile gesture, and I suddenly missed my knives.

“There’s no need for that, my boy,” Captain Hale said quietly, staying calm as he stepped even closer to him.

“Yes there is because you’re not fucking listening!” Reid shouted at him. 

“I am listening. And I know you’re…” the captain took a short glance at me, clearly hoping I wasn’t there to listen. For some reason, I had the feeling he was going to say the word, afraid. “I need you to trust me on this, my boy. This is a good change,” he ended up saying.

Reid shook his head, stepping away from him. “Why are you doing this to me?” he asked, his voice broken.

“Reid…” Captain Hale muttered when he left the room. 

I heard the door to the showers being slammed shut, and silence fell in the hallway.

The captain let out a sigh. “Well that went… not great,” he said in sadness. “He’ll calm down soon. Then I can talk to him again. In the meantime, you can stay in this room, in case… In case I can change his mind.”

I almost stayed silent, but I had to point it out…

“You said he’s lost his partners,” I said quietly. “He’s still broken about it.”

He let out a sad sigh. “I know. But he needs a partner.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I said.

“No, trust me, he needs it,” he said quietly, staring out the door. “Or he’ll stay broken.”

“He bared his teeth at you. He was being very serious about not wanting a partner.”

The captain glanced at me over his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. My boys can be a little rough sometimes. Their alphas are very articulate, but you’ll get used to it.”

A little rough…? Growling and baring teeth at their superior counted as being a little rough? I tried not to stare at him, but I had to wonder what kind of person didn’t mind such a dangerous gesture. All those two people I’d seen showing similar disrespect in this army had suffered serious consequences.

“You’ll be fine. He’s got nothing against you,” the captain said reassuringly after he noticed I was still staring. 

“Better put that on my headstone,” I said, grabbing my bag.

He laughed. “It’ll be fine. He’s just not very happy with me right now, but I’ll talk to him again once he’s ready.”

“Sure,” I muttered as I walked to my closet and opened both doors.

There were unused beddings packed in a plastic container at the bottom shelf on the left, and the mini fridge on the right, its door slightly open. There was also a small safe right above it.

“It’s like a goddamn five-star hotel room…”

“Pretty much,” Captain Hale said. “There’s some things you and I need to go over, like house rules and stuff like that, but we can do it once you’ve settled in.”

I glanced at him over my shoulder, then at the bags at my feet. Was I really going to bother with unpacking…? No. I was not. I just stuffed my bags into the closet, then faced Captain Hale. He raised his eyebrows at me, his eyes jumping from me to my closet to back to me.

“I’ll unpack later,” I said.

“Sure. There’s no rush,” he said with a slow nod. “So, should I give you a little breather or…?”

“I, uh… I guess I could use a breather,” I said truthfully.

“Sure thing. I have a few emails to send, and I need to find the person who holds your records so I can get you officially transferred, so I’ll be in my… I’ll do it in my room – it’s closer than my office. It’s room number one. Just drop by if you need anything.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, and watched him make his way to the door.

“I’ll be just down the hallway,” he said.

“Yes, sir,” I repeated.

“I’ll leave my door open,” he said, taking a few steps back.

“Sir…”

“Okay, okay, but I’ll be back in a bit,” he said with a grin, and finally left.

I shook my head before looking around the room again. It was a really nice room. I had no idea the elites lived like this, but I guess it shouldn’t have been a surprise. These men and women were heroes in the public eye, deserving every bit of pampering since they fought the evil True Order terrorists who slaughtered innocent people in hopes of bringing back the good old age when omegas were nothing but brood mares. It was amusing in a grim way, really. Stoll was the leader of these heroes. These tactical teams didn’t exist to protect the rights of omegas. They existed because the terrorists didn’t care if their bombs took out alphas, too.

But I wasn’t here to protect our rights, either. Just myself.

I walked to the window and peered outside. There wasn’t much of a view, just a bunch of big trees hiding most of the next building. I stood there for a moment, enjoying the warm, fresh air on my face, but my curiosity finally won, and I turned my attention to Reid’s side of the room.

It was really clean. He didn’t have a lot of his belongings lying around, only his laptop and a couple of books. No clothes, no trash, no dirty dishes, no dust. I stepped closer to see the titles of the books. Murder mysteries. But I lost my interest in the books when I got too close to his bed and his scent surrounded me.

Elite soldiers, huh…

I would get used to it, right? Right now, I could barely think. Not with the scent of this strong alpha luring me in. I’d been in this army for five years, and never had I encountered anything like this before. I’d lived with strong alphas, but their pheromones had never affected me this much. The omega in me had never been this interested in them. I didn’t even want to know how strongly I’d react to it if I had proper heats.

I slowly breathed out and retreated from the bed. I would get used to it. I had to. All these new men were just a little too distracting to my omega, and I’d had a long, overwhelming day. The surprising kindness had caught me off guard, too. I was a bit embarrassed for having such a bad meltdown right after arriving here. But… Stoll did mess me up… I hated to admit it, but he messed me up.

But I’d get over it soon. I’d get used to this.

I mean, if I was allowed to stay. If this wasn’t just another hell for me.

I went to sit down on the couch, under the open window. I spent a moment staring at the floor as I tried to clear my head. The couch was quite comfortable… I was better off not getting used to it. To any of this.

With a sigh, I glanced around again. It was a really fucking nice room… And the idea of sharing it with just one guy instead of nine was just awesome. And here I had an actual bed, not a narrow, squeaky bunk bed that shook every time the guy above me moved. The showers were right outside, we had TVs and laptops to pass the time, there was a kitchen I could use to make myself an actual meal instead of having to eat that slush we got at the canteen…

Fuck, I really had to stop myself from getting too excited.