FALLON
Gray’s a prick. I knew this summer was going to be tough, but I thought that the training would be the grueling part, not dealing with the asshole alpha running the place. He proved today that he definitely has it out for me. If I was smart, I would try to behave, get in his good graces. But I’ve never claimed that I’m smart.
At the end of our training today, we were directed to a posting of a schedule for patrols. They’re throwing us right in; we’ve been assigned to rotations for night patrols of the six-pack’s borders. Patrols are run in pairs, so they’ve assigned pairs of recruits to each pair of squad members running the patrols each night. I’ve been paired up with a trainee named Vienna, and we get to shadow Brock and Casey. Our first patrol is tonight.
After I rush through dinner, I grab a quick shower, change, and head down to the field to meet my group for patrol. It’s dusk, and the training arena has taken on an eerie glow in the fading light. I spot Brock right away and make my way over to him, where he’s standing with two females.
Brock’s one of the five guys that runs the training camp. He looks like a young Jason Momoa, with long brown hair, tanned skin, and tattoos all over his chiseled chest and arms. He’s really nice to look at, but he’s tough. He pushed us to the brink yesterday with planks and squats, and his no-nonsense demeanor is all business. The two women with him are chatting, but he’s just standing there silently.
I recognize one of the women as another trainee, and I’m surprised when she sticks her hand out toward me as I approach. Cautiously, I take it.
“Vienna,” she introduces herself, shaking my hand and grinning. Vienna’s shorter than me, though a lot of girls are. She’s beautiful- exotic looking, with black hair, creamy tan skin, and dark brown eyes. She looks strong but voluptuous, with curves in all the right places.
“Fallon,” I breathe, venturing a smile.
The woman beside Vienna steps forward, offering me her hand to shake next.
“Casey,” she offers, and I’m immediately struck by how muscular her arms are. She’s tall, too, but she’s got a lot more bulk on her than I do. Her auburn hair is pulled back into two braids and a smattering of freckles dots her nose.
“Nice to meet you,” I reply, tossing her a smile. “How long have you been on the squad?”
Casey grins. “Oh, I was in your shoes two years ago,” she says, glancing over at Brock. “Don’t let this guy intimidate you, he’s a big softy.”
Brock shoots Casey a scowl, then his expression softens into a smirk as he punches her arm playfully. “Don’t blow my cover here, Case. We’ve gotta keep these guys scared.”
The two of them laugh, and I’m already feeling better about this patrol arrangement. It’ll be good to get to know Brock and Casey a little better and learn more about life in the squad. Vienna and I exchange glances, and I can tell she feels the same way.
“Well, we should probably head out,” Casey says, and Brock gives a curt nod. The two of them start toward the gate and Vienna and I follow eagerly on their heels. We leave the squad complex and steal into the forest, ambling along at an agreeable pace.
“Everyone does patrol every third night,” Casey explains as the four of us walk down a forest path. “We’re all in pairs and you usually run patrol with the same partner. I’ve been with Brock for the past year, but I’ll inherit one of you newbies at the end of the summer when Brock becomes alpha of his pack.”
I cast a glance in Brock’s direction, but he’s focused on the path ahead. I hadn’t realized that he was an alpha, but I should’ve guessed. I wonder which pack he’s poised to take over.
“Though I think he’ll miss me more than I’ll miss him,” Casey continues, elbowing Brock playfully. He tosses her a smirk but doesn’t say anything. He’s a man of few words.
“Which pack?” Vienna pipes up.
“Riverton,” Brock supplies.
“Oh!” Vienna seems excited. “That’s my pack! Alpha Rowe must be your dad, then?”
“Yep.”
There’s a pause, but Brock doesn’t elaborate.
“I didn’t know he was stepping down. That’s exciting for you, though!” Vienna’s a little too chipper, and Brock looks annoyed.
I clear my throat to speak in an effort to break the tension. “Will you be leaving the squad, then?” I ask.
Brock shakes his head. “Nah. I can do both. Gray and Reid do. I just won’t be taking patrols.”
I suppose that makes sense. Alphas have a lot of duties to their packs, so they wouldn’t be available to be on patrol all through the night. I don’t know what their daily tasks require, but I know that Alpha Anders spends a lot of time in his office because my dad is always visiting him there. I wonder how Gray keeps up with running both the squad and his pack.
No, I don’t. I don’t care what Gray does. Fucking prick.
The trees are thinning in front of us, and I can tell that there’s a clearing ahead. I haven’t ever been out to this area of the six-pack territory, so I’m still trying to get my bearings. I wish I was in wolf form; my wolf’s a great navigator. My human side, not so much.
“Alright, kids,” Casey sings out, hopping off the path. “Time to shift.” She spins around, pulling her tank top off over her head.
