Alpha Gray by C.J. Primer

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Fallon

I push open the nearest door to the squad complex, hanging a right to go to the squad dorms instead of taking my usual left into the trainee barracks. Everything that has transpired over the last twelve hours has my brain completely scrambled and I just have to tell someone about it. And by someone, I mean my sister.

I speed-walk down the hallway to her room, testing the door handle. It’s unlocked, and I don’t mean to throw it open as hard as I do. As the door collides with the wall on the other side, I rush in to see a very startled Brooke sitting on her bed, her legs crisscrossed beneath her and her laptop resting upon them.

“Hi! Sorry…” I grab for the handle again, swinging the door closed gently.

“Is everything okay?!” Brooke asks, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “You scared me half to death!” I spin around to face her, leaning back against the door and grinning. I don’t even know where to begin- I’m riding such a high that I feel invincible right now.

Brooke scrunches her nose, studying me for a moment. “What the heck are you wearing?”

I burst out laughing, folding over at the waist. “Oh, Brookie,” I say, staggering across the room to her. I lean over the bed throw my arms around my sister, hugging her sideways. “I had the best night.”

As I pull away, Brooke still looks confused. She’s right, though- as kind as it was of Holly to lend them, these clothes look ridiculous on me. I cross the room to Brooke’s dresser, pulling open the top drawer and rifling through it. I retrieve a sports bra, moving onto the next drawer down to search for some running shorts.

“What did you…” Brooke starts to ask, and I whip around with a coy smirk on my face.

It’s like I can see her wheels turning, the pieces clicking into place. She draws a short gasp, her jaw going slack. “You didn’t…”

My mouth spreads into a wide grin, totally giving me away.

“Oh my gosh!” Brooke picks her laptop up off of her lap, moving it onto the bed beside her. She uncrosses her legs and slides them over the edge, rising to her feet. “With Alpha Gray?”

I roll my eyes. “Duh. Who else?” I turn back to the dresser, resuming my search for a pair of shorts. I quickly find some, pulling them out and closing the drawer with my hip.

“What was it like?” she asks, wide-eyed as she moves toward me.

I clutch the shorts and bra to my chest, staring upwards dreamily. “Amazing.”

As I change into Brooke’s clothes, I tell her all about my night with Gray- though I leave out some of the raunchier details. We move to sit on the bed and she keeps listening intently, hanging on my every word, incredulous.

“So you stayed the night and everything?”

“Yep,” I grin. I think back fondly to how warm and safe it felt to sleep in Gray’s arms. My wolf would’ve been content to stay there forever. “And for breakfast this morning,” I add.

“He cooked for you?!” Brooke asks, her mouth hanging open again.

“No, no,” I laugh. “His beta did. We had breakfast with his family- Gray said they’re basically his family, too.” I try to keep my tone nonchalant, like this was just a typical Sunday.

Truthfully, the breakfast this morning is what has me really scrambled. This thing between Gray and I is supposed to be purely physical, but this morning, he basically welcomed me into his everyday life. I loved it- Deke and Holly are great, Mason’s adorable, and when Gray’s around them, he’s more relaxed, more himself. I never meant to, but I’m catching feelings- and it’s scary as hell.

Brooke cocks an eyebrow. “Breakfast with the family, eh? Sounds like it’s getting pretty serious…”

I shake my head. “No, it’s not like that,” I grumble.

“C’mon,” Brooke rolls her eyes, sighing. “You lost your virginity to the guy, you have to feel something for him.”

She’s right, but I can’t quite figure out what it is yet.

I heave a sigh, pushing up off of the bed. “It’s just sex, Brooke. There doesn’t have to be some big meaning behind it.” I lean down to pick up Holly’s clothes off of the floor and start folding them. I’ll have to figure out how to get them back to her.

“So it didn’t mean anything?”

I turn back to look at Brooke, and she’s got her arms folded across her chest, her eyes narrowed. I should’ve known that my twin would see right through my detached attitude.

“I mean… of course it meant something,” I say, depositing the folded clothes onto Brooke’s dresser. “I just don’t know what yet.”

Brooke presses her lips together, staring at me sympathetically. It makes me feel uncomfortable, like she knows something I don’t. Am I an idiot for getting involved with Gray? I mean, he’s this sex god alpha and I’m just the girl who can’t keep her mouth shut and follow the rules. It could never work… right?

I’ve never felt so out of control before. I’ve always been so confident in who I am and my own worth, and suddenly I’m just spinning my wheels, questioning everything. As great as I felt this morning, I’m now queasy with uncertainty, overthinking every moment, every exchange.

Brooke glances at the clock, shooting up to her feet. “Oh crap, we’ve gotta get outside to say goodbye to Vienna!”

Shit. I’d completely forgotten about Vienna, or the fact that she’s leaving this morning. I’ve been too wrapped up in my own drama.

Brooke grabs for my hand, pulling me toward the door. I follow her out of her room and we rush down the hall, ducking into the main corridor and shoving open the big double doors to the arena. There’s a small crowd gathered around a bus outside, which tells me- thankfully- that Vienna hasn’t left yet.

We spot our group of friends right away and start to jog over, and as we approach, Boyd’s leaning toward Vienna, a goofy grin on his face.

