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13
QUINN
“Hey, there she is,” Brooke calls as she looks up to see me standing in the doorway of the IT hub on Monday afternoon. She smiles warmly, striding over to the door to greet me. “I was beginning to wonder if you were standing us up!”
“Had to catch a shower,” I say apologetically, smoothing my damp hair over a shoulder. “Training was a doozy this morning.”
“No worries,” she chirps, taking my hand and tugging me further into the hub. “C’mon, I want you to meet everyone!”
Brooke spends the next ten minutes taking me around and introducing me to the rest of the IT staff. There are thirteen of them in total- apparently there were nine originally, and I’m one of five newbies. Theo’s hanging around, too, even though the girl he was replacing just returned from her maternity leave. Everyone I meet seems really nice, with the exception of some lanky girl named Carly who appears to have beef with me for no reason. I
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Alpha Jax 14
JAX Those eyes get me every time. They always seem to be seeking mine, and mine, them. I quickly catch myself and look away, back to Brock seated across from me, but I don’t hear much of what he’s saying now that Quinn’s in my proximity. I get all mixed up when she’s around- I don’t know if it’s because I suck at keeping secrets and the two of us are harboring a big fucking secret, or if it’s something about just being in her presence that throws me off kilter. Today has been all sorts of fucked up- Gray came and pulled me out of training this afternoon, called in Brock and Reid, and he and Theo held a meeting to catch us up on what IT discovered through Brooke’s program. Though everything is up in the air at this point as far as whether an attack is actually imminent or not, we spent a couple of hours discussing options and strategy for handling the shadow pack threat. Afterwards, Theo went back to IT for his girl while the r
Alpha Jax 15
QUINNEverything. That one word, spoken in that deep, gravelly voice, has sent my entire world into a tailspin. It was all fun and games when I was just trying to get a rise out of Jax, making him suffer a little bit for saying he regretted our night together. Now that I know it was special to him, too, all bets are off.It doesn’t seem fair that he’s suddenly the Romeo to my Juliet, the two of us tragically star-crossed and unable to explore this connection we seem to have, neither of us willing to sacrifice our relationship with Theo to see what this thing between us could be. It’s probably for the best- relationships only lead to heartache, after all- but that forbidden fruit is looking awfully appealing right now. I totally get why Adam and Eve gave in and ate the apple.A little flirting never hurt anybody, though… right? Is it so wrong that I want to keep flirting with Jax even if it
Alpha Jax 16
JAXI wake up in a cold sweat, panting as my eyes adjust to the darkness of my room. All the talk lately about the shadow pack and strategizing how to align our defenses with Denver has been seeping into my nightmares, robbing me of sleep. I’m lucky in that I don’t have any personal experience with the shadow pack thus far, but in my nightmares Alpha Xavier is this larger-than-life villain, his followers these soulless, twisted monsters who kill without remorse. Then again, from what I’ve heard about the shadow pack, the version of them in my dreams may not be too far off.I’m wide awake, my heart still racing from the nightmare that so rudely interrupted my sleep. Tossing the sheets off of my body, I climb out of bed, crossing my room to retrieve a bottle of water out of my mini fridge. I twist off the cap, downing the whole thing in a few gulps, tossing the bottle into the wastebasket.There&rsquo
Alpha Jax 17
QUINN“So he just got up and walked away?” Kyla asks incredulously as she lathers shampoo into her hair.“Shhh!” I dart my eyes around the locker room- Kyla and I are the only ones in the showers right now, but there’s no telling who’s at the sinks or toilets on the other side of the wall and I don’t need anybody eavesdropping on this conversation.Kyla mouths the word ‘sorry’, still sudsing up the shampoo on her head.I smile and roll my eyes, turning around under the hot stream of water to rinse the soap off of my chest.“My bad,” Kyla whispers beside me. I can barely hear her over the sound of splashing water from the showers. “I forget sometimes that it’s a secret. And that there are always people around at this place.”I flash her anther smile, knowing she didn’t mean anything by it. I keep my own voice low,
Alpha Jax 18
QUINN I haven’t spoken to Jax since that day in the locker room. For the past two days, I’ve kept busy with training and IT, resisting the temptation to even look his way. Honestly, I’m not sure how to feel about him anymore- I just keep wondering whether our connection was real or if I built it up in my head since he seemed just as drawn to me as I was to him. He may not have been drawn to me at all, though- he was just doing my brother’s bidding. On the other hand, that doesn’t account for our first meeting, because the spark between us was definitely there that night- and we both looked for each other afterwards, seeking something. That certainly points to our connection being genuine, doesn’t it? Maybe I’m just being too guarded, trying to protect myself after Clay put me through hell. Either way, my walls are up when it comes to Jax. I spot him right away when I walk into the Goldenleaf bar, though, and he looks s
Alpha Jax 19
JAX I want to tear this dude’s fucking face off right now. It’s taking everything I have to hold my wolf at bay while I keep him pinned against the wall by the throat, trying to piece together in my mind what the fuck just happened. This guy is a reserve squad recruit- I think his name is Tommy or Tony or something? And I could’ve sworn he was dating Quinn’s friend from Stillwater, so why the hell would he be putting the moves on Quinn? I don’t know how I knew something was wrong- I guess it was just my wolf’s intuition or something. I saw Quinn leave the dance floor to head to the restrooms and didn’t see her come back out, and then I started to feel off somehow, like something wasn’t right. Suddenly my wolf was inexplicably on edge and the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up- so I went to check it out, and that’s when I saw them. I swear I almost fucking shifted when I saw that asshole crowding Quinn at the
Alpha Jax 20
QUINN“Talk to me.” I take Kyla’s hand as I sit across from her on my bed, staring into her dark brown eyes.“I… I’m still just in shock, I think,” she mutters, wriggling her hand free from mine. She brings it up to pinch the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger, pressing her eyes tightly closed. “I feel like such a fucking idiot.”“Don’t,” I say, shaking my head adamantly. “This is on him, Ky.”When Kyla’s eyes blink open again, they’re shiny with tears. “I just don’t get it. I thought we were happy…” her voice breaks and she draws a deep breath.This sucks. I slept like shit beside Kyla last night with the knowledge that when morning came, I’d have to break her heart. As much as I didn’t want to be the one to deliver the news, it was the right thing to
Alpha Jax 21
JAX I swear I’m not stalking Quinn- the universe just seems to keep throwing us together. I’m walking through the parking lot at the complex when I hear an engine cranking, sputtering over and over and failing to start. I can’t help but look that way as I pass by, only to see Quinn sitting in the drivers’ seat of the vehicle, yelling some expletives that I can’t quite make out and slapping the steering wheel with her palms in frustration. I don’t know dick about cars, but what kind of guy would I be if I didn’t at least offer to help her out? At least that’s how I rationalize my decision to approach the one girl I really should be staying away from, leaning down beside the drivers’ side window to peer in at her. “Need some help?” I ask through the closed window, and Quinn’s head snaps sideways to look at me like I’ve startled her. She relaxes a little once she sees it’s me, and I take a step back as she reaches
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