“Looks like it.”
It takes me a full breath to process what I’m looking at.
A nest.
Halley built a nest.
A proper one.
Shade and Halley are tangled up in each other’s arms. She’s got a death grip on Blaze’s hand, and he’s actually letting her. He’s peacefully sleeping.
Shade tilts his head at us, eyes dancing with pride and quiet amusement at our stunned expressions.
I swallow.
The memory of Halley’s first night with our squad slams into me with a ferocious force.
Thisis what she tried to make on that rickety cot with our pilfered bedding. And what did I see? Not a sweet, frightened Omega following her base instincts to create comfort. I saw a soldier breaking orders. I saw disobedience that needed to be corrected.
I was a fucking idiot.
I will never be so ignorant again.
Never.
No more barking orders without understanding the why. If I’m going to be her Alpha, then I have to be better than the Prime Alpha who stripped her safe place bare.
Hearing our arrival, Halley and Blaze rouse from their sleep. Halley blinks as she surfaces from a dream. Her limbs stretch in a slow, sinuous ripple, a soft mewl on her lips as she arches against Shade’s chest.
The movement is instinctive, unguarded, and intimate in a way that makes my Alpha perk up.
We close the door and start peeling off our outer layers. Cold sweat-damp jackets, stiff boots, and gloves stained with the blood from my knuckles.
A small sound draws my attention. It’s a strange chirping noise coming from Halley. She’s finally noticed our presence and her gaze is half-lidded and unfocused. She is still caught in that dreamy and open Omega headspace, soaked in tender, instinctive need. It hasn’t lifted. If anything, it looks like it’s sunk deeper.
Next to me, Viper gives my shoulder a nudge and leans in just enough to speak. “You want to learn how to be soft with her? Watch.”
I let out a breath and nod.
Shade has slipped into his caregiver role with ease, as if he was born for it.
It's another element in our squad’s dynamics that I've overlooked. Our Beta Specialist has always taken care of our team, kept us grounded and off each other’s throats.
"Hungry, baby girl?" Shade asks, his voice low and soft, fingers threading gently through Halley’s hair.
She makes that chirp sound again, the one that shoots straight to my dick, and Shade nods toward the nearby plate of fruit. "Blaze will feed you."
Her expression clouds, and she shakes her head and hides her face in Shades chest.
"That's okay. Do you want to do it yourself?"
He offers her a thin slice of apple between his fingers.
Halley bats it away with a sharp little swipe. The fruit flies across the room and hits the floor.
My fist curls. That kind of disrespect would have earned her a barked reprimand and a clean-up order from me, minimum. But Shade? He just laughs. Taps her cheek with a teasing finger like she’s done something cute instead of insubordination.
“Ah, is my little brat hoping Daddy will feed her?” he coos, grinning like they’re in on some inside joke.
