Page 48 of Specter Bred

I wasn't entirely sure the other instructors disagreed with him.

Cutter and Alvarez might not be as openly hostile, but they respected Graves. They trusted his instincts. If he thought I was a liability, that opinion carried weight.

A lot of weight.

Which meant every time Graves singled me out, pushed me harder than everyone else, or found a new way to test my limits, he wasn't just making my life miserable.

He was shaping the narrative about me.

And if I wanted a spot on Alvarez's or Cutter's team, I'd have to overcome not only their expectations, but Graves's doubts as well. The man had somehow turned proving myself into a moving target. Every time I got close, he simply moved the bar higher.

So I woke up determined to test Hayes's theory. Not because I believed it, but because I wanted proof Sammy was wrong. Fortunately, I already had a plan, and the first thing I needed was a threat.

Besides Graves himself, the most hostile alpha at Fairfield was Miles Redwood.

Today, instructors divided the recruits into four groups that rotated between training stations throughout the day. Alvarez was running hand-to-hand combat drills. Cutter had an obstacle course and endurance evaluations. Graves was overseeing tactical exercises.

The last station was instructor-free. Recruits faced a series of team-based challenges they had to complete on their own. Leadership, communication, problem-solving, and teamwork were all being evaluated.

Unfortunately for Redwood, the instructors placed him in the same group as me.

That did not surprise me.

Lately, Graves had made a habit of keeping Hayes and me separated during exercises. If there was an opportunity to pair me with Redwood, Teller, or Long, he took it.

Graves knew Redwood and his lackeys hated me and that grouping us together made every exercise more difficult for me. Which was exactly why he kept doing it.

I waited until our group rotated to the self-led station before putting my ultimate plan into motion.

Graves' station was all the way across the field, far enough away that he didn't have a direct line of sight to me. A normal conversation wouldn't reach him unless he were really straining to hear it.

If Redwood and I got into an argument, Graves shouldn't hear it. If Redwood and I got into a fight, Graves shouldn't notice or intervene… at least not immediately.

For him to react quickly, he'd have to be paying attention to me specifically. Listening for my voice with his alpha hearing and monitoring my group despite having an entire training exercise and a dozen recruits of his own to supervise.

In other words, he'd have to be doing exactly what Hayes claimed. Watching me and thinking about me. The thought was ridiculous. Which was precisely why I intended to test it. And my plan was working better than expected.

All day I'd been poking at Redwood's ego. I questioned his decisions, corrected his mistakes, and casually pointed out every time he screwed something up. Nothing too obvious at first, just enough to get under his skin.

By morning, he was irritated; by afternoon, he was more than angry, and by the time we reached the last self-led challenges, he'd finally had enough.

"For fuck's sake, Archer," Redwood snapped. "Do you have to turn every exercise into a pissing contest?"

"Only when I'm surrounded by people who keep fucking everything up."

A few recruits snorted.

Redwood's jaw tightened.

"You've been acting even more like a bitch than usual today."

I smiled.

"And you've been acting even more pathetic than usual."

The laughter disappeared immediately as mouths snapped shut and eyes darted to gauge Redwood's response.

"Pathetic?" he hissed.