His Trouble Maker

Chapter 24

JESSICA

I’m spent.

Completely fucking drained.

My body’s aching, still trembling with the aftermath, but I can’t move. Can’t even open my eyes. The car feels like it’s swallowing me whole, the leather seat cold against my skin. I’m sticky, sore, and every inch of me is throbbing, but I don’t care.

The only sound I can hear is the heavy rise and fall of my breath. His breath, too, deep and slow, like he’s savoring the moment just as much aslam.

“Where the fuck did you learn that Jessica?” His voice is thick with something between amusement and disbelief, like he’s trying to figure out, plece by piece, It’s a question that doesn’t deserve an answer, but I know he’s expecting one.

I tilt my head back, trying to find the strength to speak, but all I can do is smirk, barely able to keep my eyes open. “Does it matter?” My voice comes out hoarse, cracked from more than just the words. “You seem to like it, though.”

He chuckles, dark and low, the sound vibrating through the car. His fingers trace the edge of my jaw.“Damn girl.”

“Is that a compliment?”

Gray smirks, that familiar arrogance dancing in his eyes. Without warning, he licks his lips like he’s savoring something dangerous. He leans in close, his lips brushing mine for a fleeting second, a kiss that’s too quick to be mal, too fucking perfect to forget.

Then he pulls back just as fast, his lips moving to the top of my head, pressing a kiss there as if marking me in some fucked–up way that makes my stomach churn and tighten

“You don’t need compliments, Jess,” he says, his voice low, like he’s savoring the taste of his words, and everything in me burns. “You already know what you are to me.”

Yeah? And what’s that?

I chuckle, trying to shake the thought away, because if I start questioning this now, I’ll lose myself in the mess of it. I don’t have time for that Instead, I let my head fall back against the seat, closing my eyes. It feels good hearing him shouting, not out of anger for the first time.

minutes, I heard him start the engine of his car. His one hand is still holding me and I felt comfortable with it.

hand tightening slightly around me. “Do you still have strength

my eyes, blinking through the haze, and

that keeps

judgmental, but there’s something in his tone that makes it feel like he’s trying to crack me open. “You could just be an instructor, Jess. Work in the Alpha’s

should. My jaw clenches, and I can feel the fire stirring in my chest. He doesn’t get it. He doesn’t understand why I can’t settle for anything less than this constant fight. I force myself to

like I’m attacking him. But I can’t help The words just spill out, sharp and raw,. “I hate it when people say women can’t be warriors.

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09:45 Tue, 5 Aug

Chapter 24

shift slightly in his seat, but he doesn’t say anything right away. “Who says that, though?” he asks, his voice soft, but there’s an edge to it now, like

The Alpha’s office. The pack. They’re all still stuck in the past, thinking we should Just..

He seems to be processing, his grip tightening on the steering wheel like he’s trying to keep his thoughts

anything to anyone, Jess,” he says, his

doing? Proving something? I’m not. I’m fighting

That’s what it is.”

first, just lets the car roll forward as the streetlights flicker past us. And for a moment, I wonder if he’s given up on understanding. Then, finally, he speaks again. “You

I nodded.

know what that means,

I’ve been fighting all my life–fighting against what everyone thinks I

think I should be.

–

you need to have Pierce and mine’s

Right.

my head slightly, staring at the dashboard, the familiar streets passing by like I’m seeing them for the first time. “You think I don’t know that?” I murmur, low, my voice tight. I tum back to him,