Chapter 14

Ludo Stallard stared at the prison where he’d once been banished by his cousin Daniel for nearly a month with little food and water. Daniel had seen that Ludo was going to be powerful and had tried to break his spirit and get him to toe the line. At the time, when Ludo was merely fourteen and hadn’t even shifted yet, he’d not been thinking about taking over the pack. But once he’d been let go from the prison and exiled with a slash of Daniel’s claws across his face, Ludo had decided he’d get his vengeance someday. And that day had come.

It had been years and the scars on his face still ached, reminding him forever that his cousin had tried to weaken him, when he’d been too young to shift to heal himself and left with a permanent reminder that someone had thought he was a threat. Maybe he never would have tried to take over the pack if Daniel hadn’t done what he did, but that was beside the point now.

Daniel and his mate were dead, as was their son Dario.

Ludo was the alpha of the pack by right of conquest, and he’d managed to not only take his cousin out, but also imprison the highest-ranking members who would have been loyal to Daniel.

All was going well until someone set the second-in-command, Finn Atwood, and his mate Viola free.

Ludo had been asleep during the infiltration, and his males had been caught off-guard, which pissed him off to no end. He’d successfully taken over the pack with only ten males on his side. But now, as he stared at the prison while the sun came up, he had a serious problem.

Because the people who’d helped Finn escape weren’t just wolves, they were other types of shifters.

“I pick up lion for sure,” Mark, Ludo’s right-hand male, said with a derisive sniff. Ludo knew that Mark hated lion shifters because a rogue lion had killed his mate several years earlier. While Mark had dealt with the male, he still harbored hatred for all lions, regardless of who they were.

“Yeah.” Ludo scratched his jaw. “Bear and wolf too, but there’s one I can’t figure out. Like the jungle.”

“Gorilla,” Seth said. “But the question is, how the hell are so many different shifters together to free that male and his mate? And why?”

“I’ve got it!” Damien, the self-proclaimed pack nerd, jogged toward them with a large book against his chest.

Ludo turned to face him. “You’ve got what?”

“The answer to who came to get Finn.” Damien opened the book and turned it around to face Ludo. In the early morning light, Ludo read about an exiled male who attempted to mate a non-shifting female. The male? Jasper Breslin, who was a pup when Ludo was exiled.

But the female? Finn and Viola’s child.

According to the entry in the pack’s history, Alpha Grimes had exiled Jasper and told him if he tried to take Melody with him, that he’d hunt her down and kill her. Then he issued an order that Melody was not to mate or bear pups for anyone in the pack, on threat of death.

Closing the book with a hum, Ludo handed it back to Damien. “So he really hated non-shifters, huh? Interesting. The reason we’re here is because there are rumblings in the pack about Finn being set free.”

“Why does it matter?” Kieran asked, scuffing the toe of his boot in the dirt. “He’s gone and we’ve still got the other high-ranked males in the cells.”

“It matters because he’s definitely going to come back and try to take control of the pack. No way Finn just lets it go that I killed Ludo to take over.”

“How will we find them?” Damien asked.

“Glen’s working on it. He’s hacking into the public utilities to track any vehicles that were around the perimeter of town.” Ludo stared past his comrades to the woods beyond. He wouldn’t feel secure in his leadership of the pack until anyone trying to take over was taken out, completely and entirely. And that meant getting Finn, his mate, and their daughter back.

And the male who’d come to set them free.

“Gather the pack at the alpha’s house for a meeting. I’m going to make a new law.”

“What law is that?” Mark asked, falling into step beside him as he headed away from the prison and toward the house that he’d taken over.

“No non-shifters in the pack, period. Only full-shifting wolves. The second part of the new law is that anyone who attempts to escape punishment by the alpha will be executed publicly.”

“Nice,” Mark said. “So we just need to find them.”

“We will,” Ludo said confidently. He opened the house’s back door and then looked over his shoulder. “Find someone to clean the fucking bedroom—it reeks of blood and death. And get me Glen. I want to know how he’s coming in his search.”

