It takes us a few weeks to get fully settled in the Santa Cruz tree house. The plan is for Jasper to take over all of Sterling’s operations, with me at his side to help out, and Isaac and Regan as the first team members for the new project.After a plenty of work, and a bunch of phone calls to Sterling’s brother Greyson to get all the security codes that we need, we’re ready to re-open the doors.Sterling’s mission was to train shifters, especially those serving as Alphas and Betas, in combat, stealth, scouting, and defensive strategies. So the first thing we do is gather the shifters who were training under him when he disappeared.Jasper wants a chance to re-introduce himself to everyone as the new leader, so Isaac and Regan are helping host a huge bonfire and barbecue out on the beach. We’ve invited a bunch of local shifters, and everyone whose contact information we could find in Sterling’s most recent records.The evening of the bonfire, I throw on a dark gray hoodie a
The crowd laughs and jeers as Jasper leaves. They seem to think they’ve won some kind of victory. As Jasper heads off by himself, someone hits play on a boom box they’ve brought, and loud hip hop music starts blasting. It becomes a loud party, shifters dancing and shouting, after Jasper disappears.But I’m not interested in a party. I follow Jasper. He’s moving quickly, and I’m struggling to keep up and follow his scent. Then I remember that I can shift now. In wolf form, he’s easy to find. I catch up with him sitting on a flat boulder, resting his elbows on his knees, staring out into the darkness.I return to my human form as I approach. “Hi,” I say gently, sitting down on the boulder beside him. Around us, the redwoods tower and the air buzzes with the sound of insects. In the distance, we can hear the party music and smell the cooking barbecue.“You don’t have to be here,” Jasper mumbles. “You can go have fun at the party.”“I wouldn’t have any fun hanging out with
I don’t know why Jasper stopped kissing me. I want to understand what’s going on with him - we seem to have a strong connection, but all he does is deny it and avoid me.I go back to the party, hoping to find him there, but he’s nowhere to be found. I hang out with Isaac and Regan, introducing them to the other fighters I know from my time with Sterling, and eat a few burgers before the bonfires start to fade and the party dies down.The next day, I look for Jasper, hoping to get a chance to talk with him about what happened. I go into the kitchen, but he’s already made his breakfast and gone down to the beach for a run. I can see him through the tree house’s tall windows, racing back and forth on the beach, swapping methodically between his wolf form and human form to get the right muscle conditioning.I decide to wait for him to come back in for lunch, but when he does, he has his workout headphones in, still blasting music. He grabs a protein smoothie from the fridge and di
Jasper looks startled - which makes sense, considering we basically just ambushed him. Regan says a chipper goodbye and leaves with Isaac, giving Jasper no choice but to follow me into the gym room.“So,” I say, flipping open the binder, “it looks like we need to find the serial number for each piece of equipment and write it down here, then find the warranty paperwork for that thing, and put the expiration date right here.”“Okay,” Jasper says, looking around the gym like it’s the first time he’s ever seen it. “You know, I could probably do this by myself, if you have other stuff you want to do.”“Nah,” I say, “I’m happy to help out! This business is mine as much as yours, and I don’t want to leave you to do all the work.”“Right,” Jasper mumbles. “Well, I have awful handwriting anyway, so maybe you should write the stuff down while I figure out where the serial numbers are on these things.”“Sounds great!”We head over to the first piece of equipment, a squat rack s
“Jasper, wait!” I follow him out of the gym and down the wood paneled hallways of the tree house. I can’t let this opportunity slip away from me. I might not get another one.Jasper goes into Sterling’s rooms, where he’s been living since we all moved in to the tree house. This wing of the tree house is dark, like Jasper hasn’t been willing to turn on the lights. Looking around, I can see that he’s left everything nearly the same as Sterling had it. It doesn’t look like Jasper has done anything to make the space more comfortable for him, or personalized it for himself.I find Jasper in his bedroom, sitting on the edge of the perfectly made bed, his hands on his knees. “Jasper,” I say, stepping in to the bedroom. “Please. Just talk to me. What’s going on?”“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jasper snaps. “But I do,” I plead. “I’ve always wanted to know who you are. Where you come from. You won’t share anything about your past, and you keep me at arm’s length all the time.
As we snuggle up on the bed, I let myself get lost in the sensation of Jasper so close to me. His scent, his touch, his warmth. He seems to be enjoying my scent too, pressing his nose into the crook of my neck and inhaling. It tickles and I giggle a bit, which makes him raise his head and give me a questioning smile.“Is this okay?” Jasper asks, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.“More than okay,” I tell him. “This is exactly what I hoped for.”He raises his eyebrows. “You were planning this?”“Thinking about it, at least.” “I think about you a lot too,” Jasper admits.“Well, now you can do more than just think about me,” I tease, lifting my head to kiss him again. But we’re interrupted by a strange sound - someone is pounding on the tree house door and leaning on the security buzzer. “What?” Jasper sits up, rubbing his face like he’s just been yanked from a pleasant dream. “Who could that be?”“Probably just Isaac and Regan,” I grumble, standing
“What was that all about?” I ask, but Jasper isn’t listening. He’s already in his bedroom, hauling out his scuffed up suitcase from beneath the bed and frantically tossing all his stuff into it.“I’ve got to go,” Jasper says, shoving a pile of workout shirts into the suitcase. “You and Regan and Isaac can watch over things here for a while.”“Where are you going?” I feel despair slice through my heart at the thought of being separated from Jasper, especially now, after we just decided to start spending more time together and letting ourselves grow closer. “Montana,” Jasper says, which doesn’t really give me any kind of an answer. “I’ll be fine. I’ll come back when I can. You be in charge while I’m gone.”“I want to come with you,” I plead. “Let me help. I can be on your side - we’re partners, remember?”“Not in this. This is old stuff. Personal stuff. Has nothing to do with the business.”“But the lawyer came here,” I protest. “He got me involved. Now you can’t say i
We drive for days, leaving the misty redwoods of Santa Crus and heading into the dry, dusty deserts of Nevada. Pale scrub brush the color of my straw blonde hair stretches out in all directions, waving in the desert wind. Then we hit the cliffs and canyons of Idaho, spending one night in Twin Falls, where we fall asleep to the heavy roar of the waterfall just outside our cabin room.I like riding with Jasper - even Regan herself couldn’t have put together such a perfect opportunity for us to hang out and talk. I tell him about Layla, and some of the funnier predicaments we found ourselves in. He opens up a bit and tells me about a few of his adventures from his mercenary days. It’s obvious that there’s still a lot he’s holding back, but the more time we spend together, the more his walls come down. We pass through Yellowstone, where herds of elk tempt our inner wolves’ hunting instincts. Jasper mentions that his family used to vacation in the area, and suggests that we get out a