Page 57 of Alpha Theo

“You guys go ahead,” she coos, pressing her palms against his chest. “I’m gonna catch up with my friends. Come grab me when you’re done.”

Gray smiles down at her, pulling her in for a kiss.

I look away, grimacing. The guy’s so fucking whipped.

Fallon jogs off and Gray waves an arm, beckoning me to follow him. We head inside the complex, the blast of air conditioning hitting us as we walk through the double doors. I’m grateful for it on scorchers like today. The two of us wind the hallways to the wing of the squad complex that houses the offices, stepping into Gray’s and closing the door behind us.

“So what’s up?” he asks as he walks around his desk, sliding out his big leather desk chair and sinking down into it.

I grab for one of the chairs in front of the desk, taking a seat and leaning back, getting comfortable.

“I’ve been thinking about border security since we got back from Denver,” I begin, propping an elbow on the arm of the chair and resting my chin on my hand. “We kinda talked about the cameras before, but I was wondering how we could take that a step further in using it as an early warning system or a deterrent for anyone breaching the border.”

Gray leans forward, resting his forearms on the desk, his interest piqued. “Go on…”

I blow out a breath, straightening in my chair. “So, shifters run hot, right? Rather than just putting up regular cameras, I was thinking we could use thermal imaging cameras. Have some sort of system tripped if they read a certain heat signature. Like a floodlight or an alarm.”

I watch Gray to gauge his reaction and he just furrows his brow in concentration, nodding.

“Interesting.” He pauses. “I like it, like where your head’s at.”

My mouth spreads into a smile. “Yeah?”

Gray gives me another nod. “Definitely. We could start with a few as a test, see how things go. And if it works, we can add them to all of our borders.”

“I can take the lead on that,” I offer. “Get some help from the IT unit in finding the right equipment and getting things up and running.”

“Sure, go ahead.” Gray pauses again, studying me for a moment. “Why the sudden interest in heightened security? Did something happen in Denver that you’re not telling me about?”

Yes, but it had nothing to do with security.

I shake my head. “Nah, man. Just trying to help out more around here. Do my part.”

Gray chuckles. “You’re just trying to get out of running patrols, aren’t you?”

“Well I mean, that’s an added perk.” I waggle my eyebrows and laugh along with him.

Gray shuffles some papers around on his desk. It’s cluttered- the guy has a lot of responsibilities around here that he juggles in addition to running his own pack. He never complains about it, though. He’s a workhorse.

“I’m glad you’re stepping up more lately,” he mumbles, shoving a stack of papers into his desk drawer.

I fold my arms across my chest. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask defensively.

“Nothing,” he growls. “Just…” Gray stops rifling through his papers and looks up at me again. “You’ve been kinda M.I.A. for the last year, man. I know you’ve been dealing with a lot of shit back at home, but we still need you here. You helped build this squad.”

I scowl, heaving a sigh. We both know how fucking right he is. I haven’t been motivated to lead at the squad for a while now, until…

Brooke.

I guess spending time with someone who works so hard is rubbing off on me; makes me want to work hard, too. I’m starting to realize that my mission to sleep with her is evolving into something else entirely.

Most people don’t take me seriously- and why would they? I fuck around a lot, don’t put a whole lot of effort into things. Brooke seems to take me seriously, though, like she sees past all the bullshit. I’ve never had someone listen to me and encourage me the way she does.

She’s too nice for her own good. If she gets too close to me, I’ll fucking ruin her.

“I’m just sayin’,” he continues, lowering his gaze back to his paperwork. “It’s good to see you working so well with the IT unit and getting involved with border security. You’ve really been stepping it up lately and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.”

His dark eyes flicker up to meet mine. “I don’t know what lit a fire under your ass these past few weeks, but keep it going.”

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