Untamable (14 page)

She shook her head. “Not right now. Later tonight we can play those games, but right now let’s face the problem and fix it.” She hated putting things off. Running from a problem never solved it and Jasper knew that. Something else lay hidden behind those gorgeous eyes of his. “Tell me what else is going on. I can see there’s something, but I don’t want to poke around in your brain to see.”

His eyes dropped, and he played with the edge of his napkin. “Later. Right now let’s figure out how many pack members we are going to be looking for, and then we can make a plan to head over to see the warehouse tomorrow morning. By midday, I’m sure Velham and his cronies will be here to see what’s going on.”

“All right, but whatever you’re hiding better come out tonight ’cause I know you’re keeping something back from me, and you know how much I love that kind of thing.”

Sidda hated someone trying to hide something from her, and right now, he was damn lucky she wasn’t in his brain picking every thought apart. But she’d trust him for now.

“Fair enough. Tomorrow we can train outside as wolves, but right now, let’s go see if Doc has a list of some sort made for me.”

“How many do you think we are looking for?” In world history class, they’d covered the size of different Luna packs, but she couldn’t recall the size of the Blue Moon.

“I found fifty members in Romania, and they knew of ten others alive and well. They called around to find out that six more wolves were dead. That gives us sixty alive and six dead out of a hundred and fifty member pack. So rough estimate says we’re looking for close to eighty-five members. I don’t think we’ll ever see that number, but maybe we can find half that many. Out of that group will be my mother, two brothers, and your mother.” He picked up his soda can and took a long swig from it.

Sidda inhaled, holding onto her breath and wondering just what would happen when her birth mother found out she’d lived, that is if she was still alive.

Jasper tugged her forward. “Come on, let’s see what Doc has to say. I’m sure he’s figured out we’re done training and is awaiting us.”

“Yeah, I bet. Stop trying to scare him, too. He’s helping, and he did what he and my mother thought was best for me, so stop being an ass.” Sidda tugged on Jasper’s hand to draw him close. His body heat enveloped her, and she struggled to remember why she’d drawn him near. She’d thought to comfort him, but his earthy smell hinted with desire fanned the fire within her, sending the thoughts of comfort out the window.

Jasper shook his head as he buried his nose into her hair. “He should have told you a long time ago. Your mother should have told me. Do you know how long I’ve fought my wolf about you? He wanted to take you, like we would a wolf mate, but I struggled for years to contain the beast. I shouldn’t have had to. You are my mate and always have been. We could have been mated years ago.”

Holy shit, he had to be kidding. They were only twenty-three. He couldn’t mean he’d have wanted a mate as a teenager or anything. That was crazy. He was a guy. Guys were scared of commitment.

“I’m not a guy. I’m a wolf, and I’d have marked you as my mate when we were kids if you’d have let me.” The seriousness of his tone held the truth. He would have, and God help her, she’d have let him do it.

“You should have marked me. I’ve always loved you and wanted to be yours.” Sidda nipped his bottom lip earning a growl from him.

“The bond we have will never be broken. You will always be mine, and I yours. Better late than never, huh?” He grinned a crooked grin, setting her heart on fire.

“Better late than never indeed.” She wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and jerked his head down to hers. Their lips met, and she held nothing back from him. He was hers, and he might be her Alpha, but she was his equal in this part, and he’d always known it. Smiling at her show of dominance, she eased away from his trembling body. “Now, let’s go talk to Doc again. Maybe he won’t be pawing at my mom. I’d hate to have to hurt him over it.”

“Your mom is due for some pawing. I’ve known her for fifteen years and never smelled another scent on her. Believe me, she’s due.”

Sidda almost choked. No, he did not just say her mom needed to get laid.

“Yeah, I did. Doc’s a wolf and would protect her from Velham as much as he could, so why not? Let them mate.” He grasped her hand and squeezed once before shaking his head laughing.

“I don’t think it’s funny.”

“You should try to find things more amusing. Don’t take it for granted, because I can almost guarantee you that, in the weeks and months to come, this thing with Velham will take away most of the reasons for laughter.”

Sidda’s heart tightened. She didn’t want to have to face that evil bastard, much less have Jasper do it, but they had to. And she had to let Jasper handle it the way he wanted to. Her wolf applauded her decision. She wanted Jasper to take back what was his and honor her mother, both of them.

Chapter Twelve

Sidda’s mother and Ms. Joy sat on one couch flipping through a small picture album while Cole texted someone on his phone. Their gazes snapped up when Jasper and Sidda stepped into the large living space. Cole’s eyes met hers before he glanced at Jasper. Without a word, he turned and looked back to his phone. Something was up. She could feel it in the way Cole barely gave Jasper the time of day. That wasn’t like them. They’d never fought before, and never had there been so much tension between the two.

“I take it the shift and training went well?” Dr. Thomas looked up from the tablet he held.

“She bonded with her wolf on the first shift and even gained control over herself during the training. She’s stronger than I’d thought.” Jasper’s voice held so much pride that her cheeks burned with embarrassment.

“Wonderful, I can’t wait to see her in training.” Dr. Thomas set the tablet down and smiled at them. “I imagine the training will be interesting between the two of you. It has been a long time since I’ve watched a mated pair try to outwit each other’s wolf.” His smile brightened, and his gaze settled on her mom. A growl threatened to rip from Sidda’s throat.

