by Kat Bostick
Jasper’s mood recovered quickly after that.
The only reason he hadn’t devoured the entire plate was because Mari was holding them hostage on the nightstand. She leaned over and snagged a cookie for herself. Both she and Jasper were lying on their bellies, facing the end of the bed. When he noticed her with the cookie he wiggled closer. That was pretty close since they were already elbow to elbow. Mari peeled her lips back in a pretend snarl and held her cookie out of his reach. He snorted and rested his head on her shoulder to watch her eat.
“Okay, now pay attention. That’s Jacob, he’s the werewolf. By the end of the series you’ll probably recognize him by his abs better than his face. There is always some excuse for him to strip his shirt off. Do werewolves actually do that? Walk around half naked all the time?” Mari twisted to look up at Jasper. His tail thumped three times. That was the secondary mode of communication they had established. A tail wag meant “yes” and a lack of one meant “no.”
“Why? Is it like a macho thing or is it because you’re feral beasts and can’t stand clothes?”
Jasper growled quietly and nipped at her forearm. He didn’t seem genuinely offended, only playing along with her teasing. It was fun now that they could talk to each other. She never would have known that Jasper got her sense of humor.
“Dogs don’t like wearing shirts either.” She said with a teasing smirk. That earned her another nip. Werewolves really didn’t like being compared to dogs. “What about lady werewolves? Are there lady werewolves? Do they walk around shirtless too?”
He thumped his tail on the bed again.
“Seriously? They just let their boobs hang out all the time? Perks of being a werewolf dude, I guess.” She shrugged his head off her shoulder and reached for two more cookies.
“So, werewolves are real—unless this is some kind of long con and you only want me to think you can turn into a man.” Jasper sighed dramatically. The look he gave her was amused though. Maybe. Hard to tell on a wolf face. “Does that mean vampires are real too?”
His tail moved once in a non-committal sweep.
“Is that a maybe?”
“Yes.” He replied.
“Really? Vampires could be real? I hope it’s the sparkly kind and not the menacing suck-your-blood-and-make-you-a-slave kind. There is nothing creepier than a creature that drinks blood.” Mari shivered at the thought.
The movie was almost over when she finally found the courage to ask one of her more burning questions. “Jasper?” He tilted his head in her direction. “Do you have a pack?”
A flurry of tail wagging sent the blanket draped over her legs flying.
“Do they know where you are?”
“No.” He answered with a whimper.
Mari swallowed, feeling guilty for the amount of disappointment that was already gathering in her stomach. “Do you want to go back to them?”
He bounced the mattress when he abruptly stood, practically shouting “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Cool fingers of dread gripped her chest but Mari tried to ignore them. Of course he wanted his pack—his real pack. She had no right to keep him here. Just a day ago she was taking him out to the forest under the assumption that was better for him than staying in her cramped little house. Mari had a life and—assuming she wasn’t already fired—a job to return to. Jasper would be miserable here.
She was careful to keep her tone even to disguise her unexpected sadness when she said “I want to help you find them.”
Chapter 16
Mari
Three days and one season of Teen Wolf later, Mari received a package from an online book store. Browsing the web revealed hundreds, if not thousands, of books about werewolves. She selected the top sellers and ordered about fifty of them. The books themselves were mostly under five dollars apiece but the shipping cost to get them there in a timely manner was ridiculous. Between that and the cost of feeding a ravenous werewolf, she was going to need more money.
Mari was fiscally responsible. She had more than six months of emergency savings tucked away and never accumulated any debt. That had been easy enough because until last month, she was working full time and had nothing to spend her extra money on. Now she was spending double the money she used to and wouldn’t be gaining more until she found a new job.
That was only one of many terrible messages she heard on her answering machine that morning. It was no surprise that they fired her after two months away. When her boss said to “take her time,” there was an unspoken assumption that Mari would actually be coming back.
Mari heard the landline ringing for weeks but hadn’t bothered to answer it. She’d also been ignoring her cell phone ever since she brought Jasper home. That was probably why she missed another important call.
