Page 37 of Alpha Gray

Hands shoot up among the trainees, so many of them eager to impress. I scan their faces to select my victim. “How about…” I start, dragging the last syllable on for dramatic effect, “…Fallon.”

Her eyes shoot up to meet mine, like I’ve taken her by surprise. She didn’t have her hand up to volunteer, but how can I pass up a chance to get my hands on my sweet little she-wolf? I arch a brow in her direction and the corners of her mouth lift into a coy smile.

“Yes,sir,” Fallon says, a little snarky as she steps forward. A few of the recruits look miffed that they weren’t chosen. Hannah is staring daggers through Fallon’s back as she strides toward me, which I find a little odd. I thought they were friendly, but competition can bring out the worst in some people.

As Fallon draws closer, it’s like the rest of the crowd behind her just dissolves away. Her delicious, intoxicating scent hits my nose and my wolf is immediately awake, aroused. She’s wearing another cute little pair of shorts- these ones are sky blue, a perfect contrast to the tan skin of her long, shapely legs. As usual, her hair’s in a ponytail, and I’m once again imagining it wrapped around my hand with her on her knees.

I gesture to Fallon to take a position a few paces from me and she acquiesces, waiting for further instruction. I sink into a crouch across from her, waving her forward with a hand.

She knows what to do. This position is familiar to her given all of the sparring we’ve been doing during training. I’m in a defensive position, she’s poised to attack. She comes at me.

Right when she’s about to make contact, I sink low rather than rising to meet her. I thrust my shoulder forward into her abdomen, then shoot up, taking her feet off the ground. In the same motion, I spin, leaning my weight to the side she’s on, propelling her down on her back. I use the force of my body to bring her down to the ground, landing on top of her and shifting myself to bring my forearm to her throat.

Fallon’s pinned beneath my body, breathing heavily and staring up at me. It feels like time moves in slow motion. Her eyes sparkle with silver, her wolf close to the surface. There’s also something else there-lust. She likes it when I’m on top of her, taking control. My wolf practically stands up and howls, so damn pleased to have Fallon underneath us like this, at our mercy.

The realization creeps in that we aren’t alone, and I will myself to pull my body away from hers. I spring to my feet, offering an arm to help Fallon up. She slaps both palms onto my forearm, pulling herself off of the ground and rising to stand. She brushes dirt off those cute little shorts of hers and reaches back to smooth her long ponytail. With great effort, I tear my eyes away from her to turn back to the recruits.

“Got it?” I ask.

A dull murmur rises up among the trainees as they mumble to one another, looking to me nervously.

I cock a half-smile. “Kidding. I’ll slow it down for you.” I circle around, nodding to Fallon and taking my original position. I beckon her toward me and she approaches slowly, the hint of a smirk on her lips.

“Alright,” I say, getting low to demonstrate the first part of the move. I talk them through it, leaning forward to slowly press my shoulder into Fallon’s abdomen. I’m surprised I can focus and get through my presentation with how much I’m enjoying being in close proximity to Fallon’s tight little body. I lift her, spin her, and slowly bring her down to the ground, cradling her body with my hands so that she doesn’t take the force of the impact this time.

She keeps her big blue fuck-me eyes trained on mine throughout the whole demonstration, and damnit if my dick isn’t getting a little hard.

I help her up again, turn back to the recruits. “Alright, pair up with your partners, spread out, and give it a try,” I instruct.

The trainees break off immediately, jogging away to claim their spaces around the arena. Fallon gives me the sultriest little side-eyed glance as she sashays past me to find her partner and I just fold my arms across my chest, watching her appreciatively as she walks away.

Theo strolls over to join me, his eyes following my glance. “She’s got a tight little ass, hmm?” Theo mumbles under his breath, and my wolf lurches forward, a low growl starting in my chest.

I turn to shoot Theo a death glare and he just chuckles. “Kidding, man,” he says, holding up his hands. “She’s all yours. On yourowntime though, eh?”

I crack a smile. He’s alluding to Brock’s surly comment following war games. I give Theo a forceful shove and he stumbles a little bit, still chuckling.

I smirk as I walk away, winding through the sparring pairs of recruits. I’m out here to observe and instruct all of them, but I already know that most of my focus today will be diverted to one sexy little trainee in particular.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Fallon

As soon as I walk into the dining hall that evening, the smell of grilled chicken hits my nose and I start salivating. I worked up a hell of an appetite today training with Judd as my partner. I’m still glad I’m partnered with him but fighting opposite him is way more challenging than sparring with Olly was. If my exhaustion and aching muscles are any indication, I’ve gotta step it up again if I want to hold my place in the rankings.

I’m still on cloud nine about the rankings. My hard work is finally paying off and the alphas are actually recognizing what I can do, what I’ve worked so hard for. I didn’t train every weeknight for the past three years to get cut from training camp; I did it because I want to be on the squad more than anything. As I feel myself getting closer to making that dream a reality, nothing can bring me down.

Except maybe Hannah. She’s been nasty in every interaction I’ve had with her today and it’s starting to grate on me a little bit. I thought we were friends, but she’s so sour about me overtaking her in the rankings. I get that she’s competitive- hell, I’m competitive myself- but I don’t make my friends feel like crap when they achieve success. I didn’t fault my friends for ranking higher than me last week, I just dug deep and worked harder.

As I’m heading across the dining hall to grab some food, I see Hannah waiting by the counter with a plate and cringe inwardly. I really don’t want to engage and have her spoil my good mood. I try to hang back, but she spots me- and it would be awkward to not approach once she’s seen me. I grit my teeth, stepping forward to join her.

“Hey, Hannah,” I say coolly, glancing over the counter at the empty aluminum tray. It has drippings from the chicken that used to be inside and smellsamazing.

“Hey. They’re grabbing more food off the grill.”

I suck in a breath, nodding, and spin around to face the dining hall, leaning back idly against the counter. An uncomfortable silence settles between us. I wish they’d hurry back with the damn chicken.

“Hey… are we okay?” I ask cautiously, turning my head to look at her. “I was just joking earlier, about the rankings…”

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