3. Jasper

Jasper

D espite the cold December day, sweat rolls down Tyson’s back, his muscles flexing as he lifts another bale of hay. Running a farm is a lot of hard work, but it has been my dream to live on one since I was a child. After I became a Lord, duty forced me to live in the city, close to the Blood Lodge, since my blood-brothers and I were to be the bodyguards of the Elders. Since it seemed impossible to fulfill my dream, I gave up on it and resigned myself to living in the busy Veross City.

Everything changed five years ago when I was around twenty-eight, when the sudden death of my then blood-brothers, Samir and Iago, changed the course of my entire life.

Samir and Iago were my first blood-brothers and were killed during a surprise attack from the Dukes. I almost died myself that day, but by some cruel twist of fate, I only ended up with a few scars and a shattered knee. Many surgeries later and after a lot of physical therapy, I regained my mobility. But the attack changed me. It left me with nightmares.

It was so bad that I’d gotten to the point where I wanted to be left alone because I was scared that I’d harm those around me.

I wanted to get away from everyone and everything.

When I was well enough to walk on my own, I found a piece of land on the outskirts of the city, built a house on it, and bought some animals to keep me busy during the days, while I waited for my demon to consume me after the hope of having a family died together with my blood-brothers.

My plan would have worked if not for Rueben. It’s like he knew what I was doing and he and his blood-brothers basically moved onto my farm. I tried to kick them out several times, but somehow, they tricked me into letting them stay. Then came the talk about me joining their group. In the beginning, I didn’t even want to hear about it because losing Samir and Iago completely broke me. The link that connects blood-brothers together shatters when one of them dies, and it was soul-cripplingly painful when it happened to me. Since we didn’t have a woman to anchor ourselves to, the demons of Samir and Iago had to find solace in the catacombs below the Blood Lodge, knowing they would never enter the Garden of Eden. Thinking about them still hurts.

Rueben is not the type of person who understands the meaning of the word no. Despite my determination, somehow he forced me to say yes, thus becoming one of his blood-brothers. It made me resent him for about a year, but as time passed and nothing happened, I started to ease into the idea that I have new blood-brothers. We’ve been through a lot of shit together, and the link between us became even stronger. My life became better, and the farm turned from a place of death to a place of peaceful living.

I finish grooming Juniper, and I straighten my back. “Let me help you feed Speckles and Artax so we can join the others for breakfast.”

Tyson puts another bale of hay on top of the others, his chest glistening with sweat. He takes out the t-shirt tucked in the waistband of his pants and wipes his forehead with it. I don’t understand how he is not cold, but he is originally from a small town in Wyoming and claims the winters there are harsher than here. “Do you think Mose is making his special breakfast?”

Mose’s parents are from Korea and moved to the States when Mose was five years old. They had big plans for him, wanting him to become a doctor, but not only did he go to culinary school, he also became an assassin for the Lords, thus doing the opposite of what his parents wanted.

“Before I left the house I saw him tasting the kimchi,” I let Tyson know. He’s obsessed with the kimchi Mose makes.

“Kimchi,” Tyson moans, sending a shiver down my spine.

Ignoring the way he makes me feel, I chuckle. “Let’s feed the horses so you can have your kimchi.”

Tyson goes over to Artax’s stall while I take hay to Speckles. I walk slowly, as I don’t want to scare the mare. The animals on the farm are usually rescued after years of being abused and mistreated by their owners. Speckles was brought in two months ago, but she is very wary of humans, as her previous owner abused her so badly. Her black mane is spotted white from whatever that sick bastard did to her. Not wanting her wounds to define her, we called her Speckles. She didn’t even have a name until us.

I enter Speckles’ stall, and she immediately gets nervous.

“Easy, girl.” I keep my voice calm, not wanting to make her even more nervous, and slowly put the hay in the rack.

Speckles never takes her eyes off of me, probably scared I will do something to her. I work with her daily, trying to show her that not all humans are evil. It is a slow process, and she only tolerates me long enough to feed her and take her to the paddock. She starts eating only after I leave the stall.

Tyson strokes Artax’s mane and takes out a sugar cube from his pocket.

“You spoil him too much,” I chuckle as Artax takes the sugar cube from Tyson.

