Page 41 of Brutal Reign
I roll my eyes, making a scoffing sound in my throat. “So I’ll leave camp? Because another Alpha being here threatens Seb’s power dynamic? Who the fuck knows. Whatever it is, I’m not gonna just sit back and take their bullshit. If they weren’t dead to me before, they sure as shit are now.”
“Well, if they’re trying to get people to talk, it’s working,” Gus admits with a wince. “Jake was talking all kinds of shit down in the barracks before we came up here.”
“I don’t give a fuck about Jake,” I mutter, lips twisting in a scowl. “He’s just salty because he tried to hit on me and I shut him down.”
“Wait, what?!” Hayden gasps, whipping her head around to gape at me. “When?”
Shit, kinda forgot I’d decided to keep that one to myself.
I suck in a deep breath, blowing it out through my nose as I scrub a hand over my face. “Last weekend, when I brought you home from the bar,” I admit.
“Girl, you’ve seriously been holding out on me,” Hayden admonishes. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because it wasn’t worth mentioning,” I say, waving her off like the entire incident was inconsequential. I purposefully leave out the part about the threats Jake made that night and how they’ve been eating away at me ever since. “I already put him in his place.”
“Yeah, but it’s not cool for him to be talking shit about you just because you turned him down,” Kendrick grumbles.
“Oh, I agree. But the male ego is a fragile thing,” I point out with a teasing wink.
The sound of footsteps ascending the stairs gives me pause, my pulse unwittingly kicking up a notch in nervous anticipation of who might be coming up them. I’m not ready to face Seb and Ace again. Not now; not when all of this is still so fresh.
The truth is, when each of them kissed me, I forgot I hated them for a second. I kissed them back. And when I did, I felt things I never have before; things I didn’t even know were possible from something as simple as a kiss. They weren’t just good kisses. They were fuckinggreat;the kind that made my toes curl and had fireworks exploding behind my eyes. The kind that instantly seared themselves into my memory for life.
I’ve never been kissed like that before, and in one night, it happenedtwice. And the fact that I liked it makes me hate myself almost as much as I hate the boys.
Honestly, the weekend can’t come soon enough. All this emotional turmoil is agitating my inner wolf, and I badly need to run off some of that wild energy under the full moon with my pack.
A high-pitched laugh sets my teeth on edge, Chandler entering the lounge with Bailey and Bella. I guess I should be relieved it isn’t the boys, but I’m not any happier to seeher.
“Wow, I didn’t know the freakshow was in town,” she remarks, locking eyes with me as she struts from the staircase in my direction.
Hayden whips her head around to cut Chandler a glare. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” she snarls, always quick to have my back. I shoot her a look that says to just leave it alone, but even as I do, I know she won’t listen. Hayden’s feisty as fuck and twice as loyal. Guess I can’t really complain when those qualities are among the reasons I love her so much.
Chandler points a finger at me, completely undeterred by Hayden’s threatening tone. “Ask your four-eyed friend there,” she sneers.
“Wow, Chan, you can’t even come up with a decent insult?” Gus scoffs, and I belatedly recall that he’s more familiar with Chandler than the rest of us, both of them hailing from the Westfield pack. “So what if River wears glasses? I think they look dope on her.”
He slides me a grin and I can’t help but crack a smile in return, warmth blooming in my chest.
“Me too,” Kendrick adds, tossing me a wink. “Chicks with glasses are hot. A lot of guys dig the whole sexy librarian vibe.”
I snort a laugh, playfully blowing Kendrick a kiss before turning back to Chandler and cocking a brow. “Well, now that’s settled, why don’t you go bother someone else? We were kinda in the middle of something here.”
“Only defective shifters wear glasses,” Chandler huffs, folding her arms over her chest as she doubles down on her insult. She flickers side-eyed glances at Bailey and Bella standing on either side of her, seeking backup by adding, “Don’t you agree, girls?”
My own gaze pings to Bella and we lock eyes, my wolf making herself known in mine. “I’d think long and hard before answering that, Bella,” I warn. “Don’t forget which pack you come from.”
I rarely, if ever, rely upon my pack rank when fighting my battles, but this specific scenario calls for an exception to that rule. An insult to me for needing glasses is an insult to my mom, and nobody messes with my family and gets away with it.
Bella’s mouth hinges open as her eyes dart between me and Chandler, the poor girl suddenly looking profoundly uncomfortable. Climbing the social ladder has always been part of who she is, but she’s also a shifter, which means pack comes first and above all else.
“Yeah, I’m just gonna go back downstairs,” Bella mumbles, hooking a thumb over her shoulder as she starts to back away. “I don’t wanna be a part of this.”
Chandler’s mouth falls open at the audacity of her friend’s failure to fall in line, and I’m not gonna lie, it’s a little bit satisfying. The corner of my own mouth lifts in a smirk as I unzip my toiletry bag to pull out a tube of chapstick, fighting back a smug grin.
“If you just came up here to start shit, then I’d suggest you go back downstairs, too,” Hayden bites out, still glaring daggers at Chandler.
She doesn’t take Hayden’s advice. Instead, Chandler ventures closer, as if she’s intent on joining our little foursome on the couches. “I’m not starting anything,” she snaps back at Hayden, then turns her gaze on me, lifting her chin. “In fact, I’m happy for you, River. I wasn’t sure before which one of them you had your eye on, but as long as it’s not Seb, we’re good.”