Page 22 of Alpha Gray

The trainees start to disperse, jogging toward the track. As the crowd clears, I look up to see Fallon stomping across the field in my direction like a woman on a mission.

The other guys see her making a beeline toward me and casually group up and walk away, tossing me glances over their shoulders.

Fallon skids to a stop in front of me and she’s positively fuming, like she’s ready to take my head off. She throws her hands on her hips indignantly, staring at me through narrowed eyes.

“Olly? You paired me up withOlly?” There’s venom in her tone and I can see her wolf behind her eyes in swirls of silver.

I straighten, bristling as I stare back at her. “Yes. Is that a problem, recruit?”

“Yeah, it’s a fucking problem,” Fallon scoffs, stomping her foot. “Olly sucks, he’s ranked almost dead last! And I’m ranked thirty-six?!”

Her anger rolls off of her in waves as she speaks and I fight the urge to smile. It catches me a little off guard, because I typically wouldn’t tolerate this kind of disrespect, but… she’scutewhen she’s all fired up.

I stiffen my jaw, showing no emotion in response to her outburst. “Guess you’ll have to work harder this week,” I reply simply.

Fallon grits her teeth and balls her fists, taking another step toward me. “Is this personal?” she demands. “Is this because you and I…”

“No!” I interject, cutting her off. I take a quick look around, but thankfully nobody’s close enough to overhear. I return my attention to Fallon, quieting my voice. “Listen, I’m not the only one in charge of rankings and match-ups. We all come together to decide.” I lift a hand to rub the back of my neck, then scrub it over my face.

“Look, we both know you’re good,” I grumble, leaning in. “But your attitude sucks. You have to show you can follow orders, work as part of a team.”

Fallon crosses her arms, cocking her hip and relaxing a little, though she’s still clearly pissed. She glances down at the ground, kicking the dirt. Again, it strikes me how fucking adorable she looks when she’s worked up, with her nose scrunched and her brow furrowed.

“What do youwant, Fallon?” I ask, my voice a low rumble.

Fallon’s eyes shoot up to mine, wide and considering. It’s the same question I asked her the other night, and there’s this unspoken sense of connection that stretches between us.

“Do you want to make the squad?”

She frowns. “Yes, sir,” Fallon mumbles, looking down and kicking at the ground again.

“Good,” I say. I force back a smile at her use of the word ‘sir’. She’s stubborn as hell, but she’s coming around. “Then you’ve gotta earn it,” I add.

She looks back up at me, narrowing her eyes as if she’s trying to decipher some other meaning from my words. I tick my head in the direction of the track where the other recruits are running by.

Fallon heaves a sigh, but she doesn’t respond with her typical sarcastic comment. Instead, she simply turns on a heel, jogging away towards the track.

Good girl.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Fallon

I’m still furious. I’ve paid attention to the other recruits so far, and I know I’m better than at least half of them. I should be ranked much higher. I should have a much better partner than Olly. He’s a nice enough guy, but he’s big and slow and clumsy. I could run circles around him. There’s no way I’ll be challenged with him as a partner, and I won’t be able to showcase my best skills if he can’t even keep up. The whole thing has left a sour taste in my mouth.

I assumed it was personal, just another way for Gray to mess with me- but when I confronted him he was so… kind. Encouraging, even. He didn’t punish me for popping off, just told me I had to earn it. It took me by such surprise that now my head’s even more of a mess than it has been since Saturday night.

‘You’ve gotta earn it’. Does he mean I have to earn my place on the squad, or beside him?

After I jog a few laps around the track, I find Olly and we claim a place on the field to square off. Theo starts barking off orders about defensive drills, but I’m hardly listening- I’m just ready to get my aggression out.

“You defend,” I snap at Olly, and he just nods and takes a few steps back, sinking into a crouch.

Olly’s a big guy- he looks like he’s built to be a linebacker. He’s got a thick neck, broad shoulders, and his arms and legs are like tree trunks. His size is a disadvantage, though, because he’s slow. He barely has time to register that I’m coming at him before he tries to move out of the way, and I use a combo move to sweep one of his feet out from under him while pulling him down by the arm.

He goes down like a sack of potatoes. I grin, circling back around to retake my position. We go again. This time, he expects me on the right, but I go left and drop him again. Poor guy never had a chance.

I have to say that Olly’s being a good sport. Every time I take him down, he gets right back up again. He asks if I’m ready to switch to defense, but I just shake my head. I go again. And again. I’m tiring myself out quickly, but I’m running on adrenaline.

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