“Running?” I asked.
“No.” He lifted a finger to his temple. “I heard you in here, calling my name. I felt the danger you were in.”
I blinked at him. “That’s not one of my powers.”
“Yeah,” Jasper said, with a nod, but he didn’t sound surprised. “We should get back.”
A shiver passed through me, and I remembered that I was standing here, naked for the world to see. Suddenly, I felt hyperaware of every inch of my body and how close I was to Jasper.
The only interaction we had before this was me holding a broken bottle to his throat and him tracking me through the streets, and now we were standing here in the woods, alone, and naked.
“Are you okay?” he asked, ducking down his head to make eye contact with me. Moonlight caressed his features, the break in his nose, the dark stubble on his chin, the muscular set of his shoulders that were at eye level with me. I could feel his warmth and his presence, and it felt at the same time strange and familiar.
“Kicking myself, but otherwise I’m fine.” I did my best to sound casual. Nudity wasn’t supposed to be taboo between shifters. It was a very different thing for shifters than it was for humans. We were undressing around each other too often for it to be a big deal.
However, spending all this time naked around Jasper and Declan didn’t feel whatsoever like I used to feel undressing in front of my pack before a hunt. We were just standing here, not quite touching, but my body was reacting to his presence, nonetheless. My nipples tightened and skin prickled as awareness tingled through my belly. Every inch of my body felt awake and aware.
“How did you know my name back at the bar?” I asked him, maybe to wake myself up from this sudden stirring inside me, or maybe because the question had been rattling around in my head.
Jasper didn’t respond at first. He crossed his arms over his chest, and his expression morphed from concern to something colder. His full mouth twitched, and then he said, “Of course I know who you are, Teagan. I would have recognized you right away, but Grayhaven fucks with my ability to sense you. I was beginning to feel your presence in the bar when you tried to slit my throat. Then, I gave you an order and it muddled my mind with that strange sensation I got from dominating you. What I want to know is if you’ve figured out who I am?”
I grimaced. “No, sorry, Jasper. I’ve never heard of you. To be fair, though, I know almost nothing about the supernatural world. Is there something I should know about you?”
“Yeah, there is. You should know that I was the werewolf who challenged Kane on the basis that you were my mate.” Instead of waiting for me to sputter some kind of response to that, Jasper simply turned away and walked into the forest.
Chapter Seven
The whole world spun on its axis as I watched Jasper walk away into the forest.
Jasper’s words echoed through my mind. I was the werewolf who challenged Kane on the basis that you were my mate. It was impossible. I had never, not once, got wind of anything about someone challenging Kane. He’d never received a challenge, let alone one on the basis that I was another werewolf’s mate.
“That never happened,” I called as I followed after Jasper.
He crouched down, and fur rippled across his skin. The transformation from man to a large gray wolf took only seconds, and seeing it, stole my breath. I had only ever seen Kane transition so smoothly, and he was centuries old. It took me a few minutes to transform and days to recover before I had the energy to do it again. Jasper changed like it was as easy as breathing to him.
“You can’t just say that and then go turn into a wolf,” I said. “I deserve more of an explanation.”
Jasper looked back and nodded on toward the forest, and I got his message loud and clear. The alpha werewolf had every intention of dropping that world-shattering truth bomb on me and not saying a word more about it.
“Do you think you’re my mate?” I asked.
Jasper chuffed and started walking. He was walking at a pace a toddler could keep up with, but he was definitely leaving me and my questions behind. Annoyance surged in my chest. The fact that I was naked and human while Jasper was in his fur suddenly pissed me off but if I tried to change, I’d more than likely make myself pass out and stay human.
Even though I wasn’t trying to keep up with the alpha werewolf, I kept falling into step beside him. “I’m not calling you a liar, Jasper, but I was under the impression Kane had never been challenged. He told me that all the time. I’m sure there’s a story there, and you clearly don’t want me to know it, so I’m guessing the challenge was about your relationship with Kane and not about me, right? Mate challenges are one of the only ways you can challenge another alpha without starting a war, so it makes sense. And, Kane won? No one ever told me.”
The werewolf only walked on, not reacting to anything I said. It was like trying to have a conversation with a brick wall, and I sighed and gave up. When we reached the two sleeping wolves, I hopped up and knocked my backpack off the branch. Dragging it around the tree, I redressed quickly and threw it on my back. A low burning sensation churned in my stomach. I could eat a whole deer right now and probably still be
