I don't know what this makes us.

What do I call her? My girlfriend?

I don't have to worry about it. Because the next thing I know, she is carrying me back towards the bedroom.

And from there, she makes me moan her name loud enough that I swear the entire corridor can hear.

Loud enough that I wouldn't be surprised if all of the Underground knew what we were doing.

And once it's done, once my legs are trembling and I can't stand, can't breathe, all I can do is lay there next to her. Looking at her face. Tracing the angles of her sharp features.

"You're so beautiful," she whispers to me, almost reverent.

Unwillingly, I blush.

I'm falling for you.

The thought comes unbidden, and it is frightening.

I told her we would be all in, and I still don't regret it. Which terrifies me. Because I have no idea what that means. What she thinks.

Her murky-brown eyes are indiscoverable.

For the first time, I realize I haven't dreamed of the blue-eyed girl. Ever since the battle, when I saw Hunter in the chaos, and thought, She's right there. She's here.

I almost miss her.

"Tell me about when you used to live in Louisiana," I say.

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything," I whisper.

"On my eighth birthday, there was a drive-by," she starts. "It was really bad. I was having a party, and all of a sudden, there are these gang leaders speeding past our house. Bullets are raining down. Even one of my neighbours got shot, a little boy. I felt awful afterwards, so guilty."

"That's . . . not a soothing story."

She chuckles. "Just wait. So at the end of the night, I feel awful. All of the girls at my party are crying, and their parents come and pick them up, and I know this will be the last time any of them come over." Her eyes close briefly. "But then . . . you know what? Out of all those parents, the mom of the little boy is the only to come over. She says, It'll be alright. And I cried. Later, when my best friend crawled in through my window━it was kind of a common thing━we ate my entire birthday cake ourselves and built a fort. It was my first time staying awake the whole night. That's my happy memory."

I sigh at the happiness in that. Even if something awful happened, the night still ended on a good note.

Curiously, I ask, "Your best friend. What was her name?"

Hunter hesitates, searching my face.

"It's not important," she finally says.

"Is it the same girl in that photograph?"

Sadly, Hunter says, "Yes."

"What happened to her?"

Hunter's eyes close. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay," I whisper. I get it. "Ask me anything."

"Tell me something about your childhood."

I pause. "I don't remember it."

She sits up. "What do you mean?"

"I . . . I don't remember anything about when I used to live in Lafayette. Except that I used to do karate, and that time . . . that time . . ."

"The accident," she says.

"The first one. With my brother and my dad."

"What happened to them?"

"A car crash," I whisper. "And after that, we moved to California. I started high school. I remember all of that . . . but nothing before."

"Except your hatred of fluffy white dogs," she teases.

"Yeah," I say softly. "That, too."

The moment I walk up to the bar, Gianina and Mikayla are waiting to ambush me.

"Hey," I start, and I am immediately cut off.

"Right now," Mikayla says. "Tell us. Everything."

"There's nothing to tell━"

Gianina says, "You heard her say all in, didn't you?"

Mikayla says, "I definitely heard her say all in."

"You weren't supposed to be listening to that!"

"And will you believe what I saw the other day?" Gianina begins.

Mikayla leans forward. "What did you see the other day?"

"Hunter gave Jude a gift."

"I don't know if you could call a tiny growling spawn of hell a gift," I mutter, but they talk over me as if I don't exist.

"And do you know what I saw?" Mikayla says.

Gianina grins, her lush red mouth curving. "What did you see?"

"A week ago, at the club, Jude and Hunter were━"

The memory springs up suddenly. Arching back against Hunter, her fingers plunging into me, dragging along my soaking folds. The way I shattered so completely against her, in a public place. The way Mikayla saw me for just a moment, and winked.

"Let's not bring that one up," I hiss.

Gianina claps her hands together. "Oh, this is marvelous, Jude! It's going to make me cry. When Hunter looks at you━"

"She's constantly making sure you're okay," Mikayla sighs.

"That I'm okay?" I bark.

