Alpha Gray: six-pack series book one Read online

  I take a few steps away from the door alongside the building, leaning back against the outside wall. It doesn’t take me long to cool off and catch my breath, and I’m thinking about heading back inside when the door swings open and someone comes out.

  It’s a guy I don’t recognize, but he looks to be in his early thirties. Most wolves stay in shape because of how active we are, but this guy has a little bit of a beer gut and he stinks like booze. After he staggers out the door, he looks around and his face splits into a big grin when he sees me leaning up against the building.

  “Well hey there, sweet thing,” the guy drawls, stepping toward me. “What brings you in here tonight?”

  He’s flirting. Gross.

  “Just here with some friends,” I mumble, folding my arms over my chest and looking away. Hopefully this guy will take the hint.

  He doesn’t. Instead, he takes another step toward me and I’m overwhelmed by his stale alcohol smell.

  “You lookin’ for some fun?” he asks, closing the distance between us.

  I turn to him, narrowing my eyes. I’m thinking about cocking back my fist to punch the guy when the door of the bar flies open, loudly colliding with the outside wall. Gray steps out, steam practically coming out of his ears.

  “Is this guy bothering you?” he growls, looking at beer-belly guy menacingly.

  The guy immediately steps back, throwing up his hands and showing his neck in submission. “No, Alpha!” he chokes, eyes wide.

  Gray gives the guy a steely look, taking a step toward him. “Why don’t you head on home, Trent.” From the tone of his voice, it isn’t a suggestion.

  “Yes, Alpha,” the man stammers, taking a few more shaky steps back. “That’s just what I was about to do. Have a good night.”

  Gray nods and the guy retreats quickly, heading away from the bar in the direction of the town. Once he’s out of eyesight, Gray turns back to me, rubbing the back of his neck and shaking his head.

  “That guy’s a menace,” he mumbles.

  “Yeah, well I can take care of myself,” I snap, annoyed at this little knight in shining armor act that Gray’s trying to pull off. “I had it handled.”

  Gray smirks, dropping his hand from his neck and giving me a once-over. “Yeah, I’m sure you did,” he breathes. “Though a simple thank you would suffice.” He folds his arms and tips his chin up, looking cocky as ever. His arrogance is so irritating.

  I scrunch up my nose, scowling. “Thanks for what? Stalking me?”

  Gray’s jaw twitches and flecks of gold start swirling in his eyes. Got him.

  He takes a step toward me, then another. My breath hitches as he positions himself right in front of me, staring me down.

  “Always so defiant,” he says, his voice velvety and low.

  He reaches out, running the backs of his fingers lightly down the side of my arm. I swear I feel sparks on my skin where he touches me.

  “I thought you were going to try to be a good girl?”

  His words send a flood of heat straight down to my core. I bite my lip, looking up at him through my eyelashes.

  “Being good’s overrated,” I breathe, my voice barely audible. His gaze feels like it’s burning through me. I look away.

  Gray traces his fingertips back up my arm to the top of my shoulder. He cups my chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting my head up to look at him again.

  “What do you want, Fallon?” he asks, his voice gravelly.

  I’m a big caught off guard by his question- and completely flustered by the way he’s touching me. I bite my lip again and almost unconsciously lean my body away from the wall and toward his, craning my hips in his direction. Showing him what I want.

  Before I even know what’s happening, Gray grabs me by the waist and spins me around, pinning me between himself and the wall and pressing his body against mine from behind. He slams one of his palms onto the wall to steady himself and runs the other down my side gently, craning his head forward beside my ear.

  “Is this what you want?”

  Oh, yes.

  I press backwards into him, throwing my head back into his chest as the sparks that his touch leaves behind ignite my skin. “Yes,” I whisper, closing my eyes and giving myself over to the sensation.

  “Yeah?” he asks, his breathing growing ragged. He snakes his hand around to my belly, then down to my hip, then my thigh. When his fingertips come in contact with the bare skin of my thigh, fireworks explode behind by eyelids.

  His hand is inches from my pussy and I’m practically writhing with need. It’s like he can read my mind, because he slides his hand over slowly, underneath the front of my dress, cupping my sex through my lacy underwear.

  “How about this, is this what you want?” he murmurs.

  Fuck. Yes.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Gray

  I shouldn’t be doing this. I know better. But Fallon is so fucking beautiful, 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 is getting this?” I growl, tapping her pussy with my fingers.

  “Wh… what?” she breathes, trying to press herself into my hand again.

  “That guy you were dancing with.” I withdraw my hand, take a little step back.

  Fallon steadies herself and whirls around to face me, looking confused. “What? You mean Boyd?” she asks, tugging the hem of her dress down.

  I frown, narrowing my eyes and crossing my arms.

  “He’s just a friend.” Fallon steps toward me, reaching up to touch my shoulder.