“Mariella, you owe me an explanation and you owe Veronica an apology. We waited for you for an hour. Dinner got cold! What is wrong with yo—“ Mari deleted the message. Right, family dinner. She’d completely forgotten that Dad only loaned her the jeep because she agreed to come last Friday night.
She kept clicking through messages, deleting most of them. When an unfamiliar voice screeched through the speaker, she paused and started the message over. “You did this, you lying bitch! I know it was you! It wasn’t enough that you tarnished my son’s name when he can’t defend himself. Now you defile his body? I’m going to prove it was you and everyone will see what a lying whore you are! You ugly, vile—“
The message stopped abruptly as a blur of red fur landed on the countertop. Mari gaped as Jasper crunched the innocent answering machine between his teeth. By the time he was done the thing was in pieces all over the kitchen floor. He looked up at her with fire in his eyes.
“Thanks.” Mari whispered meekly. Jasper stepped over the destroyed tech to give her hip a reassuring bump with his shoulder. “I wonder what that was all about.”
Frankly, she didn’t care to find out. The sooner Mari could put Jacob and the last month behind her, the better. Thankfully she had someone else’s problems to focus on and they were much bigger than hers.
With no more messages to answer, Mari took the opportunity to pick up one of the werewolf books and divert her anxious mind from thoughts of Dad and his anger, of her lack of a job, and of the absence of communication from Gran. It was a fictional story but then again, werewolves were fictional creatures so that didn’t mean much.
The first book wasn’t horribly written but it was clearly crafted by humans for humans. Otherwise why would the werewolf’s love interest be a helpless human woman that constantly needed saving? Mari hadn’t noticed that the majority of the books she ordered were romance novels. Who knew there were so many supernatural romance books? Thirty pages in, she began to regret reading the story aloud.
“Holy ew!” Mari slammed the book shut and quickly tossed it across the room. The offending thing hit the closet door with a thump. “That’s not a story, that’s porn!”
Jasper gave her a curious look and tapped her shoulder with one paw.
Mari shook her head vehemently. “I am not reading that out loud.”
There was a mischievous glint in his eyes when he pawed her again.
“No way.” She pursed her lips. “Do people actually do that? With that? On second thought, I don’t want to know.”
She left her reclined position to perch on the edge of the mattress, blushing furiously and wondering what the obsession was with sex. Not that Mari had much experience to base her opinion off of but surely it wasn’t so good that an entire book had to be written about it. Not describing things in such graphic detail, anyway. And what did that have to do with werewolves?
“Are werewolves really that sex obsessed?” Mari asked sheepishly.
Jasper crawled to the edge of the bed and looked up at her. She waited for his answer for a moment before deciding she didn’t want it, because what if he said yes? Mari might have a teeny tiny giant crush on Jasper the man but that might change if she found out he wanted to do that.
“No? Oh, thank the noodle gods.” She slapped a hand over her heart when he didn’t wag his tail. “I knew there were a lot of fantasies about werewolves but I had no idea they were…kinky. I thought it would be stories about wolfmen and hunters with silver bullets. I’m thinking we should burn all of those books, just in case.”
The box containing the rest of the potentially offensive material was sitting at the foot of the bed. She stooped to grab another paperback and studied the cover. There was a chiseled, half naked man standing in front of a full moon. His face was cut off so he was basically a big rippling torso, wearing low cut jeans that showed more than Mari thought was acceptable for a book cover.
“We could at least toss the ones with muscly dudes on the front.” She chucked the second book across the room to join the first in a crinkled heap on the floor. “I’m too embarrassed to even donate these to the library. What if someone thinks I was reading them because I’m into that?”
Jasper’s head suddenly whipped around, ears swiveling wildly. Mari froze, holding her breath to listen for whatever it was that set him on edge. Thirty seconds ticked by before she had to breathe out slowly or risk gasping for air. She was too focused on her breathing to hear the quiet grinding of a key turning the deadbolt. The high-pitched feminine voice that called out as the front door swung open was impossible to miss, however.