"Well, you know what we mean. You're a little bit of a . . . firecracker."

"That's putting it mildly," Mikayla says. "Have you seen her on the practice mats? She makes Sensei Connor look bad."

Gianina whistles, and I blush deeply.

"That's not true!"

"She does have a little bit of a temper."

"Hunter can definitely handle it."

"Did you see the way Hunter pulled Jude onto her lap yesterday? So romantic. Why can't men do that to me?" Mikayla moans.

"Men are the key problem in that sentence," Gianina says.

"It's too bad I don't think I'm into girls."

Gianina winks. "Your loss."

But then something starts ringing in Mikayla's pocket. Too shrill, too loud, to be a phone call. She fumbles in her pocket for the black gadget━some kind of dispatch device.

"Another Saint attack," she says. "Shit."

I ask, "Did they say what happened?" Is Hunter okay?

"One of the Eastons are hurt."

Eastons━with a jolt, I realize that's Hunter's surname.

Shit. Shit. It's her.

It can't be the Alpha, so it can only either be Hunter or━

"Tommy," Mikayla whispers. "They targeted Tommy."

I have nothing better to do than pace while I wait.

Up and down the corridor. Up and down the corridor.

I suppose you could say I learned from my mistakes. I know better now than to rush into battle. And besides . . . Cade's words still haunt me. I've been in that dark place, too. I know you're hurting, but is violence really going to make it better?

And the maybe the answer really is . . . no.

So I wait. I wait, and I wait, and I wait.

Time drips by like sand. Seeping between my fingers.

I'm drowning in seconds. Minutes. Hours.

And when the ring finally comes, when I hear the dispatch echo on the radio Mikayla let me borrow━"Alpha to Beta, over. We're back"━I run like hell towards the medical ward.

But as soon as the doors open onto the 20th floor, I am greeted by Emilie.

Her eyes widen when she sees me.

"They're releasing you?" I piece it together.

"Yeah, I'm good to go," she says.

I step off the elevator. But she doesn't move.

"Listen," she begins. "I heard you're . . . official with Hunter."

"I don't know if you'd really call it━"

But she continues, as though she can't hear me. "I just want to give you some advice."

The last thing I want is your advice. But I hold my tongue. We have a truce, and I'd rather not make her angry enough to break it.

"What, Emilie?" I just sound exhausted.

"You might think Hunter likes you, but she doesn't. You have no idea━"

"Seriously? I've had enough."

But she grabs my arm. Her nails bite into the skin, and I wince.

I could judo-flip her, but . . . how much of a scene would that cause?

"Listen, Jude." Her eyes look manic, bloodshot. "You might think she cares, but she doesn't. I thought she loved me, but she never did. She's broken. I don't think she's even capable━"

"Let go of me," I tell Emilie calmly.

I'm actually impressed with myself. I haven't lost my temper yet.

"No, Jude, you have to listen. Has she told you she loves you? Has she showed you?"

She hasn't told me she loves me, but she has showed me. I think of the flowers. The caramel apples. The kiss and the sunset.

All in.

"It's none of your business," I say. Still calm. Still cold.

"She likes being in control," Emilie says. Her face is wild. She looks . . . crazy. And I suddenly can only pity her. "She likes being in charge. Take that away from her, and what's left? She won't want you anymore. Once she can't have you the way she wants, she'll just let go."

"Enough," I say flatly.

She lets go of me, stumbling back.

Her curly blonde hair is coated in a thin layer of grime. Her face is unusually red, as though she's spent hours scrubbing it.

Damn it. I hate morals.

"Nurse?" I say. "Nurse, I need help."

"No," Emilie whispers, shaking her head fiercely. "No, no, no!"

But the nurse appears, and all she needs is one look at Emilie to steer her back towards the hallway. She shoots me a grateful look, and then I am running in the direction of the Wolves. Tommy's room.

"Can I see him?" I say breathlessly to the front desk. "Tommy Easton?"

"Immediate family?" says the receptionist. I recognize her from upstairs. A no-nonsense, no-shit type.

