Savage Awakening (Alpha Pack #2)(36)

"I understand that, but someone should've told me the full extent of his abuse in that horrible place. Is there anything else I should know?"

"Not that I'm aware. For what it's worth, I am sorry. Both about not telling you, and the fact that it happened in the first place," she said sincerely. "Micah is very much loved by his team and all of us here at the compound. We only want the best for him, same as you."

Rowan forced her anger into a tiny box. What had befallen her brother wasn't Mac's fault. "I can see that. Thank you."

"I'll leave you two alone for a while."

The doctor left, closing the door softly.

Leaving Rowan alone with a broken wolf shifter and not a clue how to help him recover.

Aric heard the door to his room swish and he opened his eyes to see Rowan walk in, giving him a tentative smile that softened her features. It was amazing how his heart stuttered in his chest, just being in the same room with her.

"Hey," he croaked.

"Hey yourself." Taking a seat, she patted his arm. "I'll ask the stupid question-how are you feeling?"

"Better, thanks." He still couldn't believe he'd passed out in front of her, and he tried not to let his embarrassment show. But her tantalizing scent hit him hard, shot straight to his cock, and went a long way toward making him forget anything else.

"I'm glad. Did they figure out what's wrong with you?"

"I'm still waiting, but I'm sure it's exhaustion or something from my time in Motel Hell." He shrugged. "No big."

"I don't know how you can be so nonchalant about that," she said, frowning. "It's definitely a big deal for Micah."

"Damn, that's not what I meant at all." Sitting up straighter, he took her hand. "I'd never make light of what he's going through. I hope you know I'm not that much of a jerk."

She blew out a breath. "I do. It's just hard to see him hurting. He's nothing like the man I remember... not that I believe I ever really knew him."

"Who was the Micah you knew?" he asked quietly.

She thought for a moment. "Fun-loving, always laughing. He had a great sense of humor, and even though he knew the world wasn't perfect, his world was always rose-colored. His glass was always half-full."

"Yeah, that's how I saw him, too. How everyone saw him, as far as I know. Even after we were turned into shifters, he was determined to help all the guys see the good that came from the bad. He had his work cut out with me, because I hated what I'd become."

She squeezed his hand, her expression warm with concern. "Do you still hate it?"

"Not like I used to, and Micah gets a lot of the credit," he said honestly. "He'd spend hours talking to me, spinning what had happened to us into a positive thing. We were alive and more than human, and we could use that to do good, et cetera. He started getting through, too, and then..."

Her voice was almost inaudible. "Then he was gone, presumed dead."

"Yes."

She fell silent for a minute, studying their linked hands. "Would you do something for me?"

"Anything." The word was out before he thought, but he realized he meant it. Something about this woman compelled him to want to make her happy, though he didn't know why, except for the fact that she was Micah's sister and he genuinely liked her.

"Tell me what it was really like the day your SEAL team was attacked and turned," she urged, leaning forward to clasp his hand even tighter. "I need to hear the story of what happened to all of you."

Aric blinked at her. He wasn't surprised that she wanted to hear the account, since it had changed her brother's life, but she couldn't possibly have made a more difficult request of him. Hell, he didn't know anyone who'd want to relive those hellish few minutes in Afghanistan. But if he refused to tell her, she'd simply go to one of the other men.

And for some reason, that didn't sit well. Better him than having her turn to someone else.

"All right. I can do that."

"Thank you."

Taking a deep breath, he began. "It was so f**king hot that day, we thought we'd die. Little did we know that half of us would, and not from the heat or from facing the enemy we expected to find..."

Five and a half years earlier...

"Jesus Christ, I'm rank," Raven bitched, scratching at his crotch. "When I finally get to change this underwear, it'll probably walk off."

Micah grinned. "With assistance from the crabs you caught from that woman in the last village."

"Shut up, needledick. She did not give me crabs."

Aric and a few of the guys chuckled. Giving one another shit was about the only pastime out here, unless you counted paying a visit to one of the whores available in the dirt-poor villages to relieve the tension. The idea made Aric shudder. Hell, no. He'd settle for his fist indefinitely to avoid catching something he couldn't get rid of.

They tramped through the thick undergrowth, using the barrels of their weapons to push aside limbs and foliage. Sweat trickled down his spine and between his ass cheeks, and his shirt stuck to his torso. Tuning out his comrades' continuing banter, he dreamed of home. Of a meal that wasn't prepackaged and didn't taste like dog crap. Of pizza and beer.