Dogs of War

Chapter 4

"That's enough." Prices gruff voice spoke out, his fingers hooked in the back of my shirt pulling me off kilter, my punch going wide with the motion.

"You two are being insufferable. You're both on cleaning duties for the next month."

I glare at Soap with the anger simmering below the surface ready to blow the moment Price has left.

"Soap, go elsewhere. Ghost, with me." I ignore Price intending on following Soap as he backs up, levelling me with his own angry glare, lip curled in a half snarl. 

"Ghost," Price snaps, clasping me on the shoulder and shoving me towards his office. My shoulders stiffen under the contact but allow him to redirect me. I follow him in a silence so filled with a mix of disappointment and anger that by the time I'm facing the open door of Prices office my emotions are swirling like a tidepool.

"Sit." His voice is level but not calm. There's a snap to his words that he doesn't normally display to any of his team. I hesitate to sit and then notice the steel in his eyes and the way his jaw is clenched. I sit. "Ghost, mind telling me what the fuck you were thinking?"

"With all due respect sir-"

"Enough, Ghost." He leans back in his chair considering me carefully. I decide the smart thing is to take my moniker at face value and remain quiet despite the fact that he'd originally asked a question. 

"I need you on a mission. Dr. McKenzie has agreed to let you go because your specialties are required on this mission. It seems that with Shane coming back with Gaz this week and our new Medic, Wolf has more than enough support on base that we can spare you and Soap for a week or two."

"No. I'm not leaving." My voice is immovable, implacable. "My position is by Wolf as she recovers."

"Your position is where ever the fuck I tell you it is."

I sit back, blinking at him. That was the second time Price had sworn at me in this conversation. He was pissed. 

"We have finally had a Makarov sighting. I need you and Soap out on the field. Ideally Gaz and Shane would be out there with us, but they're still on their own. Wheels up at 0500 tomorrow morning." He looks at me sternly ensuring I know he's dead serious. "As for you and Soap. Are you mad that he was right, or that he had the audacity to say it when you didn't have the balls to do it yourself?"

"What?" The word is ground out between clenched teeth as my eyes flash with anger. The intensity of the energy around me feels like it should be crackling with lightening.

Price doesn't respond to my aggression, instead pulls a cigar case out of his desk drawer. He selects one carefully, trims it with precision and lights it. Only then with an exhalation of smoke does he consider me.

"I have never seen you take to any human like you've taken to Wolf. You don't just tolerate her, you actively engage and care for her. Because you don't see her as human."

I stand up, moving so slowly it feels like I'm struggling through molasses as I tower over Price still seated calmly on his side of the desk. "How. Dare. You."

"Stop with the histrionics, Ghost. It's not becoming on you. Sit."

"No."

"Sit, or I'll make you sit."

"You don't have the wherewithal to pull that off," my words are dripping in venom, my muscles taut as I continue fighting the urge to throw hands with someone.

"Sure I do." He whistles sharply and Wolf comes bounding through the still open door. The scent of my anger must hit her fully in the face as she slides to a stand still a meter before me and drops to the floor whining pitifully as she looks up at me. Her tail flops around on the floor with soft little thumps and I feel my non-existent Grinch like heart is being shredded.