Page 117 of Brutal Reign
When we came back to the complex last night, Seb and I fielded a barrage of questions from Beau and Eli, culminating in us telling them about our mate bond with Riv. Now that her dad knows, there’s no need for secrecy anymore. It was about time to bring our boys up to speed.
“Here,” Seb murmurs, nudging me with his elbow and offering me his own coffee. “You clearly need this more than I do.”
I roll my eyes, but I take the cup and down it, nonetheless.
“We’d better get out there,” Beau murmurs, glancing up at the big digital clock on the wall.
I grunt in agreement, stuffing my feet into my gym shoes and tossing the paper cups into the trash on my way out of the barracks. The four of us stride onto the practice field with less than a minute to spare, our fellow recruits already scattered around the field and stretching to warm up. We’re all on time, but the squad leaders are nowhere in sight.Damnit, I probably could’ve snuck in a few more minutes of sleep.
“So are we friends withthemnow, too?” Eli asks dubiously, glancing toward Hayden, Gus, and Kendrick as they cross the field in our direction.
“As long as they’ve got River’s back, we’ve got theirs,” I reply with a shrug. Though from the way Seb’s lip curls in distaste when he makes eye contact with Hayden, I know merging our worlds won’t be as simple as that.
“Have you heard from River?” Hayden asks breathlessly as she approaches, pointedly ignoring Seb and addressing me instead.
“Thought you two were best friends?” Seb scoffs.
She snaps her head in his direction, cutting him a glare. “Weare, but she’s picked up a bad habit lately of leaving her phone behind after a crisis,” Hayden quips, lifting her chin haughtily and giving him a slow once-over. “Amongotherbad habits.”
“She stayed the night with her parents,” I cut in before the two of them can continue sniping at each other. “She’ll be back for the afternoon session today.”
“Is she okay?” Gus questions, his eyes rounded in concern.
Shit, with all that’s happened since, I almost forgot about that ugly scene with Chandler in the lounge yesterday. No wonder River’s friends are worried about her.
“Yeah, she’s good,” I reply with a firm nod. “Just wanted to get away and clear her head.”
“Well, I’m glad she’s alright, but she really needs to get back here,” Hayden huffs, folding her arms. “Chandler has been a total drama queen about that fight even thoughshe’sthe one who started it. Since River swung first, she’s blaming the whole thing on her and has been campaigning to get her thrown out of training camp.”
“Good luck,” Seb snorts, rolling his eyes. “Riv’s cousins run squad leadership. The chances of them throwing her out are about as good as Chandler’s chances of bagging an Alpha.”
“She’s all over Jake’s dick now,” Gus scoffs, casting a glance across the field at the pair of them stretching together. “They’ve been plotting to bring River down. I heard they were going to approach the squad leaders this morning about that fight in the lounge, and if River’s not here to defend herself…”
Seb’s eyes darken as he follows Gus’ gaze across the field, and from the look in them, I know he’s about to go the fuck off. It’s usually my job to cool him down, but I’m just as furious as he is right now. It’s the blind leading the fucking blind.
He cups his hands around his mouth, calling out loudly to get everyone’s attention. “Listen up, dickbags!”
Eloquent, as always.
“Ace and I were just informed that some of you have been talking shit about River, and that ends right the fuck now,” he snarls, glancing around the field. “She’s our mate. If you’ve got a problem with her, then you’ve got a problem with us. And youdon’twant to have a problem with us.”
I stand tall beside my best friend, sweeping a threatening glare over the shocked recruits staring back at us. Chandler’s eyes bug out in response to Seb’s announcement, her mouth popping open.
“What?” she gasps, her lips twisting in an angry scowl. “She can’t be mated tobothof you!”
“Fate bonded her to both of us, so yeah, she can,” I deadpan.
“But you’re an Alpha,” Jake scoffs disbelievingly, blinking at Seb. “Alphas don’t share.”
“Well, you wouldn’t know, would you, Decker?” Seb snarls back. “Because you’renota fucking Alpha, and you never will be. Better start looking for another pack to join, because you’re gonna get your ass handed to you by our girl during that challenge.”
Jake blanches, brows pinching together as he starts shaking his head. “She can’t be Alpha to our pack if she’s Luna to yours,” he stammers.
“She can be whatever the hell she wants to be,” I growl. “Pack rank has no bearing on fate.”
“But she can’t havetwofated mates, that’s not how things work!” Chandler shouts, balling her fists and stomping her foot like a petulant child.
“Wanna fuckin’ bet?” Seb growls, glaring daggers at her. “Who the hell are you to question fate?”