Page 4 of Brutal Reign (Shadowed Heirs #5)

4

PAST

I push open Ace’s bedroom door to let myself in, finding him sprawled out atop his bed wearing his big noise-cancelling headphones. He’s so zoned in on whatever he’s listening to that he doesn’t even notice me at first. It isn’t until I’m pushing the door closed behind me that he lifts his head to peer in my direction, sliding the headphones down off his ears to rest around his neck.

“Hey, babygirl,” he drawls in a low, gravelly tone, propping himself up on an elbow and lifting his chin in greeting. His voice has gotten so deep and growly over the past year. The nickname he gave me when we were kids hits different in that voice, giving me the good kind of shivers.

“Whatcha doin’?” I ask as I casually cross the room to him.

“Just listening to music.”

I flop down onto the mattress, my body bouncing as I land on my back beside him. “Sueco’s new album?”

“Nah, this old band I just discovered,” he replies, the corner of his mouth ticking up. “They’re pretty good, actually.”

I hold out a hand, wiggling my fingers, and he reaches up to slip the headphones from around his neck. I slide them on as soon as he hands them over, shutting out the sounds of the outside world as the music bleeds in through the earpieces to flood my brain.

He’s right, this band is good. I close my eyes and sink into the tune, feeling it flow through me down to my toes. I’ve loved music since before I was even born. My mom said she used to put headphones on her belly when I was in the womb, and she’d feel me dancing around in there to the music.

I listen to the song until it ends, then slide the headphones off and hand them back over to Ace. “Not bad,” I muse.

He smirks as he takes them from me, tossing them down onto the bed. “Actually, there’s this one song of theirs I wanna play you,” he murmurs, tapping on his phone screen to disconnect his headphones and queueing it up to play from the speaker instead.

As soon as it starts, he drops his phone between us on the bed, flopping onto his back again and tucking an arm up behind his head. I follow suit, reclining beside him as the song begins with a steady drum beat, my eyes sliding closed.

This is a familiar scene for us. Ace is drawn to music in the same way I am, and I can’t even count how many hours we’ve spent in this room just lounging around listening to it. As this particular song starts playing, though, the lyrics strike a chord with me. It’s a song about longing. About a guy throwing stones at a girl’s window, hoping for a chance.

I roll over onto my side, resting my cheek on a hand as my eyes map the sharp lines of Ace’s profile while the swell of the song’s chorus builds for a second time. I know boys don’t like to be called beautiful, but that’s what he is. From his strong brow to his harsh cheekbones, his features were clearly chiseled by some sculptor to the gods. Some of that boyish softness still lingers, but it’s fading every day.

I’m not sure when I started noticing the change, or more importantly, my reaction to it. Every time I’ve seen Seb or Ace recently, I swear my heart flutters around in my chest. Both of my friends have begun evolving into startlingly attractive men.

Ace’s eyes flicker sideways, catching me staring, and he rolls onto his side to face me, his hand landing right beside mine in the space between us. Close enough to touch. The key of the song changes as it slides into the bridge, and his ocean eyes lock with mine as I slowly move my pinky, brushing it against the side of his hand.

He doesn’t move away. Instead, he shifts his weight slightly, bringing our faces even closer. Those dreamy turquoise eyes of his drop to my lips, then bounce back up to meet mine just as the song nears its end.

I glance down at his lips, licking my own. “Dare you,” I whisper.

Ace freezes for a moment, then abruptly jerks upright, stabbing his fingers through his dark hair as he turns away. “River, I…”

“I was just kidding!” I rush out, curling up to sit as an uncomfortable laugh tumbles from my lips.

It’s easy enough to play off. ‘Dare you’ is basically our trio’s motto; we use it in challenge against one another to do all sorts of stupid, reckless things. We’ve been saying it for so long that I don’t even remember when it started.

“Yeah, I know,” Ace scoffs, snorting a hollow laugh.

Except maybe he doesn’t know, because maybe I wasn’t just joking around.

And this just got real awkward, real fast.

“Shit, well that was torture,” Seb groans as he barges into Ace’s room, flinging the door wide and stomping toward us. “I get that my dad wants to show me the ropes of being Alpha, but if he wants me to get excited about it, then sitting through a council meeting isn’t the move.”

I feel a blush rise to my cheeks as I shuffle further away from Ace on the bed, turning at the waist to face Seb as he approaches.

He must pick up on the uncomfortable vibe between the two of us, because Seb pauses in his steps, his suspicious gaze sliding between Ace and me. “What’d I miss?”