"Um, I'm Hunter's━" Would wife make me the immediate family?

Too outrageous of a lie. Not believable.

And what am I to Hunter anyway?

"Can I see him? Please?" I try.

The receptionist doesn't soften. "Immediate family only. Come back next week."

I won't be here next week!

I want to scream in frustration, but I back away.

Down the hallway, I can see a few people outside of Tommy's room. Hunter and Anise are nowhere in sight, but I want to give Hunter space. She must already be inside.

"One thing," I say to the receptionist.

She looks up, annoyed that I've returned.

"Is he okay? Can you tell me that? Is he going to live?"

"He'll be fine," she tells me, her cold expression thawing. "Don't worry."

I decide to have a drink while I wait.

The bar downstairs is almost empty. It is just me and a tall man I've never seen before.

There is no bartender, so I just hop around the counter and pour myself a glass of red wine.

But when I slide over the counter, returning to the stools, the man gives me an uncomfortably appreciative stare.

"Little miss," he says. "What are you doing here so early in the morn?"

Two days. Two days. That's all I have left.

My heart clenches with worry for Tommy.

Despite his annoying tendency to ramble, the kid has grown on me.

"Drinking away my feelings," I say casually.

The red wine isn't strong, but a buzz flits through my blood anyway. I don't like the way the man is looking at me.

"Now, now, young lady," he says. "Maybe I can cheer you up a little."

Anise's words flash back to me.

You're on your own here.

"Oh, yeah?" I say. "I might take you up on that." Shut up, Jude. "Are you a stand-up comedian?"

"No," he grunts.

"Are you a Donald Trump impressionist?"

"No━"

"Do you happen to be a children's party entertainer?"

"No━"

"What about a clown? Yeah, that's the one," I say thoughtfully. "What's your stage name? I feel like . . . Dodo would suit you. No, Jamal the clown."

His face turns an ugly shade of red. He snarls, "Did you just call me a clown?"

"Calm down, Jamal. Don't pull out the nine."

Because the handle of his gun is a little bit too visible in the waistband of his belt.

My common sense congratulates me. You've done it now, Jude!

"You'd do good to respect your betters," the man says, baring his teeth. His face is coated in stubble, and his mouth twists in an unflattering growl. "I'll teach you some manners━"

He lunges over for me, the glass in his hand snapping.

The buzz of the wine has already infiltrated my thoughts. I don't move fast enough. I can already see the way it will happen━his hands, pinning me down. His enormous, heavy body on top of me.

But he never makes it.

The bartender has returned, and even though I don't recognize him, he throws one hand in front of the giant.

"Do you know what you're doing?" he barks.

"I'm teaching her a lesson━"

The bartender's eyes slide towards me. He is no saint. If the giant can talk this easily in front of him, they must both be assholes.

So why is he defending me?

"Do you know whose protection she's under?"

Even I'm confused. "I'm not under━"

Thankfully, I have the sense to cut myself off.

The bartender glowers at the giant. "Albert, she's here with Hunter."

And the giant━a seven-foot-something man, almost three-hundred pounds, who must be twice my age━freezes.

"Hunter?" he mutters.

And then he does something unexpected. He apologizes.

"I'm sorry, little miss," he says. "I━you should have said you were under Hunter's protection."

I really, truly should have guessed.

And Emilie in the hospital, saying, Clumsy me. I just walked right into a door . . .

When I told Hunter she had attacked me, she went to Emilie first.

At the time, I assumed it was because . . . well, I was jealous.

I just walked right into a door . . .

Hunter. Hunter was behind that.

This whole time . . . I've been under Hunter's protection?

"Apologies accepted," I slur, saluting both men.

I think I might be drunk.

>>>

Tonight is Jude's last night here. Tomorrow...is Friday.

The next few chapters are going to be a little ride.

From the moon and back,
Sarai

>>>

Can someone help me do math? Please?

What is the point of quadratic functions and why are they curse on humanity?

From the moon and back,
Sarai