Page 70 of Specter Bred

"Or maybe he cares about his teammates, unlike Redwood."

The room went quiet again, because every man sitting at that table knew the difference.

A man who'll stand up for the people he cares about, even when he's scared, is worth ten who won't. And I'd spent enough years burying soldiers to know which one I'd rather have beside me when the shooting started.

"I'll admit I may have overlooked a few things when it came to Hayes," I said.

"A few things?" Cutter barked out a laugh. "The kid's one of the best marksmen we've seen in years, and none of us even bothered opening his damn file!"

"Which means we're all going to be competing for him now," Alvarez added.

I took another drink.

"Again, maybe," I said.

Cutter pointed his bottle at me.

"You know how it works. If multiple instructors select a recruit without a hold, the recruit gets to choose which unit they join."

"And no way he's picking you, Grizzly," Alvarez said immediately.

I raised an eyebrow.

"You torment that kid. The way you handled that conversation earlier?" Cutter added. "Not a chance you'll be his choice."

"Probably not. But he'll pick Archer."

"What?" Alvarez asked with a frown.

"If Archer joins my unit, Hayes will follow her. And since Archer is my hold..."

The answer was obvious. The kid practically orbited her.

Cutter groaned.

"Oh, that's bullshit!" he yelled.

I shrugged.

"Nope, that's strategy."

"That's stealing two recruits with one pick!" Alvarez said sigh.

"Save some good recruits for the rest of us! Damn it, Graves," Cutter barked.

"Not a chance," I said with a smile.

Chapter 10: Maeve Archer

I fucking hated him!

Major Nolan Graves was making my life miserable.

Ever since he'd caught Hayes and me standing a little too close for his liking, Graves seemed more determined than ever to make our lives miserable.

The strange thing was that he'd stopped doing it in front of the other recruits and instructors.

During regular training, he'd actually backed off. No more singling us out every five minutes or conveniently assigning us extra drills while the rest of the recruits watched.