Strength of the Pack (26 page)

He’d read through several chapters when Chandler abruptly got to his feet and gave a mighty shake. Dust plumed off of his coat and floated into the air. He turned and ran toward the rear of the gun truck. Noah watched the other wolf for a few moments before he yawned and settled his head back on Lucas’ thigh.

Chandler emerged several minutes later, partially dressed and looking weary. “Sir, I think Sergeant Hammond is having trouble shifting.”

Lucas looked up from the training manual in alarm. “What do you mean he’s having trouble?”

Chandler shrugged. “I’m always the last one to shift back. I’m still getting the hang of it when it’s not a full moon.” He gestured toward Noah. “He should have been one of the first to shift back. He can pretty much shift at will.”

“I thought he was deliberately waiting for the rest of you.” Lucas couldn’t hide his incredulity.

The corporal considered Lucas’ words for several moments. “He doesn’t usually. And for all that he’s falling asleep, he’s still vibrating with tension. It’s like he’s extra stressed.” Chandler met Lucas’ eyes. “Are you sure you didn’t get hurt today, LT?”

Lucas was puzzled. Noah knew he hadn’t been wounded. “I’m perfectly fine, Corporal. But thank you. I’ll see if I can figure out what the problem might be.” He glanced back down into Noah’s inscrutable gaze.

Lucas checked the index of the training manual for anything that indicated how and why a True Alpha would have difficulty shifting. “Are you really stuck, Noah?” he asked quietly. “Or are you just enjoying lying in my lap getting your head scratched.”

Noah’s answer was to blow a harsh breath out through his nose.

Lucas found a page he thought applied to the current situation. “This says situations of extreme stress, particularly ones that cause spikes in adrenaline, can sometimes cause werewolves to lose the ability to shift for several hours.” Lucas glanced down into Noah’s silver eyes. “I guess it has been a particularly stressful day.”

He’d been sitting for so long, Lucas’ muscles had stiffened up. He pushed Noah’s head from his lap and stood up to walk around. Noah, too, stood and stretched, making decadent groaning sounds.

“I ran into Corporal Chandler,” Tim called as he emerged from the darkness. “I hear you have a stuck werewolf?”

“I don’t know if he’s stuck or if he just
likes being difficult
.” Lucas shouted the last three words in Noah’s direction.

A big yawn was Noah’s only reply.

“You’re not injured? The two of you are getting along?” Tim asked.

“No and yes,” Lucas replied. “Well, as much as anyone can get along with a moody and sarcastic True Alpha werewolf.”

Tim laughed and gripped Lucas’ shoulder in brotherly affection.

The quiet of the night was shattered by Noah lunging to his feet, growling and snarling at Captain Madison. Lucas jumped between them, facing Noah, shocked by the feral gleam he saw in the silver eyes. Noah barked savagely, viciously licking bared teeth as he focused solely on Tim.

“I think we know what his source of stress is,” Madison said lightly.

“What the fuck has gotten into him?” Lucas demanded in frustration. “He can’t think you’re a threat to me.”

Tim laughed mirthlessly. “Oh, he thinks I’m a threat to
him
.”

“What?” Lucas wanted to look at Madison for clarification, but he didn’t dare look away from Noah.

“I’m your commanding officer,” Tim said quietly, keeping his voice low as Noah continued to snarl. “I’m a human pack leader, of sorts. I think what we have here is a battle of the Alpha males.”

“You can’t be serious.” Lucas couldn’t figure out why Noah wouldn’t calm down now that Madison was no longer touching him.

“Sergeant Hammond is a little more wolf than he is man, right now,” Tim answered. “Instinct more than rational thought is driving him.”

“Why couldn’t he just get drunk so I could pour him into bed and let him sleep it off?” Lucas asked in frustration.

Tim chuckled. “That’s actually a pretty good idea. Why don’t you hit the rack and let him curl up beside you? He’ll probably shift sometime in the night.”

“My gear is all over on the table.” He gestured toward the table where he’d been working.

