As the captain drove deeper and deeper into the base, passing through three checkpoints, each of them demanding stricter and stricter clearances, I tried to remember how many times I'd visited this part of the large base. Twice? Three times? Three times in five years. I tried to recognize buildings and landmarks, but it all was unfamiliar to me. The attitude towards me, however, was not. I remembered those looks very well.
Every time we got stopped, no one paid much attention to me until they caught my scent. Once they realized what I was, their expressions changed. It was subtle, but it was still clear many of them saw me as unworthy of stepping a foot into their revered inner base, the area meant only for the strongest – the heroes. A small, unknown rookie omega had no business entering that one area so many strong alphas could only dream of seeing in person.
But there I was. Quite unexpectedly as well. My life was not getting any easier, I understood that, but I had reached my goal. As long as it would last, anyway.
The inner base was bigger than I'd expected, but it shouldn't have been a surprise. These soldiers, the elite of the army, had everything they could possibly need from training grounds to command centers, even a bar and a grocery store, right here. I could see a lake and the beginning of jogging trails as we traveled through the area. Now I understood why the captain had arrived to meet me by car. We had to be several miles away from my old headquarters.
"Almost there," the captain said when we approached another set of gates with a couple of guards standing by.
"Lion's Gate?" I muttered when I read the sign on the fence.
"Our little neighborhood," the captain said.
It was a fucking gated community, but instead of big family houses, I counted twelve blocky buildings, shaped like L, all boringly gray with two floors, flat roofs, and square windows. At least there was a little bit of grass and old trees growing between them, giving the whole cul-de-sac a little less depressing look.
"I'll show you around the base another time. Let's get you settled in first," the captain spoke as he parked the car next to one of the buildings. "Welcome to Tactical Team Zero-Seven. This is our headquarters. Your home from now on."
The numbers zero and seven were engraved on a big blue-and-gold placard, shaped like a shield with fancy ribbons, above the entrance of the building. The rest of the buildings had placards of their own, each with different numbers.
"So there are twelve teams?" I counted.
"That is correct," he said as he got out of the car.
That meant there were about one-hundred-and-twenty alphas in this little neighborhood. Plus one omega. I suddenly understood what it meant for me. There had been several omegas in my old unit, not nearly as many as there were alphas, but enough so we could watch out for each other. Together, we weren't easy targets.
But now I was alone.
"You will get molested here..."
There were people sitting outside or working on their cars close by, and even from afar, I could smell the alphas all around me. And they could undoubtedly smell me.
I grit my teeth together and followed my new captain out of the car. He'd already taken one of my bags from the trunk, so I stepped next to him and took the other one. He gave me an encouraging nod before locking the doors and leading me to the entrance.
And I followed him, hoping he wasn't walking me to my fresh new hell, worse than what I'd ever experienced so far. He held the door open for me, and I swiftly walked past him.
I was not ready for it. Ten elite soldiers, the captain had told me. Ten alphas, living and spending most of their time in a relatively small building. I was hit by their pheromones so hard I nearly fell on my knees. I'd never experienced such a fucking strong mix of alpha scents all at once so out of the blue. I needed a moment to regain composure. I stood there, shaking my head, trying to get me and my omega back in line.
"You all right?" the captain asked when I wasn't moving.
"Sorry... Sorry..." I muttered and took a few more steps away from the door while he watched me carefully. "I'm... I'm..."
"It's our pheromones," he guessed, sounding surprised.
"It's fine, I'm... They're just... Quite strong here," I carefully admitted, hating the fact that I had to, but I couldn't start my time here with a lie.
"So you still react to our pheromones?" he said.
"...Yes. But I'll get used to it, sir. It just caught me off guard, that's all."
He squinted his eyes lightly at my words. Fuck. Like he wasn't already listing my cons without having seen any pros yet.
"So there's a chance you'll freeze out on the battlefield because of our pheromones?" he asked, crossing his arms.
I should've lied... Now I couldn't take it back. I couldn't say it would never happen again because it already happened right in front of his eyes.
