by Kat Bostick
A reaction like that made Mari more desperate than ever to know what the hell Jasper was. Sometimes, as strange as the thought was, she felt like he was almost human.
Maybe she should call Henrick and ask about it. Or maybe she should just toss his card and forget it ever happened. Either way, she ought to make sure Gran knew that a wizard was hanging around the lobby of her building.
Mari expanded on her conversation with Gran while Jasper wolfed down pot roast and canned bison. The chance that her inherited magic, however meager, might be designed to interact with his, whatever his did, had her thrilled. Her taciturn grandmother might not have given her much tonight, but she handed over more information than she thought. Probably because Gran had no idea Mari was in contact with one of these mysterious wolves.
“I think I know how to test this magic theory and how to get you out of this park.” Mari told Jasper. “But I have a feeling you’re not going to be happy with me.”
Chapter 7
Mari
Mari daydreamed about bringing Jasper home with her frequently but the logical part of her brain always dismissed the idea. As much as she wanted to get him out of the park—where his chances of being discovered were growing higher every day now that summer break had begun—she couldn’t keep him in her home. It was arguably a worse fate than being trapped on ten acres of wooded property. What would a wolf do in her fifteen hundred square foot house?
The park reopening for summer break, combined with her excitement over the new information Gran provided about her magic, awakened a fresh sense of urgency in Mari’s gut. That urgency finally pushed her to craft a plan. It wasn’t a perfect one but she was confident that the end result would be best for Jasper.
If only it didn’t make her feel so heartbroken. She hadn’t even done it yet.
Mari readied her house for Jasper’s short visit like she was preparing for a houseguest. Sweeping the disgusting floors—she’d really let the place go since Spring—and picking up every item that would make a good chew toy for a wolf, leading her to realize she owned far too many pairs of shoes. She didn’t have time to get to the bedroom but other than the laundry, it was by far the cleanest room in the house so hopefully he wouldn’t judge her slobby habits.
A small patch of trees gave her backyard adequate privacy from nosy neighbors. It definitely wasn’t big enough for Jasper but it would do for one night. Taking him home was only temporary, a layover point until she could get him to his final destination.
The last step was making sure he’d be well fed. Poor Jasper was still too skinny and Mari wanted him to pack on the pounds while he could. Though she was nowhere near destitute after taking an indefinite absence from her job, spending three hundred plus dollars on raw meat made her cringe. Even if she wanted him to stay, she wasn’t sure she could afford it unless she went back to work.
Then again, she should probably go back to work either way.
The drive to the park yielded clammy hands. Mari didn’t know why she was so nervous. Jasper trusted her. For nearly a month she’d been giving him food and visiting him daily. By now he was eager to see her when she arrived and disappointed when she left. That didn’t keep the storm of worries from raining down in her mind.
What if Mari tried to shove him in the car and he attacked her like he did Jacob? He could kill her so swiftly that she wouldn’t even realize what he was doing until she was already dead. Or what if he got upset when she tried to leash him and ran away? He could get hit by a car or be spotted by someone who recognized the beast he was.
Mari couldn’t fail tonight.
The Corolla let out a mechanical sigh as she twisted the key out of the ignition. The parking lot was well lit but she managed to find a spot that was partially hidden in the shadow of a trimmed shrub. It wouldn’t make her car invisible if someone pulled into the lot but hopefully passing drivers couldn’t spot it.
“Jasper?” Mari called from the tree line.
A gibbous moon hovered in the polished black surface of the sky and the unnatural glow from city lights tinted the horizon an eerie yellow. It was a cloudless night but the wind rushed through the trees to announce a coming summer storm. A pair of crows took noisy flight from a nearby oak, startling a shriek out of Mari. She was far too on edge.
“Jasper? Where are you?” She hissed urgently.
