Alpha Gray by C.J. Primer

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Gray

“So between Brennan and Connor…” Reid trails off, furrowing his brow. He looks up from the paper in front of him, across the table at the rest of us.

We’re in the conference room at the squad complex, seated around the oval table. The five of us have been trying to determine who to cut this week, and honestly, I hate this part. All of the recruits have been working so hard- it kills me to crush someone’s dream.

I wish we could keep them all, but I know how important it is to stack the squad with the best of the best. Especially after the recent scare we had with the rogues. During my time in Denver, we were able to confirm that the rogue they captured was indeed feeding them bad information, which was a relief to all. Even so, it was a necessary wake-up call- while the shadow pack may not yet be a pressing threat, it’s still out there, and it’ll come for us eventually. When it does, we’ll need to be ready to fight.

“If we’re looking at consistency, it’s Connor all day,” Brock grumbles. “If we’re looking at potential, then I think it goes to Brennan.”

He’s right- while Connor has consistently performed well, Brennan outperforms him at times- though he’s hit or miss, depending on the day.

I lean my chair back on two legs, folding my hands over my abdomen. “Let’s keep em’ both for now,” I sigh. “Give them another week, and we’ll cut one next time.”

The others mumble in agreement, and Reid scribbles something on the paper, moving on. “Reilly and Fallon,” he says, looking up at us again.

My heartbeat quickens.

“Fallon struggled this week,” Theo pipes up. “If we’re going off of consistency, then it hasn’t been there for her.”

I dart a glare at Theo. He’s just pissed that Fallon dropped him during one-on-ones today. I had the chance to see it while I was squaring up for another one of my own, and I was so fucking proud of her. It isn’t easy to get the jump on one of us- we’ve got the advantage of years of training.

“She was great today, though,” Brock says. “Knocked me on my ass during one-on-ones.”

Reid nods. “She was solid in the one-on-one with me today, too.”

Atta girl.

I try not to react or show any emotion, but Jax is just watching me, considering. “I vote to keep her.” He leans forward, lacing his fingers together. “And not just because she’s your girl, Gray,” he adds.

I hold up my hands in front of me. “Hey, be objective. I told you guys I’d leave myself out of the conversation when it comes to Fallon.”

Even though it kills me to stay out of it.

Jax cracks a smile. “Are you two still…”

I shoot him a glance, then realize that everyone’s eyes are on me, waiting for my response.

“Yeah.” I sigh, scrubbing a hand over my face. These guys are my brothers, I can’t lie to them. Fallon and I agreed to keep things quiet, but I don’t see the harm in admitting what they already know. “The girl’s my fucking kryptonite.”

Theo cocks a brow, a devilish grin on his face. “How is she, man? I’ll bet she’s a screamer…”

My wolf surges forward and I slam the front legs of my chair down, rising to my feet in an instant and slapping my palms on the table. I lean forward menacingly toward Theo, seated opposite me, surprise playing on his face at my reaction.

“Don’t talk about her like that!” I roar, a growl rumbling from my chest.

“Easy, Gray…” Reid murmurs, reaching out to grab my arm.

Theo leans back and rolls his eyes, which only enrages my wolf more. He’s clawing at my insides, fighting to get out.

I take a beat, shaking Reid’s hand off and drawing a deep breath as I sink back into my chair. I concentrate on my breathing, settling my wolf down. I already knew he was protective of Fallon, but now he’s taking it to extremes. One of Theo’s typical lewd comments doesn’t warrant an attack, and I’m man enough to recognize my overreaction.

Theo leans sideways toward Jax, muttering under his breath. “Must be good if he’s already whipped.”

It takes a great deal of effort to exercise restraint; I just shoot Theo another glare. Jax gives him a sideways glance warning him to shut the fuck up.

“So we’re in agreement, Fallon stays?” Reid asks, looking exasperated. He’s the most level-headed of all of us- a necessary component to our group.

“Yep.” Brock gives a curt nod. “Reilly can go, she hasn’t improved over the last two weeks.”

Reid scribbles on the paper again, moving on. “Alright, done. And I think we’re all in agreement that Davis stays?”

Jax chuckles, leaning forward and running a hand through his wavy blonde surfer hair. “Casey would flip if we sent him home.”

“I almost want to, just to watch the world burn,” Theo laughs, waggling his eyebrows.

“Can we stay on task here, guys?” Brock heaves a sigh, leaning his elbows on the table and dropping his face into his hands.

“Davis stays,” I grumble. “He’s one of our best.”

Reid nods, going back to his paper. “Then that just leaves Carter, Boyd, Maxwell, and Alex.”

“Alex,” Theo and Jax say, almost in unison.

We all laugh. We debated sending Alex home last week, and we really should’ve. Not only is he an annoying blowhard, but he sucks. The only reason he’s lasted as long as he has is because he’s Jax’s cousin, and Jax promised his dad he’d let him get at least halfway through.

Reid circles his name, then glances up at us again. “And the other three?”

It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of Boyd, but I can’t bring myself to throw him under the bus just because I’m fucking jealous- he’s one of Fallon’s closest friends. It’d kill her for him to go, and my desire to make her happy far outweighs my disdain for Boyd. I stay silent, looking around at the others.

“Keep em’,” Brock mumbles.

