Page 15 of Brutal Reign
“That’s Hayden Price,” Eli provides between bites of chicken. “Beau’s tryin’ to hit.”
Ares’ eyes spark in challenge. “Hope you like my sloppy seconds then,” he drawls, smirking at Beau.
Beau rolls his eyes as he winds spaghetti around his fork. “Good luck, bro. She’s attached at River’s fucking hip.”
“Then maybe we’ll just have to make it a threesome,” Ares suggests with a wink.
Seb’s knuckles whiten around the handle of his fork, and I bump my knee into his beneath the table. I’m thinking the same thing he is-–that just because we can’t have her, it doesn’t mean we want anyone else to– but we can’t react. We don’t have the same control over Ares as we do the others. He’d see any threat we issued as a challenge, and that’s the last fucking thing we need to deal with right now.
“Heard you had to pull laps this morning,” Ares comments, nudging Seb with an elbow.
He lifts his head, opening his mouth to respond, but Chandler beats him to it.
“That wasn’t Sebastian’s fault,” she quips as she steps up to our table and helps herself to the seat beside Eli.
I feel Seb stiffen beside me. He hates being called by his full name; even his parents only use it when he’s in trouble.
“River was being a bitch, I saw the whole thing go down,” Chandler continues, arranging her plate in front of her before lifting her gaze to Seb. “You shouldn’t let her get away with embarrassing you like that. You’re an Alpha.”
“So’s she, apparently,” Eli murmurs around a mouthful of chicken.
“C’mon, we all know that’s not gonna happen,” Chandler scoffs. She picks up her fork, spearing a piece of lettuce off her plate. “No pack is gonna accept a female Alpha.”
“Did we say you could sit here?” Seb growls, cutting her a glare.
She blanches, pausing with her fork halfway to her mouth before swiftly regaining her composure and lowering the utensil back to her plate. “Lines are being drawn amongst the recruits after that little tussle today,” she deadpans. “Do you want me on your side or not?”
“If it gets her to leave training camp, then sure,” he grumbles, pushing up to his feet and stabbing his fingers through his hair. “Ace, you ready?”
I ease off the bench in response, swiping my plate up from the table. “See you guys in the lounge,” I tell Beau and Eli, completely ignoring Chandler’s presence as I turn to Ares. “Wanna come hang out for a while?”
“Nah, it’s bar night for the squad leaders every Thursday, so I’m heading over after this,” he replies, shoveling another forkful of pasta into his mouth. “You guys should come.”
I glance Seb’s way, who gives a little shake of his head.
“Don’t think Seb’s in the mood to play nice with Madd,” I chuckle, turning back to Ares. “Maybe next time.”
Ares offers each of us parting fist-bump before we turn to head across the dining hall, dumping our plates in the wash bin on our way to the exit.
“You do realize you just called open season on River, right?” I murmur as the two of us start for the barracks.
Seb swings his gaze on me, brows knitting together. “No I didn’t.”
I heave a sigh, scrubbing a hand down my face. Seb’s my best friend in the world, but his mouth has a tendency to move faster than his brain. He doesn’t even realize the dumb shit he says half the time.
“You said you want her gone from training camp, how do you think that Chandler girl is gonna interpret that?”
Seb rolls his eyes, pushing into the barracks and heading for the staircase at the rear. “She’s dumb, but she’s not stupid. She wouldn’t try to go up against an Alpha.”
“She already said she doesn’t think of Riv as an Alpha,” I point out.
Seb pauses at the base of the stairs, pivoting to face me. His gaze shutters as he chews on the inside of his cheek. “Well if she runs her off, she’ll be doing us a favor,” he grumbles. “Don’t even try to tell me that you’re not all fucked up being around her. I can see it in your eyes every time you look at her.”
He’s not wrong.
“Chandler’s harmless, let her do her worst,” he continues, turning away and starting up the stairs. “It won’t be half as bad as what I’ll do if she sticks around.”
“You really think her leaving is the answer?” I mumble, ascending the stairs after him.