Page 14 of Specter Bred

Hayes took it in stride; his good mood rarely affected.

I took it personally.

Which probably explained why I spent most of my waking hours exhausted, bruised, and trying not to throttle my instructor.

Grizzly likely thought tormenting and singling me out made him special. It didn't. If anything, it made him more like every instructor and superior I'd ever had.

Whenever I came close to telling him exactly where he could shove his megaphone, I reminded myself that he was just another asshole determined to prove I didn't belong, and I was going to prove him wrong.

Unfortunately, his punishments were becoming increasingly brutal, even for the other recruits, which meant they were nearly impossible for Hayes and me.

If everyone did one hundred and fifty push-ups to warm up, we did two hundred. If everyone ran five miles, we ran six. If the candidates carried fifty-pound rucks, ours somehow weighed more.

It didn't seem to matter what the challenge was. Grizzly always made it harder for us, constantly raising the bar, hoping eventually we'd fail to clear it.

The other instructors seemed almost sympathetic by comparison. Alvarez once tossed me an extra water bottle after Graves made me run an additional three miles in the scorching heat. And more than once, I'd caught Cutter joking around with Hayes after training.

Neither of them went easy on us, not even close., but unlike Grizzly, they didn't seem overly invested in making our lives miserable.

"I don't get why it doesn't bother you more," I muttered, spooning another bite of Fiesta Surprise into my mouth.

That was the mess hall's name for whatever leftovers were still hanging around at the end of the week. In reality, it was a bowl of mush with a few tomatoes scattered throughout for decoration. Hayes, meanwhile, was eating it as if it belonged in a five-star restaurant.

"And I also don't understand how you're so happy eating Fiesta Surprise."

He looked up, horrified.

"Hey! Don't knock Fiesta Surprise. It's my favorite meal of the week."

I rolled my eyes.

"Of course it is."

"And it's not personal with Major Graves."

I nearly choked.

"Not personal?" I repeated. "Hayes, he literally told us he was targeting us. Personally. What the hell do you mean it's not personal?"

"Well, yeah, he's personally against us," Hayes admitted. "But it's understandable. That's more what I meant."

I stared at him. He just shrugged and shoveled another mouthful of mush into his mouth.

"It's not really his fault. It's just the way things are. Nobody expects a beta to make it through Specter training. Nobody expects a female alpha to make it either."

"Encouraging," I said with a scowl.

"I'm serious." He pointed his spoon at me. "But all that means is that we have an opportunity to change their minds."

He swallowed and flashed me another one of those stupidly optimistic smiles. The dimple carved deep into his left cheek. I was starting to hate that dimple. Mostly because no matter how hard I tried, it was impossible to stay irritated when he looked that damn pleased with himself.

Across the room, I stared at Major Graves, who sat with the other instructors on the far side of the mess hall. He noticed me glaring daggers and gave a brief smirk before turning to talk to Captain Alvarez.

I chanted my motto in my head.

He's just like the rest.

He's just like the rest.