Page 20 of Alpha Gray

“Wh… what?” she breathes, trying to press herself into my hand again.

“That guy you were dancing with.” I withdraw my hand, take a little step back.

Fallon steadies herself and whirls around to face me, looking confused. “What? You mean Boyd?” she asks, tugging the hem of her dress down.

I frown, narrowing my eyes and crossing my arms.

“He’s just a friend.” Fallon steps toward me, reaching up to touch my shoulder.

I snatch her wrist, backing her into the wall and pinning it above her head. I lean my face down to hers, my lips inches away from her own. I want to claim her mouth, then her body. I want her so much that I can hardly stand it. I grasp for some semblance of control, of logical rationale.

Fallon licks her lips, staring up at me. She wants it too, I can see it in her eyes, swimming with silver. She smells like wildflowers and sunshine; it’s the most intoxicating scent I’ve ever encountered.

It would be so easy to give in…

I drop her hand, take a step back. Take hold of my senses.

“I… I can’t.” I shake my head.

She just stares at me with the widest, bluest eyes. So sweet, so fucking innocent. I can’t do this to her- I can’t drag her into my mess of a world. My singular purpose for the past five years has been to find and kill Xavier, the leader of the shadow pack. I’ve basically got a death wish, and I can’t drag this beautiful little she-wolf into all of it with me.

I’ve got to let her go, while I still can.

Without another word, I turn around and take off. I don’t look back. As soon as I’m at the treeline, I rip through my clothes and shift, making a run for it.

Fallon

What the fuck?My legs are a little wobbly as I watch Gray disappear into the forest. I’m trying to wrap my mind around the whole encounter, but I justcan’t. We’re obviously attracted to each other, but this is the second time he’s gotten me all hot and bothered and then just bailed. Is this all some sort of cruel mind-game he’s playing with me?

If so, I wantout.

I gather what’s left of my composure and head back inside where my friends are waiting for me at the bar. I try my best to put on a fake smile, but Brooke immediately knows that something’s wrong. She grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze- our ‘are you okay?’ signal, and I just look at her sadly and give a little shake of my head.

“Want to step back outside?” she asks, but I can’t bring myself to go back out there and re-live my humiliation.

I shake my head again. “No, I just want another drink.”

Boyd spins around with perfect timing, thrusting a vodka cranberry in my direction. “Here you go, beautiful.”

“Thanks, Boyd,” I say softly, taking the drink from his hand. I bring it to my lips and take a sip.

“Later?” Brooke asks.

I nod. She doesn’t press further; instead she allows me to go on pretending like nothing’s wrong and don my fake smile. We stay at the bar for a while longer, getting out onto the dance floor a few more times. Boyd tries to dance with me again, but I pass him off to Vienna and neither seems to mind. A few of the other trainees wander over to dance with our group- Connor, Judd, Shay, and Reilly. I’ve never interacted with them much before, but they’re all really nice, and we wind up absorbing them into our group and all leaving together right before last call.

On the walk back to the squad complex, Brooke and I stroll arm in arm, falling back behind the rest of the group.

“You okay?” she whispers.

I give a curt nod. “Yeah. I am now,” I whisper back. My body’s a little sore from the week of training and the night of dancing, but most of all my ego is bruised. “I think you might have been right, about staying away from that alpha.”

We take a few steps in silence as Brooke patiently waits for me to go on. Her eyes are so round, so full of compassion and understanding. No ‘I told you so’ or smug satisfaction for being right. I’m so lucky to have her in my life.

I work up the nerve to continue. “He got all up on me, like he was going to kiss me… I mean, there’s clearly an attraction there that I can’t even explain…” my whisper trails off.

“And?” Brooke hisses, eager to hear the rest of the story.

I shrug, wincing a little. “And nothing. He just took off. It was so bizarre.” I breathe a heavy sigh. “Honestly, I don’t know if he’s just messing with me, or if there’s really something between us. I mean, I’m into him, or I think I am, but something’s just…off.”

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