"It's possible, yes," I said quietly. "In small, confined areas with several strong alphas."
He nodded slowly. "We'll see what we can do about it. Come. You'll get to meet the guys."
"Sir?" I muttered with a frown.
"Hmm?"
"That's... You...?" I decided to shut up in case I'd make my situation worse. "Sorry, yes, of course..."
"We'll see what we can do about it," he repeated, giving me a friendly smile. "I don't avoid problems. I fix them."
I stared at him, then nodded. "Thank you, sir."
"Come on then. They've probably heard us by now," he said, and continued walking.
I let out a quiet sigh of relief, then glanced around hastily. We stood in a large entrance hall that continued through the entire building as a wide hallway with a few large rooms on the left, separated from each other by windowed walls. On my right was a single door, much heavier than the rest, with a sign that told me it was the equipment storage. The captain was heading towards a staircase further down the hallway on our right.
I hurried after him, hastily peering into the large rooms through the windows. The closest was a briefing room, with a long table and plenty of chairs around it. The room behind that had several computers, but I didn't have time to take a closer look before reaching the staircase.
I followed the captain up the stairs that led straight into a very large living room with a large couch, several armchairs, a big TV, and a few bookcases that were used to collect dust, apparently. Black leather and polished iron ruled the decor, and there wasn't a single carpet, curtain, or a flower in sight.
Alphas...
To the left and behind us was a kitchen, just as big with black cabinets and modern equipment, and several round tables with chairs by the windows. Not the cleanest kitchen I had seen, no.
But there sat a couple of older men, staring at us without blinking. At me, more specifically.
"Boys..." Captain Hale said, gesturing for them to join us in the living room. "Where's everyone else? I have a little something to tell you."
"Something, huh?" repeated the other one of them, a man the size of a fucking mountain, glancing at my bags as they approached us. "Doesn't seem that little."
The captain turned to look down a long hallway on our right and whistled loudly. "Attention!"
In seconds, several doors opened, and in a few seconds more, I was surrounded by alphas, all giving me curious looks. The scent... Fuck me... Elite soldiers... Their pheromones were unbelievably strong... I quickly forced myself back in line.
But as I took in their scents, they did the same to me. I would've laughed if the situation hadn't been so stressful. Each of them took a small whiff of my scent, then frowned and did it again, twice, to make sure they were smelling what they thought they were smelling.
"Uhm...?" one of them uttered while the captain took a head count.
"Three are missing," Captain Hale said. "Doesn't matter. I have some news," he added, glancing at me. "This is Riley Steele. Your new teammate."
His words were met with disbelief.
"Our... teammate?" a hispanic guy repeated, his gaze moving from me to the captain and back to me. "I didn't know we needed a new teammate."
"Yeah, I thought we're full," another one said slowly.
"You've not recruited anyone in years."
"You said you're going out for lunch. That's not the kind of leftovers you bring home," one of the younger white guys said.
"I mean, if the date is good then yeah–" another hispanic dude said to him, but his eyes glued on me.
"Guys. Is no one going to point out he's an omega?" another of the youngest said.
They fell silent and stared at me.
"All right, settle down," Captain Hale said in annoyance. "There was a meeting going on, and I decided to drop by. I wasn't planning on taking in anyone, but Steele here has an interesting resume, so here we are."
"Wait a minute. Did Stoll die or something and no one told us?" a black guy with a foreign accent said.
"No. Stoll was impressed enough to give Steele this opportunity."
Yeah, impressed...
There was another pause of silence. I held my posture as they all stared at me. It was clear none of them were too enthusiastic about the idea.
"So... How is this going to work, then?" the mountain of a man asked. "He has heats, right?"
I tried to memorize their faces as Captain Hale told them what he knew about me. So far, I didn't detect too much hostility from these men, and even if they didn't want me on their team, none of them brought it to their captain's attention. At least right in front of me.
"So... Whose partner is he going to be?" the same older man asked.
"Well, we have one without," the captain said ominously.
