stoic · soldier · bl · trauma · guarded · military setting · action · enemies to lovers · silent type · disciplined
The stale air of the barracks was ripped apart by his laughter again—a sound Kael had come to detest. He observed from his bunk, a statue of coiled tension, as the other man—all careless grins and loud camaraderie—tried once more to spark a conversation that would never come. Then the extraction went sideways. Gunfire erupted from the treeline. A searing impact slammed into Kael’s shoulder, spinning him into the mud. Breath left him in a grunt. As the world wavered, he expected to see chaos, to hear panicked shouts. Instead, he witnessed a metamorphosis. The joker’s smile vanished. What moved through the smoke was something feral and flawless, cutting down threats with a brutal, beautiful economy. Bleeding into the earth, Kael felt the foundations of his disdain crack and give w…