Page 68 of Alpha Gray

Cole has been hanging on the periphery for this entire exchange, but at the rogue’s admission, he steps forward beside me.

“Then why did you tell my guys that you were?” he demands.

The rogue spits blood onto the floor, lifting his head with what appears to be a great deal of effort.

“Toscareyou. Tofuckwith you. Alphatrash.” His face spreads into a sickening grin. “Guess it worked.”

This time, it’s Cole’s temper that flares. He punches the guy in the head, once, twice, three times. The rogue’s body sags back in the chair as he’s knocked unconscious by the final blow.

The three of us just stand there in silence for a moment, staring at the rogue’s limp body passed out on the chair he’s tied to.

“Let’s go,” Cole grumbles, turning back to Reid and me as he wipes his knuckles on his jeans. “It fucking stinks in here.”

He walks past us through the doorway of the room, and Reid and I are quick to follow. I feel like it’s going to take multiple showers to get that rogue’s stench off of me.

“I guess I wasted your time calling you down here,” Cole mutters as he closes the door after us, punching the number sequence into the keypad again. He spins back around as the lock engages, scowling.

“There’s no telling which story’s the truth,” Reid sighs, shoving his hands in his pockets. “That asshole isn’t exactly a reliable source of information.”

Cole grunts in agreement.

I’m at a loss here. My gut tells me that the rogue made the whole thing up in an effort to save his own skin. Maybe he thought he could strike some sort of deal if he fronted as a liaison to the shadow pack instead of a lone wolf. Still, every potential threat has to be taken seriously. Ignoring something like this could have dire consequences if proven otherwise.

“Either way, we appreciate the call,” I say. “We’d do the same for you. And we’ll look into it, see if there’s any truth there.”

Another long pause settles between the three of us.

“Listen, I know we’ve been talking about an alliance on and off,” Cole murmurs. “I’m not ready to make a formal agreement, but that doesn’t mean we can’t work together, look out for one another. If you can stay through the week, I’ll let you in on our current security measures and the intel we’ve gathered thus far, you can share yours, and we can strategize as to how we could potentially align for an attack.”

I nod. “Absolutely.”

Cole extends a hand to me and I take it, shaking firmly. While it may not be a formal alliance, it’s a start. The more manpower we can build against the shadow pack, the better.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Fallon

I train hard all week, but something’s justoff- I’m making stupid mistakes, sloppy errors. I know it’s because my emotions are on overdrive right now, but for the first time I can’t seem to just turn them off and focus. I miss Vienna. I miss Gray. I’m training harder than ever before, but I still feel like I’m behind.

Even the night sessions that we’ve been doing haven’t pulled me out of my rut. The five of us- Boyd, Davis, Shay, Connor, and me- have been sneaking out of the complex and into the forest after dinner each night to brush up on our moves and spar, but I still don’t feel like I’m improving. I’m terrified for the next cuts and rankings.

On Friday evening, Casey offers to lead our little after-hours training session and teach us a few things. She probably just wants to be around Davis since the extra training has been cutting into their time together, but we’re all appreciative nonetheless. Among the moves she demonstrates, Casey shows us how to do this really cool takedown that we haven’t learned at camp yet, and we pair off and spar for a while, trying to perfect it.

We’ve been at it for hours when Davis finally suggests that we call it a night and head back. Easy for him to say- he mastered it after a couple of attempts, while I’m still frustrated that I can’t quite get it down.

“Just a little bit longer?” I ask, looking around to my friends. We’re circled up in the clearing just outside of the gate to the complex where we’ve been practicing at night for the last week.

“I’m beat,” Connor grumbles, reaching up to rub one of his shoulders. He dislocated it late this afternoon and hasn’t really rested it since to allow it to fully heal.

“Same,” Shay agrees, scratching away some dried blood on her forearm. “Why don’t we just work on these again tomorrow?”

I fold my arms, kicking at the dirt. It’s not like I can practice the takedown without a sparring partner.

I look pleadingly to Davis and Boyd. I’m not ready to call it quits- I just need a little more time to get this particular move down. Casey is hanging off of Davis’ neck, gazing up at him adoringly.

“I can work with you guys again tomorrow, if you want…” Casey offers, not so subtly hinting to Davis that she’s ready to turn in for the evening.

Boyd makes eye contact with me and sighs. “You guys go ahead. I’m not that tired, I’ll stay with Fallon for a little longer.”

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