Page 15 of Brutal Reign (Shadowed Heirs #5)

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T he evening breeze whips through the trees, rattling the canopy of leaves overhead while I pause to inhale deeply through my nose. It’s windier than usual tonight, making it more difficult to stay on the scent I’ve been tracking since I shifted. Luckily, I’ve got an edge that most other wolves don’t– my mom’s a tracker. Sharpened senses are woven into my DNA beyond the norm of most shifters, and though I’ve still got a long road ahead of me when it comes to honing my skills, I’ve already got a handle on the basics.

That’s how I know I’m getting close. Not only is Ace’s scent getting stronger, but his presence is also so damn familiar that my wolf can sense he’s near. The two of us have been running together for years. I knew he’d be out here because I know my best friend like the back of my hand, and on the rare occasion he allows himself to get riled up, the only way he can cool down again is by shifting to his wolf and going for a run to burn off his aggression.

I need the mental reset right now just as much as he does. I didn’t fully understand what was going through his head until I stood there and watched him kiss River, but now… well, it was a harsh reminder of exactly why we made that pact in the first place.

A flash of silver catches my eye through the trees up ahead and I spring forward in pursuit, the damp earth of the creekbed squelching beneath my paws. He hears me coming, whipping around in alarm, but the moment our gazes lock and he recognizes my wolf, he visibly relaxes. Ace knows why I’m out here; why I need to run off this frustration just as badly as he does. And he knows I’d always rather run with him by my side.

For a second, I wonder if he’ll wait up for me. I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t. But as we stare at one another, a silent understanding passes between us, and when I start toward him, he doesn’t turn away. He waits for me to catch up, then the two of us take off in tandem to continue our sprint through the forest.

We could use the pack mind-link to communicate with one another while in our wolf forms, but we don’t. Words aren’t what we need right now. We’ll hash things out once we’ve both calmed down, but for now, each of us needs this time to be alone with our thoughts, the wind whipping through our fur and our paws thundering against the forest floor.

A peace settles between us as we wind through the overgrown foliage together; an unspoken show of support and solidarity. Despite what happened tonight, me and Ace are a team and we’ll always have each other’s backs. It’ll take a whole lot more than a single argument to dismantle the friendship we’ve spent our entire lives building.

Time slips away, the moon rising higher in the night sky overhead before we eventually wind up back at the grove of trees near the gate to the squad complex where we left our clothes. I found Ace’s stuff stacked neatly on a log when I came out here looking for him. He always takes the time to fold his clothes when he shifts, while I just toss mine aside haphazardly– and if that’s not a reflection of who we are as people, I don’t know what is. My boy always has his shit together, while I’m a goddamn mess.

Nobody knows that, though. Well, nobody but Ace. I barely admit it to myself half the time.

The two of us shift back to our human forms, tucking our wolves away and getting dressed in silence. All the while, the air between us rapidly thickens with tension. It won’t be cleared until we talk about it. As much as I wish we could just move forward like none of this ever happened, things won’t be the same between us until we get everything out in the open.

Still, we take our sweet ass time getting down to it. Ace sits on the log and pulls a joint from his hoodie pocket, sparking it up. The two of us pass it back and forth, and only when the spent roach is tossed to the ground and crushed beneath his heel does Ace finally clear his throat to speak.

“You get it now, don’t you?” he grumbles, stuffing his hands into the front pocket of his sweatshirt.

I jerk a nod, dropping down onto the log to sit beside him. “Yeah, I do,” I reply quietly, staring down at my boots. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I fucked up our deal. It never should’ve happened, I just…” I heave a sigh as I trail off, shaking my head. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“Me neither,” Ace admits, shooting me a side-eyed glance. “It was pretty great though, huh.”

“Yeah,” I sigh, stabbing my fingers through my hair. “ Fuck .”

A pause settles between us as my mind wanders back to how good it felt to finally give into those long-suppressed urges; how fucking incredible it was to finally just grab ahold of River and kiss her the way I’ve always wanted to. I lift my head, flickering a glance toward Ace, and I can tell he’s thinking about the same thing, staring off into the forest with a faraway look in his eyes.

