Hunter's Alpha (gxg) ✓

41. Reid

"How about this?" I ask, holding up a barely-there piece of silk. It is emerald green, my favourite colour on her.

Jude comes out of the changeroom with no fear, and my eyes slant over her body. The lean, hard muscle of her, and the softness of her curves.

"You are so beautiful," I breathe.

"You've mentioned that," she says, but she blushes, anyway. "Once or twice."

"Then it's not nearly enough."

Her eyes drift back to the bit of silk in my hand. "I am not wearing that," she sputters.

"Why not?"

"It's—it's—"

"I like blue," she says, and there is a dream-like quality to her voice. For a moment, my breath catches in my chest. She can't possibly be talking about . . .

You're her. You're the blue-eyed girl.

I still wonder what that meant. Now, I shake myself.

"Blue?" I say, arching a brow. "Why blue?"

"No reason," she says, taking my selection anyway.

As she walks away, I admire the curve of her ass in the pale orange lace. It will be fun fucking her in that—I'll have to try my best not to ruin it.

Orange—soft, sunset orange—has been my favourite colour since Jude left. For years, I collected anything that reminded me of it. Picture frames. Pens. Plastic flowers. But now that I have met Jude again, now that I know her, my favourite colour is green.

But not any green—emerald, the shade of her eyes.

When Jude comes back, there is a fiery glint in her eyes.

"Goddamn," is all I can manage.

"One question," she says. "Hunter . . . you said you made a deal with Elijah Napier. A deal to stop the trafficking ring. But what was the deal? What did you exchange?"

"An exchange," I say, still flustered. I can't peel my eyes away from her. "A deal. Right."

She smirks, showing me she knows how powerful she is in this moment.

The deal.

Instantly, I sober. "I asked him for help to free the girls in the Underground. Two weeks ago, the night you . . . ran, do you remember the evacuation? The Saints didn't hurt anyone, but they smuggled as many girls out as they could."

"What do you owe them?"

"What—are you worried about me?" I tease.

I think she'll deny it, or cross her arms, or blush again.

"Yes," she says quietly. "I am worried about you."

My eyes flicker down. "I promised them they could have the city. That the Wolves would be theirs, if they succeeded."

"And how is that possible, with Anise as the Alpha?"

"It would mean . . . killing Anise." I hadn't planned on ever letting it get that far, but now . . . now, I wonder. Is she evil? Does she deserve it? And the answer isn't no.