“C’mon, one little kiss,” he urges as Vienna giggles and pushes at his chest. Shay, Connor, and Davis are looking on, chuckling to themselves.

“Fine!” Vienna laughs, tucking her wavy dark hair behind her ears. She steps closer to Boyd, then drapes her arms around his neck. He closes his eyes and puckers up, but she veers and goes for his cheek instead, giving him a little peck.

All of us laugh and Boyd’s cheeks flush pink with embarrassment. “Aw, c’mon Vee,” he whines.

Vienna just flashes a coy little smile, shrugging. “That’s all you get, mister… Fallon!” Vienna’s eyes light up when she sees me, pushing past Boyd to throw her arms around me in a hug.

I wrap my arms around her, squeezing tightly. “I’m gonna miss you so much,” I whisper, rocking her from side to side.

It’s the truth- I don’t know how things are going to be here without Vienna. Although I’ve only known her for a few weeks, it feels like so much longer; we’ve really bonded.

The bus’ engine fires up, signaling that it’s time to go. Before Vienna boards, she gives Brooke a big hug and says one last goodbye to all of us. It’s so bittersweet- while eight recruits are leaving, meaning I’m that much closer to making the final cut for the squad, it’s hard to say goodbye.

We all wave as the bus pulls away and as the other recruits wander back toward the complex, my friends and I linger in the arena somberly.

“Well this sucks,” Boyd finally mutters, kicking at the dirt.

Most of us just nod in agreement.

“Kinda makes you realize that you could go at any time,” Shay adds.

I think back to what Gray said this morning, about working harder, giving it everything in these last few weeks of training camp.

“That’s not gonna happen,” I mutter, staring at the ground. I glance up to see that all of my friends are looking at me questioningly. “We’re all gonna make it. We just need to try harder than everyone else, train harder.”

Davis clears his throat, nodding. “Definitely.”

Out of all of us, he probably has the least to worry about when it comes to making the squad, but I appreciate the support. I pause for a moment, considering.

“Maybe we should try to get some extra practices in, in the evenings or something. Take some time to really perfect the moves they’re teaching us every day,” I suggest.

Shay grins, rubbing her palms together. “I’m so in.”

No surprise there, the girl’s always up for a challenge and she loves sparring. The more I get to know her, the more I realize how alike we are.

I look around to the others and they all mumble in agreement. Except Brooke, because she has no skin in the game here- she’s already on the squad with her computer geek stuff.

“Is that where you were all morning?” Boyd eyes me suspiciously. “Training?”

Alarm bells sound in my head, but I remain calm, unruffled. There’s no way Boyd would know I was with Gray last night. And as for training, I definitely look the part in Brooke’s sports bra and shorts.

“I went for a run,” I shrug.

For some reason, Boyd doesn’t let it go. Instead, he presses me, as if it’s any of his fucking business. “What about last night? You weren’t in your bunk when I got back.”

Ugh. Does he really have to call me out in front of everyone? Is this some stupid jealous boy thing?

“She stayed in my room,” Brooke interjects.

I shoot her an appreciative glance. My twin always has my back and I’m so damn grateful that she’s been my best friend since birth, covering my ass whenever I run into trouble. Which is a lot- I’ve always seemed to be a magnet for trouble.

Boyd’s expression is still a little skeptical, but he doesn’t question Brooke. She’s the honest, no-nonsense twin, after all.

“You went for a run on our day off?” Connor asks, wrinkling his nose. “Are you just a glutton for punishment or what?”

I laugh, clapping him on the shoulder. “No days off. We’ve gotta earn this, because I’m not standing out here again to say goodbye to any of you.” I look around at my friends sternly, pointing my finger.

“Yeah, yeah,” Boyd sighs. “We get it, you’re a maniac. So what, are we starting this extra training tonight? Is it gonna be like old times, after dark in the park?”

I have such fond memories of training with Boyd and Davis on weeknights when we were in high school. Boyd’s a goofball, but he’s serious when he needs to be, and I wouldn’t be half the fighter that I am today without those late-night practice sessions the three of us had.

“You know it,” I laugh, winking.

The six of us start walking in the direction of the squad complex, and as we do, Brooke strides up beside me, linking her arm with mine as we fall back from the others.

“Thanks for the save,” I whisper. “That was a close one.”

“Don’t mention it,” she whispers back.

I catch Connor stealing a little sideways glance at Brooke and suddenly remember what I saw last night- she was dancing with him!

“Hey… is there something going on with you and Connor?” I ask, keeping my voice low. I grin mischievously and waggle my eyebrows.

Brooke’s cheeks flush and she darts her eyes away from me. “I just danced with him a little bit, it’s no biggie. But… I do think he’s cute.”

“Ooooo!” I tease, and Brooke and I giggle together.

When we reach the doors of the barracks, Boyd’s holding one of them open for us.

“Ladies,” he drawls, tipping his head. Typical Boyd. Brooke and I just roll our eyes, walking in past him.

“I’ve gotta go work on a few things,” Brooke sighs, unlinking her arm from mine. “Chat later?”

I nod. “For sure. Love you.”

Brooke blows me a kiss over her shoulder as she heads toward the squad dorms. “No matter what!”