  I snatch her wrist, backing her into the wall and pinning it above her head. I lean my face down to hers, my lips inches away from her own. I want to claim her mouth, then her body. I want her so much that I can hardly stand it. I grasp for some semblance of control, of logical rationale.

  Fallon licks her lips, staring up at me. She wants it too, I can see it in her eyes, swimming with silver. She smells like wildflowers and sunshine; it’s the most intoxicating scent I’ve ever encountered.

  It would be so easy to give in…

  I drop her hand, take a step back. Take hold of my senses.

  “I… I can’t.” I shake my head.

  She just stares at me with the widest, bluest eyes. So sweet, so fucking innocent. I can’t do this to her- I can’t drag her into my mess of a world. My singular purpose for the past five years has been to find and kill Xavier, the leader of the shadow pack. I’ve basically got a death wish, and I can’t drag this beautiful little she-wolf into all of it with me.

  I’ve got to let her go, while I still can.

  Without another word, I turn around and take off. I don’t look back. As soon as I’m at the treeline, I rip through my clothes and shift, making a run for it.

  Fallon

  What the fuck? My legs are a little wobbly as I watch Gray disappear into the forest. I’m trying to wrap my mind around the whole encounter, but I just can’t. We’re obviously attracted to each other, but this is the second time he’s gotten me all hot and bothered and then just bailed. Is this all some sort of cruel mind-game he’s playing with me?

  If so, I want out.

  I gather what’s left of my composure and head back inside where my friends are waiting for me at the bar. I try my best to put on a fake smile, but Brooke immediately knows that somethin
g’s wrong. She grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze- our ‘are you okay?’ signal, and I just look at her sadly and give a little shake of my head.

  “Want to step back outside?” she asks, but I can’t bring myself to go back out there and re-live my humiliation.

  I shake my head again. “No, I just want another drink.”

  Boyd spins around with perfect timing, thrusting a vodka cranberry in my direction. “Here you go, beautiful.”

  “Thanks, Boyd,” I say softly, taking the drink from his hand. I bring it to my lips and take a sip.

  “Later?” Brooke asks.

  I nod. She doesn’t press further; instead she allows me to go on pretending like nothing’s wrong and don my fake smile. We stay at the bar for a while longer, getting out onto the dance floor a few more times. Boyd tries to dance with me again, but I pass him off to Vienna and neither seems to mind. A few of the other trainees wander over to dance with our group- Connor, Judd, Shay, and Reilly. I’ve never interacted with them much before, but they’re all really nice, and we wind up absorbing them into our group and all leaving together right before last call.

  On the walk back to the squad complex, Brooke and I stroll arm in arm, falling back behind the rest of the group.

  “You okay?” she whispers.

  I give a curt nod. “Yeah. I am now,” I whisper back. My body’s a little sore from the week of training and the night of dancing, but most of all my ego is bruised. “I think you might have been right, about staying away from that alpha.”

  We take a few steps in silence as Brooke patiently waits for me to go on. Her eyes are so round, so full of compassion and understanding. No ‘I told you so’ or smug satisfaction for being right. I’m so lucky to have her in my life.

  I work up the nerve to continue. “He got all up on me, like he was going to kiss me… I mean, there’s clearly an attraction there that I can’t even explain…” my whisper trails off.

  “And?” Brooke hisses, eager to hear the rest of the story.

  I shrug, wincing a little. “And nothing. He just took off. It was so bizarre.” I breathe a heavy sigh. “Honestly, I don’t know if he’s just messing with me, or if there’s really something between us. I mean, I’m into him, or I think I am, but something’s just… off.”

  Brooke nods in understanding and a long pause settles between us as we walk.

  “So what are you going to do?” she finally asks, wide-eyed.

  “I don’t know.” I stare down at the path, kicking at the dirt. “Just see what happens, I guess.”

  Brooke stops suddenly and her movement jerks me back a little since our arms are still linked, causing me to skid to a stop, too.

  “Fallon, I know you,” she states, matter-of-factly. “If you really want something, you won’t stop until you get it.”

  I smirk a little, because I know it’s true.

  “But just be careful,” Brooke continues. “Don’t lose sight of why you’re really here. What you’ve really wanted all along.”

  Her words sting a little, because she’s right. I’ve been so distracted by the whole Gray situation that I haven’t been throwing myself into training like I should. All I’ve ever wanted is to be a fighter, make the security squad, and this is my one shot.

  “Are you girls coming or what?” Davis calls from up ahead. Brooke and I turn to see that our friends have all stopped and they’re looking back at us, waiting.

  I take a deep breath. “Yeah!” I call back. I tug on Brooke’s arm to keep walking.

  As we continue down the path, closing the gap between ourselves and our group of friends, I give Brooke’s arm a little squeeze.

  “Thanks,” I whisper. “And don’t worry, I won’t.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Gray

  On 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 this time, she’s the first to look away.

