Page 150 of Specter Bred

“They’ll use it to discredit you,” he continued. “Every assessment you pass, every recruit you outperform, every fucking thing you’ve earned since you got here... they’ll say it was because of me.”

Graves wasn’t keeping his distance because he wanted to hide me. He’d seen the whispers, the looks, the way Redwood and his friends had been circling closer. Keeping me at arm’s length was his way of protecting me.

“So this is you being subtle?” I asked.

His mouth twitched.

“For now.” His gaze held mine, hard and possessive. “Once training is over, there won’t be a man alive who doesn’t understand exactly who you belong to.”

I gritted my teeth, defiance lacing my tone. “I’m not some omega, Grizzly. I’m not property, and I sure as hell don’t belong to you.”

For half a second, he glanced around the field, checking that we were still alone. Then he moved.

Fast.

One moment there was space between us, and the next none, as his hand wrapped around the column of my throat, firm enough to hold me still as he crowded me backward.

“Keep telling yourself that, Teacup.”

Before I could fire back, he lowered his face to the crook of my neck and breathed me in, deeply. The restraint he’d held so firmly between us slipped just enough to make one thing clear.

I wasn’t the only one who’d been feeling the distance.

My pulse jumped beneath his palm. The bastard felt it.

“Your mind might believe that, Teacup,” he said, voice dropping low. “But your body knows otherwise.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but his hand slid higher, catching my chin as his thumb dragged slowly across my lower lip. His stormy hazel eyes locked on mine, dark with heat, while his callused fingers tightened just enough to keep me still. Up close, the hard lines of his face, the scar cutting across one side, and the sheer masculine intensity of him hit me all at once.

My breath caught. A slow, knowing smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“There it is,” he murmured. “All that little alpha attitude melts for me.”

My eyes narrowed, heat rushing into my face, but before I could recover enough to answer, he released me.

Just like that, the warmth vanished from his expression. His shoulders squared, his features went flat, and Major Graves was back in full force.

“Get cleaned up, Archer. Early training tomorrow. Zero four hundred hours.”

Then he turned and walked away as if he hadn’t just knocked every thought out of my head. The bastard was going to give me whiplash.

I headed to the mess hall to grab something to eat. A skeleton crew staffed the small kitchen, but they cooked surprisingly decent meals, nothing even remotely as offensive as Fiesta Surprise.

I dropped into a seat beside Hayes, Pike, and Garrison, doing my best not to glance toward Redwood’s table.

“Graves was on a fucking tear today, huh?” Garrison said. “He’s really not going to let up on either of you, is he?”

Hayes shot me a subtle smile before answering. “Doesn’t look like it. Man’s got it out for us.” He paused, spoon halfway to his mouth. Across the table, Hayes caught my eye and slowly wagged his brows. “Although I’m pretty sure he’s got a particular interest in Archer’s ass.”

I choked on my mouthful of food.

Garrison barked out a laugh. “True. Graves rides her harder than anyone, even you Hayes.”

That only made it worse.

“Yup, sure rides her hard.” Hayes stared determinedly into his bowl, but the bastard’s shoulders were shaking.

“Fuck both of you,” I managed.