NOW

The familiar tune of Miles Davis no excitement. Being in the center of the action makes me feel alive.

The complex doors bang open again behind me, and Madd lifts his gaze to glance over my shoulder as the other recruits come streaming out of the building.

“Sorry, Riv, you know I would if I could,” he grumbles quietly, nudging my arm with a fist. “Hang in there, it’s only six weeks.”

“Yeah, I know,” I mutter. “It’s fine.”

Blowing out a disappointed breath, I pivot around to see my fellow recruits dropping their bags at the side of the building, and I jog over to join Hayden as soon as I catch sight of her violet ponytail. Her eyes widen when she sees me coming and she quickly ditches her stuff, striding across the field to meet me halfway.

“Where have you been?” she hisses in a whisper. “I almost sent a search party out for you!”

“I was talking to Madd about the dorms,” I sigh.

Her brows shoot up. “And?”

I frown, giving a little shake of my head. “No dice.”

“Dang. I was hoping I could just piggyback on your clout and move in with you,” she laughs. “Did you hear Kendrick snoring last night? If I didn’t know better, I’d for sure peg him as a bear shifter after hearing that. It was like…”

“Circle up, recruits!” Madd calls out loudly, his harsh tone making even me flinch.

Hayden snaps her mouth closed, grabbing onto my arm and tugging me toward the center of the practice field without another word. She’s shit scared of my cousin, even though I keep telling her he’s harmless. The other recruits must have similar feelings, because they hustle over quickly, all of us tucking in close to hear what Madd has to say.

“Hope you’re ready to get right down to it, because we’re going to be working on hand-to-hand combat today,” he informs us, sweeping his gaze over his captive audience. Then it suddenly lifts to look past us, the muscle in his jaw feathering. “I almost forgot, we also have a late arrival.”

We all turn at once to follow his gaze, and my stomach bottoms out when I see Ace Conway striding confidently across the field in our direction, a duffel slung over his shoulder and a lazy smirk on his lips. I swear the man only gets more beautiful each time I see him, and this one’s no exception. He moves in a fluid glide, chin held high and blue-green eyes half-lidded like always. Still a stoner, I see.

“Seven a.m. means seven a.m. ,” Madd admonishes as Ace detours to the side of the building to drop his bag before coming over to join the rest of us. “From here on out, if any of you are late, you’ll run laps,” he warns.

The recruits bob their heads in acknowledgement, refocusing their attention on Madd. Well, most of them do. A few are still whispering about the ‘late arrival’, speculating as to how and why he’s here.

“That’s not fair, he didn’t have to do the run yesterday,” I hear someone complain.

“I heard Micah gave up his spot,” someone else whispers.

Whatever the reason, I’m back to mentally cursing Madd for not finding a way to get me into the dorms. It was bad enough in the barracks with just Seb there, but Ace, too? I’m so screwed.

I don’t even realize I’m still staring in Ace’s direction until his eyes suddenly meet mine, my breath catching the moment our gazes collide. He at least acknowledges my existence, lifting his chin, but then I have to turn away to hide my blush. The simplest gesture from him still makes my heart flutter. Damnit.

“Alright, like I was saying, we’re gonna get started with hand-to-hand combat today,” Madd continues, the last of the whispers in the crowd dying out. “I want you to pair up, then form a circle around us here in the center of the field. Pick which one of you will rotate, and every time Tris blows the whistle, that person will be moving to the right for their next matchup. Got it?”

We all nod in understanding.

“Alright, pair up.”

Hayden spins toward me, grabbing for my hand. “Partners?”

“Duh,” I reply with a smile.

The two of us break away to find a spot on the field amongst the other pairs of recruits circling the squad leaders, and we’ve barely gotten into position across from one another before the whistle blows.

“Does that mean we start?” Hayden asks, cocking her head.

I lunge toward her in answer, aiming a punch at her gut that clips her side as she spins out of the way, throwing an elbow back into my ribs. Hayden and I have sparred together so many times before that it’s almost like a dance. We both know exactly when to bob and weave to deflect each other’s hits, and we also know how to showcase one another’s best skills. This first match isn’t about winning, it’s about putting on a performance for the squad leaders.

Too soon, the whistle blows, and Hayden offers me a fist-bump before moving to the right to meet her next opponent, a girl from my pack rotating over to take me on.

I’ve sparred against Bella before, too, so it’s another opportunity to show off my skills rather than actually defend myself. My adrenaline is still pumping, though, a rush of excitement burning through me as we battle it out. This adrenaline spike is what I live for; it’s one of the main reasons I want to be a squad warrior.

