"So, how's the new cadets?" Alpha Drake questions as he bites into his sandwich.

"Yeah, the usual. The good, the bad and the fucking terrible. I'll make some cuts from the squad by the end of the week." I answer honestly as I throw a tomato into my mouth and lean back against the tree.

It's too fucking hot to eat inside today, so we've sat out under the big Maples to discuss the new cadets near the outdoor sparing arena. It's the perfect spot not to be overheard so the three of us can speak openly and honestly about pack matters. We come here a lot.

Jay huffs as he throws down his backpack on the floor and slumps down opposite me whilst I throw him a shit eating grin that I know will get a rise out of him. Jays had a face on him all week. He's like this, he's a stubborn son of a bitch and will brood on matters and it won't be coaxed out from him till he's good and ready to talk.

"Sup Jay? You got something to say?" I grin at him as I pick through my salad.

"You're an asshole man." Huffs Jay, directing his insult at me.

"Old news." Chuckles Drake.

Ok, maybe now he's good and ready to talk. It doesn't surprise me I'm the one that's pissed him off. We're as close as brothers but often butt heads.

"So, what did I do this time to get your vagina in a twist?" I smirk at him.

"Alice Green." Jay grumbles at me.

"You've your panties in knots because of my joke with Wonderland?" I say exasperated. "I was never gonna allow her to fully strip if that's your problem?"

However, I stand by everything I said, all cadets can't be embarrassed to take off their clothes at one point. I mean, we're wolves for fuck sake!

Beta Jay scoffs then runs his hand through his hair. "It's not just fucking that, it's all the one-to-one training you've been given her. I saw you two together last night and again on Wednesday. I don't think it sets a good example to the other cadets that you're trying to fuck one of them."

I throw down my salad, and it flies everywhere on the floor. Now I'm pissed. He knows full well that I never fuck my cadets. "I'm not trying to fuck her. She's got potential with blades." I growl at him.

"I want you to cut her from your team" Jay says firmly. I see his eyes flash as he attempts to hold back his wolf. What is his fucking deal?

Arching a brow at him. "Why so interested in her?"

"Have you read her file? Never did any combat training apart from the basics ran at school. Never took part in competitions. She's a nobody in the pack. Sure, she's a sassy little thing but she's not done any extra training you'd expect to see if she wants to be in the Elites. Decent grades though, she'd be a better suited to being a healer or a teacher." Jay tries to reason but I'm not buying it.

I cross my arms over my chest and glare at him. "And I said, why so interested in one my cadets?"

"You're not cutting her. Jay, we've already spoken about this." Alpha Drake weighs in as he takes another bite of his sandwich not even glancing up at either of us as if bored with the topic.

"Fuck me, now why are you so interested in her? What do you both know that I don't?" I growl at them both.

"She's a silver." Alpha Drake replies with a mouthful of food, finally looking away from his food to gage my reaction.

"Fuck off! There's no way she's one." I open my backpack and grab my notes on the cadets, scanning down the list till I reach the Alice Green's name. Reg number and colour of wolf is... left blank. I shoot a look at Beta Jay whose jaws clenched. We both know that he's the one across the cadet's paperwork and background histories.

"You prick, you left that blank on purpose!" I snarl back. "Who's her parents?"

"Mitch Green and..."

"What the fucking cook? He's no Silver?" I interrupt, but now I see why Wonderland was so feisty about my joke on her first day.

" ... and Hannah Grayson is or was her mother." Beta Jay grits out.

"Well. Fuck!" I mutter as I rub my hand over my neck. Things start clicking into place on how Alice reacts and things that she says about her mum now.

"What's this girl mean to you Jay? A silver wolf is like gold dust to a pack. Why are you trying to hide her away instead of bringing on her potential? That's not like you man." I growl at him, genuinely surprised at his actions.

Jay puffs out a frustrated sigh, his jaw clenches as he looks away for a good minute before looking back at me. "You remember what I told you happened to me when I was younger? Before my family moved into the pack house permanently" Jay starts to explain. He runs his hands through his hair once more and I give him a nod. "The day the rogues attacked the borders and killed my best friend, I made him a promise whilst he was dying in my arms that I'd look after his little sister. I'd never let her get hurt."

