Alpha Gray by C.J. Primer
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Fallon
It sucks that I’m assigned to patrol the night we get back. The bus doesn’t arrive back at the squad complex until dusk, so I basically have to hop off and report. I’m a little panicked when I get off the bus and see that the patrols are already grouping up- I don’t want to be late and keep them waiting.
I feel a little bit of relief when I see Vienna getting off of her bus because at least I won’t be the only one holding up our patrol. I head Vienna’s way and I’m intercepted by Connor, who offers to take our bags in to the barracks for us so we can head right over to our group. Such a nice guy.
Vienna and I hustle over to where Brock and Casey are standing, and I can’t help but notice that Brock looks a little irritated for being kept waiting. Then again, the guy has never been very warm and fuzzy.
“Ready?” he asks as we approach, and Vienna and I both mumble in the affirmative. Without another word, Brock starts leading the way toward the gate and Casey, Vienna, and I follow.
“Welcome back!” Casey chirps to Vienna and me as we walk. She’s always so cheerful- especially in contrast to her quiet patrol partner, Brock. “How was home?”
Vienna grins. “Great! Our pack’s full moon run is always epic.” Brock glances back at her, a little smirk on his face. “Don’t you think?” she asks him. I nearly forgot that they were from the same pack.
“Definitely,” Brock agrees, and just from his expression and one-word answer I can see how proud he is of his pack. I’ll bet he’s going to make a great alpha when he steps in at the end of the summer.
“How was your run?” I ask Casey, and her face splits into a huge grin.
“Amazing,” she breathes.
Brock rolls his eyes. “Casey’s all googly-eyed because she found her mate.” There’s a hint of bitterness in his tone.
Vienna and I both gasp, snapping our attention to Casey. She’s absolutely beaming. The four of us stop walking, turning to one another- this conversation is worth stopping for.
“Really?!” Vienna squeals, overflowing with excitement. “Who is it?!”
Casey sighs dreamily, clasping her hands in front of her. “His name’s Davis, and he’s perfect,” she gushes. Then adds, “I’m sure you guys know him, he’s a recruit.”
I’m so caught off guard, I swear my heart stops for a second. “No way, my Davis?”
“Your Davis?” Casey bristles, and I choke back a laugh. Wolves are notoriously protective of their mates, especially when the mate bond is first activated.
I throw up my hands, shaking my head. “No, no… I mean, I grew up with him, is all. He’s just a friend of mine.”
My explanation seems to satisfy Casey and her shoulders relax a little.
“Wow, you and Davis,” I muse, grinning. “I’m so happy for you guys, truly.”
Casey smiles, clasping her hands together in front of her. “Thank you. I’m so happy, too. He’s just the best.” The girl looks love-drunk- Vienna and I exchange glances and giggle.
“Alright, come on,” Brock urges, rolling his eyes again and turning around, starting back down the path through the forest. The three of us follow, chatting all the way about Casey’s newfound mate bond. I’m really excited for them- I’ve always thought Casey was cool, and Davis deserves someone great. I can’t wait to ask him all about it after we get back.
We hit the familiar fork in the path by the clearing and go through the usual routine of undressing, shifting, and splitting up. My wolf’s still tired from the moon run, so it takes a little coaxing to call her forward. Once I do, though, she’s happy to be back out in the forest with the earth under her paws and I’m just as satisfied, totally in sync with her.
I pace the stretch of trees along the clearing on the border of the territory, and as usual, nothing’s out of the ordinary. The hours slip by as Brock checks in regularly through the mind-link and we report back that all’s well. This part of squad life sure isn’t exciting or glamorous.
When I’m out there alone on patrol all night, I have a lot of time to think. Of course, my thoughts immediately drift to Gray- those dark brown eyes, that perfectly tousled hair. The delicious orgasm he wrung from my body the last time we were in this forest together. The anticipation of being alone with him again is eating at me; my body practically aches for his skillful touch.
I think about Casey’s news, too, and of how happy I am for Davis. I’m genuinely glad for them- they’re both so deserving of love and happiness and now that I think about it, they really are a great match. They’re both so damn kind and genuine. I’m a little jealous that they found their mates and don’t have to go on living in limbo and wondering about the future, but that doesn’t dampen my joy at their news.
I don’t let myself think about what the mate bond could mean for Gray and me. Things between us have just started, and I don’t want to get ahead of myself contemplating their inevitable end. Maybe things with him are just a nice physical distraction until I find my mate. With what he’s shown me he can do with his mouth and his hands, I definitely don’t mind the distraction.
I’d guess it’s about midnight when I find myself out on the periphery of the territory, circling back, and I suddenly grind to a halt. Something just feels off. Call it wolf’s intuition, but I can tell that something isn’t right- I feel it in the pit of my stomach and my hair stands on end. I raise my nose to sniff the air, then a feeling of dread washes over me as I realize that something smells wrong.
I snap into the mind-link to alert the others.
