JAX “I’m just sayin’, if you two didn’t already have mates, you’d be all for it,” I say, pointing my beer bottle between Gray and Theo.“I never said I wasn’t for it,” Gray clarifies. “I just think the full moon runs are primarily for pack bonding. And besides, one of the cornerstones of the alliance is that the packs remain separate and autonomous, so wouldn’t doing a run with all of the packs would blur those lines?”“Or would it make the six-pack alliance stronger?” I challenge.“It’s a nice idea Jax,” Reid sighs, leaning back on his barstool and raising his beer to his lips. “But I don’t think it’s gonna happen.”“Especially not if we’d have to get Anders, Damian, and Vaughn on board,” Brock adds.Reid grunts in agreement. Now that Brock has stepped into hi

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

JAX I 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

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

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