Page 12 of Brutal Reign
He squints in suspicion, seeing right through my bullshit. “What do you want?”
I heave a sigh, my posture slackening as I bring up a hand to rest on my hip. “A dorm room,” I say, cutting right to the chase.
“No,” he replies flatly.
“C’mon, Madd, please?” I whine, stepping in closer and setting a hand on his arm. “I thought I was your favorite cousin.”
He shrugs my hand off, rolling his eyes. “You’re myonlycousin, and the answer’s still no. There isn’t space, Riv. Some of the full-time squad fighters are already sleeping two to a room since we had to kick them out of the barracks to accommodate the recruits.”
I wrinkle my nose, frowning. “What happens when we make the squad, then? We’re just stuck in the barracks?”
“Hopefully the construction on the new wing will be done by then,” Tristan pipes up, pulling his arms across his chest alternately to stretch them out.
“Well can’t you double up a couple more of the fighters to free up a room for me in the meantime?” I suggest, turning my pleading gaze on Madd again.I’m not above begging here.
He gives a tight shake of his head in response, my posture deflating.
“We might be able to make something work if you wanna join IT instead,” Lo offers.
I heave an irritated sigh, folding my arms and kicking at the ground with the toe of a sneaker. “You already know my stance on that.”
“Had to try,” she teases, winking.
My parents wouldloveif I left training camp to join the IT unit instead. Mom has always urged me to follow in her footsteps, and Dad would much prefer me being tucked away behind the scenes rather than on the front lines defending our territory against threats. I’ve always been good with computers, but there’s no joy in it for me; 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 andshe 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 evenmeflinch.
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. meansseven a.m.,” Madd admonishes as Ace detours to the side of the building to drop his bag before comingover 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,mostof 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.