“Let them be, Sidda. Everyone needs someone.”
Jasper’s calming voice filtered through her head, relaxing her.

“They cannot have sex in this house. If I hear my mother, I’ll be scarred for life. Do you want that?”

He laughed, deep and throaty, before hauling her next to him. His lips brushed her forehead, and he guided them to one of the sofas.

“All right, Doc, tell us what you’ve figured out.” Jasper picked up a notepad and pen from the large oak coffee table.

“Well, I’ve counted the ones you know of and put names and faces together. That gives us a total of sixty-six that we knew of right away. I’ve found eight more who died after Velham took over. They were all strong males, including your dad’s second.” Dr. Thomas’s voice deepened with remorse.

Silence crept through the room as they all silently did the math in their heads. They knew the pack was a small but powerful one, so now they had to try and figure out what had happened to nearly half of its members.

“We know that at least four more were taken by Velham.” Sidda’s voice trembled at the mention of him and the thought of her mother.

Doc cleared his throat. “I got a call while you were training. His second Stephan was asking questions about the Blue Moon house being opened back up and wanted to know who was the Alpha daring to open it.”

A growl ripped through the room. Jasper jumped to his feet. Long, coarse fur prickled through his flesh.

“That bastard dared to question anything concerning my pack? I’ll rip his balls off and feed them to the rogues.” His voice drawled out scratchy and deep. As the current Luna Alpha, Dane Velham had a right to ask or do anything he wanted with concerns to the packs he ruled. But Jasper, as the rightful Luna Alpha, didn’t give a damn, and Sidda knew it was only a matter of time before he lost his temper and confronted Dane.

Sulfur filled the air, choking Sidda. She coughed while Jasper fought for control. His body trembled, and slowly, the hair receded. Her mother gaped at him as did Ms. Joy. Cole, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and went back to typing on his phone. Something was up with between Cole and Jasper, something she fully intended to find out about. The two guys had been as close as friends could get to being brothers, and they never fought.

Jasper’s eyes cut to her, and she held his gaze. He shook his head and waved her off. He’d tell her later. She knew that signal and decided to let it go for now, but she’d hold him to it. A rush of arrogant male laughter filtered through their link. Jasper was amused that she was going to hold him to talking about it.

“Stephan said he’d be by tomorrow morning to meet the new Alpha and go over the pack rules.” Sidda wanted to hit Doc over the head. He just kept on breaking terrific fucking news. Jasper was going to kill the messenger for sure.

“Let that fucking coward show up. He needs to meet the wolf who will be ripping his throat out and shitting down his neck.”

Sidda’s eyes bugged out. Holy hell he was pissed. Jasper never cussed that much, but heaven help them all. He’d had enough over the years. The anger seeping through their bond was nearly enough to have her ready to snap the Dane Velham’s neck herself.

“Jasper, let’s get this taken care of beforehand so we have our stuff together.” She glanced down at the tablet Doc had set on the table, hoping Jasper would calm down.

His angry growl rippled through the room like a tidal wave, sending wave after wave of anxiety within her. “Jasper, stop now.” She growled at him, desperately tired of the anxious feeling and more than ready to get their task taken care of. There were so many other things they had to discuss on a personal level, but the pack stuff had to come first.

His gaze snapped in her direction, and she glanced down quickly. Well, shit. She’d automatically given him submission. What the hell was wrong with her? The tiny voice inside surged to the front, clapping and swelling with pride. Damn wolf, this was just so wrong. Sidda exhaled, more than a little put out.

“You’re stronger than I’d thought.” Doc smiled and nodded toward Jasper who’d begun breathing heavy and had stopped pacing.

“Told you.” Jasper’s voice grew ragged, but calm. His eyes met hers, and the bright shine of pride had her blushing yet again.

“Whatever, just come on. I think there were some things we needed to discuss, too, so let’s get this conversation over. Doc, have there been rumors of other packs having Blue Moon members?”

Doc glanced back to Jasper then at her. For a split second, she thought she’d have to repeat her question, but when his eyes met hers, he ducked his head and cleared his throat. She glanced at Jasper, whose lips quirked into a sly grin.

Doc sighed. “Some, mostly from what I’ve heard, the Blue Moons that survived the war either fled back to the homelands or found refuge in smaller packs out west.”

Sidda eyed him then flicked her glance to Jasper. “So we could be seeing an influx of members if they chose to return to the pack now that they know a Gandillion is back to take over?”

Jasper flopped down beside her and sighed. “I hadn’t considered that. I really didn’t think that we’d get many members back, much less have them bring new families here.”

Sidda sat up straight, her body growing tense. “So it’s possible that these members who fled could have mated and bred with other packs making the Blue Moon pack larger and more diverse?”

Doc nodded. “It would make for one hell of a pitch to get the other packs, who might be too scared of facing Dane, behind Jasper as Alpha. Jasper would have the support of many smaller packs, but it’d also show his acceptance of all packs. That is something Velham has failed to do and, in most cases, has tried to do away with other packs. He wants one large pack of Red Moons only.”

“Well, then together we will just have to give them one united pack.” Sidda picked up Jasper’s hand and grinned. Together they’d show Velham, his second, and the entire Luna Nation they were one.