Alpha Gray by C.J. Primer

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Gray

I reach the gold team’s bunker just as they’re returning with the black team’s flag, whooping and cheering. Looks like we won- no thanks to me. I don’t explain my absence, just congratulate the team as they all celebrate. Then the black team makes their way over, hanging their heads in defeat. They aren’t too sour about it, though- everyone had a lot of fun. It was definitely a successful first war games.

Brock comes up beside me, folding his arms and glaring. “Where’s Fallon?” he asks, his voice low so that only I can hear.

I turn to him, arching a brow. “Why would I know where she is?” I ask, feigning ignorance.

Brock scowls. “Don’t play dumb with me, Gray. I can smell her all over you.”

I feel my face heat with embarrassment; I know I’m caught. I shuffle my feet in the dirt. “Ah, there was a little incident with her taking the flag after she’d lost her patches,” I mumble. “I sent her back to the complex.” I give Brock a sideways glance, but he doesn’t appear convinced or amused.

“Recruits!” Brock barks, taking a step away from me. “Well done today. I hope everyone had fun and learned a little something that you can put to use for your next war games.” The recruits grin, nodding, as Brock continues. “Now go ahead and return to the squad complex and grab some lunch, and we’ll reconvene this afternoon for endurance training.”

The recruits groan a little bit at the mention of endurance training, then slowly start to disperse, heading back in the direction of the complex. As they do, Jax and Reid make their way over to Brock and me.

“What’s up?” Jax asks as he approaches, looking from me to Brock. Brock’s clearly still agitated.

“Why don’t you ask Gray?” Brock mutters, his eyes trained on the ground.

I sigh. “Lighten up, man.”

Jax and Reid are looking at us questioningly, still trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

“Does this have something to do with you disappearing for half of the games?” Reid asks, cocking an eyebrow.

I scrub a hand over my face, sighing again. “I was disciplining a recruit.”

Jax narrows his eyes and purses his lips in question, and Brock kicks at the ground. “Why don’t you tell them which one?” he grumbles.

Jax and Reid both snap their heads to look at me and I roll my eyes. “Alright, alright,” I breathe, throwing up my hands. “You’ve got me. It was Fallon.”

Jax’s mouth spreads into a wide grin. “I knew it!” he says triumphantly, punching me in the arm. “You dog.”

I roll my eyes again, shoving Jax playfully.

“Am I the only one who thinks this is a terrible idea?” Brock hisses, narrowing his eyes at me. “She’s a recruit, Gray. How are you going to be objective about evaluating her for the squad if you’re fucking her?”

My wolf perks up, a low growl starting in my chest as I fight the urge to punch Brock in the face. “I’m not fucking her,” I retort, folding my arms across my chest.

“Not yet,” Jax adds, waggling his eyebrows.

I shoot him a glare, then return my gaze to Brock. “And even if I was, what’s the big fucking deal? We’re all adults here. If you don’t think I can be objective, then you all can evaluate her and leave me out of it. Problem solved.”

I’m annoyed at how Brock’s coming at me. It’s not like he hasn’t ever been distracted by a female before- as I recall, he had a full-blown relationship with one for about a year before she found her fated mate and left him. He’s been bitter ever since. I get it, but he shouldn’t take his own misfortune out on me.

Brock takes a step toward me. “So you’re more concerned about getting into Fallon’s hot little pussy than you are about getting the new recruits trained up for the squad?”

I reach out and shove Brock, my wolf pushing to the surface again. “Don’t fucking talk about her like that!” I growl. My wolf is enraged; he wants to tear Brock limb from limb for insulting our female. I go to lunge at him again, but Jax holds me back.

Brock just shakes his head, holding his ground. “Look at you, man,” he scoffs. “Your wolf’s out of control. That girl is bad news for you. You should just cut it off, send her home.”

“Come on, Brock,” Jax sighs. He’s still holding me back, though I’ve quit fighting him. All of my energy is going into keeping my wolf at bay. “It’s not that serious, Gray’s just having a little fun.”

I shrug out of Jax’s hold, stepping to the side and crossing my arms indignantly.

“Besides,” Jax continues, “Fallon’s a good fighter. She’d be great on the squad, and you know it. It’d be a waste to send her home just because Gray can’t keep it in his pants.”

I shoot Jax another glare and he just waggles his eyebrows at me teasingly.

Reid has been silent this whole time, standing on the sidelines, but he clears his throat to speak. “Maybe she’s his mate,” he suggests.

We all get quiet, turning to look at him, and Reid just shrugs his shoulders. “You never know,” he mutters.

“Full moon’s this weekend,” Jax adds, clapping me on the shoulder. “If she stays for the run, you could find out…”

I shake my head, shrugging Jax’s hand off my shoulder. “I’m not saying she’s my mate,” I growl. “I’m just having some fun with her, is that such a big fucking problem?”

A tense silence falls over us as I look from Reid, to Jax, to Brock.

“Whatever, Gray,” Brock finally mutters. “Do what you want. Just try to do it on your own time, not in the middle of training.”

I roll my eyes again and blow out a breath. “Yeah, fine.”

“We all good here?” Jax asks, placing one of his hands on my shoulder and the other on Brock’s, like we’re two kids that just had a fight over a toy and need to make up.

“Yeah,” we both mumble in unison.

“Let’s head back,” Reid says, and we all nod, starting off toward the squad complex. We walk silently, and I don’t even cast a glance in Brock’s direction. I know the guy means well, but he just needs to get off my back.

It doesn’t matter what he says, anyways. This morning with Fallon was incredible, and not even his shitty attitude can make me regret it. The little whimpers she made, the way she gave herself over to me so freely, the way her eyelashes fluttered when she was coming… I’m hard again just thinking about it. She’s fucking perfect.

I know I can’t keep her. There’s no room in my life for a female; no time to nurture a relationship. I’ll be damned if anyone else can have her, though. I finally understand what my wolf has been trying to tell me since day one- Fallon is mine. At least for now.

And for now, that’ll have to be enough.