As shifters, we’re accustomed to nudity. If we shift while we’re clothed, we’ll rip right through them. I ruined my favorite shirt that way, once. All four of us dip off the path to turn away from each other and shed our clothes. I toe my tennis shoes off first, then shimmy out of my shorts. Once I’ve removed my t-shirt and sports bra, I quickly call my wolf forward.
My vision goes shimmery and I feel the familiar surge of energy as my bones snap and rearrange, and in a few seconds I’m down on all fours, shaking out my fur. When I first learned to shift, the transformation was painful. Now, it’s second nature. I barely feel a thing. I glance down at the soft earth under my tan paws, stretch, then circle back to the path.
A beautiful black wolf slinks out of the brush across from me. She’s small, and I immediately recognize her as Vienna. I look over to see Casey’s wolf, recognizing her by her auburn fur; the same color as her hair. Brock’s wolf is the last to return to the path, and he’s huge. Definitely an alpha.
While we’re in wolf form, we can communicate with other wolves in our pack through a mind link. I’m a little taken aback when Brock’s voice slips into my head, saying ‘follow me’.
I have so many questions. How can I hear him if we’re not in the same pack? Is it because he’s an alpha? Vienna looks a little dazed too, and as we start off, Casey seems to pick up on it and fills us in.
‘You’ve never linked with a wolf outside your pack before, have you?’ she laughs through the mind link.
I test it. ‘No. How…?’
‘The whole six-pack is linked. I didn’t figure it out either, until I joined the squad. Pretty cool, huh?’ Casey’s wolf nips at mine playfully.
‘Enough chit-chat’, Brock quips. All business. ‘The border’s coming up, let’s fan out.’
We follow his command, breaking off from one another to spread out in the dense forest. My wolf navigates the rocky terrain effortlessly, slinking between trees and over fallen branches. With how frustrated I’ve been, she’s been pent up and dying for a run. I get lost in the feeling of the earth under my paws and the cool night breeze in my fur for a few minutes before I remember that I’m out here for a purpose; border patrol. I focus my senses, scanning the treeline and the clearing beyond, watching for any movement and listening for any potential dangers.
The hours on patrol pass slowly as I pace the territory’s border. Every twenty minutes or so, Brock checks in through the mind link and we each confirm with an ‘all clear’. I thought border patrol would be exciting, but it’s actually rather… boring.
After what feels like an eternity, Brock gives the command for us to circle up and head back. We return to the path where we shed our clothes, shift back, and dress quietly. In my human form, I’m even more exhausted- the full day of training and staying out all night while on patrol have worn me down. The four of us start walking the path back to the squad complex just as the first slivers of pale daylight peek through the trees.
We’re all silent on our trek back, and when we reach the gate, Brock turns to Vienna and me.
“When you run patrol, you’ll be excused from the morning session afterward so you can rest up,” he says, his voice gravelly from lack of sleep.
Vienna and I just nod like zombies.
“You did well tonight, recruits,” Brock says, then turns away and heads toward the squad’s barracks.
I feel my lips curl into a grin in response- I’m pretty sure those are the first words of encouragement I’ve received since I stepped foot onto the squad complex, and they made the entire sleepless night worth it.
I’m slowly getting the hang of things, and it’s not so bad. I can totally do this.
GRAYBrock’s walking into the barracks as I’m walking out, and I almost run right into him.“How was patrol?” I ask as I dodge out of his way.Brock runs a hand through his long wavy hair, leaning against the doorframe. “Quiet. Nothing out of the ordinary.”I nod. He looks whooped- and I’m reminded how glad I am that I don’t have to run night patrols often. I only jump in when the threat levels are high, because my wolf gets all worked up in response and won’t let me sleep anyways.“How’d the recruits do?”Brock smirks, like he knows why I asked the question. Sure, I knew Fallon was assigned to patrol with him, but that’s not why I’m asking. I mean, not the only reason. I have to keep tabs on all of the trainees.“They were fine.” Brock’s always short and to the point.I nod again, then clap him on the shoulder and head out through the doors to the arena. I don’t want t
FALLONI waited until everyone else went to lunch before I snuck away to take a shower. I just wanted a little bit of alone time.No dice. As soon as I open the door to the locker room, I see him. That fucking prick, Gray, standing beside the bench in a towel and looking like a sex god. Seeing him shirtless for the first time, he doesn’t look how I expected. He looks better.Small beads of water still cling to the broad muscles of his chest and his six-pack abs. The towel hanging from his waist dips down below his Adonis belt, the v-shape beckoning. Shit, is my mouth hanging open? I snap it closed, then take a step into the locker room, the door swinging closed behind me.I’m hoping that Gray didn’t catch my appreciative reaction to seeing his body, but a little smirk crosses his lips that tells me otherwise. I’m immediately irritated that I’ve just unintentionally inflated his ego further.“Well, well,”
