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ASTRID
I have no business being this happy when there’s a war on its way, yet here I am, flitting around the ballroom of the lodge on Brock’s arm with a permanent smile etched on my face. I’m overwhelmed by the number of people that came out to celebrate with us tonight- not only from all six packs in the territory, but from Denver, too. Even my parents showed up, shockingly tearing themselves away from their vacation home in Arizona to make the trip here to meet Brock.
Hundreds of people are here in the ballroom tonight, and once dinner is over, Brock and I are constantly being tugged in different directions to chat with our guests. Brock gets pulled away by the guys for a while and I get distracted with the girls, sipping on too many glasses of champagne. The bubbles tickle my throat and go to my head, and I’m even more giggly than usual, lost in laughter as Quinn tells the story of when she and Jax were
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Alpha Brock 1
BROCK “Hey man, you good?” Jared asks me, furrowing his brow. “Yeah.” I scrub a hand over my face. “Just fucking exhausted.” Jared holds up a hand. “I’ll drive.” I give him a nod, tossing the keys to the Escalade toward his waiting palm before I head around to the passenger side of the vehicle, throwing the door open to climb in. I let my head fall back against the headrest as Jared gets into the drivers seat, firing up the engine. Wordlessly, he shifts the gear into drive, pulling away from the curb and down the street. I glance out the window as we make our way out of Norbury, the town quiet and the houses dark at this hour. It’s home to Alpha Vaughn’s pack and I’ve only ventured out this way a handful of times. It’s the last place I expected to be tonight. Norbury is a good twenty-minute drive from Riverton, where my own pack resides, and just a few hours ago, I was running with my pack under
Alpha Brock 2
ASTRID I squint against the sunlight spilling in through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the hallway as I step out of my bedroom, stretching my limbs. It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day in Denver, but I can’t fully appreciate it until I get my morning coffee. And speaking of, I can already smell it brewing. I breathe deeply as I pad barefoot down the long hallway, following my nose to the packhouse kitchen. “Good morning!” I chirp as step through the doorway, finding my brother Cole and his beta Sam, perched in their usual seats at the table closest to the coffee pot. I reach up to sweep my unruly curls into a messy bun as I approach them, securing my hair atop my head with an elastic. Upon my entry, Sam shoots up from his chair, tossing a smile my way as he heads for the coffee pot on the counter and starts pouring me a cup. By the time I reach the table, he’s back, holding the mug out in my direction.
Alpha Brock 3
BROCK“Is she gonna be here soon?” I ask, agitated, as I glance down at my watch.Jax looks my way, arching a brow. “Why, you in a hurry or somethin’?”I blow out a breath, kicking at the ground on the practice field where I’m waiting with Jax, Reid, Gray, and Fallon for the Denver Alpha’s sister to arrive. “I’ve gotta get back to Riverton. I’ve got shit to do.”“I’m sure it’ll still be waiting for you when you get there,” Reid chuckles, stepping up beside me and clapping me on the shoulder. “Besides, what could be more important than meeting…” he trails off, squinting, looking to Gray over his shoulder. “What’s her name again?”“Astrid,” Brooke supplies, approaching us with Quinn in tow. Quinn immediately makes a beeline for Jax, slipping under his arm and winding her own
Alpha Brock 4
ASTRID When my brother said he was sending me up here, he conveniently forgot to mention how fucking hot the guys who run the security team are. I’m talking breath stealing, heart stopping, reality defying hotness- when I got dropped off here, I had no idea I was practically stepping into a Chippendale’s calendar. Sure, I might’ve been a little resistant about leaving Denver and missing out on battle preparations there, but now that I know I’m going to be shacking up with a Jason Momoa lookalike for the next few weeks? I’m suddenly okay with it. I just met Brock, but I can already tell that he’s the strong silent type. I try to make conversation on the ride over to Riverton, but all he gives me in return are grunts and one-word answers. It doesn’t bother me, though- we don’t really know each other yet, and I’m sure he’ll warm up eventually. I’ll just kill him with kindness until he does. We arrive at the packhouse in R
Alpha Brock 5
BROCKI slept like shit last night. Something about that girl being here under my roof has both me and my wolf on edge, and I woke up with the sunrise to let him out for a run this morning. I feel marginally better when I return, pulling on a pair of grey sweatpants that I left hanging off of a tree branch behind the packhouse and tugging them on.When I walk into the packhouse through the door off the back patio, I immediately hear Astrid’s airy little giggle and I’m right back where I started. Annoyed. I take a couple of tentative steps forward so I can see into the kitchen, spotting her perched on a barstool at the kitchen island wearing a tiny pair of shorts, one bare leg crossed over the other. A baggy sweatshirt hides the rest of her slim physique, and her curly hair is piled on top of her head in a messy bun. She’s clutching a steaming cup of coffee in both hands, still giggling softly.Br
Alpha Brock 6
ASTRID “So this is the hub,” Quinn says as she leads me into a large room full of desks and computers. “I’ve heard that ours is puny compared to Denver’s, but what we lack in size we make up for in heart.” She spins around, a goofy smile on her face. “That was really fucking corny, wasn’t it?” “Nah,” I laugh, waving her off. “I liked it.” “Astrid!” Brooke calls, beckoning me from the back of the room. Her glasses slide down the bridge of her nose and she pushes them up with a finger. “C’mon.” Quinn spins back around, leading me toward Brooke. I was grateful when she found me on the practice field this morning- as much as I’m enjoying this little push and pull with my broody roommate, it’s nice to talk to someone who will actually talk back. Training with the squad was a lot of fun, and I even learned a couple of new moves from Fallon. I’m no stranger to combat training; we start young in Denver, so I’ve
Alpha Brock 7
BROCK I wake up panting, my body covered in a thin sheen of sweat that has the sheets sticking to my skin. The dream I was having felt so real- the shadow pack showed up without warning, ready for war. They outnumbered us four to one, and while we kept going down, they just kept coming. I was fighting off three wolves at once when I woke with a start, blinking into the darkness, realizing it was just a dream. I take a few deep breaths, throwing the sheet off of my body and staring up at the ceiling while my eyes to adjust to the dark. I bolt up in bed when I hear something downstairs, looking quickly to my alarm clock for the time. It’s the middle of the night- nobody should be awake right now. Is my mind playing tricks on me, or did I hear something? My wolf is on high alert and when I hear another sound, I’m out of bed in an instant, moving toward the door of my bedroom silently. Creeping through the hallway
Alpha Brock 8
ASTRID “Good morning, Alpha!” I greet cheerfully as I spot Brock descending the stairs. He looks up at me as he hits the bottom step, grunting something muffled and barely audible in his typical response. It’s only my third morning at the Riverton packhouse, but one of these days I’m going to get a solid ‘good morning’ in response, damnit. I feel like I’ve already fallen into a routine here- instead of my morning coffee with Cole and Sam, it’s morning coffee with Jared and Brent every day before catching a ride with Brock up to the squad complex. Then it’s training with the six-pack’s security squad in the morning followed by afternoons with IT. That routine changes today, though, because the first evacuees from Denver are set to arrive and I’ll be welcoming them. “Coffee?” Jared asks as Brock enters the kitchen. “Please,” he growls, running his hands through his hair. The man’s ha
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