“Mar-Mar? I know you’re home. I saw the Corolla.” The door slammed unceremoniously. “Hey bitch! Quit sulking and get out here!”
A hair-raising growl rumbled in Jasper’s throat.
“Oh no.” Mari cursed under her breath.
“You better be dead in there or else you have no excuse for not answering my texts!” Aubrey yelled from the living room. “You can’t just hide for the rest of your life. I’m staging an intervention. Girls night will commence as soon as you get your hot ass out here!”
Mari swiped at Jasper’s scruff but her hand came back with loose clumps of fur. He was already in motion, leaping from the bed and charging toward the living room.
“Jasper wait! Don’t hurt her!” Mari shouted.
How did she forget that Aubrey had a key and was not afraid to use it? It was one thing to ignore Dad, but Aubrey? Nope, she would not be ignored. And hopefully she would not be mauled by the time Mari made it to the den, either. A scream of horror and a loud thud had her fearing that it was already too late to hope for that.
“What the actual fuck Mari? There’s an animal in your house! Is that a bear?” Aubrey shrieked. The petite blonde—or whatever reddish gold color Aubrey decided to dye her hair this month—was flattened against the front door in an attempt to get as far from Jasper as she could.
Jasper stood three feet from Aubrey, vicious intent displayed with his teeth.
“Jasper stop!” Mari commanded. “This is Aubrey, my best friend.”
The wolf’s massive shoulders dipped with every exhaled breath. Time seemed to still as Mari inched around Jasper, careful not to startle him. Wary green eyes flicked between her and Aubrey before finally settling on her. Mari nodded and put a hand on Aubrey’s upper arm.
A thundering growl broke through the tension in the living room. Mari stepped fully in front of her best friend and glowered at Jasper.
“Don’t you growl at me!” she snapped.
He growled again and charged forward. Aubrey let out an ear-splitting scream when Jasper’s teeth caught the fabric of Mari’s jeans. He heaved backward three times, easily scooting her toward the center of the living room and away from Aubrey. She stumbled when the toe of her slipper hit the rug, sending her ungracefully to her knees.
Mari resigned herself to being on the floor as Jasper circled her. At least down here she could grab him before he lunged. The wolf sniffed her thoroughly, never taking his eyes off Aubrey or turning his back to her.
“Enough Jasper! Unlike some people, Aubrey doesn’t bite.” Mari harrumphed. Jasper stopped pacing but stood over her protectively.
“You’re talking to the bear?” Aubrey’s voice was so shrill that Jasper flinched.
“Wolfdog.” Mari corrected, hoping to an inexperienced eye it was a believable lie. Aubrey was afraid of dogs and couldn’t tell a Shih-Tzu from a border collie.
“Wolf? Oh, okay, you betcha. Why is there a wolf in your living room?”
“Don’t panic, Aubrey.”
“Don’t panic?” she hyperventilated. “What the hell, Mari?”
Mari squirmed out from under Jasper and went to stand. He knocked her with his shoulders and grumbled quietly. She showed her dissatisfaction by baring her teeth. “Uh-uh. I need to handle this and you need to chill out, Mister Unreasonable. What if it was Gran?”
He blinked and flexed his claws lazily, which was as good as a nonchalant shrug from him.
“Oh? So you’re threatening innocent grandmothers now, too?” Mari scoffed.
He sat back on his haunches and huffed.
“I don’t care if you’re being protective. It’s not necessary. Aubrey is my friend.”
He curled his upper lip and flipped his head in Aubrey’s direction.
“Okay, that is just rude!” She was about to tell him that when he was a man again, she fully expected him to apologize but it dawned on her that Aubrey had no clue what Jasper was. It wasn’t a great idea to disclose that, especially not while her best friend was moments away from flinging the door open and fleeing in terror.
“Have you absolutely lost your mind?” Aubrey cut into the argument between wolf and witch with another shrill question.
“Yes.” Mari nodded. “But don’t worry, Jasper hasn’t. He’s calm now and he won’t hurt you.”