The males all nodded and hurried about their duties save for Mark, who followed him inside and into the office. “You lead the hunt when we figure out where Finn and his family are,” Ludo said. “I want the male who helped them too.”

“Jasper?”

“Yes.”

With a dismissive nod, Ludo sat at the large dark-wood desk and spread his fingers over the smooth surface. A public execution and new laws were just the ticket to get the pack to fall in line, from the most dominant, powerful males to the lowest, weakest ones.

He was finally where he was destined to be.

Jasper rinsed the soap from his chest and stared at his gorgeous mate as she yawned and rubbed shampoo into her long, dark hair.

He was pretty damn tired too, but also exhilarated.

She’d woken him up with her talented mouth, and he’d repaid the favor in spades by driving her to several crashing climaxes before he’d fucked her hard and fast in the shower.

He felt like he was making up for lost time.

They’d always been good together, even when they were teenagers and learning how to make each other happy. It was sweeter now, better than it had ever been.

“I’m freaking starving,” she said as the suds slipped from her hair and coursed down her curves.

“Me too,” he said. He slid the shower door open and stepped onto the mat. After grabbing a towel, he patted his skin dry and then anchored it around his waist to wait for her to be finished. “We can get breakfast in the cafeteria.”

“I should probably meet with my parents. Both of us should.”

She peeked at him for a moment and then tilted her head back to finish rinsing. He grabbed a towel for her as she turned off the water, then found another one under the sink so she could twist her hair up in it.

“I’ll call the apartment and see if they want to meet in the employee cafeteria.”

“Okay,” she said.

He’d sent a note to the store in the marketplace and asked for Anke, who ran the store with her mate Zeger, to send clothes for Melody because she didn’t have much but the few things he’d gotten for her before they’d headed to Northbelle to save her parents. They’d been kind enough to send over a stack of clothes and undergarments.

While they dressed, he said, “So we didn’t really talk last night.”

She grinned and pulled a short-sleeved tee over her head. Anke had also included a zippered pouch with hair and makeup products, and while he dressed, Melody twisted her hair into a long braid and secured it with a stretchy elastic covered with fabric.

“I guess not,” she said. “What should we tackle first? My parents, where we’re living, or the fact we didn’t use protection at all?”

His brows lifted at the last one. No, they hadn’t used protection, and they hadn’t really even talked about it. “Are you okay with it if you get pregnant?”

“Of course,” she said. “I always pictured having a big family since I’m an only child, and we used to talk about that.”

Jasper had always wanted a big family too.

They finished getting dressed and walked into the kitchen, where he fixed coffee in travel mugs for them both while she called her parents.

“Okay, see you in a few minutes,” she said, ending the call. “They’ll meet us at the employee cafeteria.”

“Sounds good.”

He pulled her close and stared down at her. “Just because we haven’t been together for seven years doesn’t mean I want to skip anything between us. I want to spend time getting to know you again and to build a relationship even stronger than we had when we were younger. Starting a family has been a dream of mine since I knew you were my soulmate, and whenever it happens I promise to be the best dad to our kids. And the best mate too.”

Her eyes darkened, the violet turning a deeper purple. “You’re already the best mate, Jasper. I know you’ll be a great dad when the time comes. Whenever it is. I can’t wait to get to know you better too.”

“Let me take you out tonight, somewhere special.”

“I don’t have anything nice to wear.”

“We’ll figure that out,” he said. “After breakfast.”

“Perfect,” she said. “I can’t wait.”

He couldn’t wait either. To get to know his soulmate all over again.

They’d loved each other before, but it would be better now. Sweeter, deeper.

Melody coming back into his life was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Ludo might be a murderous asshole, but he’d paved the way for their reunion and that was the silver lining Jasper was going to be happy for. Whatever else happened, Melody was safe with him in the park, and that was the only thing that mattered.