Page 1 of Brutal Reign (Shadowed Heirs #5)

1

THREE YEARS AGO

“ S he’s not coming, bro,” I grumble, kicking the leg of Ace’s chair to get his attention as I approach with a couple of beers, thrusting one toward him in offering.

He snaps his gaze up from the treeline across the clearing, meeting my eyes as he takes the frosty can from my hand. “I wasn’t…”

“Sure you weren’t,” I snort. Sidestepping past him, I drop down into the weathered Adirondack chair positioned beside my best friend’s, kicking my long legs out in front of me as I pop the tab on my own can. “Neither was I,” I mumble as I bring it to my mouth, staring off into the trees.

The carbonation scalds my throat as I take a long swig of the beer, forcing thoughts of hazel eyes and full lips painted with strawberry chapstick to the back of my mind where they belong. Truthfully, they shouldn’t even be taking up residence there in the first place, but that’s the only aspect of this whole fucked up thing I can’t shut down.

‘ Out of sight, out of mind’ my ass.

Ace and I silently sip our beers as we sit side by side, staring at the same damn break in the treeline where the trail comes out while thinking the same damn thing about the same damn girl. We don’t talk about it, though. We’ve already had that conversation and it’s the kind you only need to have once. The kind that changes everything.

“Fire’s getting low,” I comment loudly enough for our other friends seated around us to hear.

Eli immediately springs to his feet with an excited gleam in his eye, hustling over to the firewood rack to remedy the situation.

“Not too much,” Ace reminds him as Eli starts filling his arms with as many logs as he can carry.

Eli grumbles something under his breath, tossing a few of the logs back down before carrying the rest over to the pit. Our buddy Beau jumps up to help, and the two of them begin circling the metal ring, strategically adding the fresh logs to the fire one by one.

The bonfire pit on the edge of my pack’s territory has always been a prime hangout spot, but it wasn’t until Ace and I turned fifteen that our parents started allowing us to have fires out here without adult supervision. Part of the agreement was that we’d keep both the fires and the crowd small. So far, we’ve kept our word on the fire part, but as for the crowd… well, word spreads fast, especially amongst a bunch of bored teenage shifters. We never know who’ll turn up.

We know who won’t, though. River Jacobsen is the daughter of the most overbearing, overprotective Alpha in our alliance– his only child – and she’s rarely able to sneak out after dark. Which is probably a good thing, since Ace and I have been actively trying to distance ourselves from her.

Doesn’t mean she’s taken the hint.

The newly added logs quickly catch fire, the flames licking higher into the dark sky as Eli rocks back on a heel to proudly admire his work.

“Think it could still use a couple more,” Beau comments, swiping a hand over his chin as he gazes upon the inferno.

“You want Alpha to turn up and shut this down?” Ace scoffs, swinging his gaze between our friends.

Eli and Beau blanch simultaneously, shaking their heads. They’ve got a healthy fear of my dad, which I suppose is a good thing since he’s our pack’s Alpha. He’ll retire someday, and as his eldest and only son, I’ll be taking his place. Ace’s old man holds the Beta rank in our pack, so the two of us grew up in the packhouse together and were raised like brothers. When I become Alpha, he’ll be my Beta, and we’ll rule our pack side by side.

We already rule our friend group with the same dynamic. Beau and Eli back away from the fire pit, respecting Ace’s warning without further argument. Could just be because they’re scared shitless of my dad, but either way, it works, and I don’t have to lift a finger. I lazily extend a fist in Ace’s direction, prompting him to bump his knuckles against mine.

It’s the usual crowd here tonight– mostly kids from our own pack, plus a couple stragglers from the neighboring territories of Goldenleaf and Riverton. About thirty, give or take, which is twenty more than we told our parents we’d invite to our weekend bonfires. Oh well . We’re not supposed to be drinking either, but Beau showed up with two cases of beer that he talked his older brother into buying for him, and none of us hesitated to crack them open and catch a buzz. What our parents don’t know won’t hurt them.

Beau wanders over to the cooler, popping the lid and bending at the waist to reach inside. “Anyone else need another beer?” he asks as he fishes through the ice for a can.

“I’ll take one,” I say, even though I’ve already had too many for my own good and this cheap shit tastes like piss.

“Same,” Ace echoes.

“Did someone say beer?” Gloria asks, rocking up to the fire pit with a couple of her girlfriends in tow. Don’t know their names. Don’t care.

