I leaned against the wall, sideways, my arms crossed. Captain stood in front of me, also leaning against the wall, but rubbing my arm gently. I’d needed a moment to gather myself, and the patient man he was had stayed to wait with me. I was still sniffing after my little emotional breakdown.

“Look at me…” I mumbled, wiping my nose. “A fucking elite soldier…”

He gave me a sad smile. “Crying is perfectly all right. We’re all humans here with our emotional needs.”

I nodded a little. “Right…”

“Maybe you’ll be surprised by how often we break down emotionally. You will see my boys crying their eyes out after a failed mission. After finding the kidnapped people we were supposed to save dead in a river. After someone blows up a school. After they find an elderly woman with her hands chopped off because she told us everything she knows,” the captain spoke quietly.

I closed my eyes, already shivering in disgust and fear of having to witness something like that.

“That is why we need our partners. Not only to watch our backs on missions, but to be there after everything has gone to shit,” he continued. “We won’t last long without emotional support.”

I nodded and sniffed again, straightening my posture. “I do feel better now. So… Thank you.”

“I’ll always be here for you,” he said gently, smiling. “If you ever need support or want to talk, I’ll be right here for you.”

“Thanks… Now I’m really hungry…” I told him.

“Aight. Let me tell Nico to stay in our room first. Then we can get you something to eat,” he said, and opened the door.

I nodded and stayed back while he left the room. I took a careful sniff at the air just outside my door, but it was nice and fresh. I shivered at the thought of those strong pheromones… And I hated Stoll even more. He did this to me… He made me like this… And the fucking rutting season had just started… My first month here was going to be unbearable if the gel didn’t work… And it wasn’t fair to my teammates.

Fuck… How could I even ask them to use the gel just because of me? I’d just joined their team and they already had to accommodate my needs… They’d already learn to hate me or at least be annoyed by me. How was I ever going to fit in?

“Riley?” Captain called for me in the hallway.

I stepped to the doorway and peered out. The captain stood there, smiling.

“Come, the breakfast is almost ready,” he said.

I nodded and made my way to him. “I… Please tell Nico I’m sorry. I hate having to ask him to do this,” I muttered.

“He’s fine,” Captain said reassuringly. “He understands. Once I’ve had something to eat, I’ll go find the gel for him.”

“And he has to stay in his room the entire time. It’s not right,” I mumbled.

“Hey…” the man said, touching my shoulder gently. I looked up at him, and he smiled. “Do not feel sorry for Nico. That boy gets to play his video games all day because of you. He is thrilled.”

“He is?” I asked, peering at their door.

“Oh, yes, he’s absolutely loving this,” Captain said with a chuckle. “Come. Food. Now.”

I nodded, and turned to face the living room, but spotted Reid standing there, watching me. Was he… worried about me? The captain hummed, then walked past us both when I stopped in front of Reid.

“Sorry…” I mumbled.

“You all right?” he asked with a frown.

“Yeah… The pheromones just…” I trailed off, not really sure if I wanted to go into detail with him. He’d ask me a ton of questions, most of which I didn’t want to answer. “It got intense, but I’m fine now.”

“You sure?” he asked, taking small, fast sniffs to find my scent.

And it made me feel better… It was a friendly, concerned gesture.

“Yeah, I’m sure. There’s just a lot for me to get used to,” I told him reassuringly. “But I’m starving now.”

“Right. Of course. Sorry…” he mumbled and stepped out of my way.

And again, he waited until I took a step toward the kitchen before following me.

I honestly forgot the incident when I smelled the breakfast. Ethan and Ryan were standing by the stove with six massive frying pans and a mad amount of bacon and eggs, while Chandler and Keita were preparing sandwiches with all the possible toppings anyone could think of.

“I am never getting used to the amount of food we need,” I muttered.

My words were met by quiet chuckles.

“How does it even work? You need a truck to get all this food back home from the store,” I said.

Reid snorted in amusement. “You’re not actually wrong. The food gets delivered to us by a truck twice a week. We usually give Daz a list of things we want, and he orders them. But not from the store, though. The army has a large warehouse center just outside the base where we get everything from. There’s a website with all the items they have – food and clothes, for example – and you can send a special request for something else you may need, and if it gets approved, they’ll get it for you and deliver it here with the food.”

“Wow…” I mumbled. “Fuck me, that’s handy.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And I completely forgot to tell you about it…” the captain spoke and sighed. “Sorry Riley. There’s just so much to remember.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” I said, waving at him in a dismissive manner.

While we ate, the guys told me about all the things I could order through the warehouse. Food, clothes, hygiene products, electronics, even entertainment like books and movies. Everything had to be approved first by Daz, then by the warehouse, especially if the things I wanted were not listed on their website.

“There’s furniture, curtains and carpets, and stuff like that too,” Ash told me.

“Curtains and carpets, huh…?” I muttered, looking around in the very sterile kitchen.

Captain chuckled at my words. “You’re not impressed with our decor, huh?” he asked.

“I mean… There’s a lot of leather and polished iron,” I said, wrinkling my nose as a careful joke.

“I’m sure the boys won’t mind if you want to do something about it,” the captain said, and the guys agreed.

“We could use some curtains,” Ash said.

“Wait… You’ve lived here for years, and no one’s ever thought of buying curtains?” I asked.

“I mean… We’re alphas,” the captain grinned. “But you can check the website, and I’ll try to sort out the budget for it. But I must warn you. The army only knows about two colors.”

“Let me guess, infantry green and navy blue?” I said, and he nodded. “Figures…”

The captain laughed cheerily at me, then gave me a warm smile. “Build a house for an omega, and he’ll turn it into a home…”

“I mean, I know it’s not my place since I just joined this team, so…” I hurried to say, but he stopped me.

“Please, turn our little base into a real home,” he said gently. “We’d all be grateful for that.”

They all agreed.

“I…” I had to admit, this made me feel so much better… “I’ll see what I can do. With the two colors they have.”

They all were amused by my little joke, and no one seemed to be against the idea of letting me make some changes into their home. It felt really nice.

And at that moment, for the first time after my arrival, I felt like I was finally able to let myself be excited about joining this team, and not be constantly afraid I’d get thrown out.

Or hurt.