“It can’t happen again,” he murmurs, idly running the tip of his index finger along the curve of his upper lip.

“I know,” I growl.

“If it does…”

“I know, alright?” I cut in, throwing my head back in exasperation and scrubbing a hand over my face. I don’t need him to spell it out for me. “ Fuck .”

If it were any other girl, this wouldn’t be an issue. Ace and I have always played well together. If we just wanted to get into River’s pants, we’d happily share her, but that wouldn’t be enough for either of us. Not when it comes to her .

“So what now?” I grumble, throwing my hood up as I turn to look at Ace.

“Well, that depends,” he muses. “Think you can control yourself around her?”

I cut him a glare, lips twisting in a scowl.

“Hey, it’s a legitimate question,” he chuckles, leaning over to bump his shoulder into mine. “You’re impulsive.”

“I know,” I mutter, eyes glazing over as I stare down at the dirt again. “Which is why I need her to hate me. Then she’ll keep her distance, and I won’t get the chance to fuck things up again.”

Ace blows out a breath. “You know you’re only hurting yourself by doing that, man…”

“What other choice do I have?” I snap, whipping my head in his direction. “A deal’s a deal, right? And this is the only way I can uphold my end of it.”

His Adam’s apple bobs with a hard swallow as he nods in solemn understanding. “Right. I just wish there was another way.”

“Trust me,” I grumble, chest tightening painfully as I kick the toe of a boot against the dirt. “Nobody wishes that more than me.”

The crack of gunfire echoes through the forest as Andie and Nash take aim at the paper targets affixed to the trees across the clearing, shredding the centers of them as they fire off several rounds in demonstration. The sharp scent of sulfur tickles my nose as I watch them simultaneously lower their weapons, sharing a smirk with one another before turning around to face the anxious crowd of recruits gathered for firearms training.

“Alright, any questions before we get started?” Andie asks, sweeping her gaze over us.

We all shake our heads, tired of standing around and eager to jump in and actually train. We’ve already been out here for a good half hour while Andie and Nash bored us to tears with their lecture on gun safety. I understand the sentiment behind it, but we’re not fucking toddlers. Exercising caution while using a weapon is an easy enough concept to grasp.

Guns have always been looked down upon in shifter culture, so most go their whole lives without so much as touching one. That all changed when humans started hunting us with them, though. Teeth and claws aren’t a fair matchup against firepower, so we had to adapt, and although the hunters have since been dealt with, the squad’s keeping gun training in the mix. Better safe than sorry, I guess.

“Okay then,” Andie chirps, her red-painted lips curving in a mischievous smile as she holds out her rifle in offering. “Who wants to go first?”

A few recruits rush forward and push at one another to be first in line, but me and my boys hang back, content to wait it out and watch while the try-hards likely fuck this up. Firing a gun is a new and exciting experience for them, but the four of us have done it before. My family is close with the Raines’, all of whom are expert marksmen. Me and my buddies have joined Ares for target practice out on his family’s range several times. For us, this introductory training exercise should be a fucking cakewalk.

“And here I thought you’d be first in line,” Chandler comments as she comes up beside me, sliding a hand onto my shoulder.

My whole body tenses beneath her touch, my jaw clenching as I shrug her hand off before turning to pin her with a harsh stare. “And why’s that?” I growl, folding my arms across my chest as I take a step backwards, my inner wolf revolting at her proximity.

His visceral reaction to this girl seems to be growing stronger by the day.

Chandler bats her lashes with a flirty little giggle, evidently not picking up on my extreme ‘fuck off’ vibes. “Well, Alphas should always be first, shouldn’t they?”

“True Alphas don’t need to shove to the front of the line to assert their dominance,” Ace murmurs in response, crossing his own arms to mirror my stance.

“Oh, you know what I mean,” she tuts, rolling her eyes as she dismisses his input with the condescending wave of a hand. “Seb gets it.”

