by Kat Bostick
“What exactly do you think is going on in here?” Mari snickered at Jasper’s blushing brother.
“Whatever it is, count me in!” Cash jogged over and hopped up to sit beside Mari on the granite island.
When the big man reached around her to take a handful of cookie dough she slapped his hand and warned “not until they’re done baking!”
“But you let him have some.” Cash harrumphed in Jasper’s direction.
Mari smiled sweetly at Jasper, causing his heart to pound faster. “That’s because I like him.”
“Oh come on, little witch. You love me.” Cash edged closer and rubbed his shoulder with hers. That earned him a displeased growl from Jasper. Cash only grinned and poked Mari’s thigh. “You just used him to join the pack so you could get close to me.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Jasper disappeared from the pack to get away from you.” She poked him back. Jasper slid her as far from Cash as he could. His pack brother was clearly having too much fun because he scooted so close that Mari was smashed between him and the stand mixer.
Cash put a meaty hand over his heart and whimpered pathetically. Mari might find it cute when Jasper did that but there was no way she would fall for it when Cash made such a pitiful noise. “Ooh, that cuts deep.”
His soft hearted mate did fall for it. She sighed, took a spoon off the counter, and scooped Cash a generous serving of dough. “No double dipping!” She ordered with a stern look.
“I knew there was a reason I liked you.” Cash snatched the spoon, grinned evilly at Jasper, and then kissed Mari’s temple as he bolted from the counter, narrowly escaping Jasper’s smack.
Mari glanced at Deak, who was pretending not to watch the exchange with interest, and sighed again. She kicked one of the top drawers open with her toe, retrieved another spoon, and scraped a hearty serving of dough from the edge of the bowl. She didn’t look at Deak as she slid the spoon across the counter and left it beside his closed fist. Deak glared at the cutlery, feigning complete disinterest until Mari jumped off the counter and finished laying cookies out on the second sheet.
Once her attention was fixed elsewhere, Deak tentatively took the spoon and sniffed it methodically. Cash and Jasper watched in amusement as he licked the dough. Then he licked it again, a startled expression on his face. Though Deak didn’t so much as smile, Jasper knew his brother well enough to recognize happiness on his features. Even he wouldn’t be immune to Mari’s magic.
“I’m going out with Charlie and Deak tonight.” Jasper informed Mari as he handed her a baking sheet to put in the oven.
Though she retired to her own room at night, Mari spent most evenings with him and the rest of the pack. Recently she’d talked Charlie into buying a television for the parlor and gotten the entire pack, Deak included, hooked on Teen Wolf. Tonight the alpha expected Jasper and Deak to accompany him on a patrol of their territory. They would hunt along the way so there was no need to have dinner beforehand.
That meant Mari would be completely alone with the pack for the first time. Jasper wasn’t nervous for her safety anymore but he was concerned she would be uncomfortable. Mari could be shy and he knew that some of the pack, namely Cora and Cash, wouldn’t hesitate to harass her as soon as Jasper was out of hearing distance.
“Going out? Like for a drink?” Mari asked.
“For a patrol. Charlie likes to take each of us on an individual run of the perimeter once a month. It helps us stay familiar with the territory and gives us much needed time on four legs between full moons.”
Jasper was ecstatic when the alpha informed him of their evening plans. Normally he changed every few days or once a week at the very least. Since changing for the first time in over a year, Charlie insisted he wait to make sure he would stay anchored in one form before trying it again. Jasper was beginning to feel like he would crawl out of his skin if he didn’t walk as the wolf soon.
“And Deak is going with you?” She lifted a dark brow, astute as always.
Deak was joining them on what would normally be a patrol between the alpha and Jasper alone. Given that a month ago he was cursed and controlled by a witch with an unknown amount of power, they were playing it safe. It needled him that he wasn’t considered fully trustworthy around the man who as good as a father to him but Jasper understood. Werewolves were already unpredictable without being tangled up in witchcraft.
