Page 83 of Alpha Gray

In my peripheral vision, I can see someone coming at me, but it hardly registers. It isn’t until my foot collides with something that I realize I’m being tripped- my body hurtles forward and I barely have time to catch myself with my hands before my chin slams against a rock and my chest collides with the ground, knocking the wind out of me.

Ouch. My ears are ringing as I gasp for air, tasting dirt. My senses return to me as I wiggle my fingers and toes. I went down so fucking hard that every inch of my body hurts like hell. Slowly, I move my palms underneath me, sliding my knees forward and rising from the ground on all fours. My palms are skinned, my knees are skinned, and dragging them through the dirt burns like hell.

Gray

Fallon sprints into my view, waving the other team’s flag, and my face splits into a wide grin. I’m so fucking proud of her- I always knew she had it in her. I feel like I share in her victory, and not just because I’m her team’s captain.

She’s almost to the boundary when I see someone launch themselves toward her-someone in a gold vest?!It’s her own fucking teammate-Hannah.

I’m not close enough to get to her before Hannah trips Fallon, sending her flying face-first into the dirt. Everything inside of me screams when she makes impact and I sprint in her direction as fast as I can.

By the time I reach Fallon, she’s trying to pull herself up, crouched on all fours. I’m still running when I drop, sliding to a stop on my knees beside her crumpled form. I’m going to have wicked road rash on my knees and shins, but I don’t give a fuck. All I care about is whether she’s hurt. I tuck an arm under her belly, help pull the top half of her body up so she’s resting on her knees.

She whips her head around to look at me, her ponytail hanging loose and blood dripping down from her chin along the curve of her neck. The impact of her fall split both her lip and her chin and the gashes are caked with dirt from the forest floor.

“Are you okay?” I ask, my eyes thrown wide. The sight of her injured and bleeding sends my wolf into a frenzy.

Fallon drags her palms up in front of her, brushing them together in an effort to remove the dirt, though it only scrubs it farther into the skinned flesh.

“Babe.” I reach out, tipping her chin up with a finger, tilting her face to look at me.

Her breathing is starting to even out, the shock of the impact waning. Her blue eyes are wide, filled with pain when they connect with mine. She just nods, and I slide an arm around her back, helping her to her feet as she winces.

Fucking Hannah. I whip around, seeing red as my anger surges within me, my wolf egging me on to seek retribution. Hannah’s sporting a cruel smirk when my eyes land on her, but it quickly fades when I begin stalking in her direction, ready to tear her apart.

“What the fuck?!” I bellow, snatching her by the arm and twisting it behind her back. I bring my other hand to her throat, forcing her to look up at me. “She’s your fuckingteammate! What the fuck was that?!”

Tears start to well in Hannah’s eyes as I spew venom down on her and I immediately loosen my grip on the girl, catching myself before I go too far. This whole spectacle must be drawing attention, because some of the other recruits are starting to wander in our direction to see what’s going on.

Hannah’s not saying anything and my temper flares. “Answer me, recruit!”

“It was an accident!” Hannah chokes, then bursts into tears.

I let go of her, taking a step back. I’m so fucking mad, but the girl looks pitiful. I’m not going to rough someone up while they’re crying.

“I’m sorry, Alpha, I didn’t mean to,” Hannah sobs, wiping the tears from her cheeks with her hands.

That’s a fucking lie. I saw the whole thing- there’s no way Hannah didn’t take Fallon down on purpose. What I can’t understand though, for the life of me, iswhy. They’re on the same team! Fallon’s victory would be Hannah’s, too. Is a personal grudge really worth her whole team losing war games?

I shake my head. “I don’t believe you,” I growl.

“But…” she sputters, eyes wide.

“Isawyou, Hannah.”

Her mouth snaps closed, like she knows she’s caught.

“What’s going on?” Jax asks, approaching with Reid.

I shake my head, turning away from Hannah, trying to tamp down my anger. I look to Fallon again and Boyd’s standing with her, trying to help her pick little flecks of rock out of her quickly healing wounds. I hate that he’s the one helping her instead of me.

“Hannah, you’re out,” I say through clenched teeth, spinning back around. “Go back to the dorms, no more training for you today.”

She takes a shaky step toward me. “But…” she mutters in protest, and I just raise a hand to silence her.

I remain calm, stoic. “This is your final warning. Another incident like this, and you’re out of training camp.”

Her shoulders slump in defeat and another tear slips down her cheek.

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