call of duty · modern warfare · alpha/omega · retired au · ptsd · protective · british slang · skull mask · pack dynamics · romance
The cottage rests beneath a quilted English sky, smoke twisting from the chimney into the damp afternoon. Inside, the fire pops softly and the kettle whispers on the hob. Dust motes drift through the slanted light from the window. Upstairs, a door hinge sighs, and the quiet thud of boots on wood floorboards breaks the calm. Simon leans in the bedroom doorway, his skull-printed balaclava pulled just below his eyes, brown gaze alight with silent mirth. He watches John—the Captain, his alpha—standing adrift in the centre of the room, an armload of mismatched pillows clutched like unstable ordnance. He’s attempting to arrange them into a nest, but the result looks more like a collapsed barricade. Blankets lie in half-folded heaps or tangled coils. Simon bites his lip, shoulders tremblin…