“We all do,” Tyson says.

Artax was our very first horse. It took a lot of failures and learning on our part to finally gain his trust. There have been a few others after him who found their forever homes but Artax is special, and his home is with us.

After a last check on Juniper—who is more than irritated for having to spend the winter inside the stable instead of her pen—Tyson and I go to the house and enter through the backdoor leading directly into the kitchen.

“Wash your hands,” Mose says as he puts a serving plate of spiced tofu and boiled eggs on the table.

Rueben and Ansel are sitting in their chairs, scrolling on their phones. It is rare to see them home during the morning as they have a bounty-hunting business and are on the road more than they are home. Mose owns a Korean restaurant, and Tyson writes books for women. Books for the mind and soul, he calls them. I am the only one not working, as my knee bothers me most of the time. Not contributing financially makes me feel like a freeloader.

Tyson heads over to the sink.

Miss Teapot gets up from the basket she uses as her bed and comes to me. I scoop her up in my arms and stroke her warm fur; she starts purring right away. I named her Miss Teapot because I found her thrown in the garbage about two years ago, stuck in a broken teapot, while I was doing some grocery shopping. Unfortunately, she lost her left front leg because it was very badly broken, but since she was a kitten when I found her, she adapted to her new life as a 3-legged cat pretty quickly.

“Who’s the prettiest girl in the house?” I coo as I pet Miss Teapot’s white fur. She purrs even louder.

Ansel puts his phone on the table. “Mose is.”

I chuckle because Ansel is not wrong. Mose looks like those guys who play K-pop music.

“Since when am I a girl?” Mose rolls his eyes, making everyone laugh.

Tyson dries his hands and sits at the table. “Diva is the most beautiful,” he says, giving his unsolicited opinion.

Diva is Rueben’s rottweiler and a pain in the ass. Last year, I had chickens, and she ate the eggs before I could collect them. When I caught her in the act, she had a meltdown because I gave the chickens away, scared that she would eat them next. The name suits her well, as she is a real diva. But she is loyal and fiercely guards the farm from any potential danger, so I didn’t make a scene or demand Rueben get rid of her. I doubt Rueben would have listened to me since he loves her more than his life.

Rueben strokes Diva’s head—who lies on the floor next to his chair. “You damn right she is.”

His eyes have a permanent red glow to them now, telling us he is close to being consumed by his demon. I have been a Lord for a long time, but I've never encountered one close to losing the battle at only twenty-seven. The death of his sister and parents hit him so hard that he doesn’t care if he is giving in to the dark whisper. The only reason he is still holding on is because he wants to destroy Camila’s killer before he lets his demon consume him. I doubt he will ever find the killer, because from what I know, she is no longer in the US.

There are so many scars on his soul that I don’t think he will ever heal.

I take Miss Teapot to her basket, fluff up her blankets, and make sure she has food before I wash my hands and join the others.

“This kimchi is amazing,” Tyson moans as he puts more kimchi on his plate. “Can I have some while I finish editing my latest book?”

“More porn for your fans?” Rueben mocks Tyson.

Tyson points with his chopsticks at Rueben. “It may be porn, but this book is fairy porn, and my readers will love it, especially since the male characters will get frisky as well.”

I can’t help but glance at him. Does he know what I feel about him and is teasing me?

No.

Tyson is only into women.

Rueben furrows his brow. He is not one to read and doesn’t get why women love to read porn books , as he calls romance stories.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” I ask as I put food on my plate. I am not a big fan of spicy things, but Mose puts so much spice in everything, my tongue is numb by now. I’m pretty sure my taste buds are dead.

“Ansel and I have a quick gig we have to do. After we return, we will have our traditional Christmas Eve dinner,” Rueben says.

Christmas Eve.

I didn’t even realize we were on the 24th already. My eyes go to the sixth seat at the table, the one that is destined for our future Lady, but I do doubt we will let her sit in it as it is custom for the Lords to cater to their bonded’s needs. Our Lady, whoever she is, will be treated like a princess by us.

The house I initially built was too small for a large family, since we want at least three kids, so we built a second one—with a big Lair upstairs—with more than enough rooms on the ground floor for everyone to have his own personal space, and kept the smaller house as a guest house.

