FALLON   It scares me a little bit how quickly my world has started to revolve around Gray. The weekend feels dull without him. My friends and I hit the bar in Goldenleaf on Saturday night, but he isn’t at his usual table in the corner with the other alphas. I still drink and dance and have fun with my friends, but the night is decidedly less exciting without the prospect of ending it with him. What I wouldn’t give for a repeat of last Saturday. Sundays are our day off, and I spend mine with Brooke. After being together basically every day for eighteen years, it feels strange to have to resort to weekly catch-ups to stay current on the events in on each other’s lives. I feign interest in her IT mumbo-jumbo, while she pretends to care about the new defensive maneuvers I’ve learned. If we were strangers, we’d have nothing in common- but she’s my twin, my closest friend and confidant. It feels so good just to be with her, talk to her.

FALLON   “You know what time it is!” Jax shouts, grinning from ear to ear as he drops the crates of mesh scrimmage tanks in front of him on the practice field. The excitement among the recruits is palpable. War games are always on Wednesdays, and since we’ve been working in teams all week, we’re doubly stoked for this round. We’ve learned a lot about one another over the past few days while running drills as a unit, and we’ve already got a solid strategy for war games on lock. “Come and get em!” We trip over one another as we rush to the crate to grab our scrimmage vests, slipping them on over our clothing. I check my shoulder patches, make sure they’re securely fastened. “Gold team with us!” Theo calls out, and I turn to see him and Gray standing together. Heck yeah, war games and Gray as one of my team’s captains? Could this day get any better? Reid and Jax are captaining the ot

GRAY   The full moon’s in a week. It’s like I can feel it inching closer, looming over me like it imposes some sort of expiration date on my happiness. I’ve never dreaded a full moon before. I still don’t know what this thing is between Fallon and me, but I know want to stretch it out, hold onto it as long as I can. If only there was a way to prolong the moon’s cycle. I barely sleep worth a damn on Saturday night, and when I stroll into the kitchen at the packhouse on Sunday morning Deke’s already there rummaging through the refrigerator for something to make for breakfast. His head pops up from behind the door of the fridge when he hears me come in and he flashes me a bright smile, always so damn chipper in the morning. “Good morning, Alpha.” Deke straightens, glancing through the doorway behind me. “No guests for breakfast today?” he asks teasingly. I roll my eyes, reaching up to rub the tense spot on the base of my nec

FALLON   “Girl, you’re on fire!” Shay laughs, elbowing me. “About time you got that damn flag, for real this time!” We’re sitting at our usual table in the dining hall on Wednesday evening, still pumped about our war games win this afternoon. The alphas let us choose our own teams this time around, so naturally my friends and I fielded ourselves together. I got the flag fair and square and I even made it across the boundary without one of my own teammates taking me down- and the best part? Since we were all teamed together, we all get to share the victory. “What’s this about a flag?” Brooke asks, walking up behind me with a plate in hand. “I keep hearing something around the complex about how my sister’s a total badass.” She waggles her eyebrows, setting her plate on the table and kicking a leg over the bench, sliding in to take a seat beside me. I’ve totally turned it around since Monda

GRAY   “Will you shut the fuck up and focus?” Brock snaps, pounding his fist on the table. We’ve been shut in this stuffy conference room for the better part of an hour, combing through the details of every recruit’s last trial, agonizing over our final selections for the squad. The conversation about Bex started to go off the rails when Jax commented on her massive rack, then took a nosedive when Theo started in on what he’d do if he had the opportunity to take her home for a night. Brock, Reid and I are all used to their antics by now, but we’re stressed, we’re exhausted, and more than anything, we’re ready to get the hell out of this room. Now isn’t the time for the Jax and Theo roadshow. “Jeez, man, lighten up,” Theo grumbles, shooting Brock a sideways glance. Brock lets out an exasperated sigh, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I just want to get this over with.” “Me too,” Reid agrees. “Let’s