Page 23 of Alpha Gray

“Make sure you’re switching it up!” Brock calls out, and I’m sure he’s directing the order at me. I haven’t taken the defensive stance once, but I can’t show these guys how good I am if I’m not on offense.

Olly winces and rubs at his forearm, which has some major road rash from one of the times I’ve taken him down. He’s starting to look a little pissed off at the beating he’s taking.

“Let’s switch,” Olly growls, and I finally acquiesce.

I lower into a defensive position, panting as I wait for him to come at me. He does, but he’s slow, and I fake left. He almost falls on his face again, and though I’m still trying to catch my breath, I’m smugly satisfied. Hopefully now these alphas will see why they should’ve paired me with someone more evenly matched.

We go a few more times, and I get a little too cocky, a little too winded. Olly comes at me again and I don’t anticipate his movements or react fast enough. He manages to snatch my arm just before I can get away- he twists like he’s going to flip me, but he doesn’t execute the move correctly. Instead, my wrist just twists in his big brutish hands and I can hear the sound of bone snapping before the pain even registers.

A shrill scream escapes my lips as I stumble back, landing on my butt in the dirt. The pain searing up my arm isexcruciating, and I cradle my wrist with my other hand as I fight back the tears that are stinging behind my eyes. The whole field goes silent and Olly just stands over me, dumbfounded.

Gray

I hear a shriek and alarm bells go off in my head. My wolf almost tears through to the surface.

Fallon.

Someone has hurt our female.

By the time I reach her, Jax is already on the ground beside Fallon, examining her wrist. She looks up at me as I approach and when I see the pain behind her big blue eyes I want to tear apart everyone in a ten foot radius.

“It’s… definitely broken,” Jax assesses, touching Fallon’s wrist gently. She winces, and I have to hold myself back from tackling Jax off of her.

Get it together, man.

It takes a great deal of effort to shove my wolf down and bring myself back to reality. Fallon isn’t mine. Jax didn’t hurt her. Surely Olly didn’t injure her intentionally. It’s a little jarring that I’m so shook by seeing Fallon hurt. Injuries are a regular thing during training and I’ve never reacted this way before. I take a few deep breaths, centering myself.

“It’s fine,” Fallon says, but her voice is a little shaky. She’s trying to be tough, though she doesn’t need to be. We’ve all broken bones before- it hurts like a bitch. Luckily, since we’re shifters, it’ll heal within an hour or so. Flesh wounds are fast, but bones take a little longer.

Jax helps Fallon to her feet and she’s still cradling her wrist with her other arm. The other recruits and alphas are now gathered around to see what’s going on, whispering to one another. I take a step toward Fallon, reaching out for her arm, but she swivels her body away quickly.

“I said it’s fine,” she mutters through gritted teeth. Sweat clings to her brow and little flyaway hairs along her hairline are sticking to her forehead.

Brock stands beside me, clearing his throat to get the recruits’ attention. “Let this be a lesson to all of you,” he says, scanning their faces.Leave it to Brock to turn everything into a learning opportunity. “Endurance is vital. You have to pace yourself, even when you’re in battle.”

The trainees all nod, almost in unison.

Brock turns to look at Fallon. “And never underestimate your opponent.”

I see Fallon visibly bristle at Brock’s comment, but she holds her tongue. The recruits all nod again, murmuring.

“Come on,” Jax coaxes, slipping an arm around Fallon’s shoulders. “Let’s go get that wrist set so it can heal.”

Begrudgingly, she allows him to lead her off the field toward the building.

“Alright, let’s get back to work!” Brock shouts, and the recruits disperse as quickly as they gathered.

“Uh… sir?” Olly sidles up to me cautiously. I don’t turn to look at him- I’m still watching Fallon as Jax leads her into the squad complex. “Should I observe, or join another group, or…”

“No.” My response comes out in a growl and I give a quick shake of my head. I turn to Olly, give him a once-over. He’s a big guy; he should’ve known that a move like that, against someone of Fallon’s stature, could result in injury. I feel my wolf clawing at my insides again, greedy for retribution.

“I’ll partner with you for the rest of the morning,” I mumble.

A look of surprise plays across Olly’s face and I can smell a little bit of fear coming off of him.

“Gray…” Brock starts, but I shoot him a glare and he throws up his hands. “Alright, man.” He rolls his eyes as he turns away.

I take a few paces away from Olly, then turn back to him. “Offense or defense?” I bark, and the guy still looks a little uneasy.

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