ASTRID “Astrid!” Quinn calls from her desk in the back of the room when I walk into the IT hub on Monday, peering at me over her computer monitor and waving a hand to beckon me.I smile brightly, making my way down the aisle between the desks in the hub to her workstation. I really like Quinn- we’ve always been friendly over video chat, and since meeting her in person we’ve become fast friends.“Hey!” I chirp, rounding the corner of her desk. I set my butt on the edge beside her, leaning back on my palms. “What’s up?”I hear the whir of the wheels of Brooke’s desk chair against the floor as she slides over from her spot on the other side of the aisle, positioning herself in front of me with a look of determination on her face that rivals Quinn’s.I glance suspiciously from one girl to the other. “What?”“Are you gonna s

BROCK   I hate the way that Astrid makes me feel out of control. I tell myself that I’m going to keep my distance, and then as soon as I see her, I’m instantly yanked to her like a magnet. I can’t resist her scent, her sexy little body. Her bright smile and that airy giggle. Her eternal optimism. Somehow all the things I used to find annoying about her are suddenly adorable, and it frustrates me to no end. Like my body and my instincts are betraying my rational mind. Practice with the squad on Tuesday morning isn’t enough to take the edge off, so I decide to extend my workout by hitting the weight room at the complex with Jax and Theo afterwards. It’s the best time to go because most of the squad is in the dining hall for lunch, and we walk in to find that we’ve basically got the place to ourselves. The three of us alternate spotting and lifting, and a half an hour in, my muscles are sufficiently burning. It’s a good burn. The k

BROCK   “So we’re looking at a week to ten days,” Reid sighs, cracking his knuckles in front of him and leaning back in his chair. “Meaning we should’ve already sent the first half of the squad down there.” The five of us squad leaders are gathered in the conference room at the complex, and the tension in here is so thick that it’s almost suffocating. “So let’s send them in the morning,” Theo suggests. “We already split ‘em up, told them to be ready at a moment’s notice…” “We’re gonna have to,” Gray agrees. A grim silence settles over us, because this right here, this moment, is when it becomes real. We’re sending off our warriors, knowing full well the real cost of war. That some of them won’t be coming back. It’s a reality that, fortunately, our squad has never had to face until now. As the leaders, all five of us feel responsible for the squad members, so the thought of taking casualties is a h

BROCK I should’ve known that things were going too well. Whenever that happens, it’s only a matter of time before something comes along to fuck it all up. That something in this case is pretty boy Sam from Denver, showing up and putting his hands all over Astrid like he fucking owns her. Like he’s got a death wish.My wolf hates the smug little fucker. I’d love to teach him the hard way that I don’t tolerate other people touching my things. At this point, the only thing preventing me from tearing his stupid face off is the fact that Astrid cares for him- and the whole alliance with the Denver pack, of course. Can’t forget that.Sam has spent the entire day glued to Astrid’s fucking hip, so we haven’t had a moment alone to discuss why the hell it is that he showed up here. I can only go off of what she’s told me in the past- that her and Sam grew up together, that they u

BROCK I heard her come in. I’d been laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, going over the events of the entire fucked up day in my head. Replaying everything that went down at the bar. Trying to rationalize why I flipped the fuck out on her. And then I heard the front door swing open and her high heels clacking on the tile in the foyer.After I left the bar, I shifted and ran back to Riverton. I drank too much to drive, and letting my wolf out helped calm me down. The problem is, once I was calmer, it started to sink in that I was probably rougher on Astrid than I should’ve been. Damaged people only inflict damage on others- and I guess that’s me. When pushed to the brink, I demolish everything in my path.I don’t even know why I decided to get out of bed and go downstairs. I guess just to make sure she made it back safely? I certainly didn’t have any intention of trying to talk to her about w