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21
ASTRID
“Astrid!” Quinn calls from her desk in the back of the room when I walk into the IT hub on Monday, peering at me over her computer monitor and waving a hand to beckon me.
I smile brightly, making my way down the aisle between the desks in the hub to her workstation. I really like Quinn- we’ve always been friendly over video chat, and since meeting her in person we’ve become fast friends.
“Hey!” I chirp, rounding the corner of her desk. I set my butt on the edge beside her, leaning back on my palms. “What’s up?”
I hear the whir of the wheels of Brooke’s desk chair against the floor as she slides over from her spot on the other side of the aisle, positioning herself in front of me with a look of determination on her face that rivals Quinn’s.
I glance suspiciously from one girl to the other. “What?”
“Are you gonna s
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Alpha Brock 22
BROCK “You good to go?” I ask, twirling the keys to the Escalade on a finger. I had to come back to the complex this afternoon for a meeting with squad leadership, so I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone and hang around for a bit afterwards to give Astrid a ride home. She looks up at me as she walks out of the IT hub with Quinn and Brooke, surprise playing on her features when she sees me. “Oh, yeah!” she smiles cheerfully. “I didn’t know you’d be around today, I’d already talked Quinn into giving me a lift.” She turns to Quinn, nudging her with an elbow. “Guess you’re off the hook.” Quinn sweeps her long brown hair over a shoulder, eyeing me with interest. “Good thing you just happened to be here, huh?” she comments, her lips pulling into a smirk. I shrug. “Had a meeting.” “I’ll see you girls tomorrow,” Astrid says over her shoulder as she breaks off from the others and starts toward me.
Alpha Brock 23
BROCK I hate the way that Astrid makes me feel out of control. I tell myself that I’m going to keep my distance, and then as soon as I see her, I’m instantly yanked to her like a magnet. I can’t resist her scent, her sexy little body. Her bright smile and that airy giggle. Her eternal optimism. Somehow all the things I used to find annoying about her are suddenly adorable, and it frustrates me to no end. Like my body and my instincts are betraying my rational mind. Practice with the squad on Tuesday morning isn’t enough to take the edge off, so I decide to extend my workout by hitting the weight room at the complex with Jax and Theo afterwards. It’s the best time to go because most of the squad is in the dining hall for lunch, and we walk in to find that we’ve basically got the place to ourselves. The three of us alternate spotting and lifting, and a half an hour in, my muscles are sufficiently burning. It’s a good burn. The k
Alpha Brock 24
ASTRID “No way, you’d love it here!” I laugh, looking at Sam’s smiling face on my computer screen. I’m so thankful for video chat- it’s tough being away from the people I love back in Denver and seeing their faces on a regular basis makes the distance easier to bear. “If you say so,” Sam chuckles, rolling his eyes. “We just miss you back at home, that’s all.” I heave a sigh, sliding off of my bed and picking up my laptop, holding it in front of me as I walk out of my room and head down the hallway. “I miss you guys too. You keeping Cole out of trouble?” “Always,” he laughs, running a hand through his golden hair. I pad into the kitchen on bare feet, rounding the island and sliding my laptop onto it, spinning around to pull the fridge open. “Good, you better,” I say as I take out a bowl of grapes, tearing one from the stem and popping it into my mouth as I spin back around. “The last group from h
Alpha Brock 25
BROCK “So we’re looking at a week to ten days,” Reid sighs, cracking his knuckles in front of him and leaning back in his chair. “Meaning we should’ve already sent the first half of the squad down there.” The five of us squad leaders are gathered in the conference room at the complex, and the tension in here is so thick that it’s almost suffocating. “So let’s send them in the morning,” Theo suggests. “We already split ‘em up, told them to be ready at a moment’s notice…” “We’re gonna have to,” Gray agrees. A grim silence settles over us, because this right here, this moment, is when it becomes real. We’re sending off our warriors, knowing full well the real cost of war. That some of them won’t be coming back. It’s a reality that, fortunately, our squad has never had to face until now. As the leaders, all five of us feel responsible for the squad members, so the thought of taking casualties is a h
Alpha Brock 26
BROCK Considering the fight in Denver that’s looming over our heads right now, I have no right to feel so damn content. Yet here I am, waking up with Astrid’s scent all over my sheets again for the third morning in a row. Grinning like a fool when I hear the shower turn off, because I know it’s her that’s getting out of it. I blink the sleep from my eyes as they adjust to the light, glancing toward the bathroom door. Anxiously waiting for her to step through it looking like the angel she is. Astrid emerges a minute or two later with nothing but a fluffy white towel wrapped around her body- an angel without wings. Her eyes instantly lock with mine, her lips tipping up into a smile as she runs her fingers through her damp hair. “Good morning,” she coos softly, her eyes sliding down my body. I’m naked underneath the bedsheets, my dick getting harder by the second as I watch her watching me. So I kick off the sheet
Alpha Brock 27
BROCKI should’ve known that things were going too well. Whenever that happens, it’s only a matter of time before something comes along to fuck it all up. That something in this case is pretty boy Sam from Denver, showing up and putting his hands all over Astrid like he fucking owns her. Like he’s got a death wish.My wolf hates the smug little fucker. I’d love to teach him the hard way that I don’t tolerate other people touching my things. At this point, the only thing preventing me from tearing his stupid face off is the fact that Astrid cares for him- and the whole alliance with the Denver pack, of course. Can’t forget that.Sam has spent the entire day glued to Astrid’s fucking hip, so we haven’t had a moment alone to discuss why the hell it is that he showed up here. I can only go off of what she’s told me in the past- that her and Sam grew up together, that they u
Alpha Brock 28
ASTRID I’ve never seen Brock like this before. His eyes are wide, feral, without a trace of humanity left in them. His pain and anger are swirling around him like a category five hurricane, threatening to destroy everything in its wake. Including me. Something about tonight brought his past pain to the surface, and I feel like he’s taking it all out on me- like I’m being punished for someone else’s sins. So, as he completely shuts down and starts to walk away, I blurt out the one thing on my mind. “I’m not her, you know.” Brock freezes in his tracks. Slowly, he turns to look at me over his shoulder. My lips part to speak again, my voice shaky. “I’m not Annalise.” His eyes shoot daggers through me- they’re so cold, colder than I’ve ever seen them. Detached. “No,” he growls cruelly. “You’re not.” His words slice into me like a hot blade, spilling my guts
Alpha Brock 29
BROCKI heard her come in. I’d been laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, going over the events of the entire fucked up day in my head. Replaying everything that went down at the bar. Trying to rationalize why I flipped the fuck out on her. And then I heard the front door swing open and her high heels clacking on the tile in the foyer.After I left the bar, I shifted and ran back to Riverton. I drank too much to drive, and letting my wolf out helped calm me down. The problem is, once I was calmer, it started to sink in that I was probably rougher on Astrid than I should’ve been. Damaged people only inflict damage on others- and I guess that’s me. When pushed to the brink, I demolish everything in my path.I don’t even know why I decided to get out of bed and go downstairs. I guess just to make sure she made it back safely? I certainly didn’t have any intention of trying to talk to her about w
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