Page 72 of Alpha Jax

He laughs, continuing. “Dude, I stopped by your room last night to ask you about wolf training this week and I heard her screaming. Whatever you were doing, it sounded like she was enjoying it…”

I nearly choke. Brooke slaps at Theo’s chest with the back of her hand, mumbling some complaint about his vulgarity, and he’s momentarily distracted while I accidently look Quinn’s way again- just in time to see the color drain from her face.Fuck. I have to stop looking at her, I risk giving myself away. I slide my gaze to the left, locking eyes with Reid instead. As soon as I do, I know that Quinn was right-he knows.

We’re so fucked.

“So who is she?” Theo presses, turning back to me and waggling his eyebrows. “One of the recruits?”

How the hell am I gonna get out of this one?I take another big bite of my sandwich to buy myself time to think- but my head’s all over the place. By the time I swallow, I’ve still got nothing and Theo’s still looking at me expectantly.

“Yeah,” I choke out- because it’s the truth. And it’s safe enough to admit because I’m not giving anything else away.

Theo’s brow ticks up in interest. “Really? Which one?”

I give a little shake of my head, trying my best to play it cool. “She, uh, recently got out of something serious and she wants to keep it quiet.”

Also not a lie.

“Aw c’mon, bro,” Theo urges, elbowing me again. “I won’t say anything, just tell me who it is! And what you were doing to make her scream like that, because it sounded…”

“Theo!” Brooke scolds, cutting him off before he can finish and slapping at his chest again.

“What?” he laughs, turning to look at his mate. “Babe, this is just how guys talk.”

While Theo’s focus is redirected to smoothing things over with Brooke, I finish the rest of my sandwich in two bites, springing up from the bench and grabbing my plate. “I’ve gotta run. I’ll catch you guys later.”

I hustle away from the table, dropping my plate in the wash bin and leaving the dining hall. Once in the main corridor, I make a beeline for the exit- my anxiety is through the roof and I need some fresh air, stat. I push open one of the big double doors, stepping out of the complex and onto the practice field- and I make it about three paces before I hear the door being pushed open again behind me. I whip around, my breath catching in my throat when my eyes land on a very disapproving looking Reid striding my way.

So I guess we’re doing this right now.

“Hey man,” I mumble, totally nailing the aloof vibe I’m going for. “What’s up?”

Reid narrows his eyes, seeing right through my bullshit. “You gonna lie tome, too, or are you ready to admit you’ve been nailing Theo’s sister?”

All of the air leaves my lungs on a single sigh.He knows.Might as well come clean.

“Yeah,” I groan, squeezing my eyes closed and scrubbing a hand over my face. “I am.” I blink them open again to look at Reid, searching his face. “How’d you know?”

“Besides the fact that you just told me?” he chuckles wryly. “I had a sneaking suspicion the first time I saw you two together that there was something between you… she’s the one from Stillwater, isn’t she? The one you were obsessed with finding?”

I nod solemnly.

Reid nods back in confirmation, continuing. “I figured as much from your description. But you were good at hiding it at first. I tried to act like I was into her to see if you’d bite, but you didn’t. Of course, then that whole thing happened with Tony and he was trying anything he could to weasel out of his punishment, including outing you to me. So that confirmed what I already suspected.”

My jaw goes slack. I can hardly believe what I’m hearing. “So you knew this whole time?” I ask incredulously. “Why didn’t you say something?”

He shrugs. “Guess I was waiting for you to come to me.”

“And now?”

Reid’s jaw stiffens. “Now it’s gone on long enough. Too long.”

Something in his tone makes my heart sink. “What are you saying?” I ask hesitantly.

“You’ve either gotta come clean with Theo or end it.”

His words hit me like a ton of bricks. My heart hammers against my ribs, my limbs tingle like they’re going numb.

Reid steps closer and draws a breath, continuing. “This could have real consequences, bro. It’s not just about your friendship with Theo, it’s pack politics. You’re two alphas in an alliance, you can’t afford to have a huge fucking conflict between you over something like this.”

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