‘Stay put, Fallon,’ Brock orders, and he puts so much alpha command behind his voice that I couldn’t move if I tried. That’s when I see it- a flash of movement out in the clearing. A wolf. Larger than a wild wolf, so it’s definitely a shifter. He’s scented me, too, and he’s looking in my direction.
‘I see him’, I call through the mind-link, and Casey is quick to respond.
‘On it!’ she replies, and I see her wolf bound into the clearing. The other wolf snaps around to look at her, turns tail, and runs. Casey gives chase, but there’s too much distance between the two- he disappears into the trees on the other side of the clearing. She follows, paws pounding the earth.
Brock snaps to Vienna to join me, then his huge wolf bounds out into the clearing after Casey, stopping to sniff the air.
Vienna trots over to me and we both look nervously to Brock, waiting.
‘I lost him,’ comes Casey’s voice through the mind link. ‘Damnit!’
‘Come back,’ Brock orders, and a minute later, I see Casey’s wolf slinking through the trees on the other side of the clearing. She and Brock make their way over to Vienna and I, and once they’re under the cover of the trees on our side, Brock lets us know that he’s already called for backup and leads the way back to the path.
We all shift and begin to put our clothes back on, the tension in the air hanging thick. A huge black wolf comes bounding up the path just as I’m pulling my t-shirt over my head and for a second, I freeze. I’m still so on edge that it doesn’t immediately register that he’s coming from the direction of the squad complex; this is clearly friend, not foe.
The air around the black wolf shimmers as he shifts, and I then see Gray’s muscular body crouching in his place. I’ve never seen Gray’s wolf before, but I’m struck by how beautiful he is. A beautiful wolf for a beautiful man. Brock’s already pulled his boxers on, but he tosses his gym shorts to a naked Gray. He slides them on so quickly that I can’t even really catch a proper glance at his manhood. Damn.
Our eyes meet, only for a moment, then Gray stalks over to Casey and Brock. The three of them take a few steps away from Vienna and me, speaking in hushed voices.
“He definitely wasn’t one of ours,” I hear Casey say.
“Could just be a rogue,” Brock adds.
“We can’t be too careful. We need to put a track on him.” Gray’s voice sounds pinched, like his throat is tight. Fear begins to creep in as I realize how seriously they’re taking the threat- and how much danger all of us could be in.
Gray
When I received word of the threat on the border, I shifted and ran out to meet Brock as fast as my paws could carry me. We haven’t had a border breach in a long time- and my thoughts immediately drift to the worst-case scenario. What if the shadow pack has found us? Are we prepared to go up against them this time? My anxiety is twisting my stomach into knots and making me feel physically ill.
“I’ve called up for Leo and Adrian to come out to track him,” I tell Brock and Casey, my voice low. Fallon and Vienna are nearby, and I’d rather leave them out of this. They’re just trainees and this is a real, tangible threat that the seasoned squad members need to deal with. Leo and Adrian are our best trackers, so if the other wolf is still out there, they’ll find him.
“Smelled like a rogue,” Casey grumbles. It’s obvious she’s a little sour that the guy got away from her.
Rogues are shifters without a pack. Our kind doesn’t do well in solidarity, and you can often tell a rogue from the way they smell. They have a foul odor, like meat that’s gone bad. Probably because most shifters that wind up as rogues have gone bad, too.
“I’d rather be sure,” I say, glancing sideways at Vienna and Fallon. Their eyes are thrown wide and I can smell the fear coming off of the two girls. Seeing the fear in Fallon’s eyes fucking guts me. Every instinct inside of me is screaming for me to go to her, to help her, to protect her.
Fuck. What are the odds that a rogue just wandered onto our territory? We haven’t seen one out this way in months. According to our IT unit, the shadow pack is still west of us, unless they missed something… fuck, I hope they didn’t miss something.
“You two head back,” I snap to the recruits, and Fallon flinches a little at my tone. My wolf whines in response, wanting to go to her, soothe her. I can’t. There’s work to be done.
“Yes, sir,” Vienna chips, turning to start down the path.
Fallon just stares at me for a long moment, a strange connection stretching between us.
Before I even decide to, my feet carry me toward her. I reach out to touch her arm and the now-familiar sparks warm me when our skin makes contact.
“Are you okay?” I murmur.
Fallon just looks up at me with her big blue eyes, biting her bottom lip. I can sense how scared she is; I feel the apprehension rolling off of her in waves. She nods quickly.
I drop my voice low so only she can hear me as I stroke her arm with my fingertips reassuringly. “You’re safe, baby, we have this handled. Go back and try to get some sleep.” My urge to soothe her is so strong.
Fallon nods her head again. “Okay.” Her voice comes out in a little squeak, but her shoulders relax slightly. I wrap my hand around her arm, give it a gentle squeeze, then force myself to withdraw my touch and turn away.
I hear Fallon’s footsteps retreating and steal a backwards glance to see that she’s joined up with Vienna and they’re hustling down the path to the complex.
I’m relieved that she’s headed back to safety, but my anxiety returns the moment I refocus on the task at hand. We have an intruder. We can’t gauge the threat until we find him.
We have to find him.