  It’s probably for the best.

  The trainees circle around, and once they’re all gathered, I clear my throat to speak. “Good morning, recruits!” I begin.

  They’re all looking past me curiously at the giant whiteboard on wheels that we’ve rolled out onto the field- but Theo, Jax, and Brock have positioned themselves in front of it so the recruits can’t yet read what we’ve written.

  “Welcome to your second week of training,” I continue. “Last week was a chance to get your feet wet, but now, the real training starts.”

  There are a few murmurs from the crowd, but everyone stands at attention. I turn back to the guys and they move away from the whiteboard. Theo steps forward and rubs his palms together eagerly.

  “So as you can see, we’ve paired you up for training going forward,” Theo announces. “We’ve been watching you, assessing where you’re at and what you can improve on.”

  I chuckle to myself as I watch the recruits craning their necks to see what’s written on the whiteboard behind Theo, eager to see who they’re matched up with.

  “Get a good look, because these will be your partners for the week,” I add. I step forward beside Theo, folding my arms across my chest. “You need to impress us this week, because when it’s over, we’ll make our first round of cuts.”

  I read the panic on most of the recruit’s faces, but don’t react. This part is always tough- sending home hopefuls that just aren’t cut out to run with the squad full time. They could always be called in as backup in the future if needed, but so far, we haven’t had to cross that bridge.

  Jax moves beside the whiteboard, flipping it over. It turns on its hinges, revealing a numbered list on the other side.

  “These are your current rankings,” Jax calls out, tossing his wavy blonde surfer hair as he gestures to the list. “If you’re near the top, you need to fight to stay there. If you’re at the bottom, you’d better work your ass off this week so you don’t get cut.”

  I survey the crowd of recruits again. Some of them look pleased with themselves, others look disappointed. It sucks that we have to rank them like this, but it fosters competition. For some of them, this is the push they need to step it up.

  “Alright,” I shout, clapping my hands together to get their attention again. “Let’s start with a few warm-up laps around the track, then pair off with your assigned partner and we’ll do some defensive exercises.”

  The trainees start to disperse, jogging toward the track. As the crowd clears, I look up to see Fallon stomping across the field in my direction like a woman on a mission.

  The other guys see her making a beeline toward me and casually group up and walk away, tossing me glances over their shoulders.

  Fallon skids to a stop in front of me and she’s positively fuming, like she’s ready to take my head off. She throws her hands on her hips indignantly, staring at me through narrowed eyes.

  “Olly? You paired me up with Olly?” There’s venom in her tone and I can see her wolf behind her eyes in swirls of silver.

  I straighten, bristling as I stare back at her. “Yes. Is that a problem, recruit?”

  “Yeah, it’s a fucking problem,” Fallon scoffs, stomping her foot. “Olly sucks, he’s ranked almost dead last! And I’m ranked thirty-si
x?!”

  Her anger rolls off of her in waves as she speaks and I fight the urge to smile. It catches me a little off guard, because I typically wouldn’t tolerate this kind of disrespect, but… she’s cute when she’s all fired up.

  I stiffen my jaw, showing no emotion in response to her outburst. “Guess you’ll have to work harder this week,” I reply simply.

  Fallon grits her teeth and balls her fists, taking another step toward me. “Is this personal?” she demands. “Is this because you and I…”

  “No!” I interject, cutting her off. I take a quick look around, but thankfully nobody’s close enough to overhear. I return my attention to Fallon, quieting my voice. “Listen, I’m not the only one in charge of rankings and match-ups. We all come together to decide.” I lift a hand to rub the back of my neck, then scrub it over my face.

  “Look, we both know you’re good,” I grumble, leaning in. “But your attitude sucks. You have to show you can follow orders, work as part of a team.”

  Fallon crosses her arms, cocking her hip and relaxing a little, though she’s still clearly pissed. She glances down at the ground, kicking the dirt. Again, it strikes me how fucking adorable she looks when she’s worked up, with her nose scrunched and her brow furrowed.

  “What do you want, Fallon?” I ask, my voice a low rumble.

  Fallon’s eyes shoot up to mine, wide and considering. It’s the same question I asked her the other night, and there’s this unspoken sense of connection that stretches between us.

  “Do you want to make the squad?”

  She frowns. “Yes, sir,” Fallon mumbles, looking down and kicking at the ground again.

  “Good,” I say. I force back a smile at her use of the word ‘sir’. She’s stubborn as hell, but she’s coming around. “Then you’ve gotta earn it,” I add.

  She looks back up at me, narrowing her eyes as if she’s trying to decipher some other meaning from my words. I tick my head in the direction of the track where the other recruits are running by.

  Fallon heaves a sigh, but she doesn’t respond with her typical sarcastic comment. Instead, she simply turns on a heel, jogging away towards the track.