Yeah , I really don’t like this girl. There’s no faster way to piss off an Alpha than by disrespecting his Beta. I don’t like the way she treats Ace, and I don’t like her stupid mean girl shit she’s pulled with River, either. But most of all, I don’t like how she can’t seem to keep her fucking hands to herself, always getting in my space when I’ve made it pretty fucking clear that I’m not interested.

In an extreme exercise of impulse control, I don’t snap off on her like I want to. Instead, I draw a steadying breath and turn away, leaving her behind to stride over to where the other recruits are lined up waiting their turn for target practice.

Unfortunately, I only wind up walking away from one problem and right into another. River’s waiting in line, and my eyes are drawn to hers like a magnet, a little crease forming between her brows as her gaze meets mine before pinging beyond me to Chandler. Realization dawns that she just likely saw the entire exchange go down between us, and the fact that she’s not glaring at me like usual is a pretty solid indication she’s reading into it more than she should.

Fuck.

I quickly look away, carding my fingers through my hair as I scramble for some way to regain control of the situation. Andie’s bending down to grab a fresh target from the crate, and when the two of us make eye contact, I blurt out the first thing that comes to my mind.

“Nice ass, Raines!”

Ugh, it felt weird even saying that; Andie’s like a big sister to me. Her face screws up in confusion, and I feel like a complete dumbass as I double down by winking at her.

“Hey!” Nash snarls, jerking me a glare over his shoulder.

Shit. Kinda forgot they were mated.

Andie straightens, narrowing her eyes on me as she marches purposefully in my direction. I try to play it off by barking a laugh, but she doesn’t seem amused by my antics, grabbing onto my arm and yanking me out of line. I feel like a complete fucking idiot as I stumble after her to the edge of the clearing, safely out of earshot of my fellow recruits.

“What the fuck was that?” she hisses as she drops my arm, folding her own across her chest with a frown.

“C’mon, I was just fucking around,” I chuckle. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Andie narrows her eyes, searching mine. “What’s going on with you lately?” she asks suspiciously.

My smile dissolves in an instant. “Nothing,” I grumble, averting my gaze.

“Mhmm,” she muses, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she glances back toward the other recruits. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with River, would it?” she questions, arching a dubious brow.

Shit . This is the problem with lying to the people you’re close to- they see right the fuck through it.

“What? No!” I insist, shaking my head adamantly.

The corner of her mouth ticks up. Yeah, she’s not buying my bullshit for a second.

“You sure?” Andie presses, poking a finger into my chest.

“No,” I growl, swatting her hand away. “I mean yes , I’m sure.”

She tilts her head as she studies my face, squinting like she’ll find all the answers there if she just looks hard enough. “Are you ever gonna tell me what happened between you guys?”

“Nope,” I reply flatly. “There’s nothing to tell. We used to be friends, now we’re not. Sorry for saying you have a nice ass. You do, but you know you’re like a sister to me, and I didn’t mean to piss Nash off…” I trail off with a wince, darting a glance in his direction. “Kinda forgot you two were a thing, if I’m being honest.”

“Uh huh,” she drawls, clucking her tongue and rolling her eyes. Then she points a finger at me again, her expression stern. “Get your shit together, Walker. If I catch you commenting on my ass again, or just being a douchebag in general, I’ll slap the shit outta you. Got it?”

“Noted,” I reply, chuckling uncomfortably.

Andie punches her hands onto her hips, nodding in satisfaction. “And play nice with Riv, huh?” she adds, giving me a pointed look.

I frown. There’s a lot of things I want to do with River, but playing nice isn’t one of them.

I don’t want to play nice. I want to fucking consume her.

“Fine,” I grit out.

She nods again, the corners of her mouth lifting as she tips her head in the direction of the others. “Alright, get back over there and get in line, recruit.”

“Yes ma’am,” I mock, making a face at her as I turn on a heel and start back for the line.

Goddamnit.

She’s right. I really need to get my fucking shit together.