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Chen welcomed shipboard drill. It kept her muscles tired, and more importantly, forced her mind to be focused on something else. Staying sensitive to the wolfbond prevented her from thinking about Priddy going AWOL—or whatever the civilian equivalent was—and what he might be planning. He’d made it clear that it shouldn’t be any of her business in the first place.
It had been two days since she’d returned to the Hunting Cry, and it still gnawed at her that he’d kept his plans to himself. PT with her fireteam and workouts in the weight room were nice, but they didn’t occupy her brain the way a good round of capture-the-flag did.
Especially up against Fireteam Alpha and their wolves.
She crept around the crates that had been erected as makeshift barriers in the cargo hold, listening for the sound of boots on the deck. Up ahead of her, Nujalik was in a low crawl, her attention and eagerness like electricity coursing over Chen’s skin. The hold was quiet; it would be until someone pushed an advantage or made accidental contact. Between their wolfbonds and their extensive use of hand signals, most rangers could carry on entire conversations without speaking aloud.
Nujalik froze, her hackles rising. She’d clearly spotted someone else, either an opposing ranger or their wolf. Chen hoped for the former. If they’d found another wolf, that detection went both ways. Her hand stroked along her wolf’s spine, tugging her hips slightly. Nujalik took the hint and crept back rather than reveal their presence.
Chaos erupted behind her, as shouts and barks signaled that May had stumbled into someone from Alpha. Chen spun on her toe and charged toward the sound. May should have been just around the corner from her, acting as her cover. From what she remembered, Chen expected to catch May in an alley and help them without too much exposure. At least until Alpha’s other fighters arrived.
She rounded just in time to see Azat take May down hard with a lapel drag that turned into a leg sweep. May whuffed as their back slammed to the deck, and Azat leaned over them to grab their remaining two flags. May was out. Chen didn’t see Azat’s wolf but trusted Nujalik would keep the other animal at bay.
Chen planted herself, pulse already spiking at the idea of a little friendly grappling. Azat had better skills and reach, but only massed two-thirds of what Chen did. That almost made them even.
She nodded to her squad leader. “Sorry I’m late.” And she was. Protecting the squad was her job, was why she’d pushed to take the rear position, but May had insisted they have it instead.
Azat charged forward. Chen dropped her center of gravity low, braced to absorb the hit, but he pivoted and went low to snag her ankle. She slapped at his arm. He pulled it away before she could get a grip. Damn. Bastard was fast. But all the Alphas were. They had a reputation, and Sergeant Marcel drove them hard to maintain it.
Chen and Azat closed again, and he tried the same feint that had worked against May. Chen was ready, shifting her weight to the other leg at the last second and lashing out at Azat’s exposed ankle. Suddenly a weight slammed into her other knee, buckling it and sending her to the deck. Azat’s wolf gave a quick yip of victory as it dashed out of the way, while Azat leapt in to snag Chen’s flags.
Two rangers out, and they hadn’t even put a dent in Azat’s flag count. Chen hoped Grenville and Inouye were faring better with their defensive role.
More importantly, where the hell was Nujalik?
She scooted up to lean against the crate next to May, who watched her with the slight curl of a grin on their lips. The rules dictated eliminated players had to stay in place, to prevent their teammates from knowing who was up and who was down. Given all the battlefield telemetry they had available, it wasn’t exactly realistic, but she supposed it was good to keep people in the habit of not relying on technology where basic knowledge would suffice. Lord knows her grandfather would have appreciated the sentiment.
That sent her thoughts back to the cabin, and by extension, to Javad. Chen pushed them away as best she could. He’d made his choice. She could live with it if he could.
Nujalik came around the corner at last, and her limp made Chen’s heart lurch with panic and fear. “What’s wrong, girl?” Chen whispered. “Where were you?” She reached out to guide her wolf close, but Nujalik skittered out of range.
“Is there a problem?” May’s voice was quiet with concern.
“Obviously. Look at her.” Chen winced at her tone. “I didn’t mean to snap.”
“Forgiven.” They tapped their wolf on the flank, and Pakhet crept closer to Nujalik, her approach slow and cautious.
Nujalik sniffed at the other wolf, eventually accepting her. She followed Pakhet back to where Chen and May waited and lay just outside of Chen’s reach. Worse, May couldn’t feel her through the wolfbond. It wasn’t an absence, like the phantom limb she’d heard Commander Penzak describe. Instead, she could tell her wolf was there, but there wasn’t anything being shared across the bond.
“What’s going on?” May’s hand touched her shoulder, offering support.
Chen kept her voice soft, so as not to disrupt the exercise still going on. “The bond’s there, but she’s not letting anything cross to me. It’s like throwing things into a black hole. Nothing’s coming back out.” On the far side of the cargo hold, she heard a triumphant shout from Grenville. Hopefully he’d taken down at least one of Alpha’s rangers. She turned to her wolf. “Is the pain that bad? You think you’re protecting me?”
Nujalik pushed herself closer, barely enough to allow Chen’s touch. Chen groomed her fingers into her wolf’s coat, smoothing it out and trying to project cool calm. “You know that’s not how this works. We’re a team. Let me help you carry the pain, like you would for me.”
Like she’d wanted to do for Javad, if only he’d listened.
If only she’d said it, explicitly.
In between strokes of her hand, Nujalik reopened her side of the bond. Chen could feel the panic and pain, unfiltered by the wolf’s desire to shield her from it. She almost cried out in a combination of relief and the sudden agony that seared her nerves. Carefully, she wrapped her comfort around her wolf’s hurt, doing her best to help Nujalik bear the load.
“It’s okay, girl. We’ve got this. Together.” She stood and lifted Nujalik into her arms. “Permission to leave the field, Corporal?”
May rolled their eyes. “You know you have it, Ranger. Maybe Priddy and his team will have some ideas.”
Chen winced again, but it had nothing to do with her wolf’s pain. “About that. We need to talk.”