Page 35 of Specter Bred

Because every hour she spent down here made it harder to justify the certainty I'd carried for months. Every improvement she made chipped away at the neat argument I'd built in my head about why she didn't belong.

And if Archer succeeded, if she actually made it through ASOG, then I'd have to admit something I wasn't particularly interested in admitting.

That I'd been wrong. And I hated being wrong.

Tonight, though, as I settled into that last stall, I hadn't expected Hayes to walk in beside her.

Alvarez and Cutter liked the kid. Hell, even I couldn't deny the pup had earned a measure of respect. He was friendly, even-tempered, and annoyingly difficult to rattle. Farm Boy could walk into a room full of hostile recruits and somehow leave with half of them calling him a buddy.

And he could shoot.

Christ, could he shoot.

I knew both Alvarez and Cutter were actually considering him for their units after graduation. Until Hayes, I hadn't spent much time weighing the advantages of a beta in special operations. Alphas brought aggression, confidence, and dominance.

Hayes brought something different. He stayed calm under pressure, didn't escalate conflicts, or let his ego make decisions for him. Plus the kid was one of the biggest fucking betas I'd ever seen. I guess long days on a farm, hauling feed and hay had grown him to alpha size.

It was a rare combination. Strength, marksmanship, size, patience, and conflict resolution.

Part of the reason I'd authorized his room reassignment to the squad bay was that it made sense. If Hayes was being seriously considered for a unit placement, integrating him with the rest of the recruits would only help him.

At least, that was the excuse I gave myself.

The truth was considerably less professional.

I wanted him away from Archer.

That fact became painfully obvious the moment I watched him step behind her and place his hands on her hips. My jaw tightened and I watched him lean in close. Anger surged as Archer actually listened to someone for once. The distance she normally kept between herself and everyone else disappeared.

Something dangerously close to jealousy bubbled inside me. Because it wasn't their joint room assignment that bothered me. It was the fact that Hayes had somehow got closer to her than anyone else had.

So here I was, sitting in the dark stall at the far end of the range, watching the two of them together while a seething emotion churned in my gut.

My original plan had been to wait until they left. Ignore them. Go back to my room and finish the bottle.

Then the faint scent of male arousal drifted through the range.

I went still.

For a moment, I just stared at Hayes standing behind Archer, his hands still on her hips as he adjusted her stance.

The kid probably didn't even realize his scent was blooming. Betas weren't exactly known for their awareness with things like that. But she did. A hidden smirk stretched Maeve’s lips. She’d caught his scent too.

Annoyance curled low in my gut.

At Hayes.

At Archer.

At myself.

Hell if I knew.

Suddenly I had fucking enough.

Before I could think better of it, I raised my rifle, settled the stock into my shoulder, and fired. The shot cracked across the range. Both recruits jumped, and Archer's round went wide.

Two heads snapped toward the far end of the firing line. Archer demanded to know who was there. After letting the silence stretch for a moment, I stepped out of the shadows. Both recruits immediately stiffened. Hayes practically jumped out of his skin.