Page 4 of Alpha Chase

“Yes, sir,” I nod. “I know this isn’t how you typically do things…”

“No, it isn’t,” he says bluntly, cutting me off.

I swallow hard. There’s that damn silence again. Hopefully he can’t hear how fast my heart is beating right now. I’m not easily intimidated, but formal stuff like this makes me anxious, especially when I’m asking for favors.

I really hate asking for favors.

When I went out for the squad last summer, it wasn’t because I had my heart set on being a warrior. It was a means to an end; a way to get out of Riverton with a steady salary plus room and board. I grossly underestimated how grueling the training camp would be, though, and underprepared in comparison to the other recruits. It wasn’t a surprise when I got cut a few weeks in and sent packing.

I was fortunate to get another opportunity a couple of months later when the reserve squad was formed. I eagerly joined and moved back up to the squad complex, trained hard, and ultimately fought in the battle against the shadow pack. But when the war ended, so did the reserve squad- and once again, I was sent packing.

Now I’m hoping for another shot. Third time’s the charm, right?

Gray sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face and leaning back in his chair. “It’s not that I don’t want to let you in, it’s just that we’ve had recruitment processes in place for years now, and if I let you bypass that because…” he trails off, his gaze sliding between Fallon and me. “Well, you can see how it might appear to others.”

I know what he’s insinuating. “You think it’ll look like you’re playing favorites since I’m friends with Fallon.”

Gray nods, folding his hands on the desk in front of him.

“Well that’s bullshit,” Fallon blurts as she twists the end of her long blonde ponytail over her shoulder. “This has nothing to do with me. And besides, youmakethe rules, Gray… so why can’t you bend them just this once?”

He sighs again, looking to his mate. “If I bend them for Vienna, I’d have to bend them for everyone, babe.”

We both know he’s right, and Fallon folds her arms over her chest in defeat, pressing her lips together tightly. The three of us sit there in silence for a minute and I swear I can see the gears turning in Gray’s head before he speaks up again.

“Tell you what,” he says, swinging his gaze back to me. “I’ll take it up at my next meeting with the other squad leaders. There are some unique circumstances right now that may lend to taking on more squad members without the usual processes… we lost some of our fighters in the war, plus we’ll have some going off on missions to track down splinter groups from the shadow pack. Both leave us short-handed, so the reserve squad seems like a good pool of candidates to fill those positions from.”

“Yeah?” I ask, brows shooting up. I quickly realize how tragically hopeful I sound and rein it in a bit. “I mean, just let me know either way. I’d have to give notice at the lodge, so the sooner I can give them a heads up, the better.”

Gray nods. “For sure. We’ll be in touch.”

“Cool,” I breathe, lips spreading into a smile. Hope blooms in my chest, though I know better than to let myself get too excited before knowing whether this is going to happen or not. It seems I’ve had a string of bad luck lately.

“Well thanks for meeting with me,” I say as I push up from the arms of the chair to stand. Gray is already reaching for another folder on the edge of the desk, getting right back to work.

“I’ll walk you out…” Fallon chirps as she moves to swing her legs down.

I stop her with a hand on her shoulder, shaking my head. “No need, I know the way.” I smile, leaning over to give her a hug. “Always great seeing you, Fal.”

“You too,” she sighs, throwing an arm around my neck and hugging me back.

I leave Fallon and Gray behind and head out of the office, sliding my phone out of my back pocket and opening up a message to my friend Nessa. I wasn’t sure how long this meeting would last, so I asked her to cover for me at work. I’m looking down, typing out a text to give her a heads up that she won’t need to fill in for me after all when I collide with a hard chest, the air whooshing from my lungs and my phone slipping from my hands and clattering to the floor.

I’m so caught off guard that it takes me a second to even register what- or who- I’ve run into, and when I stumble back and look up to meet those dark eyes from before, my brain short-circuits.

“Leaving so soon?” Chase asks smoothly as I blink up at him, the corner of his mouth tugging into a smirk and a dimple sinking into his cheek.

Damn those dimples.

I bend down to pick up my phone, collecting myself in the process. “Gotta get to work,” I mutter, scowling when I clock Chase checking out my ass as I straighten. The guy’s shameless.

I turn my phone over in my hand, heart sinking when I see a large crack across the screen from the impact it took with the hardwood floor. Looks like the bad luck streak continues. Snapping my head back up in annoyance, I’m ready to pop off when my eyes meet Chase’s and the intensity of his stare gives me pause.

Something takes flight in my belly, though I’m not sure if I’d call it butterflies- more like a swarm of angry hornets. My throat tightens as I nearly tumble into the depths of those dark eyes. I manage to pull myself back before I drown, shooting him a glare instead. “You owe me a new phone.”

Chase arches a brow in challenge. “How do you figure?You’rethe one who ran intome.”

“Only because you were in my way,” I fire back.

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