Rueben is still hesitant when it comes to finding a Lady, so the Lair remains unused for now.

“I will have to do some shopping, stop by the restaurant before I finish the preparations for tonight,” Mose lets us know.

Tyson puts more kimchi on his plate. “I will be in my office until dinner is ready.”

The guys leave to do their own thing and I clean up after everyone. I don’t mind it as it keeps me busy.

Once that is done, I check on the animals and let them outside for a few hours. I even try to convince Speckles to go out in the paddock, but she refuses to leave her stall.

At noon, I make lunch for myself and Tyson, who is so engrossed in his editing that he doesn’t even notice me taking his empty mugs of coffee and restocking his supply of kimchi. Sometime later he comes out of his office and joins me on the couch. Taking the beer from my hand, he says, “What did you get Rueben this year?” before taking a sip from the bottle. He is still not wearing a shirt, and his muscles flex as he moves. I suppress a groan and focus on what Tyson asked me.

My love language is giving people gifts. Despite not working, I have some cash in a bank account from when I was working as a mercenary with Samir and Iago. I turn off the TV and grab my phone from the coffee table. Opening an app I am not supposed to have, I reply, “A night he or any one of us won’t forget anytime soon.”

I give Tyson my phone and wait patiently while he reads the information. His eyebrows raise more and more until even The Rock would be envious of him.

“You are in contact with Malaky?” he finally asks. I shrug. I met many people when I was still active and made many connections. “He is a Duke,” he comments.

I pet Miss Teacup who is curled up in my lap. “I know. Tonight is not about me and my thirst for revenge for what happened to Samir and Iago,” and the family we almost had together, as we were planning on courting someone, but I don’t say that part out loud, “but about Rueben and our life as we know it.” I furrow my brow. “My demon is concerned for him. If he keeps up like this, we will lose him.”

I’ll be damned if I let that happen.

“So, this is your answer to prevent Rueben from giving in and allowing his demon to consume him? Hunting women at night and fucking them?”

Well, when Tyson puts it that way, it does sound bad. “Did I mention there is a possibility to keep the one we choose for us?” I try to make it look a bit better.

Tyson glances back at my phone. “Rueben will never agree to this madness.”

Who is Tyson trying to lie to, me or him?

“Rueben goes to the Blood Lodge every day to fuck that new pornai, whatever her face is. You think he won’t like the thrill of chasing a woman and fucking her in the cold snow?”

Knowing Rueben, he will probably want to repeat the experience monthly.

“This…is not acceptable by the Elders,” Tyson tries to make me see reason, but I have been thinking about it for a long time. It’s just the type of thing Rueben will like. Even if it’s not right, if it means saving him, I don’t mind buying an innocent woman and altering the course of her entire life if the ultimate goal is to make her our Lady.

“Do you think we are the only Lords taking part in the hunt? There are many blood-brothers who have yet to find a Lady, and this is their last hope to find someone to anchor their souls to.”

Not to mention Dukes.

They have an even more difficult time finding women who want to be with them.

Tyson is still hesitant. “What will happen when the Elders find out?”

“They won’t know. No one will know we are taking part in the hunt. The women from tonight have been specially selected by Malaky. Some have been born to Dukes and even Lords but are estranged from their families. They are raised knowing they would be wives and mothers.” I am totally making up the last part, but a little lie never hurt anyone.

Tyson rubs his chin. “Let’s say we see someone we like and want to take home; we can’t simply kidnap her. Someone will know.”

“We will buy her from Malaky. Their families don’t care what happens to them. Many of them have fallen out of grace with their parents. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Buy a woman,” Tyson thinks out loud. “We are not rich enough to afford one.” He sounds disappointed. “If only I could have finished my latest book faster…”

I knew he would come around to my crazy idea. “We don’t need that much money. Apart from the entry fee I already paid, we have to deposit five grand in Malaky’s account.”

“Only five grand!?” Tyson is shocked.

“His dad is a senator; it is obvious he is not doing it for the cash.”

“Then why?” Tyson doesn’t get it.

I tap my temple with my finger. “Because he is sick in the head and will also take part in the hunt, armed with a knife. Not all women will make it out alive tonight.”

I don’t really give a shit about women, only about the one that will pique Rueben’s interest, the woman that will become our wife.