The girls around here are always thirsty as fuck, batting their lashes at me and Ace whenever we glance their way. It’s not hard to draw female attention when you’re primed for pack rank. We could be reaping the benefits of our status, getting our dicks sucked right here by the fire, but instead, we’re both hung up on the same girl; the only one neither of us can ever have. And if that’s not the world’s biggest mindfuck, I don’t know what is.

“I’ve always got a beer for you, Glo,” Beau replies smoothly, thrusting a can toward her as she approaches. He slides his gaze between the two girls at her back, the corner of his mouth kicking up in a smirk. “Who are your friends?”

“This is Bella, she’s from Summervale,” Gloria replies, tossing a thumb over her shoulder to indicate the blonde on her left.

I perk up at the mention of Summervale, gazing upon the blonde with renewed interest. Summervale is Alpha Theo’s territory– the aforementioned overbearing asshole who keeps his daughter under lock and key. The daughter I’m not supposed to be thinking about.

“And you already know Hilary,” Glo continues, gesturing to the brunette before narrowing her eyes on Beau. “Or did you forget hitting on her right in front of me last weekend?”

Beau chuckles uncomfortably, stabbing his fingers through his thick blonde hair. “Aw, c’mon, Glo, you know I was outta my mind last weekend…”

She slaps a hand on her hip, rolling her eyes dramatically. “That’s no excuse. But I’ll consider forgiving you if you keep these comin’,” she says, swiping the beer can from his hand.

Beau really needs to work on his poker face, because it’s getting redder by the second.

“Sure thing,” he breathes, trying to recover his composure by bending down to fish a couple more beers out of the ice. By the time he straightens, though, Glo and her friends are already strutting away to join the other girls on the opposite side of the fire. His posture deflates and he knocks the lid of the cooler closed, carrying the cans our way instead and tossing them to me and Ace.

“Since when did Glo get so stuck up?” Beau grumbles, huffing out a breath as he drops down into his chair and pops the tab on his own beer.

“She’s always been like that, you’re just blinded by her ass,” Eli snickers.

Beau gazes wistfully in Glo’s direction, rolling his lower lip between his teeth. “It’s a nice ass, though.”

“Psh, there’s plenty of chicks with nicer asses than hers,” I remark, draining the rest of my beer before popping open the new one. “Avery Kessler, Esme Steele, Jackie Kline…”

“Dude,” Ace interrupts, kicking the leg of my chair.

I ignore him, continuing on. “Trisha Ridgeway, Andie Raines, Lo Anderson…”

“ Seb ,” Ace demands, louder this time.

“What?” I snap, whipping my head toward him to see what the hell’s suddenly so damn important. He’s not looking my way, though. He’s staring off in the same direction he has been all night, but this time, when I follow his gaze, my brain fucking short-circuits.

The glow of the fire highlights River’s striking features as she makes her way closer, wearing ripped jeans and an oversized hoodie that swallows up her slender frame. Her hands are stuffed in the front pocket, her dark, pin-straight hair brushing her elbows with every step she takes in her beat-up Converse sneakers.

“What are you doing here?” I blurt as she approaches, those piercing hazel eyes locking with mine.

“Wow, nice welcome,” she snorts, dropping down into her usual chair beside my own and tucking her legs up underneath her.

Ace punches me in the arm, leaning forward. “He means, how’d you get past the guards?”

“My parents are in Denver for the weekend,” she replies, shrugging a shoulder nonchalantly. “Cory and Ellie are a lot easier to sneak past.”

I narrow my eyes on her in suspicion. “What if you get caught?”

“Since when do you care about getting into trouble?” she retorts, arching a perfectly sculpted brow.

“He means…”

“I don’t need you to translate for me, Ace,” I grumble, lifting my beer to my lips and knocking it back.

This is the exact reason we’ve been distancing ourselves from her- because Ace and I never used to argue or snap off on each other. We used to think of Riv as one of the guys, but then she went ahead and got hot on us overnight, complicating the fuck out of our friendship.

I never used to notice how smooth and soft that olive skin of hers looks. How long and thick her dark lashes are, or the way they fan out over her cheeks when she blinks. How her high cheekbones look like they’re cut from marble but are somehow also delicate and feminine. River Jacobsen is a fucking knockout, and while she doesn’t seem to have a clue, I can’t un-see it. Wish I could.

I drain my beer in a few gulps, crushing the empty can in a fist and tossing it onto the fire. “If this comes back to bite us, it’ll be your fault,” I mutter.

“Wow, what crawled up your ass today?” River scoffs. She shakes her head as she pulls a tube of strawberry chapstick out of her hoodie pocket, popping the top.

My eyes zero in on her plump lips as she swipes it over them. “I’m just sayin’.”

