Page 13 of Alpha Gray

“I don’t know, man,” I mutter over my shoulder, pulling out a clean t-shirt and a pair of jeans and tossing them onto my bed.

Theo groans. “Ah, come on,” he grumbles. “You skipped out last week!”

“I don’t really feel like going out,” I shrug, toeing my gym shoes off.

Theo folds his arms across his chest, still leaning on the doorframe. “This doesn’t have anything to do with that recruit, does it? The twin?”

I peel my shirt off over my head, ball it up, and toss it in Theo’s direction. “No.”

Theo catches the shirt, then tosses it back at me. “Liar.”

I catch it, rolling my eyes as I chuck it into the hamper.

“Come on,” Theo urges again. “Just come for one.”

I grunt, grabbing the clean shirt off of my bed and putting it on. I tug my shorts down, replacing them with the jeans. After a moment, I breathe a long sigh. “Fine,” I say, stabbing my fingers through my hair. I glance in Theo’s direction as a satisfied grin spreads across his face. “Just for one.”

Theo, Jax, Brock, Reid and I head into town a little after dark. It’s my pack’s town and a bar sits right on the edge, beckoning the squad members every Saturday. The half-mile long path through the forest between the squad complex and the bar is well worn, and people are already starting to fill the tables scattered around the edges of the bar’s interior when we arrive. We grab our usual high-top table tucked off in a corner by itself and a waitress immediately appears with a tray of beers.

“Alpha Gray,” she greets, tipping her chin in respect. “I was wondering if you’d join us tonight.”

The waitress, Kelly, is a member of my pack. She’s been after me for years, always dropping not-so-subtle hints that she’d like me to take her as my mate. I’ve been on plenty of full moon runs with her, so I know she isn’t my fated mate, but not every wolf is lucky enough to actually find their intended mate. A lot of wolves wind up choosing a mate on their own if they don’t find their fated mate by their mid-twenties.

I’m still holding out for mine. Not that I’m some sappy romantic or anything, I just haven’t had the time to date around or pursue other options. As Alpha, there’s always pressure from the pack to choose a luna. It’s a lot easier to say that I’m waiting for fate to intervene than to say that I’m not interested in finding a mate right now.

If I do choose my own mate eventually, Kelly could be an acceptable option. She’s cute, with a round face, button nose, and platinum blonde hair that she’s added light pink streaks to. She’s sweet, a little fiery, and she’s got a great pair of tits. I could do worse.

“How’s training camp going?” Kelly asks, sidling up between Theo and I and setting a bottle of beer in front of each of us. She slides beers across the table to Reid, Jax, and Brock.

I reach for mine eagerly and take a long sip. After I swallow, I give Kelly a curt nod. “Good. The new recruits show a lot of promise.” I tip the bottle toward her. “Make sure you don’t overserve them,” I say sternly, arching a brow.

Kelly giggles, brushing my arm with her fingertips. “You got it, Alpha.” She pushes her tits out, tucking her hair behind her ear with the other hand.

“Hey Kelly, what time do you get off?” Theo pipes up. He starts to slide his hand onto her ass, but she swats it away and jumps back. The dude’s shameless.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Kelly teases, sticking out her tongue. She spins around to head back to the bar.

Jax chuckles to himself. “A swing and a miss.”

Theo shoots him a glare, and all of us laugh. I take another sip of my beer. I’m glad Theo talked me into coming out tonight. It feels good to get away from my responsibilities for a while and just relax with the guys.

“At least I took a swing,” Theo shoots back. “How long has it been since you’ve gotten laid, Jax? You saving yourself for your mate?” He waggles his eyebrows and Jax tosses a coaster at his head.

“Not all of us will fuck anything with a pussy and a pulse,” Jax retorts.

I’m taking another sip of my beer, and I choke at Jax’s words. I sputter as I manage to get it down, then laugh.

“At least we’ll have some new blood for the full moon run,” Reid says.

He’s been messing around with one of the squad girls for a couple months, but he wants to find his mate. He’s alpha of his pack and they’ve been putting heat on him to choose his luna.

Brock shakes his head. “Not a good idea to hook up with a recruit.” He darts a sideways glance in my direction.

“Hey, if one of the recruits is my mate, there’s nothing I can do about it,” Reid responds, shrugging and holding up his hands. “It’s fate.”

Theo rolls his eyes. “Sureit is. You just want an excuse to hook up with one of those hot little newbies.”

We all chuckle jovially.

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