"Oh, shit," one of them whispered in amusement.
"Where is Reid, anyway?" the captain continued.
Reid, huh... So he wasn't going to be happy to have me as his partner. Or having a partner in general. The way these people reacted to the news clearly confirmed their captain's earlier suspicions about it.
"So, uh, welcome aboard," one of the younger guys said to me, still confused, but apparently ready to roll with his leader's decision. "Thank fucking God, I'm no longer the rookie of the group."
"This is Nico Angelos," the captain said. "My partner."
Which explained the younger guy's accepting attitude toward me.
"Riley Steele," I said, and shook hands with him, noticing his very scarred lips. Marks of torture.
There were quite a lot of scars on these people... Not that I feared getting hurt, but it sure told me a little about the hell I was stepping into.
Though it didn't seem like the kind of hell I'd actually feared it would be.
Then I was bombarded with names I wasn't going to remember all at once.
"Well, welcome aboard, kid," the mountain man said, offering me his hand as well. "Chandler Ramsey."
"Keita Amadou. The medic. And yeah, welcome aboard," the black guy with an accent said, smiling.
"Damarios Calderon, the second in command here. But you can call me Daz," the older hispanic guy said, then gestured at the remaining two. "These are my partners, Ash Williams and Rio Zamora."
I was surprised each of these men gave me their names and shook hands with me. Some were still not sure what to think of me, and it could possibly cause problems down the line, but so far... so good? I glanced at the captain. I suppose a man like him, someone who didn't mind giving an omega a chance, wouldn't take people like Stoll on his team.
But... Was I actually getting a real chance? Or was this too good to be true?
My bet was on the latter. This was going too well. I couldn't shake off Commander Stoll's words, and... I hated to admit it, but that man had already gotten deep under my skin. He'd paid my doctor so he could watch me getting my opening sewn shut after meeting me only twice before. How far would a man like that go to humiliate me?
I couldn't trust anything that involved Stoll. For all I knew, he could've paid these men to act friendly and gang rape me after sunset.
"You're free to go, boys," the captain said. "See you at dinner."
"Yes, sir."
Giving me their last glances, all of them returned into their rooms, leaving me alone with the captain. He stayed silent until the doors closed down the hallway, then turned to me.
"About Reid..." he began, but paused to let out a sigh. "Like I said, it may not go well with him, but I'm not forcing you two to be partners. That never ends well. So, in case Reid refuses, I'll figure out what to do next. I'm sure one of the duos is glad to take you in."
I nodded. "Yes, sir."
He sighed again and turned to stare down the hallway. "Reid is a good man, but he's lost too many partners. I do respect his wish to work alone, but... Maybe it's time to give it a shot."
I wasn't worried exactly. Not because of a guy who wanted to work alone, at least. I was still busy fearing this was just Stoll's elaborate scheme to humiliate me and break my will for good.
"Come. Let's put your bags away, and I can show you around while we wait for Mr. Lone Wolf," Captain Hale said, and made his way down the hallway.
I followed him past the suspiciously silent rooms. I knew they were talking, whispering, wondering what had gotten into their captain, and how much trouble I was going to cause. And I understood them. I did. The way my body worked was not only unfair to me, but to them as well. Alphas easily lost control over themselves just because my omega was calling for them. They had all the right to be concerned. It was their lives on the line.
"Here it is," the captain said, stopping behind the last door on the left.
I'd counted five doors on the left side, facing the big windows on the right, and sixth at the very end of the hallway. Showers, said the sign on it.
Captain Hale opened the door and stepped in. But I stayed still. All these alpha scents, their unbelievably strong pheromones... The omega in me was way too distracted by them, and this one... Reid... His scent was just as good and alluring... maybe even better than the rest...
And that was a whole new feeling. My omega had never been interested in any of them, but these men... It was curious.
"Riley?"
Fuck, it was hard to regain my sanity.
"Sorry..." I mumbled, and stepped in, trying to ignore the scent of this big, strong alpha that lived in the room... I could already tell a little something about Reid. Dangerous. Angry and dangerous and so fucking strong...
