Chapter Text
“….Jesus Price…the replacement is already in transit?” Ghost asked, slightly straightening in the uncomfortable chair that he had come to hate in Price’s office.
“You heard me Simon…” Price responded rubbing a hand on the back of his neck as he looked from the correspondence on his desk back to Ghost’s covered face “Laswell said there was a shift in a team in South America and the Alpha needed relocation immediately. We are lucky to have found someone to fill this role for us so quickly, you of all people know how desperate the pack is getting without Crane..”
It was true of course it was, as the Pack’s handler Ghost had seen first hand what chaos was caused in the loss of their beloved Alpha. There was a spike in violence both between pack members as well as against some of his fellow human soldiers who got a little too close to their fenced off den in the middle of the base.
The lack of an Alpha meant on every level the pack would start to deteriorate, Price knew it, Ghost knew it, the whole base knew it.
Even the female omega’s have started to miss their heats, with the loss Crane and no replacement since his death months ago their cycles were completely thrown off. Needing the pheromones of an Alpha to trigger them to continue being able to breed and soothe the pack’s balance.
The previous second in command Beta, a male who went by the call sign Xero, had ascended to take on the management of the pack in the absence of the Alpha however to say he was struggling was an understatement. It wasn’t due to lack of trying by any means, it was simple biology, Xero was the perfect second in every way but it would never be enough.
“They will be arriving in 2 days, Laswell said that extraction in South America had been a success and after their debrief in Istanbul they will be Heli’ed over to us for the process of introduction to begin,” Price said as he pulled a cigar from his top desk drawer and began lighting it up. “This will be the first introduction of a new Alpha under your oversight, I know all the research you have been doing will be valuable for this transition, but I have to say Ghost I really don’t know how this is going to go for us.”
“This is the first introduction any of us have seen Cap, fuck Crane was the pack’s Alpha for 12 years… I can’t imagine someone will be welcomed with open arms even if they all know how badly they need it.”
Ghost began looking through the pile of paperwork in front of him detailing the notes he had been taking while researching Alpha introduction and all the risks that came with it.
“Shit Price.. we could lose half the pack if they chose to ascend violently, and even if they don’t Xero could still challenge to keep the pack in his control which would probably end up in this new Alpha being shredded before they even get off the airstrip, there is no way for me to handle that.”
Not only had Xero been growing more and more aggressive since he had taken over leadership of the pack, the hormones that were flooding his body since ascending had caused him to grow in size and pack on muscle. Ghost had read that in most cases the promoted Beta would fight and claw to the death against a new Alpha for control over the pack, there was no fighting against those most primal urges.
“I am sending Gaz to supervise the pick up of the new Alpha and to hopefully calm things down on that end, while you will run morning training here as usual and maintain order until they arrive. Once they do, Xero will meet them first and then we will go from there,” Price stated between deep inhales on his cigar. As they exchanged looks, Ghost simply shrugged and raised to his feet, “Do we even know who this guy is?”
Price stood himself, stretching his back and rolling his shoulders as he looked back to the document on his desk, “their call sign is Ramsey, been in active duty for 6 years.. Here, you might as well take their medical folder to go through. I haven’t had time to review it. I expect you to brief me if there is anything worth noting Simon.”
“Understood sir,” Ghost nodded and with that he pushed out of the Captain’s office door and down the hallway connecting to the mess hall. Stomping through the double doors he sighted a few of his squad mates looking intensely at some paperwork between them.
Approaching them Ghost smirked under his mask as he heard Gaz saying “…there is no fucking way you would beat the pups at a foot race Soap.” Looking up from his paperwork at Ghost Gaz rolled his eyes and continued “think you could convince Xero to let the pups loose on him for a little entertainment tonight Ghost?”
“Ye don know wha yer talkin about, Simon ere knows I’d smoke those oversized terriers so long as dey played fair,” Soap said frowning over at Gaz. As Ghost sat chuckling softly, both men looked to the folder in his hand with understanding as to why he had been summoned away to Price's office that morning.
“…finally got us a new Alpha Ghostie?” Soap asked, now more straightened in his seat.
Ghost simply nodded and slipped into the table before opening the medical folder in front of him. “Coming in 2 days. Gaz you will actually be picking em' up from Laswell for us, apparently they are coming from a stint in South America,” Ghost said as he began scanning through some of the med reports.
“Shit, okay… God wonder what Xero is going to do when this guy shows up,” Gaz said while running his hand through his short hair.
“No idea mate.. Price wants em to square off before bringing the rest of the pack into it. But you know as well as I do how intense its been lately, just hope it doesn’t end up being a blood bath,” Ghost answered, flipping to the next page in the report.
“Aye, we ought tae try to keep as many of em alive. A’m rather fond of some of em,” Soap said with a slight smirk.
Although he said it jokingly, Soap especially was attached to many of the packs members, enjoying training with some of the Beta males, playing with some of the younglings and even having one or two rather loud nights with a particular female member he had snuck into the woods with.
Ghosts thoughts began to race as he continued reading the document in front of him. Who would be caught in the cross hairs should this get bad? What would happen to their mission if they lost a good number of the pack or if this Alpha was the one killed? If the enemy ever got wind that they were without an Alpha in their pack what would happen then..
Just as he was about to open his mouth to begin briefing Gaz on what they would need to prep before the Alpha’s arrival, a line in the report caught his attention.
“What the fuck..” Ghost said gripping the page and bringing it closer to his face, eyes scanning for more information. Both Gaz and Soap startled, nothing typically rattled Ghost’s usual collected and calculated demeanour.
“Whats wrong? What does it say?” Gaz said leaning forward.
Ghost's voice answered so low his two squadmates could barely hear even with their proximity.
“The Alpha…Ramsey…is a female.”