“Oh no, Mari. No, no, no! I thought they put that dog down. This is it, isn’t it? The one that killed Jacob?”
“He’s not an ‘it’ and he doesn’t appreciate being called a dog.” Oops, Mari could have left that part out.
“He doesn’t appreciate it?” Aubrey threw her hands up in exasperation. At least she wasn’t scared anymore. “He’s an animal Mari! What are you thinking? How did you even get him here? He’s dangerous! He could be rabid!”
“I was thinking that he didn’t deserve to die for protecting me.”
“He’s almost bit you just now! You need to get this animal out of here.”
“Stop calling him an animal.” Mari snapped.
“It’s a mother freaking animal! With fur and teeth!”
“He is not just an animal.” She wasn’t sure if it was her or Jasper growling at that point.
“I have to go. I am not about to sit here and let your attack dog—wolf, bear, whatever—maul me. You are totally out of it, Mari. This is nuts, even for you.” Aubrey cupped the door handle.
Jasper didn’t stop her this time when she jumped up from the floor and rushed over to her friend with placating hands. “Aubs, wait! Let me explain, okay? Please, you can’t tell anyone that Jasper is here.”
Her best friend studied her with watery brown eyes. There was a spark of anger in that gaze but beneath it Mari saw the fear. She couldn’t blame Aubrey for her reaction. Jasper was pretty scary, especially when he was in defensive mode. He wouldn’t hurt her, though. Not if Mari told him not to. How could she get her friend to understand without divulging Jasper’s secrets?
“Dammit, Mar-Mar! All I wanted was to pregame with wine coolers and go out to Davito’s. Why does everything have to be so complicated with you? Can’t you just get fired and sulk about it like a normal person?” Aubrey whined.
Mari couldn’t contain her chuckle. “You know I’m not the sulking type.”
“No? So what were you doing for the last two months? Sulking, that’s what.” Aubrey let out her own nervous laugh. “And keeping wild animals in your house, apparently.”
“Just one and he’s not wild.” Aubrey bugged her eyes out in exasperation at Mari’s insistence. “I’ll explain all of it. Just give me ten minutes.”
Aubrey glanced at the red wolf and swallowed
hard. “Okay. Sure. Please explain this crazy shit.”
Jasper was not pleased to be herded into the bedroom but he wisely followed a fuming Mari. Once the door was shut, he sat against it to block the way out.
She glared at him furiously. “I’m not happy with you.”
He flicked his tail to say “I know.”
“You can’t attack people, Jasper!”
He flicked his tail again in understanding.
“What am I supposed to do now? Aubrey is going to want an explanation and I don’t have one to give her because I can’t tell her that you’re a frickin’ werewolf.” Mari plopped onto the floor and tucked her knees to her chest. “What am I doing? I need to talk to Gran.”
Well, at least Mari wasn’t going to have to fake the sulking part. Normally she didn’t drink but she might take Aubrey up on her offer if it would dull the stressful throb in her brain. Jasper sighed sympathetically and sidled up next to her, resting his heavy head on top of hers.
“I have to fix this, which means you’re going to have to stay here for a few hours.”
It took some convincing to keep Jasper from barring the door and refusing to let her leave with Aubrey. Mari might have used a cheap trick to get him to agree with her but hey, it wasn’t her fault that sideboob was more important to him than being stubborn. She hadn’t actually needed to change—jeans and a t-shirt were the only thing she was willing to wear to a bar—but it helped her cause. Who knew werewolves were so mistrustful of strangers?
“You’re going to kill it with those.” Aubrey balked when Mari set out a plate of cookies—she was not against bribing Jasper—next to the water bowl on the floor.
“He likes them.” She shrugged and absentmindedly kissed Jasper’s nose before she realized what she was doing. “Let’s get out of here. I can’t leave him alone for too long.” She hustled Aubrey out the front door, avoiding the confusing mixture of frustration and smugness on Jasper’s face.
✽✽✽