“He’s good company.” Jasper smiled affectionately at his brother. Deak smiled slightly but looked only at Jasper, avoiding Mari’s curious gaze.
“But if you want to go out drinking, I’ll take you!” Cash volunteered. “I’m good company too.”
“No, you won’t.” Jasper snarled.
“Oh c’mon, she’s not a prisoner. The witch can go out with me if she wants to.”
“She doesn’t want to.” Mari responded quickly. “I don’t drink.”
Cash leaned against the fridge and winked at her. “I could fix that.”
“Are you trying to make him bite you?” She jerked her thumb in Jasper’s direction.
“Please! He can’t take me.” Cash lazily reclined against the fridge with a scoff.
Mari wet a sponge and swept over the counter. “He could eat you and still have room for dessert.”
Jasper smirked and waggled his eyebrows at Cash, more than a little pleased that his mate was so confident in him. In truth, Jasper didn’t think he was that exceptional of a fighter but he could hold his own against another wolf, bitten or born. Cash might be big but the red wolf was faster and much more cunning.
“Please stop before my brothers feel the need to challenge each other.” Clem pleaded. She halted at the entrance to the kitchen and frowned. “Why is there cookie dough on the floor?” Mari pointed an accusatory finger at Jasper at the same time he pointed at her.
“You don’t want to know.” Deak said with a disgusted wrinkle of his nose.
The she-wolf let out a breathy laugh and pushed Cash out of the way so she could access the fridge. “Just clean up when you’re done.”
Jasper obeyed, helping Mari clean the floor and the counter. Once the kitchen fit Clem’s standards, he tugged Mari into the hall to kiss her one more time before he left for the evening. The moment they were out of sight she rose up on her toes and took his breath away. He tried to lengthen the kiss and draw her further from the now bustling kitchen but she nipped his lip and sent him on his way.
“You are blizzard in the springtime and sunshine on a winter day, honeysuckle witch.” Jasper muttered to himself as he trotted to the study.
✽✽✽
The change this evening was much quicker than his last. Though it was still slower than how his changes used to be when he was accustomed to shifting up to once a day, Jasper finished his transformation minutes before Deak and Charlie. He was particularly fast in his shifts, he remembered now. That puzzled Charlie as bitten wolves typically changed slower and more painfully than born wolves. Apparently, much about Jasper puzzled Charlie.
The red wolf shook out his coat and crouched to stretch his spine. With the change came pain but it was a welcome agony. It was coming undone only to be remade stronger and wilder. With four legs he was more powerful and capable than he could ever be on two. Now that he had a mate, Jasper was much fonder of being a man but he still craved the wolf. He longed for these nights in the forest when he could run endless miles and watch with joy as every other living creature scampered away from him in fear.
The wolf was the fiercest of all beings among these trees. He was an apex predator, a force of nature.
Jasper waited for his pack mates to finish their shifts, keeping watch and staying alert for any signs of danger. A werewolf was incredibly vulnerable during the change and he instinctively felt the need to protect his family. When they were done and lay panting on the forest floor, the red wolf loped off in the direction of a familiar scent.
Honeysuckle and warm chocolate beckoned him when he cleared the trees. Jasper wasn�
��t surprised to find the little witch sitting on the stone steps of the patio, waiting for him with a cookie in her hand. She smiled at his arrival, her sharp features dusted with the silver light of the waxing moon as it filtered through wispy clouds. His chest felt a little too tight at the upsurge of love and joy that the sight of her smile filled him with.
However Mari felt about the man, she loved the wolf. She knew that he would protect her from everything that frightened her. The wolf was her faithful friend and it would break her heart to leave him. At least he had that to hold onto.
“Hey Red,” Jasper eagerly accepted the cookie that Mari offered him.
Once he finished licking gooey chocolate from his teeth, he showered her with kisses and covered every inch of her he could reach with his scent. She pushed him away twice but it was halfhearted at best. A howl from the trees summoned him back and with some regret, he ceased his nuzzling. Before he left she handed him one more cookie and kissed the tip of his nose.
