A Taste for a Mate (13 page)

Arms wrapped around her from behind, and she sank into Jasper’s embrace. Warmth seeped through his touch as Willow watched Kade kiss his mate.

“I want that.” Jasper’s breath danced along her neck as he spoke closely to her ear. His arm slid down her front, his palm caressing her stomach. Butterflies fluttered within, and she smiled. She’d been wrong before;
this
was home. Four months. Only four months of being his mate, and she already wanted – no, needed – to bear his young.

“Me too.” All thoughts of nervousness and trepidation toward the change fled her mind as Jasper bit into the flesh of her earlobe.

“With all of the practicing we’ve been doing, I think it’s only a matter of time. Don’t you?”

“Uh huh.” Rational thoughts and real words had apparently escaped her.

“Wanna go practice some more?” His deep, throaty laugh vibrated down her spine and she turned in his hold, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“I think that can be arranged.” She smiled at him, watching the love radiate from his eyes. She was at peace in his arms, in her bakery, in their home.

Please, never let this end.

“You really met on a blind date?” Willow asked.

“Yep. Odd right?” Melanie laughed.

The two of them sat in Kade and Mel’s house, drinking hot chocolate and eating cookies that Willow had baked the night before. The other woman glowed. Pregnancy suited her.

“My friend, Larissa, who’s a witch mated into the Pack, set me up with Kade. They all thought we’d get along and have fun. But they had no idea we were mates.” Mel explained.

“Fate’s tricky like that.”

“I didn’t believe in fate at the time. I mean, how could I? I’m a chemist. Analytically speaking, fate, mates, and werewolves shouldn’t exist. But here we are.” Mel shrugged.

“I take it you didn’t react well.”

“I was horrible. I left then let Kade fight for me.” Mel teared up, and Willow pulled her into a hug. “Sorry, hormones. I should have listened to my heart, but instead I let my brain make all my decisions. I hurt him and myself. I’m just lucky he took me back.”

“Mel, of course he took you back. You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re allowed to take time and think.”

Mel let out a breath. “But Kade’s going to be Alpha. That means I’m going to be the lead female of this Pack someday. I just don’t know if I can gain their respect.”

Willow took the other woman’s hand. “They already do, Mel. I see the way people come to you for advice. The way they ask you for help with  school and other things. Mel, they look up to you. You have their respect. You’re going to make a great Alpha female.”

Mel sniffed and waved her hand in front of her face. “Thanks, Wil. I hope so. I have the attitude for it, according to Kade.” They both laughed. “But enough crying, you came over here for something, right?”

Yep, Mel would be a great Alpha. There was no hiding anything from her.

“I want to change,” Willow blurted. “I want to be a wolf. But I don’t know how to convince Jasper.”

Mel’s eyes widened. “I take it Jasper doesn’t want that.”

“I don’t know. He doesn’t say anything when I bring it up.”

The other woman sighed. “No one can order him to let you. But you do have your own power. If you n whe truly want to, we can make it happen. But you need to find out exactly why he’s acting like this. I know Jasper; he’s a nice guy and doesn’t do anything without a reason.”

“I know. I’m just scared.”

“Wil, maybe he is too.”

Willow sighed. What was she going to do?

Chapter 13

Jasper sat in his parents’ living room, dread filling his belly. Fear crawled up his back, wrapping its spindly fingers around his throat, choking him. The thoughts and actions he’d tried to repress had caught up with him.

The Centrals wanted Willow back.

Well, that was too damn bad. There was no way they were getting a paw near her. Determination settled on him like a second skin. He took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar scent of his mother’s sirloin stew and his father’s pipe smoke that was failing miserably at being masked by a wood fire. No doubt his mother would be in the room soon to scold her husband lovingly on his infraction. Jasper smiled at his parents’ relationship. It was what he wanted with Willow. What he needed.

Watching Kade go through the turmoil of two circles and fighting for Tracy, then Melanie, yet rising from the ashes with Melanie by his side, brought feelings of jealousy to Jasper. Before this, Jasper had done his duty. He’d cared for his Pack had been at their beck and call. If a Pack member needed a job, a shoulder to cry on, someone to talk to, Jasper was there. Even calls in the middle of the night used to be the norm. And he’d been okay with it. He laughed with others, helped Reed play practical jokes on their brothers. Yet something had always felt missing. Willow.

And now Hector Reyes and his sadistic bastard of a son, Corbin, were trying to destroy his world and seize his mate.

His wolf growled and clawed to the surface.

“
They will not take her. We can protect her. Though, there is a way to make her stronger.”

Jasper ignored his wolf, anger spearing his consciousness. Dammit, he couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t, no wouldn’t, let her become a wolf. It was too dangerous. Melanie had been lucky, she survived the change. It wasn’t a guarantee. Maybe one in ten wolves actually survived the change. That’s why most didn’t even try. Fate usually mated wolves to other wolves – not humans. What would he do if Willow died trying to become like him? He loved her the way she was.

He was strong. Dammit, he was the fucking Beta of the Redwood Pack, the third strongest wolf, behind Kade and his father, of the most powerful Pack of the Americas, if not the world. She would be safe with him. He could protect and keep her in his life.

Already, he was making adjustments to their home. Adding touches here and there that excited Willow. It was her place too. He’d bought cooper-bottom pans and other kitchen goodies that made her eyes light up. Together, they’d bought pillows and decorations so their home didn’t look so masculine. The need to show her she belonged ran deep. Not only had he built the bakery for her with his own two hands, he was creating a space for the two of them.

His father’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Jasper, are you listening to me?”

“Sorry, Dad.” He took another deep breath to calm his nerves, focusing his attention on his Alpha. “What were you saying?”