“Well say less,” she sighs, rolling her eyes as she replaces the top on her chapstick. She slides her gaze to Beau as she slips it back into the front pocket of her hoodie. “Got a beer for me, B?”

“Always,” he drawls, pushing up from his seat with a wink.

Riv leans back in her chair, flipping the hood of her sweatshirt up over her head as she surveys the crowd gathered around the bonfire pit. “Lotta people here tonight.”

“Word spreads fast,” I mumble.

“Where’s Micah?”

“Couldn’t get out. His parents have been breathing down his neck lately.”

“I know the feeling,” she chuckles, gazing into the flames.

“Heads up, beautiful,” Beau calls out as he returns with a beer, tossing it toward River. I snatch it out of the air in front of her, cutting him a glare before I turn to meet her eyes.

“Thanks,” she breathes, reaching out to take the can from me. Our fingers brush, my pulse kicking up a notch.

Fuck.

She shouldn’t be here.

This was supposed to be a chill night, but now I’m on edge.

Ace plucks the joint he rolled earlier from behind his ear, digging a hand into the pocket of his jeans and pulling out his Zippo lighter. The two of us are so in tune with one another that it’s fucking scary sometimes. A little herb is exactly what I need right now to take the edge off.

He sparks it up and takes a couple hits, Riv wrinkling her nose when the skunky smell wafts her way.

“Got a problem?” I ask her as I reach over to steal the joint from Ace.

“No,” she replies stiffly.

I pinch it between my lips, inhaling deep and holding the smoke in my lungs. “Then take a hit,” I challenge, holding it out to her in offering. “Dare you.”

Hazel eyes bounce between the smoldering joint and my own as she chews on her lower lip. “Nah, I’m good.”

I exhale the smoke on a chuckle. “Yeah you are,” I tease, eyes dropping to the unopened beer in her hand as I take another drag. “A perfect angel.”

She purses those full, glossed lips, narrowing her eyes on me.

“Dude, have you seen the rack on that Bella girl?” Beau remarks as he flops back down in his chair.

I turn to glance toward the girl in question, shrugging as I pass the joint back to Ace. “I’d hit it.”

“Good luck,” Riv mutters.

I swivel my gaze her way again, making a scoffing sound in my throat. “I don’t need luck. I’m me .”

“Yeah, well unless you’re her fated mate, I doubt she’s interested,” River replies dryly. “Pretty sure she’s saving herself for him.”

“So she’s a prude then,” Eli comments.

Riv rolls her eyes so hard I’ll bet she sees the back of her skull. “And you’re a douche,” she fires back, the corner of her mouth pulling into a smirk as she tilts her head. “Then again, that’s not exactly news, is it?”

Eli clutches his chest dramatically, wincing. “Ouch, Riv, I thought we were friends.”

“Nah, I just tolerate you,” she teases, sticking her tongue out at him.

A hot spike of jealousy flares in my chest, my hands clenching into fists atop the armrests of my chair.

“Being picky doesn’t make someone a prude,” Ace murmurs, knocking the ash off the tip of the joint before passing it back to me.

“There’s a difference between being picky and holding out for someone who you might not ever even meet,” Eli reasons.

River finally cracks open the damn beer she’s been holding, smiling to herself as she raises it to her lips. “I dunno, I think the idea of saving it for your fated mate is kinda romantic.”

“Well, that’s something a nerd like you won’t have to worry about,” I snort.

She pauses with the rim of the can against her lips, hurt flashing in her eyes before she averts her gaze and lowers the beer without even taking a sip. “I should probably get back before someone notices I’m gone,” she mumbles quietly, sliding her feet to the ground and pushing up from her chair.

“What, but you just got here!” Beau protests. “And you just cracked your beer!”

“I’ll take it for the road,” she replies smoothly, tipping the can toward him with a smile that doesn’t quite meet her eyes.

Ace nudges my arm as she turns away, but I dart him a glare with a tight shake of my head.

This is the way it has to be.

We both know it, even though it fucking hurts. Even though that look in her eyes is gonna fucking haunt me.

“Now that’s a nice ass,” Beau remarks, biting down on a fist as he watches River retreat.

I snap my head in his direction, my upper lip curling back from my teeth in a snarl. “You like having your eyes in their sockets?”

Said eyes widen. “But I thought…”

“ Don’t think, not about her. Ever. Understood?”

He nods quickly, lifting his palms in surrender. “Yeah, man, of course.”

“Good,” I growl, sliding my gaze back to Ace.

We exchange a long look, but neither of us say a word. Because we’ve already had that conversation and it’s the kind you only need to have once.

The kind that changes everything.