Page 17 of Moonlight and Mischief
“It’s late. We should go inside.” Standing, he tucks his knife away and holds out his hand for me. Despite the dropping temperatures, his palm is warm.
He leads me inside, the patio door clunking shut behind us. I’m not ready to call it a night, and neither is he because he leads me to his sofa. I have to admit it’s far more comfortable than my grandmother’s.
A faint smile brightens his features as he wraps me in a rust-colored plaid blanket before building up the fire in the old cast iron wood-burning stove. Warmth fills the small cabin and I breathe in the scent of woodsmoke and sweet barbeque.
As Jasper settles beside me, I drape the blanket over his shoulders like we always do, but it feels different. We aren’t around a bonfire with our rowdy group of friends. It’s just us. His skin warms my chilled arm. Awkwardly, I smooth the edge of the fabric.
“Tell me more about your students.” His voice is velvety and soothing.
“What about them?”
“I don’t know much. Tell me everything.”
My fist bunches up the blanket against my chest as I think. “Well, I've got the older ones, like Willow and my brother Cobalt. They've started some online classes, but aren't totally independent yet.”
Jasper nods along like this is the most fascinating topic ever.
“And then I've got my younger students, who are pretty much all handfuls. I mean, Daisy keeps shoving different things up her nose every time I turn around. Starling fights me on everything - it's making her momcrazy too. Even Elwood, who I would have considered my easiest student, is starting to get emotional over the smallest things.”
A slow smile spreads across his face as I talk. It’s not the cocky smirk he wears most of the time. It’s warm and genuine, with actual happiness shining through instead of an expression for show.
“How old are they?” he asks.
“Six, seven, and eight.”
“Haven’t shifted yet?”
“Nope, and I know that’s why Elwood is being so difficult. It’ll be any day now. As long as it’s not during class.” I pinch the bridge of my nose.
Jasper chuckles silently. “Have you ever had a kid shift in your class?”
He had no idea. “The older ones do it all the freaking time, especially if I’m being hard on them. It’s impossible to argue with a wolf, after all. But I’ve never had a kid experience their first shift while in class, thank the goddess.”
“Then maybe Elwood will be your first.”
“Shut your mouth, you’ll jinx me.” There’s no venom in my words, but I knock on the wooden coffee table for luck.
“Sorry,” he says ruefully. Exasperated, I use my forearm to shove him away. He retaliates by wrapping his arm across my shoulders and holding me tight.
Mouth pursed, he looks thoughtful. “After spending so much time with your students, do you think you’llwant a lot of kids someday?”
That’s a loaded question and a complicated one. “I don’t know. I see how hard it is for the parents sometimes. How exhausted they can be. And I’m barely getting by some of these days. I can’t imagine being responsible for a pup all the time, making sure it gets fed and sleeps enough and doesn’t disappear into the forest.”
“No kidding,” Jasper says, “I’m terrified of the idea of being a parent.”
“Why?”
His teeth press into that bottom lip as he thinks. “I don’t think I’d have any clue how to do it.”
“No one has any clue, you figure it out together with your partner and get lots of help from everyone around you.”
A certain solemness tugs at the corners of his mouth. The air is heavy and I can feel turmoil emanating from him. The silence feels like a rift between us that I can’t cross.
His mouth creases. “My parents were not exactly involved when I was a kid. We got shuffled around, stuck with different training groups and watched by random guards.
“And when they needed us to project the right image, we were dressed up and told to act a certain way.” He pauses, as if unsure if he should continue. I meet his gaze and wait. “And if we misstepped, the consequences were usually pretty painful.”
“Are you kidding me?” I blurt, anger heating my skin.