His father gave him a pointed look before speaking. “Adam’s received information that the Centrals demand Willow. They say she was theirs and we didn’t have a right to enter their territory and take her. Regardless that she’s your mate, they have a point. We did trespass on their territory. But it doesn’t matter. She’s your mate and they kidnapped her. There are rumors they will cross our border and attempt to take her unless we give her up.”

Anger burned in Jasper’s veins.

Adam rubbed his jaw before speaking. “Jasper, it gets worse. Corbin is telling others that Willow was his potential mate and he hadn’t had the chance to mark her before you showed up. He is saying that you stole her from him without fighting in the circle. He demands reparations.”

Jasper shot to his feet in a blind rage. “He thinks to take my mate? My Willow? That barbarous fuck thinks he can speak those vile lies and live?” Blood rushed in his ears, his heart pounding. He clenched his fists, as panic and fear seeped beneath his fury threatening to suffocate him.

“Calm down, son.” The Alpha’s voice swept over his outrage, soothing his ache. “We know you won’t let Corbin take her. He has no claim. We won’t allow it.” His father’s voice was stern and held the power of an ageless force. Pack. Japer drew in the magic of home, calming himself.

This was what it meant to be Pack. To take in the power surrounding him and bring him home. To calm the wolf and his emotions in order to think rationally. He didn’t know how lone wolves did it.

Silent throughout the discussion, Kade rubbed his temples, a sign of frustration and deep thinking. “There is something more. Something darker. Willow was not a potential mate for Corbin. As evil as he is, Corbin could not have allowed her to be hurt as she was if it were true. That means this obviously false statement must be a shroud for their real intentions.”

“Magic.” Adam’s answer brought a flicker of a memory, something that Jasp v 48">er should know. But what was it?

“They were stuck.” At his brothers’ and father’s obvious confused looks, Jasper continued. “The wolves at the Central’s compound where we found Willow. Adam, don’t you remember what Reed said? They were stuck. They didn’t follow us, as if a magical barrier held them in place. It was magic; I’m sure of it.”

“But what type of magic could do this?” Adam asked. “What are the Centrals hiding?”

“Could they be working with the witches?” Kade asked.

Jasper shook his head. “I don’t think so. The magic felt different. Oily. Almost sliding against my skin. I almost forgot that. I was too worried for Willow and getting us out of there at that point.”

“I’ve never heard of magic like that.” His dad added. “But I am relatively young. We may need to ask the elders.” Again his father’s voice calmed his worries. It felt good to be with family.

“Magic should not taste tainted,” Adam said with a deep growl. “Witches are in tune with the Earth, and are part of it. Witch magic should feel earthy like freshly dug soil, floral like just bloomed flowers, fresh like the wind brushing your face, warm like the sun dancing across your skin, or cool like sliding your hands across clean and clear water. That is magic. Not slick and oily.”

Sometimes his brother surprised him with how much he knew about others’ culture, though as the Enforcer of the Pack, it was his job not only to protect them from the outside world but to understand the outside world as well.

“Witch magic is hereditary,” Adam continued. “In most cases they heal or do good. There are few that are truly powerful.”

“The magic that is inherent in the Pack is different as well,” his father interrupted. “It provides proof of strength and family.” Jasper nodded, urging his father to continue the story he knew well, told to him as a young pup.

“Though it is legend, it is said that werewolves were formed from the Moon Goddess. Saddened by the atrocities of man and the weakening of their souls, the Moon Goddess stepped down from her ivory crescent throne and walked among the dense forests and rivers.

“There she found a hunter deep in the brush, searching for his next kill. The Goddess knew this man must eat and provide for his family, but she was disheartened at the depravity of the souls she watched over. The act of free will was not unknown to her, so she stood back and waited for the decisions the hunter made.

“A rustling of leaves alerted them both to an approaching beast. The hunter took aim with his bow and struck a gray wolf, injuring it but not killing the animal. He walked over to his prey, leaning over it, as the Moon Goddess drew nearer to the two, thoughts of redemption wafting through her.

“Startled by the Goddess presence, the hunter bowed ye v /dit stood protective over his kill. The Goddess told him that man needed to understand the connection between Earth and man. The man, confused, was unprepared for the magic pulsating and shocking through his system when the Goddess bent and touched her palm to his heart and the wolf’s.

“That night, she created the first werewolf. Not man, nor beast, but a blending of the two. Man would dominate and walk the world, yet the wolf would remain internal forever, always challenging man’s wants and desires. During times of the full moon, the Moon Goddess’s pull is immense, non-tactile entity and man will change into the beast he hunted and killed, running through the forest of Earth on four paws rather than two feet. In times of great stress and need, man can choose to be wolf.

“The magic that the Moon Goddess placed on us that night in the forest still runs through our veins. It is earthy and good. Though we are human, we do carry within us a savage and uncivilized element that drives us. Our magic connects us, and it is not evil.” Jasper’s Alpha closed his eyes, bowing his head.

“If the Centrals are using magic, it’s not from a wolf. It is their human selves that harbor evil, not their inner magic,” Kade said. As the Heir of the Pack, he most understood his wolf.

“So you’re telling me what we felt was not from witches, and we know it was not werewolf magic. So what was it?” Jasper’s question silenced the room.

What had the Centrals unleashed?

Jasper’s muscles clenched at the thought. After reviewing everything they knew, it seemed their enemies were touching something unknown and dangerous. Even though it may only be a ploy, they still wanted his mate. His Willow.

“I won’t let them take her, no matter what evil they uncover.” Jasper’s growl was low, seething. He was edgy, the skin rippling on his forearms. His need to hunt was urgent, yet he wouldn’t leave Wil alone, unprotected. His palms itched as the necessity to build something, to create with his hands took hold. If he couldn’t kill his enemies now, he would expunge his energy somehow.