Hunter's Alpha (gxg) ✓

26. Yours

"I want to come," I say, as Hunter buckles her guns into her belt. Tommy is next to her, loading a pistol, along with a few other Wolves who look armed for battle.

Hunter slings a rifle over her shoulder, and for a moment, she looks more like the god of war than a twenty-year-old girl.

"No," she says.

Tommy suddenly finds somewhere else to be.

"What?" I seethe. "You don't think I can handle it?"

She steps closer to me, cocking her gun. "I know you can handle it, Jude. But this isn't your fight."

"It sure as hell is my fight! They killed my mom!"

"Which is exactly why you can't go. Your judgement is clouded with anger. You're reckless. You're irrational."

My fists clench, even though I know she's right.

"I don't care," I snap. "If you let me out there, I'll be the best damn fighter you have."

Another Wolf whistles. "That's some pride right there! And I thought Hunter had the biggest ego around━"

Hunter shoots him a single raised eyebrow. He closes his mouth, still grinning, and I see a flicker of amusement cross her face. If they weren't friends, I'm sure he'd already be pinned to the wall.

I cross my arms. "You can't stop me."

Her dark stare turns hard. "Watch me."

She signals to the other Wolves to get going, and as they begin to file through the stairs, she gives me a piercing look.

"I want to fight," I say softly. Pleading.

Her lips curve. "I know. But trust me. This isn't your fight."

"But the fact that they attacked . . ."

Hunter's eyes harden. "They killed two of our Wolves. We don't know who yet. But it was on our territory, and this means they just began a full-fledged war."

I know her enough not to ask just yet what this means.

She gives me a final look and as she turns to follow the other gang lords up the stairs, I reach out. Surprising even myself.

When she looks back, I hold my breath. There is tension in the air, bristling between us━all the things I've left unspoken. Be safe.

But I know better. Hunter doesn't need to be safe. She is deadly, and that's worse.

"A kiss for good luck?" I ask, trying to crack a smile.

Her grin becomes arrogant, and in two steps, she crushes her mouth to mine. A claiming. There is fire and fear and fury in this kiss, everything I can't say, everything I want to do.

It is over too soon, and as she disappears up the stairwell, I am left with a burning determination.

She was right. I am angry, and irrational, and reckless right now.

But this is my fight, too.

As soon as I go back to my room, I grab Hunter's key card from her room. I probably shouldn't know where it is, but that comes with the territory of spending so much time with her.