Page 70 of Victorious: Part I

I stare at him in awe. “You’ve never told me that before. Why?”

His smile falters, an instant sadness washing over his features. “I dunno, haven’t told you a lot about my Army days.”

Stepping up to him, I reach out for his hand, taking it in mine. “Why is that?” He exhales, his face scrunching, like I’m pushing into places he doesn’t want me to go. So, I keep on pushing. “No, Alpha, don’t shut down on me. Tell me why.”

His eyes meet mine, a glassy haze washing over them. “It doesn’t matter how much good I did during my career, it matters what I did at the end of it. And at the end, I let my team down. I let my team die. Doesn’t matter how much good I did before, Haven.Nothingbefore that matters!”

Inhaling sharply, I reach up, gripping each side of his face, and force him to look at me. “That. Is.Horseshit!”

He furrows his brows, rolls his eyes, and tries to pull away, but I keep him solidly in place. “No. No, you don’t get to walk away from this, Stone.” His breathing hitches upon hearing me call him by his first name, and his eyes focus back on me. “One incident doesnotdefine a career of undeniable greatness. You took down a terrorist network. Did you hear those words andtrulytake them in?”

He shrugs like it’s nothing. “I guess—”

“Nuh-uh. You lost men. There’s no doubt, and itfucking sucks. But baby, that terrorist cell you dismantled, they were distributing guns and drugs to who knows how many insurgents. Do you even know who the terrorists were targeting? How many civilians they killed beforeyoudismantled them?”

His shoulders relax like he’s starting to understand. “Yeah, I do.”

“And?”I snap.

He huffs like he’s annoyed that I’m proving my point. “Thousands… tens of thousands. And we saw chatter that they were planning multiple attacks in multiple Western countries.”

Dropping my hands from his face, I step back, moving my hands to my hips, and stare at him incredulously. “You and Garver stopped that fromeverhappening, saving countless lives, andyoustill think that you’re not a fucking hero?”

Alpha huffs, folding his arms across his chest. “They dishonorably discharged me for what happened. You think the government would do that to a hero, Haven?”

I burst out laughing, looking at him like he’s a full-blown idiot. “The Government also put Nelson Mandela in jail too. Isthatproof enough of my point for you? Or would you like me to remind you how the system fails people who do brave things? Becausethe systemdoesn’t wantordinarypeople out there lookingmoreextraordinary than the people in charge. You didn’t fail your team, Alpha. It was a bad day foran extraordinarysoldier. And they sure as shit took advantage of that.”

His nostrils flare like he’s actually taking all this in, his chest rising and falling, his breathing rushing. “Fuck,” he mumbles under his breath.

Sighing, I step up to him again. “You’ve been drowning for so long with regret. But sometimes, opening up, especially to the people who really,reallyfucking love you, can help. And I know you. I know all this guilt you’re carrying right now isn’t just because of your team. This, right now, you’re struggling because you feel like you failed Livvy. But she wouldn’t want you to let guilt eat you alive for your men or for her. She would want you to be the strong, arrogant asshole she married. To be the father she knew you could be when she let you knock her up.” He lets out a small chuckle. “Alpha, I love you, but for the sake of that little girl out there, you havegotto let this guilt go and man the fuck up.”

He pulls me to him rapidly, nodding his head in agreement. “Thank you,” he murmurs, shocking me. He lets out a relieved huff. “How the hell did Ieverget through a day before you came into it like a fucking tornado?”

Snorting out a laugh, I tilt my head. “Pretty sure it was through copious amounts of tequila.”

He groans with the memory. “Mmm, yeah. Well, no tequila today. We need to talk to Loki, see if we can locate any floor plans for the prison to figure out where the best possible place would be for these assholes to build an underground tunnel system.”

Furrowing my brows, I sigh. “Do you know if he’s found any leads on Nighthawk yet?”

Alpha shrugs. “No clue, why?”

“I have an idea. It just depends onifwe can find her and where her alliances sway.”

Chapter Seventeen

HAVEN

With a thump, Loki’s door closes behind us as we enter his den. The usual green hue lighting up the space somehow makes me feel calmer—maybe it’s the magic of theAsgardians.

Jesus Christ, I’ve been hanging around Loki far too much!

He spins in his chair to face us, pulling off his headphones as he does. Raising his brow in greeting, Alpha sits on the long desk, and I move to the spare chair, letting out a long huff. Loki instantly scowls, folding his arms across his chest at our mutual despondent entrance.

“Great! Why do I feel like you’re both about to make this already catastrophically shit daysomuch fucking worse?” Loki groans.

Alpha shrugs with a hefty grunt. “Because you’re great at reading body language.”

Loki scrunches his face, and his foot begins tapping the floor anxiously. “All right. Hit me.”

---