Slade had started allowing more female recruits onto his team.

It should’ve been simple.

Recruit them.

Train them.

Judge them by the same standards as everyone else.

Instead—

His male crew started getting louder.

The jokes got worse.

The veterans became more openly dismissive.

Apparently, some of his men had forgotten that being experienced didn’t make them untouchable.

Slade tolerated it for exactly as long as he needed to.

Then he made a phone call.

To a woman he’d worked with years ago.

A mercenary commander who ran an all-female army.

Slade invited her and her entire team to his base.

His men were immediately suspicious.

Then the sparring matches started.

One after another.

His veterans stepped onto the mat against her women with far too much confidence.

The first one lost.

Then another.

The room gradually became quieter.

The women weren’t stronger because they were women.

They were simply better trained than the men who’d underestimated them.

By the end of the session, Slade’s veterans were bruised, exhausted, and thoroughly humbled.

His guest commander stood calmly at the edge of the mat.

Slade looked over his team.

“Anyone still think they’re weaker?”

Nobody answered.

One of the veterans looked away.

Slade nodded.

“Good.”

The female recruits watched from the sidelines.

For once, nobody was laughing.

Nobody was making jokes.

Nobody was questioning whether the women belonged.

Slade hadn’t invited the army there to humiliate his men.

He’d invited them to teach them something.

Apparently—

His team needed the demonstration.

And judging by the silence afterward, they’d finally gotten the message.