Page 12 of Coming Home

“Uh, yeah, sure,” he said. I sensed he was a little skittish, probably just nervous for his first assignment.

“Damn, it feels good to be home and out of that chair. It’s going to take a few days just to stretch the kinks out from being stuck in there.”

“What unit is this? I was never told.”

I smiled proudly at him. “Have you ever heard of the Ghosts?”

His eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “You’re just messing with me,” he finally concluded.

“We don’t really speak the name aloud, we just simply go by the Ghosts. I’m not shitting with you, Jake. This is one of the most elite teams in the military. We only take the best of the best and look specifically for those with, well, special talents, if you know what I mean.”

He looked around in awe. I was certain he still wasn’t fully convinced I was telling the truth.

I headed for our small kitchen and fixed a sandwich. The best part about the Ghosts was that we were almost always left alone. We received our assignments on a weekly basis, with the occasional emergency that popped up. Crawley took care of all the paperwork and the rest of us just did our jobs.

When combined forces were necessary, we kept our heads low and worked hard and fast to get in, fulfill our goal, and get back out. We weren’t all wolves, but we functioned similar to a small pack and that gave me plenty of comfort.

Not for the first time, I sniffed the air when Jake walked by, trying to discern what sort of shifter he was. Dude wore this deodorant that was so strong it masked everything else and made my head hurt.

As it was late in the night when we arrived, and there was no sign of the guys, I told Jake to call it a night. I knew he had to be exhausted with everything I’d put him through that day. He didn’t argue as he crashed into the bed I directed him to. He didn’t even bother changing. He was out the second his head hit the pillow.

I walked through camp checking our supplies and fussing over the mess they’d left behind. I was a little depressed to find they hadn’t been home waiting for us to arrive, but I understood, the mission comes first.

I waited up for a few more hours, then, certain they weren’t coming back anytime soon, I headed for bed and crashed out for the night.

Hours later, I jerked awake when cold water hit my face.

“Good morning, sunshine. Get your ass out of bed, this ain’t no fancy hotel where you get to lounge around all day,” Crawley said.

“Where’s the kid?” Bulldog asked.

I stretched and groaned, then pointed to the top bunk across the room where I’d told Jake to bunk. “Where the hell were you guys last night?”

“Last minute op, just recon, nothing serious,” Crawley said.

Bulldog was already descending on Jake with Mike right behind him.

“Don’t look like much, does he?” Bulldog asked Mike.

Sam was standing over me. “He’s got a pool going already. Want to give me a hint what you think this kid is?”

I snorted. “Count me out. He wears deodorant strong enough to singe my nose hairs.”

“Well, Collins says we’re stuck with him, so let’s get his induction over with already so we can get down to business. It’s damn good having you home, Shay,” Crawley said.

“Jake, is it?” he asked, approaching the kid who already looked a little freaked out by his sudden wake-up call. “I’m Crawley, leader of this riff-raff. We have a special way we do inductions around here, so up and at ?em, let’s go.”

Jake sighed, but jumped out of bed fully dressed from the night before, boots and all.

“Well he’s certainly prepared,” Mike commented.

I laughed, knowing in truth he had just been so tired he hadn’t even bothered to take them off before crashing.

Crawley walked Jake to the middle of the room and had us all circle up around him. He turned, checking out each person and obviously feeling a bit trapped. That was pretty normal. Our animal spirits didn’t exactly like being cornered. It put us all on the defense. Bulldog smiled and nodded at me, clearly remembering that feeling from his own initiation.

“Boys, shift!” Crawley commanded and the six of us all flash shifted into our natural animal forms. We were quite the sight: two bears, a jaguar, a fox, a tiger, and my wolf.

Jake should have felt surprise, then relief at seeing us, but I clearly smelled fear wafting off him. I took a step closer and he backed up, nearly tripping over himself.

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