Alpha Gray by C.J. Primer
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Fallon
News travels fast at the squad complex, and it doesn’t take long for me to hear about Olly’s injury. I have to admit, I’m a little satisfied to hear that he got hurt today, too, after I had to go through the mind-numbing pain of getting my wrist set so it would heal properly. When I heard that it was Gray who dislocated Olly’s shoulder, it only left me with more questions- the main one being whether he did it on purpose. If he did, what would that mean? It couldn’t have been on purpose… right?
“So how’s the wrist?” Davis asks, scooching over and patting the spot beside him on his bunk.
We’re all getting ready for bed after a long day of training, which I missed half of due to my injury. Boyd’s bunk is across from mine and Davis’, and Connor has the bottom. We got to know Connor a little better at the bar on Saturday and it turns out he’s a really nice guy. He’s from Reid’s pack in Stillwater. Connor’s sitting on the edge of his bunk, facing us, and leans forward a little to watch as I sink down next to Davis and extend my wrist forward, twisting it around.
“All better!” I chirp, demonstrating my range of movement. Shifter healing is pretty great- if I didn’t have the painful memories of the break, I wouldn’t even know I’d been injured.
“Man, you’re a champ,” Connor says with a chuckle. “I fell and broke my wrist a couple years ago. Cried like a baby.”
I shrug. “It wasn’t so bad.” Lie. “I’m more pissed that I had to miss a half day of training.” Truth.
“I bet Olly will think twice before trying that move on you again,” Vienna says as she strolls toward our bunks from the locker room, Hannah in tow. They’re both carrying little toiletry bags, probably returning from brushing their teeth before bed. “Now that he knows you’re Alpha Gray’s favorite,” Vienna adds, waggling her eyebrows.
“Whatever,” I breathe, rolling my eyes. I reach up to pull out my hair-tie, releasing my ponytail, and start running my fingers through my long, tangled hair.
“What do you mean?” Hannah asks, furrowing her brow and looking to Vienna questioningly.
Vienna leans against the edge of the bunk and cocks out her hip, resting her hand on it. “Isn’t it obvious?” she asks as she glances back at Hannah, smirking. “Olly hurt Fallon, so he hurt Olly. He’s clearly got the hots for her.” She tosses a teasing wink in my direction.
Hannah shakes her head quickly, her brown curls bouncing. “No way.”
Her agitated reaction catches me a little bit off guard. I arch a brow at Hannah, my curiosity piqued.
Vienna asks what I don’t. She shoots Hannah an annoyed look, crossing her arms and leaning back against the bedpost. “And why’s that?”
Hannah shuffles uncomfortably, reaching up to tuck her brown curly hair behind her ears. “I mean, he’s my alpha, so I kinda know him,” she says quietly. “He doesn’t really mess around with girls, is all. He’s waiting on his luna.”
Boyd appears, shirtless and tossing a towel over his shoulder. His hair’s still wet, so he must’ve just come from the showers, but he’s clearly picked up on the conversation. Shifter hearing.
“So what, you don’t think Fallon could be a luna?” Boyd asks, running a hand through his damp hair. He looks over at me with a coy grin. “I think she’d make a great luna.”
Hannah throws her hands up in front of her, shaking her head. “That’s not what I’m saying, I just mean…” she trails off, wrapping her arms in front of herself, holding her elbows. “She’s not pack. Our pack’s been through a lot, and I just think Alpha Gray is going to choose his luna from our pack, that’s all.”
Hannah’s statement wounds me a little bit, but I just shake my head, rising to stand. “It doesn’t matter anyways, guys,” I say dismissively, making my way over to the small closet at the end of the bunk to grab my contact case and glasses. “He doesn’t have a thing for me. If anything, he hates me the most since I smarted off to him on day one.”
Boyd lets out a loud laugh, folding over at the waist. “That’s right! I almost forgot about that!”
I smirk, and the rest of my friends laugh along with Boyd.
“What was it you said again?” Connor chuckles. He places a hand on his chin, mimicking me. “I didn’t catch your name?”
I grin, tossing my hair over my shoulder. “Something like that.”
I’m glad we can all laugh about it now, because when we had to run punishment laps after it happened everyone was pretty pissed. I didn’t think I’d make any friends after that happened, and look at me now, giggling with my new little group.
“I still think you’re lucky you didn’t get kicked out,” Davis says teasingly.
“Someone’s gotta stay here to kick your ass,” I reply, lunging toward Davis and punching him in the arm playfully. I nearly drop my glasses in the process. He fakes like it hurts, but I know it didn’t.
I glance over at the clock, then back to my friends. “Ugh, five minutes to lights out,” I sigh, holding up my glasses and contact case and giving them a little wave. Everyone grumbles and Vienna and Hannah start toward their bunks on the other side of the barracks.
I head to the locker room to swap my contact lenses for my glasses, then come back in and climb up into my bunk. Boyd’s already in his across from me, and he rolls onto his side to face me.
“How’s the wrist?” Boyd asks, holding up his own wrist and pointing to it.
I roll my eyes. “It’s fine,” I sigh.
I wish people would stop asking me about it. I’m not made of glass, I’m a damn shifter. And a fighter. I’m a lot tougher than people give me credit for.
“Alright,” Boyd replies with wide eyes, rolling back over. “I was just asking. We’ve gotta look out for each other, ya know.”
He means our pack. While we’re all part of the six-pack, the bond of our individual pack runs deep. I totally understand why Hannah bristled at the thought of me and Gray together, because I’m not part of his pack. I mean, shifters mate with wolves from other packs all the time, but it never occurred to me that it’s probably different for alphas since their mates aid in running the pack.
I wouldn’t want to be a luna, anyways. Too much responsibility. I never really considered that aspect of things when I thought about messing around with Gray. It’s not like I imagined we really had a future together. In hindsight, it’s probably for the best that things didn’t go further that night at the bar.
Sleep is tough since I’ve got so much on my mind. Brooke was right, though. I can’t afford any distractions this summer. It’s my one shot, and I have to focus on training.