Tim provided the perfect solution. “I’ll pack it up and store it in my office for you. Just get him into the anteroom and settled down.”

To Lucas’ relief, Noah followed him readily into the building and down the hallways. They made it to their bedrolls without any more incidents of aggression.

Lucas began to unlace his boots. “Go lay down,” he ordered Noah.

The huge white wolf immediately flopped down on the blankets, on the same side Noah slept on after the full moon. Lucas contemplated how much clothing to remove. All the other times, he and Noah both had just fallen into sleep in various states of undress.

Lucas opted for caution, given that this night was not driven by the post-run high. Removing only his boots, he lay down behind Noah and pulled the blankets over them both. He laughed at himself quietly for covering up an oversized werewolf who generated so much heat it felt like sitting next to a space heater.

Just as Lucas settled down, Noah shifted slightly closer to him. After the third time, Lucas sighed and scooted forward until his chest pressed against the fur on Noah’s back.

He had no idea how long he dozed. Lucas woke suddenly, overheated and sweating through his skivvy shirt. Beside him, Noah slept on, still in wolf form and heating up the blankets. The Afghan night was too cold to throw off the covers completely. With a sigh, Lucas gave up and stripped off all of his clothing.

When he pressed himself against Noah once again, he was surprised at just how soft his fur was. Lucas buried his face in the back of Noah’s neck and inhaled. He expected the scent of dog but that’s not what he smelled. Noah smelled of fresh grass, sandalwood and petrichor. Somewhere, beneath it all was the scent Lucas had come to recognize as Noah’s. This closeness made it so easy to drift into sleep, Lucas wasn’t aware when he did just that.

Something woke Lucas from a deep sleep. He forced his eyes open to the almost complete darkness of deepest night. The blankets were thrown back on Noah’s side of the bedroll. Lifting his head, Lucas caught sight of Noah’s blond hair as he moved around the small room.

It occurred to him vaguely that Noah had finally shifted.

As Noah returned to their rack, he must have seen Lucas watching him. “I didn’t mean to wake you,” he whispered. “Go back to sleep.”

When he slid between the blankets, Noah pressed the length of his body up against Lucas’. Arousal shot through Lucas’ system, jolting him wide awake. He realized they were both completely naked.

“Are you okay?” he asked in a strained whisper.

“I’m fine now.” Noah urged Lucas to turn onto his side, facing away from him.

Lucas let himself be positioned by Noah’s large, strong hands. He settled back against Noah’s warm body. They fit together perfectly, both of Noah’s arms going around him and holding him close. Lucas released the breath he’d been holding, finally relaxing at the feel of Noah’s warm breath against the back of his neck.

He didn’t remember sliding back into sleep.

Lucas woke gently, acutely aware of his morning hard-on, as well as Noah’s warm, naked body pressed against his back. Carefully, he extracted himself from Noah’s arms and climbed out of the blankets. Noah didn’t stir.

Dressing quickly, Lucas was relieved his erection faded by the time he reached the head. He needed to check on the werewolves, and he needed to retrieve his things from Madison’s office. Lucas wondered how long Noah would sleep and how he was going to react to the two of them having slept naked, wrapped up in each other. As nice as it had been, Lucas knew he couldn’t get used to it. He pushed the memories from his mind before his hard-on returned.

As Lucas crossed the compound, he caught sight of Captain Madison heading toward him.

“Good morning, Lieutenant,” Tim called. “You’re up earlier than I thought you’d be.”

“I didn’t have to shift back and forth last night,” Lucas replied. “Are all the werewolves still asleep? I was about to check on them.”

“Haven’t seen any of them this morning.” Madison tossed him the small package he’d been carrying.

Lucas caught the small, coyote brown canvas parcel. The only markings were the universal symbols for male, female and werewolf. “What’s this?” he asked, puzzled.

“Doc said he hasn’t provided you with any supplies,” Tim replied. “I know it’s an easy thing to forget about with everything else we have going on around here.”

