Page 63 of Brutal Reign
As usual, he doesn’t disappoint.
“Since Jake issued a challenge, the Alphas need to stand together in solidarity,” he states confidently, as if he’s planned and rehearsed this excuse for our sudden change in attitude toward River.Knowing him, he probably has.“It’s what’s best for the alliance. If there’s a disruption in one pack’s dynamics, it impacts all of us.”
“Oh yeah, that makes sense,” Eli quips, nodding.
“Totally,” Beau agrees.
I give them a tight-lipped smile before turning on a heel, starting across the dining hall for my girl. She’s still sitting at her table all alone, so I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to have our company.
Orshe’ll get all pissy and tell us to leave. That’s the more likely scenario, but there’s no harm in being optimistic, right?
I bump my shoulder against Ace’s as he falls into step beside me, shooting him a side-eyed glance. “Hey, thanks for that,” I mutter under my breath.
He slides me a sly smirk. “Figured they wouldn’t question anything to do with pack politics.”
He’s right– Eli and Beau couldn’t care less about the inner workings of pack dynamics. Only Micah would be curious enough to ask follow-up questions, so it’s a good thing he gave up his spot to Ace and left training camp weeks ago.
Kinda miss the little fucker, though.
Ace and I are the closest, but we’ve been friends with Beau, Eli, and Micah our whole lives, too. Though it started out as a forced friendship since our dads were all close growing up, the five of us have formed our own bond.
And speaking of bonds…
River looks up from her plate as Ace and I approach her table, abruptly stopping mid-chew to frown at us disapprovingly. Since her mouth’s full, though, she can’t voice a protest as we round it to claim the spots on either side of her. Throwing a long leg over the bench, I drop down and slide my plate onto the table, scooching close enough for our thighs to brush beneath it. She flinches away, but that only sends her bumping into Ace on her other side, her posture going rigid.
Damn, she’s cute when she’s flustered.
It’s why I’ve always enjoyed riling her up, and I know she gets the same satisfaction in pushing my buttons. We’re ether and kerosene; constantly hovering just one match strike away from catastrophe… and there’s nobody I’d rather burn up with.
River finally finishes chewing and swallowing her food, curling in her shoulders to make herself as small as possible between us in a bid to avoid physical contact. “What the hell do you guys think you’re doing?” she whispers sharply.
“Having dinner with my girl,” I reply, smooth as butter. Picking up my fork, I spear a piece of meat off my plate, grinning as I bring it to my lips.
Her brows pinch together in frustration, but I don’t miss the way her gaze flickers to my lips as I take a bite before she shakes her head, frowning. “I’m not-”
“Are we really doing this again?” Ace sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face wearily. “C’mon, guys, we can share one meal together in peace. Riv, this’ll just lay the groundwork for us being friends again, and Seb, stop saying shit that you know will provoke her. We said we’d keep it quiet, so keep it fucking quiet, eh?”
I roll my eyes as I grunt in agreement, still chewing my food.
Hayden approaches the other side of the table, breaking up our happy little trio when she drops her plate onto thesurface. Her eyes ping from me to Ace before settling on River, a perfectly sculpted brow lifting in question. “What’s with the henchmen?” she asks, wrinkling her nose as she climbs onto the bench and sits down.
“Just ignore them,” River sighs, waving a hand dismissively. “I am.”
I whip my head in her direction, mouth dropping open in offense, but she doesn’t turn my way to engage. The little minx seems dead set on this game of hard-to-get she’s playing.
Here’s the thing- I may be an asshole, but I’m not completely dense. I realize that she’s got every right to be mad at us for how we’ve treated her. That still doesn’t change the fact she’smine, and no matter how hard she tries to push me away, I’m not giving up on her.
Knowing what I do now, I regret every-fucking-thing I did from the age of fifteen on, but I can’t go back and change it. I can’t hit the rewind button and slap myself upside the head for being a fucking idiot and putting my duty to my pack ahead of River. I’ll be the first to admit I should’ve handled things differently, but now that fate has put us on a collision course, there has to be a way to make things right between us again.
It’d help if I wasn’t so fucking bad at this. I’m totally out of my wheelhouse because I’ve never really dated anyone. There was only one girl I ever wanted to date, and now that I actuallycan, I need her to give me a chance, not the cold shoulder.
I swear if she just told me what to do to make this work, I’d fucking do it.
Finally accepting that Riv isn’t going to turn and look at me, I swing my gaze across the dining hall with a resigned sigh. Gus and Kendrick are making their way over here, but they stop in their tracks the moment they spot me and Ace cozied up to Riv, whispering to one another for a few seconds before hesitantly continuing in our direction.
Kendrick claims the spot across from me, looking completely unbothered by my presence as he drops his plate and sinks down on the bench beside Hayden. Gus looks decidedly more nervous as he takes a seat on her other side, immediately looking to River for an explanation.
“Um, so what’s…” he starts, but she cuts him off with a shake of her head.