"Fucking hell." I groan out as the penny drops. "Listen, I get it man, you feel responsible for her. But she's not a little girl anymore that needs protecting."

"That's what I said." Drake chips in as he throws some more food in his mouth. Does this guy ever stop eating?

"I mean, fuck Jay! She's a fucking silver! Have you ever seen her run?" I question.

Silvers are rare, what they lack in size and strength they make up in speed and agility. I mean they are fucking rapid, faster than me or even the Alpha if they're trained right. Not only do they make excellent scouts and trackers they're usually lethal on the battlefield because they are just so quick in their attacks. Having one on the squad would be a real ace. Hannah Grayson proved that time and time again...until her death.

"Only once, when she was eight." Jay says quietly.

"And?" Drake questions, finally putting his lunch down.

Jay flops back onto the grass floor behind him and puts a hand over his face, obviously conflicted about his feelings with Alice.

"She was fucking amazing." He puffs out.

Drake shoots me a look, then I see him study his Beta who's still lay out on the grass now looking upwards at the sky deep in thought. I can tell Drake doesn't like to see his second in command in such turmoil. Admittedly, neither do I. This is not like Jay at all. Even though he's a year younger than me and Drake, out of the three of us he's the one that's always got his shit together, never a hot head or lets his personal feelings getting the way of being professional. I've certainly never seen a girl getting him so turned around like this. In fact, I've never even seen him interested in any girl come to think of it.

"Cole, you get to train Alice for one more month. However, If I don't see an improvement in her scores, I will cut her from the squad." Alpha Drake commands.

"Only a month? That's...that's not enough time. I need the full three..." I start to say, but Drake puts up a hand to stop me.

Jay sits up abruptly, looking between Drake and me. "Really" Jay enthuses.

Drake rubs the back of his neck before looking at me. "Listen, as much as I want a silver on my squad, I can't have my Beta losing his shit." He grumbles. Jay goes to say something, but Drake raises his eyebrows at him and he shuts his mouth.

"In all honesty, I doubt you'll see much improvement with her even if I gave you a year." Huffs out Drake now looking pissed.

"Why'd you say that?" I snap at Drake, but this time he looks at Jay accusingly.

I see Jay look sheepish for a minute before he looks me straight in the eye. "Mitch never wanted his daughter to become an enforcer or warrior either...so he listed her wolf as a...a category three preventing her from shifting in public places, like at school. Alice only gets to run out on her family's private farmland."

My wolf thrashes in my head with a fury I've not felt so strong in years. I've usually got perfect control of him, but this news has me close to shifting I'm that mad. Jumping to my feet a throaty growl rumbles in my chest, I know my wolf eyes are flashing with rage. "You suppressed her fucking wolf." I seethe.

Jay jumps to his feet to look me in the eye. "It was to protect her." He growls.

My wolf see's red and from nowhere I throw a punch that crunches right into Jay's jaw. Jay stumbles back a pace before he comes at me, eyes flaring to meet my challenge but before he can land a hit Alpha Drake is between us keeping us apart.

"That's enough." He bellows using his Alpha aura that it leaves goosebumps all over my body that sets my teeth on edge.

Gritting my teeth, I take a few steps back. Even I'm surprised with my reaction, that punch was directly triggered from my wolf.

"One month, then cut her from the team if she shows no improvement. That's the last I'll say on the matter." Alpha Drake growls at me before he sits back down and continues to eat his lunch as if his two commanders hadn't just gone head-to-head.

Jay and I stare at each other for a beat before I grab up my backpack and storm off before I go for him again.

He suppressed her fucking wolf! I never thought I'd see the day that Jay, the Beta of this pack, do something so stupid. As much as I get, he thinks he's protecting her, It goes against our basic natural instincts.

Never have I ever been so motivated to get the best out of a cadet. One month, I get just one month with Alice, I've gotta make everyday count.