By my fifth match-up, I’m really starting to hit my stride, but then my next opponent takes his place in front of me and all that wild energy seems to leave my body on a single exhale.

There’s always been this dark, haunted quality about Ace Conway that only seems to multiply my attraction to him. Maybe it’s that look in his eyes that betrays the existence of wicked thoughts swirling beneath the surface, or the array of ink decorating his skin in stunning gothic depictions of skulls and roses. He’s always been an incredible artist, and he’s definitely got the whole brooding artist vibe down pat. Whatever it is, I wish it didn’t affect me like it does.

He used to wear his dark hair longer, but now it’s buzzed short, accentuating the angles of his face. My gaze snags on the fresh ink adorning the side of his throat, eyes tracing the lines of the new tattoo inked there: a playing card spade symbol.

“Ace of Spades, huh?” I remark, reaching up to tighten my ponytail. “Clever.”

The corner of his mouth ticks up as he sinks down into a defensive crouch. The pairs on either side of us have already started sparring, so I guess we’d better get down to it.

I launch toward him, aiming a fist at that chiseled jawline I’m so fond of. Ace sees my move coming from a mile away. He easily ducks the blow, dancing away before pivoting back toward me. He lifts his fists, bouncing on the balls of his feet, and I lunge for him again.

He dodges my advance smoothly, and the next one, and the one after that. He doesn’t try to take any hits of his own, and it becomes painfully obvious that he’s doing everything he can to avoid touching me.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I growl angrily as he swerves yet another hit, passing on the opportunity to get in one of his own.

“Gotta be quicker than that, Riv,” he mocks, effortlessly gliding away from me.

The whistle sounds, and Ace slips me an infuriating smirk before turning to move on to his next match-up, leaving me glaring at the back of his head.

“Hope you don’t expect me to go that easy on you,” Seb scoffs as he rotates in to take Ace’s place, pinning me with his intense, dark-eyed stare.

Once again, I’m knocked horrifically off balance at the sight of him alone. Where Ace is shadows, Seb is fire, and one look can set me ablaze. His lips pull into a wolfish grin as he gets into position, beckoning my advance with a flick of his head.

I waste no time in launching toward him with a frustrated snarl, and unlike Ace, he doesn’t dodge me. I’m on him in less than a second to deliver an uppercut straight to his jaw, my fist smacking against his flesh and his teeth clacking together. A heartbeat later, his own fist slams into my ribs, sending me sprawling sideways. I swing back around, but he’s already on me again, the two of us matching each other blow for blow in the struggle to get the upper hand.

While Ace’s sole purpose seemed to be avoiding touching me, Seb’s approach is the opposite. His hands are all over me, flinging me around and toying with me like prey. It’s goddamn infuriating. There are certain rules I usually respect while sparring, but every single one of them goes out the window in the face of my rage.

I aim a punch for his face, but he snatches my wrist out of the air before I can make contact. Then he brings my arm down and twists it sharply behind my back, spinning me around and stepping in behind me. “Ready to give up?” he growls into my ear, the heat of his body at my back burning through me like wildfire.

“Never,” I grit out, slamming my head backwards. I hear a satisfying crack when it collides with his nose, seizing his moment of surprise to yank my wrist free of his grip. Pivoting around to face him again, I find blood streaming from his nostrils, a feral look in his gold-flecked eyes.

Before I can even blink, Seb tackles me to the ground. I throw my weight to the side and the momentum sends us rolling, both of us grunting and cursing as we take cheap shots at one another and grapple for the upper hand.

“Hey!” Madd yells as I finally manage to throw my weight on top of Seb.

I crank back a fist, but then an arm bands around my waist and yanks me off him. I kick and spit and curse as the squad leaders work to pull the two of us apart, hating that Seb got me this worked up but also unable to see past my blinding rage and indignation.

“That’s enough!” Madd bellows, infusing so much Alpha command behind his tone that my inner wolf whines. He lets go of me, sidestepping to look between me and Seb angrily. “If you two have a problem with each other, then sort it the fuck out while you’re off my field,” Madd snarls, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. “But right now, both of you can give me ten laps around the track.”

I throw my head back, scrubbing my hands down my face as I groan in dissent.

Could this day get any worse?

“Now!” Madd barks, and I cut one last glare Seb’s way before dragging my ass over to the track, muttering curses under my breath the entire way.

This is all his fault, but he’s not even fazed. He lopes off ahead of me, starting in on his laps like it’s a minor inconvenience, while for me, this is the worst form of torture.

The only thing I hate more than Seb Walker is running.