Nobody else speaks up, and after a moment I hear the scratch of Reid’s pen against the paper as he finalizes the list.

“Alright, so…” he pulls out another sheet of paper from underneath the first, jotting down a list of names. “Tori, Blake, Derek, Reilly, Alex. We good?”

We all mumble in agreement as Reid scrawls their names on the fresh sheet.

“Okay,” he says, affixing a piece of tape to the back and holding up the paper. “Who wants to do the honors?”

I push my chair back from the table, snatching the list from Reid’s hand.

“I’ve got it.”

Fallon

The sound of the door to the squad complex slamming shut gets all of our attention and I whip my head around to see who came out. My heart flutters a little bit when I realize that it’s Gray and he’s got the list in his hand.

Crap. Is he delivering the news to me in person? Is my number finally up?

I rise to my feet, brushing the dirt off of my shorts. All of us trainees have been sitting out here in the arena baking in the sun, waiting for the alphas to finish deliberating our fate. The other recruits scramble to their feet around me and I extend a hand to Shay to help her up.

She takes it, pulling herself to stand and dusting off her leggings.

“You guys ready?” she asks, looking around from me, to Boyd, to Davis, to Connor.

I’m so anxious. My palms are sweaty, my mouth is dry. “Ready as I’ll ever be,” I croak, looking nervously to Shay and the guys.

Some of the other recruits are already jogging over towards Gray as he slaps the cut sheet up on the wall beside the door. He walks away, but he doesn’t head right inside- instead, he lingers on the periphery, watching from a few yards away as the other trainees begin to gather around the posting.

As the five of us make our way over, I see Reilly turning away from the list, tears cutting lines in the dirt on her cheeks.

Fuck. Reilly got cut?! I thought she was doing really well this week! This does not bode well for me.

When I reach the clump of recruits standing around the list, I use my shoulder to push my way through to get a closer look. It’s a short list this week- only five names. A wave of relief washes over me when I realize that mine isn’t one of them. I’m in the clear for another week- and so are my friends!

I’m positively giddy- but I keep my composure and contain my reaction. I don’t want to make the trainees that were eliminated feel worse than they already do. I blow out a breath, spinning around and searching for my friends’ faces in the crowd. I find them standing off to the side and jog over, holding back my smile until I’m right up on them.

“We’re all good!” I whisper excitedly.

Boyd throws his arms around me, squeezing tight and leaning back, picking my feet up off the ground. “I knew it!”

He sets me down and I take a step back, grinning. “Damn, that was a close one.”

I turn to Davis, who offers me a fist-bump.

Then I feel a prickling sensation on the back of my neck, like someone’s watching me. Slowly, I turn my head, glancing around.

I lock eyes with Gray. He’s still on the periphery, waiting. He crooks a finger, beckoning me to him.

I’m hesitant at first… I mean, aren’t we keeping our distance, keeping our secret?

I furrow my brow, staring back at him. Is he sure?

He ticks his head a little bit, silently summoning me again.

Fuck it.

I turn back to my friends. “Be right back,” I say, spinning around and jogging off in Gray’s direction before they can ask any questions.

I skid to a stop in front of him, keeping a few feet of distance between us.

“What’s up?”

Gray folds his arms across his broad, muscular chest. “I talked to the guys. You and your friends can use the indoor arena at night to practice.”

I cross my arms, mirroring his nonchalant stance. “Cool. Thanks for doing that.”

“Yeah, no problem,” he breathes. “I’m tied up with pack stuff all weekend, but I can come by on Monday night, work with you guys if you want.”

My eyes fly wide. “Really?” I ask, my voice hopeful. “That would be awesome, Gray.” I pause, reining in my enthusiasm. I don’t want to sound too eager. “I mean… my friends will be stoked.”

He narrows his eyes, a teasing smile dancing across his lips. “Your friends?”

I drop my gaze, kicking at a pebble in the dirt. “Well yeah. We need all the help we can get. Me especially, these days.”

“You’re doing great, baby.” His voice is low, gravelly. It stirs my wolf, and when I look up at him again, I’m sure she’s showing herself in my irises.

When our eyes connect, my heartbeat quickens and heat pools between my legs. His gaze is so intense, my mind flashing back to when he was staring at me with that same intensity, hovering over me in his bed, ready to ravage my body.

I swallow hard, licking my lips. “So… I won’t see you all weekend?”

He gives a slight shake of his head. His eyes trail down my body, then back up to my face, his nostrils flaring.

Fuck. Is my body giving me away right now?

I nod, darting my gaze away again. “No worries. Pack comes first.”

He drops his voice so low that it’s barely audible. “Don’t worry, baby. On Monday I’ll make you come, too.”

My eyes fly back up to meet his and his steely gaze slices through me, my pussy practically throbbing in anticipation at his suggestion. He rakes his stare over my body again and I swear I forget to breathe for a few seconds.

“We’ll see,” I murmur coyly, the corner of my mouth curling up into a slight smirk.

Gray looks past me, his smile fading. “Your friends are staring. Better get back.”

I cast a glance over my shoulder, and he’s right- all four of them are looking over at us.

“Right. Monday, then,” I say, turning on a heel. I retreat, swinging my hips as I strut back over to my friends.

Can’t. Fucking. Wait.