Page 36 of Alpha Jax

“C’mon,” Tony urges, advancing on me again. I take another shaky step back, trying to stay out of his reach. “Kyla isn’t even here…” he coos, brushing the backs of his fingers along my arm.

“Exactly,” I say through gritted teeth. “Kyla, yourgirlfriend,myclose friend. Have you lost your damn mind?”

For every step Tony takes toward me, I take a step back, trying my best to preserve the distance between us.

“Oh Quinn, stop being shy,” Tony chuckles. “You know there’s always been something between us…”

“What?!” I laugh.Is this guy mental?I let out a little squeak as my back collides with a wall- looks like I’m all out of hallway to back down. Meaning Tony’s got me cornered here. My wolf immediately surges forward in response- she doesn’t like the feeling of being trapped, especially by someone like Tony. Everything inside of me is screaming to get outta here.

I shake my head, pushing at Tony’s chest. “You’re wrong, Tony. There’s nothing between us.” I look him in the eye, my voice firm. “Now let me pass.”

The smile fades from Tony’s face, his eyes narrowing. “Liar,” he spits, pressing forward into my hand. “You’re always smiling at me, letting me buy your drinks…”

He reaches out to touch me again and I shove him back, hard. “So what?” I challenge, raising my voice in hopes that someone will hear. I’m not easily rattled, but the combination of being cornered like this and the look in Tony’s eyes is fucking scaring me right now. “I don’t owe you anything.”

“You fucking tease,” he slurs, reaching out to grab me by the waist. I try to fight him, but he’s a lot stronger than I expect him to be. The next thing I know, he’s leaning his face in toward mine, pressing an unwelcome kiss to my lips. I whip my face sideways to break it, shoving him away.

“Get away from me!” I scream, raising a hand and slap his face as hard as I can. The sound echoes in the hallway, but he doesn’t stop. The slap only makes Tony angrier, more aggressive. He mumbles something about me being a whore, pawing at my body and trying to put his mouth on me again. I let out a scream- I’m fucking panicking, my wolf ready to tear through- and then suddenly, Tony’s body lurches backwards, away from mine.

Jax. He rips Tony away from me by the collar, slamming him up against the wall. Tony’s body collides with a thud, and then Jax has a forearm pressed to his throat, pinning him in place.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Jax demands, shouting even though his face is inches from Tony’s.

My hero. Guess Jax is two for two on saving me now. I’m still shaken, but I can’t take my eyes off of him as he towers over Tony, exuding alpha dominance. Not gonna lie, it’s a fucking turn-on.

Jax whips his head sideways to look at me, his eyes full of silver shimmers. His wolf is dangerously close to the surface. “Are you okay?” he demands.

I nod, my knees wobbly- and I’m not sure if it’s from being cornered by Tony or Jax’s big alpha energy.

“What’s going on?” comes a voice at the other end of the hallway, and I look toward it to see Reid and Theo making their way over.

Crap. This is about to be made into a huge fucking deal- one that will lead to more problems that I’m not ready to face. As the two of them stride toward us, I draw a deep breath… and wait for shit to hit the fan.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

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 Troy 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 end of the hallway, pawing at her. I heard the panic in her voice- when I drew closer, I smelled the fear rolling off of her. I almost completely lost my shit, but when I snatched him off of her, I was able to maintain some semblance of control rather than beating the dude’s face in.

When I put my arm up to his throat to pin him against the wall, I could smell the fear coming off him- and honestly, I’m fuckingglad. He deserves to feel every bit as scared as he just made Quinn feel. Any man who would try to force himself on an unwilling female isn’t a man at all- he’s a fucking grimy, despicable coward.

I ask Quinn if she’s alright and she just nods- but I wish she would fucking say something, anything; just hearing her voice would calm my nerves right now. It’s strange that I need that so badly in this moment.

“What’s going on?” Reid barks out, appearing at the other end of the hallway. Theo’s right beside him, and as soon as they see the three of us as we are- Quinn still with her back against the far wall, me pinning this douchebag to the opposite wall- the two of them charge toward us, knowing something’s seriously amiss.

I press my arm tighter to the guy’s throat, a low growl starting in my chest as I stare him down. “This fucking lowlife was trying to feel up your sister,” I spit, side-eyeing Theo.

I see his own wolf appear in his irises in coppery swirls, pressing forward in outrage. “Hewhat?!”

Theo doesn’t have the same self-control that I do. He fucking lunges at the guy, decking him square in the face. I hear a sickening crack as his nose breaks, blood immediately gushing from it down his chin, dribbling onto my arm still at the guy’s throat.

I pull back in surprise and the guy’s hands fly to his face- at the same time, Reid’s throwing his arms around Theo, holding him back from hitting him again.

“You need to fucking cool it,” Reid growls. “Tony’s part of my pack, I’ll deal with him.”

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