Page 79 of Alpha Jax

I swear my heart shatters a little at her whispered plea.

There’s no way Theo’s going to walk away with me still standing here, so I’ve gotta make the first move. And though the last thing I want to do is leave Quinn’s side right now, I don’t want to make this any harder on her than it already is. So I decide to be the bigger man. I give her one last glance, trying to convey every feeling and emotion I have for her behind my eyes, to tell her all of the things I didn’t get the chance to say. I take a deep breath, I let it out.

And then I walk away.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Quinn

“I’ll drive,” Theo says darkly, holding out his hand for my keys.

The guy is a lunatic behind the wheel- but given what’s gone down in the last twelve hours, I don’t dare refuse his request. I’ve been walking on eggshells around my brother, waiting for him to lose his shit on me like he did on Jax. He hasn’t yet, but then again, we’ve barely exchanged words. He showed up at my door this morning, barked orders to pack for Summervale, and now we’re heading out.

Brooke, Theo, and I have been planning on going back home for the weekend and the full moon run, but I didn’t think we were leaving until tomorrow evening. I’m sure the sudden change of plans is largely due to Theo wanting to put distance between himself and Jax or me and Jax; likely both. I’ll go with it for now since everything’s so fresh- Jax will be back with his own pack for the full moon anyways, and hopefully the dust will have settled by the time we get back to the complex next week. Then maybe we can smooth things over and see where we stand.

I drop my car keys into Theo’s waiting palm, heaving a sigh and looking up into eyes that match my own. “Where’s Brooke?”

“Right here!” she chirps, rounding the corner of the complex and heading toward the car with a backpack slung over one shoulder and a duffel over the other. Her black framed glasses are sliding down the bridge of her nose a bit as she juggles her bags, dressed in aVan Halent-shirt and a black and white checkered flannel. Theo rushes to meet her halfway, taking her bags off her hands to deposit them in the trunk with ours.

“Hey, you okay?” Brooke asks gently as she sidles up to me, slipping an arm around my shoulders.

Of course she’s heard about what happened; I’m pretty sure everyone at the fucking complex knows what went down last night after the boys made such a big scene in the hallway. I woke up to concerned text messages from Logan and Kyla this morning, as well as a message from Brooke warning me that Theo was on his way. I wonder how much he told her himself last night.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I breathe, putting on a brave face like I always do. If the tragic end of my relationship with Clay taught me anything, it’s how to put on a damn good mask. “You can take shotgun, I’ll ride in back.”

Brooke drops her arm from my shoulder and throws her head back. “Ugh, you’re letting your brother drive?”

She clearly knows that he’s a maniac behind the wheel.

I chuckle, moving past her to open the back door of the car. “Hey, he’syourmate.”

Brooke can’t help but smile at that one- and I’m hit with a little pang of jealousy that she gets to be so openly gushy about the guy she’s into while I’ve had to hide everything with Jax. It’s a double standard and it’s not fucking fair.

I haul myself into the back seat, shutting the door behind me and leaning my head back, closing my eyes. I’m emotionally drained. The past few days have been hell- from hastily breaking things off with Jax, to mourning the end of that relationship, to him showing up at my door unexpectedly and all hell breaking loose. I still haven’t fully processed what went down last night.

When Jax appeared at my door, I immediately started panicking. I had no idea what he was going to say, but I knew that whatever it was, Theo probably shouldn’t hear it- which was problematic since Theo was in my room at the time. My brother was hanging out with me for the second night in a row and even though I’m sure it was his way of checking up on me, it was nice to spend time with him. Until Jax showed up and things went sideways.

Even though I was freaking out on the inside, I didn’t miss what Jax said. He said he missed me and wanted to be with me- that he wanted this for real. He put into words the things that I’ve been feeling and confirmed that itisn’tone-sided; he feels the same. It would’ve been a beautiful moment if Theo wasn’t waiting in the wings, listening to every word. Ready to pounce.

I think I was still in shock from Jax’s sudden appearance and admission when Theo threw the first punch. And then everything happened so fast- it was like I blinked and Theo was on top of Jax, beating his face in. His beautiful face, suddenly marred with cuts and bruises and blood. It physically pained me to see him like that; even my wolf was losing her shit over it and for the first time in forever I had to actually fight to keep her at bay. And then, like a fool, I tried to intervene. Jumped on Theo’s back and wound up being knocked into a wall.

It hurt, but I’ve taken harder hits during training- and yeah, I might’ve milked it a little bit so the guys would stop fighting. It totally worked, but then I didn’t know what to do next; how to prevent the ugliness from happening again. I knew I couldn’t finish what Jax started and tell him I feel the same, not with Theo right there shooting daggers at him through his eyes. Looking at Jax’s face all cut and bruised killed me, almost as much as the shattered look in his eyes when I turned him away. It was the only thing I could do.

If I had to go back, I’m not sure I would’ve handled it any differently. I just wanted them to stop fighting and it felt like the only way. I hated the look in Jax’s eyes when I told him to go, but I couldn’t watch Theo hit him again, and that’s what would’ve happened if I didn’t send them both away. He has to know that I didn’t have a choice. I did it to protect him.

I’m startled from my thoughts when Theo opens the door and starts stuffing his big body into the drivers’ seat of my car. Somehow, he manages to get all the way inside, though his knees are practically hitting the dashboard and his head the ceiling. He looks pretty ridiculous behind the wheel of such a small vehicle, and I can’t help but giggle in amusement at the spectacle.

Hearing my laugh, Theo grunts, shooting me a glare over his shoulder.

“Oh would you stop?” Brooke sighs exasperatedly, slapping at Theo’s chest with the back of one hand while she buckles her seatbelt with the other. “You’re acting like a child.”

“Sorry if I’m still a little pissed off,” he replies bitterly, starting the car and putting it in reverse. He backs out of the parking spot, shifts to drive, and hits the gas, screeching the tires as the car lurches toward the road.

Brooke slaps a hand up on the ceiling to brace herself, shooting Theo a look- and he immediately slows down. Girl has him totally wrapped.

“I still don’t see what the big deal is,” Brooke murmurs, relaxing back in her seat now that Theo’s driving at a normal speed.

“That one of my closest friends lied to me?” he scoffs. “That he betrayed my trust? That he took advantage of the one person he promised me he wouldn’t touch?”

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