“Supplies?” Lucas tugged on the Velcro closure. Opening the canvas bag, he looked inside and saw a large handful of foil condom packets and several small bottles of sexual lubricant. His face flushed. “Jesus Christ!” Lucas closed the bag and tried to hand it back to Tim. “This is Marine Corps issue?”

“To all werewolves, as needed.” Tim refused to take the bundle back.

Lucas couldn’t quite meet Tim’s eyes. “I don’t…we don’t…” he sighed in frustration.

“I don’t need to know,” Madison interrupted, hands lifted, palms out. “In fact, I don’t want to know. I just want you to have it if you need it.”

“What are the condoms for?” Lucas demanded, trying to steer the topic off of what he and Noah
didn’t
do. “I thought werewolves were immune to human disease.”

“Contraception.” Madison made it sound as though it should be obvious. “It’s an all-purpose kit. Female weres have access to them, too.”

Lucas nodded his understanding. He decided he’d just stash it in his gear, out of sight, so Noah wouldn’t think Lucas had any expectations.

“I was just going to go check on the shifters,” Lucas said, realizing he’d never had to do this before. The werewolves all tended to wake up about the same time he did.

“Let’s go.” Tim headed off in the direction of the werewolf sleeping room.

Lucas entered quietly, expecting to find orderly rows of bedrolls laid out, each with a single occupant. He froze as his mind processed what it was he was seeing. One large bedroll in the center of the room contained several occupants. At least six bodies huddled beneath the blankets, all tightly curled around one other.

While most were deeply burrowed in the blankets for warmth, Lucas spotted the occasional bare shoulder or leg. Envy stabbed painfully at his chest that these enlisted Marines could so easily fall into one another for warmth and companionship. As an officer, he had to stand apart.

Tim gestured that they should leave, so Lucas quickly ducked beneath the tarp serving as a door. “They’ll sleep for awhile longer, I suspect,” Tim said. “Your laptop and other things are in my office if you want to collect them.”

Lucas ducked into Tim’s office, intending to gather his things and make a quick escape, so he could hide the bundle of supplies from Noah. His plan was thwarted when Tim closed the office door and leaned against it, hands in his pockets and one foot propped behind him.

“Put that down, Lucas,” he said gently. “Let’s talk for a minute.”

“Yes, sir.” Lucas set his gear back down. Anxiety knotted his stomach. He planted his feet firmly and folded his arms over his chest. He knew it was a defensive, protective pose. He just felt the need for some sort of barrier against the words he knew were coming.

“This is unofficial, Lucas. I’m not your company commander, right now.” Tim’s tone was mild. “The Corps is giddy with pleasure at how cohesively you and Noah work together. No one can fault how well you’ve stepped up and learned to command werewolves.”

Lucas relaxed slightly. “I’m glad to hear that.” His job performance hadn’t concerned him since Madison had taken command of the post. It was the more intimate aspects of his role as Noah’s Dominant that left him feeling inadequate.

“What’s Noah’s favorite food?” Tim surprised Lucas by asking. “What does he do in his free time? What kind of music does he prefer?”

Lucas shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“You need to find out.” Tim’s voice was quiet, but there was steel behind his words. “The two of you communicate without words. You automatically understand how to meet one another’s needs;
on the job
. Noah can anticipate your orders like nothing I have ever seen.”

“When we’re working, we have this sort of connection,” Lucas tried to explain.

“Only when you’re working?” Tim asked knowingly.

Lucas started to answer before he realized Tim already knew he was going to lie. He stayed silent instead.

“If you’re shutting Noah out when the two of you are off duty, you’re only giving him half of what he needs from you.” Tim pushed himself off the door. “A True Alpha werewolf has willingly submitted to you, Lucas. That’s a gift that hasn’t been given to a human in hundreds of years.”

“Yes, but none of us wants our commanding officer constantly in our heads,” Lucas argued. “I respect him too much to encroach on every aspect of his life.”