The can of bison made a scraping sound when she peeled the metal top back. It wasn’t a loud noise but it usually attracted him. Almost immediately, a wolfish silhouette glided through the shadows to her right. Mari pivoted but as quickly as it appeared, the shape was gone. She scanned the darkness, barely able to make out her own hands in the shadow of the trees. A whoosh of air to her left had her whirling much faster than the first time. There was nothing there.
The hair on the back of her neck prickled and her heart pumped furiously. Mari spun again, twisting just in time to miss the shaggy mass that barreled into her.
✽✽✽
Jasper
Jasper didn’t expect to see Mari for another full sleep. She came every day just like the sunrise. Never twice, though. So after she left he chased down a rabbit then curled up in his den to sleep. He napped often during the day both to avoid the worst of the summer heat and the children who ran on the outskirts of trees. That meant night was usually a time for play.
Unfortunately, play was rather boring on his own. Sometimes he would chase raccoons and the rare housecat but he did that anyway so it grew tiresome quickly. He wanted to wander, investigating spoor and leaving scent to claim new territory as his own. He wanted to run with his head down and his paws crashing into the earth with such force that he tore at the soil. Jasper was growing restless with the coming of the full moon and he didn’t know how much longer he could take it.
Then Mari arrived and he decided it was because she had yearning for freedom in her belly too. She would love his forest, his true home. The trees would whisper delight at her arrival, as they did here. The grass would rise to meet her feet and flowers would bloom in the meadows when she laughed. That was her gift. Witch. Not dangerous but enchanting. She was the coming of spring, that honeysuckle girl.
And here she was just in time for a much needed romp. It was unfair for him to stalk her. She had bad senses at the height of the day when the sun lit the world. At night she was helpless. Her ears could barely pick up a noise four feet from them and her nose only noted the broadest scents.
Mari’s muscles gathered with tension and there was a fidgety manner to her movement as she dumped the can of slop onto a paper plate. He flicked his tail and crept around the side of a tree, moving just close enough for her to catch a peripheral glimpse of him.
“Jasper?” Her little voice called to him.
A strong wind swept through the trees, rattling the branches and disguising the faint whisper of paws in the underbrush. Jasper was so near that he could have sunk his teeth into her flank. And still, she wasn’t aware of his proximity. An agitated pant pushed his jaws open but he willed himself to wait. Patient was the skilled hunter.
Mari whipped around as he came into view. It was far too easy to evade her. Jasper circled her again, settling behind her back. The muscles in his hindquarters bunched but he paused for half a minute, giving her the opportunity to perceive the sensation of predatory eyes on her or to scent his musky excitement. She didn’t.
Only after he sprang at her, knocking the wind out of her and hopefully not crushing any ribs, did it occur to him that he could have hurt her.
Jasper knew Mari was breakable but it was easy to forget when she roamed the woods with him as a pack mate. To his pleasure and relief, she laughed. It was a winded laugh and there were a few pained groans in between but she clearly wasn’t too injured because she heaved him off of her back with relative ease.
“Just don’t eat me alive, remember? You promised.”
A wolf didn’t keep promises.
I will eat you alive. He promised with a playful snap of h
is jaws. She stopped herself in the middle of a flinch and stood.
“We have to go, silly beast.”
So let’s go.
Jasper leapt to his feet and nipped her ankle. She yelped and picked her foot up. He nipped the other. She picked that one up. He continued nipping despite her giggling pleas to stop until she picked up her pace and was moving away from him. After about fifteen nips and a few nudges she was running.
Mari had more run in her than that, he was sure. Her legs were built for swiftness. Jasper had to remind himself that she was half blind in the dark, as demonstrated by the quaking elm that dropped a handful of angry leaves when she smashed into it.
Mari headed for the stream. He raced around her and clipped her on the calf to turn her in the other direction. She ran twenty paces before he did it again. Eventually he had her going in a wide circle until she was completely disoriented. That was when he made his next move.
