Mack 'n' Me: The Wolves of Alpha 9 by C.M. Simpson (top ebook reader txt) 📕

world of difference to walking naked down the corridor of your ship and fielding startled glances and cat-calls from your crewmates. Not that there were many of the latter.

One look at Mack’s face, and most of the crew found a point somewhere in the direction they were going, and hurried towards it, their eyes not shifting from their goal. Looks like Mack didn’t hire the stupid—or, if he did, they didn’t stay very long. I was still very relieved when we hit my cabin, not so relieved when Mack insisted of walking me in.

“You put her back in a tank before the mission, Mack, and you’ll be in one right alongside.” Doc’s voice came from inside both our heads, and he still didn’t sound very happy.

I looked at Mack, and he looked back.

“Thanks for that,” he said. “Last thing I need is a pissed-off Doc to deal with.”

Like it was my fault!

“You tellin’ me it ain’t?” Doc, again, and he still wasn’t happy.

I closed my eyes, and counted to ten. When I opened them, again, Mack was still there.

“You ready for training?” he asked, and I looked down at my bare skin.

“Do I look like I’m ready?”

“You want a kaff and breakfast?” he asked, and I took a breath.

Kaff and breakfast, huh? That was one way to bribe me, I guess.

“You beat me in two rounds, we’ll take a break and eat.”

And there was the Mack I knew and loved, giving with one hand and taking with the other.

“More like slapping you upside the head with the other,” he muttered, and pointed in the direction of my closet. “You need to get dressed.”

I hesitated, my head still not quite all there.

“Unless you want to do a training session in the nude...” he suggested. “You know how the crew like to watch...”

Well, Hells yes, I did know, and there was no way in all the Stars I wanted to be sparring with Mack in the nude. Apart from the fact it would be downright embarrassing, it would also put me at a huge disadvantage.

Without my boots, I could land as many kicks as I wanted, and he was just going to keep laughing at me—and without the body armor, I’d probably end up back in Medical, and both of us would be on more than Doc’s shit list.

I wondered if he even had a list for people who were already on the shit list.

“You better believe it, girl,” was not comforting.

I took another glance at Mack, and headed for my closet. There was no way I wanted to be on Doc’s ‘more than shit’ list. Hell, I didn’t even like having him this mad at me. The thought that he might actually be capable of being even more angry was almost scary.

“Almost?” Mack challenged. “Only almost?”

“You mean you’re actually scared?” I taunted.

“Like you’re not,” he retorted, and I hated that he could see he had a point.

I was just a bit frightened of Doc right now.

Rather than admit out loud what we both knew, I turned and opened the closet door.

“What happened to my boots?” I asked, and Mack sighed.

“They were ruined.”

“You threw them out?” and I half-turned my head to stare at him.

He backed up half a pace, raising his hands to shoulder height.

“Nuh uh. I put them down in stores to dry. Stepyan said he’d take a look at them and see if they could be salvaged.”

I held his eyes for a second longer, and then pulled one of my other pairs out of the bottom drawer. Behind me, I heard Mack breathe a very quiet sigh of relief. Man knew just how much I loved my boots.

“Ways to a girl’s heart...” he muttered, and I wasn’t sure if he’d actually meant me to hear it.

He neither confirmed, nor denied it, so I let it lie, and dragged out a body stocking, some under-armor, and one of the three sets of combat armor hanging in front of me.

“You sure you got enough?” Mack asked, as I added underwear to the pile.

“That’s none of your goddamned business!” I snapped.

Just because I was making nice, didn’t mean my head had stopped hurting. I headed into the san unit to scrub the feel of the regen fluid off my skin. Mack gave an exaggerated sigh, and sat down in the chair by the alcove where my desk was folded away.

“And stay off my computer,” I said, shutting the door behind me.

“You and whose army, girl?” rumbled through my head, and I took shelter in the simple act of turning on the water, and getting it to the right temperature.

I knew it was going to be pulled back up through the filters for another couple of washes, but it didn’t matter. Joys of ship-board life, right? That’s what made dirt-side so much fun—real showers. It was just a pity that I didn’t usually get the time to enjoy them.

Usually I was too busy running, or shooting, or fighting, or just trying not to get myself killed for that.

“Boo hoo.”

I sighed, and finished up, dried myself off and pulled on my combat gear. I’d had about enough of Mack’s shit. It really was time to kick his ass.

19—Back in Training

“You and whose army, girl?” he asked, smirking as I emerged from the san.

I headed for the door, pulled it open. I’d brushed my teeth, too, but my mouth still tasted like shit. Two rounds and kaff sounded like a great idea to me. It ended up being two hours, with Mack proving just how out of shape I was, and me landing on my ass more times than I cared to count.

“Enough,” Mack said, when I went down on the last round.

“Like Hell!” I muttered.

It had been meant to be a shout, but a mutter was the best I could do. I was dripping with sweat, and my muscles had turned to jelly, but I was determined to... dammit! I couldn’t move my arms to get my elbows under me, let alone get back