Tonight he would run with his alpha and be one with the pack again. The witch would wait for him by moonlight while he roamed as another shadow among the trees and, when the time came, she would bring him back to himself.
Chapter 38
Mari
“Cash, I told you I don’t drink.” Mari reminded Jasper’s weaselly brother as he slid a bottle of brown liquor in front of her.
“You can make an exception for the good stuff. C’mon witchy woman, I don’t offer expensive scotch to just anyone.”
“You don’t have that many people to offer expensive scotch to. Or do you throw dinner parties that I’m not aware of?”
“Cash just wants to get you drunk so you’ll spill all of your secrets.” Teal mock whispered to her as he accepted a very full glass of alcohol from his brother and took a seat beside her.
“No harm in one drink, right?” Cash blinked his sharp blue eyes at her in his best puppy dog impression. He might be nearly seven feet tall with ridiculously broad shoulders and a scarred, rugged appearance but the man could make himself look awfully unimposing when he wanted to.
Mari watched his scruffy black beard shift on his face as he wiggled his lips to one side and couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Fine, one drink.” She accepted the glass, quickly adding “but I’m not playing strip poker!”
“Aw, don’t be a spoil sport, Mar! What’s a little nudity between friends?”
“I’m not playin’ either if it means starin’ at that jungle of hair on your chest all evenin’.” Cora smirked up at Cash. From her place at the table she had to look way, way up. The she-wolf couldn’t be more than five and a half feet, which wasn’t very many feet in a household full of giant werewolves.
Cash threw back a hefty gulp of scotch. “Yeah well it’s not like there’s anything for me to stare at on your chest, runt.”
“You two are going to make Mari think we’re unrefined if you don’t quit your squabbling.” Teal chided in an overly posh voice.
“You are unrefined.” Mari took a cautious sip of her own drink and shuddered. “We all are.”
Cash poured himself a second round and raised his glass. “To being filthy mongrels!”
They all drink to that.
Half an hour later Mari concluded that Cash would make an excellent salesman. She also understood why Jasper tried to warn her about spending the evening with the loutish wolf. Somehow he managed to talk her into two more drinks. By the third, she was too drunk to notice each time he refilled her glass. Teal shot his brother a few cautioning looks but thus far hadn’t stopped him.
“Do you think anyone would believe me if I told them I got drunk with werewolves?” Mari pondered calling Aubrey and telling her just for a good laugh.
“You’re gettin’ drunk, sugar. I’m barely tipsy.” Cora tossed a dark blonde curl over her shoulder.
“So werewolves do have fast metabolisms, like in the books?” Mari asked.
Teal patted the round of his strong stomach. “I’d say it’s a little better than human. I used to have a beer belly before I was turned and now I can eat twenty cheeseburgers without gaining a pound.”
“What’s the purpose of that? It’s not like werewolves need to be lean.” She wondered aloud.
“Clem has plenty of theories. She’ll gladly tell you if you ask her.” Teal offered.
Cash snorted. “She’ll tell you even if you don’t ask her.”
“It takes a lot of energy to shift from a woman to a wolf. Seems pretty obvious to me.” Cora stretched across the table and held her glass under the bottle for Cash to refill it.
Mari sighed into her drink. “There’s still so much I don’t know about werewolves.”
“You’ve got three sitting right in front of you. Ask us your burning questions.” Said Cash.
“Okay Cash, you were born a werewolf. Did you know you were a wolf when you were a child? Could you feel the wolf inside of you? And when did you change?”
“I had my first change when I was thirteen but for some it comes as late as their early twenties. Before that I was just like Clementine. My senses were stronger, I never got sick, my wounds healed faster, all the other perks, but I couldn’t change.” He rapped his fingers on the table. “I knew I was a werewolf from the time I could talk. Never felt the wolf inside of me because the wolf is me. Me just happens to change shapes on the full moon.”
“What does it feel like to change?”
“Feels like you’re being turned inside out. In slow motion.” Teal replied.