She squeaked in that chipmunk way when his teeth clamped down on her forearm but she wisely didn’t pull away. Sharp canines pressed into her skin with enough pressure to hold but not to draw blood. He shook his head gently and growled, pretending to eat her alive as he promised moments earlier. Wolf had already decided to break that promise, but Mari didn’t know that.
Even with his fangs close enough to an artery that he could shred it, she was smiling and grabbing at his scruff with her free hand. He gave his head another sharp shake and she staggered, plopping onto her butt with a grunt. Jasper pounced on her, knocking her onto her back and striking her face with unavoidable blows. Each blow left more saliva on her cheeks and chin as he lapped at her dewy skin.
“Stop it you mongrel!” He yielded but only after pinching her nose with his front teeth in response to her insult. “Great. Now I’m lost.” She groaned. “We don’t have time for this. We need to leave.”
Leave? She had only just arrived. There was suddenly a great sense of urgency in her voice and the tension returned to her body. Maybe she hadn’t come to play. Maybe she came because she was upset. Cleary not with him or else she wouldn’t have been laughing. He nudged her hand with his snout and led her back.
“It freaks me out when you do that.” Mari remarked when they came upon her backpack five minutes later. “If you really are as perceptive as you seem then maybe you’ll understand me. We have to leave. You and me. Together. You need to come home with me.”
He chomped down on her fingers and not as gently as he had before. Man understands.
“No more playing.” She ordered firmly. “People are going to find you here. You have to come home with me. I know it’s not ideal but I have a plan, okay? Trust me.”
It had always been his plan to leave this place but it never occurred to him that he could go wherever she went when she left. Jasper assumed that witches lived like wolves, together in close quarters, and imagined he wouldn’t be welcome in Mari’s home. There were probably other magic folk that wouldn’t treat him as kindly as she did. And unless witches lived in the trees, like wolves, then Mari probably claimed territory among the sprawling concrete structures of humans.
That was no place for a wolf. Did the little witch understand that? Alarm and dismay suddenly had him pacing. What was Mari planning? To take him home or to send him away? Beneath her anxiety he detected sorrow, something akin to grief. His kind was highly empathic, excellent at reading emotion. The emotions Mari was putting off were similar to the ones he would experience if he lost his only pack mate.
Pack stays together. Jasper growled at her.
“Whoa, calm down, Jas.” She raised her palms. That did nothing to cool his growing anger. This was his pack to lead and she couldn’t simply leave it without his say so. “I’m going back to my car. You can follow me and I’ll take you home.”
Car. He knew those. He drove one once. He remembered one hand on the steering wheel and another on the stereo as someone sang along to Johnny Cash. Cash. Why did that name send tingles through this body?
“I’m going now. I want you to come with me.” Mari slipped on her backpack and started for the field.
Jasper was puzzled. Why did she so urgently want him to leave? Did this mean she knew what he was? That she would help him keep his secret? Even he didn’t know what he was sometimes. Mari slipped out of the woods and marched determinedly through the greenspace, giving him no more time to contemplate the issue. She got to the sidewalk before turning back to shoot him an uneasy look. He scurried to the edge of the trees and started another round of pacing.
“It’s alright. I’ll keep you safe.” She assured.
Trust was the only reason he scampered to her side. He kept his body low to the ground and eyed the empty park warily. Being out in the open made him vulnerable and the wolf hated vulnerability. He was undeniably the fiercest and most dangerous predator but ferocity would not protect him from men with guns. Jasper hadn’t forgotten them. Vigilant as he was, he was ready for them to come back at any time.
Mari didn’t share his concerns. She took off at a jog, glancing over her shoulder to make sure he was with her.
“A little further.” Mari stood under one of the harsh lights and waved him on. Where did she say they were going again? Wariness made the wolf louder and it muddled his thoughts. He froze a few yards from the light and twisted to look back at the woods. If he sprinted he could make it there in under a minute. “Please, Jasper.”
