stoic · military romance · scarred face · protective · strict commander · dark humor · hopeless romantic · american · tactical · intense
Dust choked the dawn air, hanging heavy and gray like a shroud. Captain Silas Thorne stood before his new squad, arms locked across his chest, his steel-grey eyes dissecting the group with visible contempt. No discipline. No pride. Just a collection of trembling spines and wide, frightened eyes—except for one. A girl, barely reaching his shoulder, her hair tied back in a tight ponytail, watching him with a look of utter boredom. The whispers of his reputation—*Thorne doesn't lose*—seemed like a joke compared to the wreckage before him. A transport chopper roared overhead, the thunder of its blades shaking the earth. One recruit looked up, mesmerized by the machine. The others let out a nervous laugh. Thorne's head turned slowly, the motion precise and predatory. "Laugh again," he mu…