"Fuck... Uh... I need a moment," I told the captain and stepped back out.
But it didn't help much because now I was surrounded by the pheromones of the rest of them.
I never considered this... This had never happened to me before. I didn't... I wasn't ready for this. Why was my omega reacting to them? Because they were elite? The strongest in the whole army?
...Or because it could tell these men were all right?
Please... I hoped these men were all right... Decent... Friendly... I couldn't keep letting bad things happen to me any longer. What Stoll did to me... He'd crossed my limits... I couldn't let that happen anymore. I couldn't let that happen again...
"You all right?"
I glanced at Captain Hale. I did my best to pull myself back together, but I felt so broken... I'd tried to act like I was fine, but now... With this hope rising in me... It was worse than living in fear.
"I... I'm sorry, sir. I never realized this could be a problem," I said quietly.
"The scents?"
I nodded. "Everyone kept going on about my heats, about how I would affect you, but..."
"No one ever thought how we would affect you," the captain guessed, his voice kind and soft.
And it fucking hurt...
"I... I will get used to it. I know... I mean, I should..."
I suddenly felt breathless. My goal was right here. After everything I'd done and let happen... After all that hard work, after all the ridicule, humiliation and every single person who had stood in my way...
But if I'd only end up being used for sex and raped by terrorists like Stoll told me... How could I find the strength to carry on?
I felt a strong, warm hand touching my shoulder. I looked up at the captain, who gave me a soothing smile.
"You're all right," he said, then turned to look down the hallway. "Attention!" he spoke loudly, and the alphas returned to the hallway. "Open your goddamn windows. It smells like crusty balls in here."
"Yes, sir."
I turned my attention back to the captain. He gave me a little nod before entering Reid's room. As I watched, he opened the big window wide open, and the fresh air immediately cleared my head.
"I fix problems," the captain reminded me.
I stared at him, the warmth of his friendly touch still lingering on my shoulder. And I felt better.
I just had to hold on and keep going. Especially if my omega was right and these people were good people.
"Thank you, sir," I muttered, and stepped into the room.
The room was surprisingly big. And clean. Still no carpets or curtains, but there were two beds in the opposite walls with desks next to them, a large couch under the windows with a TV stand in front of it, a small dining table behind the TV, and large wardrobes on both sides of the front door. There was another door on my left slightly open, revealing a bathroom.
"Here," the captain said and put my bags next to the unoccupied bed on the right. "This'll be your bed. Let's hope we don't have to haul it somewhere else. There's a mini fridge at your disposal in the wardrobe, and you'll get your own laptop for personal use. Just remind me to get one for you – Nico usually deals with these things..."
I slowly turned around, staring at the room. I spotted a microwave and a coffee maker on top of the dining table, and realized there was a piece of wall between it and the TV stand, dividing the room a little without taking away the space.
"So? What do you think?" the captain asked after a moment.
"It's really nice, sir," I said. "Not at all what I'd expected."
"A small, dusty room with a bunk bed and a worn-down closet? Something like that?"
"Pretty much," I said, turning my attention back to him.
"This is a home for most of us. The army is willing to spend a little extra to keep the morale high," he said.
I nodded, but we were interrupted.
"Sir?"
We turned around to see a tall, buff man in his thirties, in gray sweats and a black tank top, covered in sweat and pulling off his earbuds as he stepped in. His expression was calculating, careful, and intimidating, like a killer approaching his prey. Every step he took was slow, precise.
And his scent was even better in person...
"Reid, good timing," the captain said, stepping toward him, while I stayed glued to my spot.
"What is this...?" Reid asked slowly, his voice low and soft and so thrilling to my omega.
"I want you to meet Riley Steele. Your new teammate," the captain said.
Reid glanced at me, his sharp, green eyes quickly scanning me from head to toe, his expression not changing at all except for the lightest wrinkling of his nose. He was not happy I was there, that much was sure.
"Riley – this is Reid Bishop."