Once I’m able to convince Zara that I’m actually happy about the news, things seem to get better. She still has days where all she does is lay in bed and cry, but they are fewer and fewer. Doctor Khe has to change Zara’s medications, yet again, which makes things more challenging in caring for her. The time she spends whispering to herself or staring off with a very un-Zara-like scowl has become more frequent. If you ask her who she is talking to, or what she is thinking about, she gives you a suspicious look and turns away or tells you she does not know what you’re talking about. One night, Dad even stopped her from deleting all her data from the server. When he asked her why she was doing it, all she could say was ‘they told her she had to’. After that, Dad set up an auto back-up of the server that Zara couldn’t access to be safe. Mom, Dad, and Estelle take turns staying the night, so I can go to work from eleven p.m. until three a.m. with Jasper. We hand out warm clothes and food
Zara seems in better spirits once school starts back up. Having a routine and figuring out how to balance school, homework, and working on the sigma cure seems to keep her mind off of other things. She also shows an interest in converting the guest room into a nursery and the nursery into a guest room so the baby will be closer to our room. Mom is happy to help have the guest room furniture moved and to have everything from the existing creepy nursery donated. One particularly rough night at work, Jasper and I find the body of a girl we had been speaking with under a bridge. The sickly sweet smell of ketamine is heavy in the air. “I think it’s time for me to take a page for your book, Kel.” Jasper puts his hands in his coat pockets and watches the ambulance with the girl’s corpse drive away. “I thought about the dark side of my bad habits. I’m done partying like that. Sticking to beer and liquor.” “It’s gonna change your life, Jas. You’ll see.” I clap him on the back and lead him
Jasper’s POV I had never seen a dead body. The body of the girl my best friend, Keller, and I found under a bridge was Lanie. She was a sigma werewolf and a hardcore addict, not like the party girls we meet at the clubs. Keller is a werewolf. We’ve been friends since grade school and I just found out he is a werewolf a couple of months ago. He tells me most of the sigmas he has ever met are addicts or prostitutes. Except for his girlfriend, Zara. She’s a sigma, but doesn’t even drink. We had been talking to Lanie for a couple months to make sure was not in danger. She seemed really sweet and polite when she was lucid. I even got to know her well enough for her to tell me she was going to be a professional ballerina when she got older. I know it wasn’t true, but I would not be the one to crush her dreams. After not seeing her in her usual hangouts for a couple of weeks, we went looking for her. I kinda wish we had never found her. Not like that, anyway. She still had a syringe hangin
Keller’s POV Zara and I are meeting with a woman who Mom is paying to paint a mural on the nursery wall when my phone pings with a text notification. Zara is showing her examples of underwater paintings she has been pinning on mood boards and the furniture we ordered for the room. “Excuse me, Ladies.” I squeeze Zara’s hand and step out of the now empty guest room. “I won’t be long.” Jasper: VIP at Velvet Rope for Sam’s birthday on Saturday. Sam: Holy shit, really? Jasper: Yeah. Kel, can you invite Estelle and Tyree? Keller: Yup. Jasper: What about Zara? Keller: Nope. She’s not 21 and she’s pregnant. Keller: Besides, she’s excited to kick Dad’s ass in Scrabble. Sam: Bummer. Okay. Next year. Jasper: Kel - ask Estelle to let Tyree know about the dress code. Keller: Will do. Jasper: Sam - Melissa Jackson is coming. Don’t blow it. Sam: Bro. Jasper: See you at 11:30 Saturday “Everything okay?” Zara smiles when I come back to the room. “All good. Jasper made plans for Sam’
“What are you doing?” Mom looks into the back seat of Dad’s truck while we head home. “Just making sure he’s not hurt.” I look him over, squeezing his legs gently and pulling his sleeves up to make sure there are no cuts or bruises. When I lift his chin up, he gives me a little whine, making me pull my hand back. I chuckle when he squints his soft, gray eyes at me with a scowl. He looks just like Skylar. “Sorry, little guy. I’m just making sure you’re good to go. Don’t beat me up.” “He doesn’t look like a goblin. How can he be so cute when he looks like your brother?” Rocky asks, admiring the infant. “It’s going to make our mate sad that his mother left him.” “No idea how he can be so cute, Rocky, but he’s already growing on me. Imagine how it’s going to feel when we meet our own pup.” I brush my finger over Dillon’s nose gently. I take the baby to the living room with Mom and finally let her hold him while Dad speaks with Beta Stone in the entryway. “Mom, what are we going to do
“It’s not too late. I can stay home, Pocket. Sam will understand.” I sit on the bed next to her and Dillon. “Go spend time with your friends.” She takes my hand and smiles at me. “Who knows when you’ll have another opportunity? Mom and Dad are here. They set the travel bassinet up. Mom showed me how to make bottles of formula and how to change his diaper. If anything happens, she and Dad will help me. I’m going to leave the bedroom door wide open just in case, but right now, you need to go out. You said the Doc told you to. Don’t go against the doctor’s orders, Keller.”“If you want me to come home, you’ll call me right away, right? Like for any reason. You’ll call me?” I stroke my fingers over Dillon’s soft brown hair. He gives me another scowl and a little grunt. “It doesn’t feel right to leave you two on the first night.”“Don’t make me manipulate you, Keller Joseph.” Zara raises her eyebrows at me. “Tonight, you go out with your friends. Tomorrow, the three of us will spend the d
“Whoa, what? No. You two have met Jasper before.” I hold hands up, but Katie and Kara are already past me, giggling and batting their eyes at Jasper, who has an arm around each of their waists. “Keller, I would remember meeting my mate.” Katie slides her hand up Jasper’s shirt and lets it rest on his chest. “Yeah, Kel, I’ve definitely never met your friends here. You’ve been holding out on me.” Jasper brushes a stray hair out of Kara’s eyes and admires her. “That dress goes perfectly with your gorgeous blue eyes, Darlin’.” “Katie, the last time I saw you, you said my friends were there. It would only have been Jasper or Sam. No one else comes home with me like that.” I run my fingers over my forehead out of frustration. “Oh, I didn’t mean your human friends. I was talking about the drugs.” She rolls her eyes at me and turns back to Jasper. “No. Ladies, there must be a mistake. Jasper isn’t… one of… us.” I try to reason with them, but it’s too late. They are in their own little wo
After a quick conversation with the manager, I point out my friends at the bar. He says he will take care of them and shows me the door to his office where he is going to bring them. I step outside and try to make my way to the alley as nonchalantly as possible. There isn’t anyone there. I don’t know why the Hell I need to meet Tyree’s friends in the alley, but if Estelle trusts him, I should as well. I pace back and forth in the dark alley that smells like piss and vomit until I sense a change in the air. The scent of ozone fills my nose, making me gag. Rocky, who has been unusually quiet with all the commotion, becomes restless. Out of nowhere, he says the most terrifying thing he’s ever said. “The Reaper is coming.” “What the fuck? Rocky, what are you talking about?” I back up against the side of the building and look around, trying to cover my nose from the potent scents building up around me. A searing heat and bright light forces me to close my eyes and turn my head. My heart