Page 10 of Nighted

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Friday found us both in my small bedroom, packing our respective backpacks. I sighed loudly, shoving another pair of workout pants into my bag. “Why did the Alpha decide you needed to meet this pack the same weekend they needed me on pack lands? I’m not comfortable with you being this far away.”

Jasper smirked. “I thought you were sure you could handle this on your own, baby?”

Huffing, I balled up a shirt and stuffed the crumpled fabric in my bag. Good thing weekends with the pack didn’t call for formality. I couldn’t remember the last time we had done laundry. We’d been at my apartment for a week now, but between pack meetings and training, clothes just tended to pile up. “I believe what I said was the two of us could handle whatever this was, together. Not me on my own.”

Jasper froze with his hand on a pair of black jeans. “Have you… seen anything else?”

“No, nothing.” I shook my head. “But what if I do?”

“You call me.” He acted like this was the obvious answer.

I glared at him out of the corner of my eyes. “Great. When some evil demon is cornering me in Adrian’s bathroom, I’ll ask him politely to wait a couple hours until my boyfriend can get there.”

“Mate,” he corrected me automatically, then glared back at me. “Don’t say that out loud if you don’t have to, even if it’s not the name. It’s an unnecessary risk. Anyway, whoever is playing games with you isn’t going to attack you. They’re going to drag the torture out. So yes, if you see something, you’ll call me. I’ll come as quick as I can.”

“How are you going to get around the Alpha’s orders?” I was curious. As far as I was aware, he couldn’t disobey a direct order.

“Leave that to me to figure out. And I’d rather you stayed with Duke this weekend. If you wouldn’t mind.”

“I don’t mind.” Duke’s guest bed was a thousand times better than a mattress tossed on the floor. “But will Lucy be okay with me staying?” Lucy was Duke’s mate. She was a very sweet, gentle girl. But I didn’t want to bring danger and drama into her placid life if having me over wasn’t necessary. We usually avoided staying with them due to the general nature of both of our jobs. I knew why he was asking now. Duke’s place was a bit more secure than Adrian’s bachelor pad.

Jasper returned his attention to his bag, zipping the pack. “I’ve already asked them both. Lucy would love to have you. And before you ask, yes, I’ve told them the situation.” I hadn’t even opened my mouth to speak. But of course I had been planning to ask him.

He crossed the room to hug me, and I sank with relief into his strong arms. No one warned me it was this exhausting being strong all the time. “It’s going to be okay, baby. It’s only a weekend.”

I rested my head against his warm chest -- my happy place. “I know. You’ll be safe too won’t you?”

Jasper tugged on my messy braid, turning my face up to meet his. “I’m always safe. Relatively speaking,” he added, before I could make a face at him. “Besides, we have more important things to consider.”

“Such as?” I wondered where he was going with this. I was pretty sure nothing took priority over the hell this weekend was going to be.

“We have a marking to discuss,” he murmured, trailing his finger along my neck. I shivered against his touch, my heart contracting nervously. Jasper laid his hand on my heart and smiled. “Are you scared, or is that excitement?”

“A little of both.” I wanted to give myself to him fully, and have Jasper be mine forever. But participating in a ceremony traditionally reserved for werewolves was still intimidating. At the end of the day, I was human. “Will the marking hurt?”

Jasper eyed me with caution. “I’m not going to lie to you. The bite is going to hurt. It’s why I was hesitant in the first place. But I think the potential benefits outweigh my hesitations now. That’s all you’re worried about? If it’s going to hurt?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I mean, yeah. Should I be worried about something else? Side effects? Am I going to start howling at the moon?”

He laughed. “No, Ava. Nothing like that. I thought you might be a bit more concerned about the commitment side of things. You know, having second thoughts about being trapped with a dude who spends a lot of time running around as a wolf.”

“It also means you spend a lot of time wearing minimal clothing, which I am definitely okay with.” I dragged my finger down his chest to emphasize my point.

Jasper grinned. “I’ll take it. I love you, Ava Green.”

I stood on my tiptoes to kiss his soft lips. “I love you. One more thing though.”

He lightly kissed me again. “Anything.”

I hesitated. I wasn’t sure how to say what I wanted to ask. Finally, I decided on spitting my thoughts out all at once. “Do I mark you in return?”

He looked at me seriously with his beautiful eyes. Eyes I constantly found myself lost in. Eyes I’d get to look at for the rest of my life. However long that ended up being. “Only if you want. It’s kind of a grey area, with human/wolf mates. So, it’s entirely up to you.”

I bit my lip, considering, and then I nodded. “I think… I’d like to. If that’s okay with you.”

Jasper’s face lit up. “Of course. More than okay.”

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