GRAYI have to stay away from her. Fallon is a distraction, and I can’t afford any distractions right now. Not when we know the shadow pack is on the move. The next day, Brock and Jax are back in the mix so I decide to sit out one-on-ones and observe. It sucks. I’ve got a lot of pent-up frustration that I need to get out, but I don’t want to wind up in a one-on-one with Fallon. I’ve got to actively avoid her. I somehow manage to do it for the next few days, working off my energy by shifting and running in the evenings after I take care of my pack business.Theo has picked up on the fact that I’m acting a little strange lately. I tell him it’s nothing, but he knows I’m lying.“At least come have a beer with us,” Theo urges. He’s standing in the doorway of my room in the squad barracks, leaning against the doorframe.It’s the end of the week, and both the squad and the recruits have Sunday’s off from training. A lot of
FALLON“I can’t believe they’re actually giving us a day off!” Vienna squeals, rifling through the little closet at the end of her bunk. “How about this one?” she asks, pulling out a skimpy red dress on a hanger and holding it up in front of her.I nod my head in approval. “Definitely that one.”Vienna grins from ear to ear, trotting by me to head into the locker room to change.When we heard that we’d have the day off tomorrow, all of the recruits were ecstatic. We’ve been training hard all week, so we’ve definitely earned a reprieve. Vienna invited Boyd, Davis, and I to come out with her and her friend Hannah. Apparently Hannah is from Goldenleaf, the town near the squad complex, and said that the squad usually goes out to a bar there on Saturday nights to let loose.I guess good news travels fast, because Brooke showed up in the recruit’s barracks soon after, asking if I was going out. I’m so excited t
GRAYI agreed to come for one beer, and somehow that turned into five. Or was it six? I’ve got a nice little buzz, so I’m not sure on the count. I don’t know why I ever agree to coming out for one when I know it’ll lead to staying out all night, but I’m relaxed for the first time all week. I guess Theo knew I needed this.I’m heading out of the bathroom when I see her walking toward me, looking like a goddamn smokeshow. Fallon. She’s all dressed up in a little skin-tight skirt and tank top, and seeing her like this makes my blood rush right to my dick.She’s looking down, so she doesn’t even see me stop and stick my arm out, pressing my palm to the wall to block her path. I know I said I’d avoid her, but I’m a little buzzed and she looks so damn good, I can’t help myself. She looks up at the last minute, surprise playing on her face as she skids to a stop right before clotheslining herself on my outstretched arm.I l
FALLONHe’s here. I swear I could feel it before I even saw him- the little hairs on the back of my neck stood up and my wolf started pacing. But right after we locked eyes, he turned his back to me. Avoiding me again. Maybe my initial assessment was spot-on, he’s just a jerk with a big ego. Maybe his little display of dominance in the shower was just his way of showing me that he could have me if he wanted me. Maybe this is just his newest form of torture, and he’s getting some sort of sick pleasure from driving me crazy.I down the rest of my drink.Brooke appears, back from the bathroom, and she grabs my arm, tugging me away from our friends. She’s digging her fingers into my arm as she pulls me, and I jerk my arm back.“What the hell?” I demand, scowling and rubbing the offended skin with my other hand.Brooke leans in close to whisper. “What’s going on with you and the alpha?” she hisses.
GRAYI shouldn’t be doing this. I know better. But Fallon is so fucking beautiful, and so fucking responsive. She’s fucking perfect. I start stroking her pussy slowly through her panties, and her body melts into mine. “Y… yes,” she whines, undulating her hips with my movements. Her breath is coming out in cute little pants, and my wolf is going crazy with need to claim this sweet little female.Mine.I try my best to hold him back, though the tether of my control is close to snapping. Everything about Fallon feels so good. Her body against mine, her breath in my ear, the scent of her arousal. My vision blurs.Then I remember why I followed her outside in the first place, and I bring myself back to reality, stilling my movements. She whines a little as I stop stroking her through her panties.“Who else are you giving this up for?” I growl, tapping her pussy with my fingers.“
GRAYOn Monday morning, the recruits are bright eyed and bushy tailed, eager to resume their training. I cast my gaze downwards as they file onto the arena where Theo, Brock, Jax, and I are waiting. Reid had some pack business come up, so he’s back in Stillwater- his pack’s town- for the day.I spent all day yesterday kicking myself for what I did at the bar on Saturday night. I should’ve just continued to steer clear of Fallon rather than allowing my beer buzz cloud to my judgment. But now that I’ve had a taste of what it’s like to touch her, I want more. I can’t get her out of my head. Those big blue eyes, those breathy little moans… it’s enough to drive any man crazy.I swear my heart stops when I catch sight of her walking onto the field this morning, wearing my favorite pair of little workout shorts with her long tan legs on full display. Even in shorts and a t-shirt, she’s a fucking goddess. She catches me staring, though