He hesitated too long. Mari slid from the yellow glow and disappeared behind a shrub, leaving without him. Jasper whined impatiently. She didn’t reappear. Anger flared in his chest and his upper lip curled in a silent snarl. Why had she lured him from his woods only to abandon him? Desperate and frustrated he pushed against his caution and trotted around the corner. Mari was leaning against a small car.
Why was she holding a thick piece of rope and studying him with that tight look? The little witch was acting strange tonight. Instincts warred with desire. He shook the indecision from his coat and stepped forward.
Then, with impressive speed, Mari slipped the rope around his neck.
Jasper reared up. The rope tightened so rapidly that he coughed. Mari was saying something to him but he couldn’t understand her. All he could hear was his wolf brain screaming furiously as she pulled against his resistance. Even as he thrashed and snarled his heart ached. He trusted Mari and she betrayed him. If he wanted, he could hurt her too and he would be much more efficient. He demonstrated that by lunging forward to chomp down on one of the hands that held the rope.
Once Jasper had pondered the taste of her blood. It tasted better than he could have imagined—floral and honeyed—and yet it disgusted him. He was ashamed of himself for tasting her and enjoying it. And what was first a sugary sweetness turned to that caustic flavor of magic as it dribbled down his throat.
While he was distracted by her wound Mari yanked the rope with all of her weight and heaved him into her car. She pitched backward onto the seat with him on top of her. He spun and nearly lost his snout as her heel caught the handle on the door and slammed it shut. A furious growl shook his body and hers. The noise had her cowering, making her feel small and fragile beneath him.
Foolish little witch. Jasper chided.
Chapter 8
Mari
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Mari chanted in her head.
Successfully getting Jasper in her car should have been a victory. The problem? In her scramble to pull him inside, she ended up underneath him. Now she was trapped in the confines of a tiny Toyota with an angry wolf crushing her. Spittle, pinkish with her blood, dripped from his bared teeth and onto her chin. Any minute now he would tear out her jugular. Mari’s last thought would be wasted calling herself an idiot.
“Jasper,” His dense body was making it hard to breathe. “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.” I hope the feeling is mutual.
Jasper snarled viciously and snapped his teeth so close to her face that she felt them graze the tip of her nose. Alright, maybe not.
>
“It’s okay.” She repeated. “I only wanted to get you in the car and I was afraid you were going to run. If you hold still I’ll take the leash off. It’s too tight.”
Mari raised a shaking hand to his neck. He lashed out, closing his jaw around her throat. It was surprisingly gentle. Somehow that didn’t reassure her. She squeezed her eyes shut and hummed one of the ancestral incantations that came to her in whispered song at times like this. Well, never a time quite like this. Mari hadn’t experienced being mauled by wolf yet. Too bad her first time would be her last.
On second thought, once was more than enough for one short lifetime.
Even with her eyelids pressed together, frightened tears trickled from the corners of her eyes to pool in her ear. There was practically a channel in her ear canal when the beast released her throat. Jasper’s piercing teeth were safely hidden behind his lips once more. He hadn’t moved from his place atop her but his growling died down to a quiet rumble.
Mari could see the animalistic rage in his green eyes. “I’m sorry about the leash. It was a mistake. Can you forgive me?”
With that Jasper shuffled backward. It was incredibly awkward for the big animal. His back pressed into the roof of the car and his nails dug into her thighs as he tried to find footing on the narrow bench seat. Mari saw her opportunity and quickly pulled herself against the door opposite him, curling into a ball. With a roar, Jasper began a vicious attack on the front passenger seat. A flurry of fabric and foam filled the air.
That could have been me.
Only it wasn’t her. The beast was enraged, yet he didn’t do more than nick her fingers. Mari risked a glance at her right hand. Okay, nick was a modest term for that bite. Adrenaline must have glazed over the pain that should come with a wound that deep. She’d never seen her own bones before. If her body wasn’t paralyzed with fear she might vomit.