Mari winced. “And what does it feel like when you need to change?”
Cora answered this time. “It starts like an itch you can’t scratch. Then it’s kinda like bein’ real hungry, when you get that awful pit in your stomach, y’know? If you keep ignorin’ the need, it begins to feel like there’s fire under your skin.”
“Your mind goes wolf, too.” Teal added. “All I want to do is breathe in the fresh air and run ‘til my legs give out.”
“And hunt ‘til my belly is full.” Cash let out a hungry growl.
The three went on to describe the change with more gory details—some of which made Mari’s stomach turn—and their experiences as wolves. Cash had a unique perspective but Mari was more intrigued to hear how life changed for Teal and Cora when they became werewolves after growing up human. Neither of them was particularly interested in divulging the whole story of their bite and Mari knew better than to ask.
“Huh, that is so freaky.” Mari mumbled as she finished off yet another drink. “Speaking of freaky, do you guys ever do it when you’re wolves?”
Teal wrapped his hand around hers to stop her from demonstrating with a lewd gesture. “No.”
“Doesn’t have the same appeal.” Cash wrinkled his nose.
“Oh! Here’s a good one for you! What are all the ways you can become a werewolf? Clem said the bite only changes you if it happens on the full moon.”
“And if you survive it.” Cora said bitterly.
“There were so many theories online that I can’t even remember them all. I read everything from drinking water out of a wolf print to being born on a full moon on Friday the thirteenth. Some people even claim having sex with a werewolf will turn you into one.” Mari bugged her eyes out and looked at Cash in alarm. “Sweet werewolf Jesus! Is that true?”
All three wolves burst into peals of laughter. Cash wiped a tear form underneath his eye before responding. “Hell no. Having sex with a werewolf ain’t gonna turn ya. Having a baby with a werewolf on other hand…well we’ll find out as soon as Jasper knocks you up.”
“Oh no, no, no.” Mari made a cross with her arms over her body. “There is going to be no knocking for me.”
“You’re telling me you don’t want that handsome lad to grind your corn?” Asked Cash.
“Grind my what? What does that even mean? You sound like an old geezer.”
“He is an old geezer.” Cora gave Cash a teasing smile.
“At least I’m not the runt
of the litter.” Cash retorted.
The she-wolf rolled her eyes. “Well at least I didn’t come from an actual litter.”
“Seriously? Werewolves have litters? Are you and Clem twins?” Mari tilted her head to study Cash’s features. “You don’t look like twins.”
Teal leaned over and muttered in her ear “don’t believe anything either of them says.”
Cora flashed her teeth at Teal and gave him a deadly look before fixing her sights on Mari. “I’m sick of talkin’ about me. I want to talk about Trevor.”
“You know he doesn’t want to be called that, Coralee.” Teal tsked.
“Yes, why don’t you start by explaining why you’re all so surprised he brought home a woman. It’s not like he’s socially inept.” Mari lazily sipped the refill Cash poured her. “And I mean, jeez, have you seen the guy? I’m surprised I’m the first woman he’s brought home.” She frowned at that last sentence, feeling uncharacteristically jealous at the thought.
Jasper was by no means secretive when it came to his life. If Mari had a question, he gladly answered it. She’d been hesitant, however, because she understood that there was still a lot he couldn’t remember, which was a great source of frustration for him. There were also plenty of memories that were obviously painful—Mari dreamed a few of them and felt wrong for exposing his vulnerabilities like that—and she didn’t want to push him to talk. Technically they’d only been dating for a month and it didn’t seem right to bear all of their tormented life histories at once.
Was it wrong to ask his pack mates the questions that she was too afraid to ask him?
“He’s not very personable when it comes to outsiders.” Cash explained. “Took us nearly a year to get the stubborn bastard to talk to us. Jasper spent his first six months here as a wolf, changing once or twice a month so he didn’t go mad. He only decided to walk on two legs after the boss forced his change. Even then, the mischief-maker didn’t talk for another three months.”