Chapter 7 - Jasper

The morning hadn't started as I'd expected, and I was anxious to get my head back into the game and focus on the task at hand: finding the werewolf pack that resided in Pinedale and making a plan to infiltrate them.

I had spent the past few days observing as much as I could from afar, but today, I wanted to get a little closer to the action. After driving into town, I made my way to the local bar. While big cities usually didn't open their bars until later in the day, small towns like Pinedale often opened early. If someone knew where the wolves spent time, it was likely that I would hear about it here.

"What can I getcha?" asked the older gentleman behind the bar as I walked inside.

It was a small room, with the bar running the length of one side and tables along the other. The kitchen and bathrooms were located at the back of the space, and I spotted one man in the kitchen.

"Coffee, please," I replied, sitting at a table near the center of the room where I could overhear anyone who came inside.

I set up the laptop I had brought with me. It was my cover if anyone asked why I was spending so much time at the establishment. Today, I would be a traveler just passing through, needing a place to do some work.

For the next several hours, I alternated between listening to the steady flow of customer conversations and "working" on a spreadsheet of figures. Retired men joined their friends for lunch, swapping stories of the "good old days" while drinking beers. Women stopped for a bite to eat after their hair appointments. A few teenagers came in after school for a soda. None of them gave any indication that they were part of the wolf pack.

In the late afternoon, patrons in their twenties and thirties came in after a long day of work. Within no time at all, alcohol had begun to loosen the tongues of those who imbibed, and by dinnertime, I got my first real piece of information about the wolf pack in town.

"That's right, Nile said everyone's going to come over for the party." A man sitting two tables away had been chatting with his companions for the better part of an hour. I had sensed from the moment they walked in that they were wolves.

"Everyone?" a young woman questioned. "There's no way we'll all fit!"

"It'll be fine," said a third wolf dismissively.

"Terry, you're talking about upwards of two hundred people. I just hope he decides to use the community center next door, is all I'm saying," the woman continued.

I continued to listen as they discussed their pack and realized this small town had a pack much larger than I had anticipated. They also appeared to be much more spread out than other packs we had encountered. Unlike the Moonstone, Sparkle Hollow, and Northern Wind packs, this one seemed to have blended seamlessly into the human community. There wasn't a mention of a centralized building—aside from their alpha's family home—where they met for training.

In fact, they didn't mention any training or patrols at all. From what I could gather, they counted on their anonymity in the area to shield them instead of relying on force. Such a large pack couldn't be discounted, even if they were docile. We would need to tread carefully if we wanted to take their territory as our own.

I decided to call it a night and head back to the cabins as I mulled over what I had learned. Making this our permanent settlement would be entirely doable, I thought. This could be my chance to finally give the pack a proper home.

It was early in the evening when I pulled up to the cabins and parked my vehicle. Before I went into the cabin to check on April, I wanted to speak with Killian, so I walked around to the back of the cabins to locate him.

Killian was standing by the well pump, filling a large basin with water. I looked at the scene in confusion. My warriors never participated in such meaningless chores as fetching water. Where were all the women?

My confusion quickly turned to irritation when I saw April was with him. She was holding a bar of soap and had placed a small stack of towels on the nearest table. Surrounding her was a group of the pack's children, all looking at her with wonder and laughter in their eyes. My own eyes flashed with anger as I saw April and Killian laughing as well. The luna was encouraging the children to bathe themselves, which at least explained the tub of water.

Many of the children were hesitant to allow April to scrub them, but I could see that the youngest few were already drying themselves near the tables.

Now that my attention had been drawn to it, I could see that the children were in need of a bath. I was on the verge of allowing it to continue until Killian said something to April and she began to laugh. Her merriment rang out like a bell as she placed one hand on Killian's forearm and the other on her stomach as she tried to contain her amusement. When Killian smiled at her, I felt rage filling every part of my body. My skin burned hot and my eyesight narrowed until all I could focus on was how close they were standing together.

"April!" I shouted, making my way toward them purposefully. The gaggle of children jumped in fear and surprise, and their faces immediately fell. A handful of them ran away while the rest huddled together, unsure of what their alpha was going to say next.

"Jasper, welcome back," my mate responded, bowing her head in deference. It wasn't the first time she had bowed to me. Usually, I liked it, but right now, it seemed to me that she was making a mockery of the respect I was owed as alpha.

"You will address me as alpha in front of the pack," I commanded her. "What is the meaning of this? I don't recall saying you were allowed out of the cabin while I was gone."

"I'm sorry, Alpha," she said quietly.

"Jasper, the luna just thought the little ones could use a bath. I'm sorry if I did wrong by helping," Killian said.

"You and I will talk later," I told him. I was disappointed in my second for allowing the luna to give orders in my absence. He should have known better than to think I would allow this.

"Yes, alpha," Killian replied.

"April, go back to the cabin. Immediately," I commanded.

She looked at me, and I could tell she didn't want to obey, but then she put the soap down and began to walk toward my cabin.

"Killian," I said to my second as I watched April walk away, "fetch the women and make sure they finish bathing the pups. They really are a mess."

I followed April to the cabin door, where she had stopped.

"Was that really necessary?" she asked when I approached her. "I was just trying to help."

"Help?" I repeated. "You disobeyed me and made me look weak in front of my pack. How, exactly, do you think that was helpful?"

"You didn't tell me I needed to stay inside!" April hissed back at me. "You left the lock off the door. I thought that meant you were allowing me to have at least a little bit of freedom instead of being locked inside all day. The children needed baths, and I didn't see anyone else taking care of them. Unless you just brought them here to suffer and die like you did with me."

I moved toward her, pressing her up against the wall of the cabin with both hands. Instead of looking fearful, her expression held steely resolve.

"Do not speak to me like that ever again, do you understand me?" I growled.

"Or what?" she challenged. "Just go ahead and torture me. That's your plan, anyway, isn't it? I'm sick of waiting around for it to happen. Just get it over with."

"Don't," I warned her, moving even closer. "Don't tempt me."

She jutted her chin out and looked even deeper into my eyes. The garnet tint in the center of her brown eyes captivated me, and I found myself moving in closer. Before I could think about my actions, and without making any conscious choice to do it, I pressed my lips to hers. They were soft and inviting, and once I started the kiss, I realized I didn't want it to stop.

I moved my hands to her waist, drawing her into my embrace as my lips possessed hers with a hunger that was desperate to be satiated. Her lips parted to allow my tongue to explore her mouth, and I felt her hands move to the back of my head. She was pressing me more firmly into herself, apparently gripped by the same rabid desire I felt.

For a long moment, we gave into our passions, and then a sudden clang from behind the cabin broke our passionate trance.

I pushed her away, dropping my arms quickly to my sides so we were no longer touching.

"Oh, goddess," she said breathlessly. "What have we done?"

"That was a mistake," I said simply. I couldn't look at her. I was disgusted with myself for my moment of weakness and having a hard time processing that I had willingly gotten that close to a female.

"A mistake that won't happen again," she agreed. She turned and walked into the cabin, slamming the door behind her.

Despite the late hour, I didn't follow her inside. I couldn't be in the same room as her right now. Or maybe forever. As much as I wanted to be repulsed by her, I couldn't deny that the opposite was true. I may have been cold and hard like metal, but she was magnetic.

I knew for a fact now that there was attraction between us. For the first time in my life, I didn't know what to do.