Page 17 of Kidnapped By the Alpha

“Hi, I’m April!” my mate interjected brightly. I shot a glance at her, wondering what she was up to.

“I’m Terry,” the man said, turning his attention to her and extending a hand in greeting. She shook it and offered him a sweet smile.

“It’s nice to meet you, Terry,” she said. “This is my husband, Jasper.”

“Hang on one second—hey, guys, over here,” he waved his friends down, and I recognized the man and woman who had been sitting with him at the bar. “This is Mike and Ashley. Guys, this is Jasper and April. He was at the bar with us earlier, remember?”

“Oh, yeah! How’s it going, man?” Mike asked, clapping me on the back.

The contact unsettled me. April seemed to notice, and she put a comforting hand on my arm.

“You guys aren’t from around here, are you?” Ashley asked. “I don’t think we’ve seen you before today.”

“No, we’re just visiting,” April answered. “We got married a few days ago, so we’ve been doing some traveling.”

“Honeymooners, eh?” Mike said. “You picked a good city for it! If you haven’t been to it yet, there’s this really nice scenic spot just east of here. I can show it to you on a map if you’d like.”

“That would be fantastic, thank you,” April responded sincerely.

For the next few minutes, April chatted with them, taking suggestions on everything from things to see to places to eat. I hadn’t gotten to experience this side of her before. She was so genuine and kind that I would have thought she had known them for much longer than five minutes.

“It was really nice to meet you two,” Terry said, smiling much more widely than before he had met April. “Maybe we’ll see you around. Actually, there’s a party on Saturday if you guys want to come.”

“We might, thanks,” I answered.

The three strangers waved at us and left, and we walked to my car in the parking lot.

“What in the world were you trying to accomplish with all of that?” I demanded as we placed the bags into the trunk.

“I was just making polite conversation,” she said, frowning.

“And that was it?”

“What else would I be doing?” April asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “That’s why I’m asking you.”

I wasn’t even sure what I wanted her to say, but she had surprised me with how easily she had fallen into conversation with them. I wanted to find out more.

“You seemed unsettled by them,” she said with a shrug. “I could sense the tension, and honestly, I was a little worriedthat you were about to start a fight or something. The middle of a store isn’t the best place for that, so I did what I could to neutralize the situation.”

“I didn’t realize you had picked up on my mood,” I said, taken aback.

“We may have only known each other for a little while, but I’ve gotten pretty good at reading your cues,” April said. “What’s the story with them, anyway? Did something happen when you were in town earlier today that upset you?”

I should have known the conversation was leading in this direction. There was no need for her to know about pack politics. Especially about my plan to take over the Pinedale Pack.

“Let’s just drop it,” I grumbled, shutting the trunk of the car and walking around to my door.

I opened my door, and April did the same, but before I could step inside, a sudden motion from the minivan parked in the adjacent spot sparked my attention.

My eyes widened with rage as I saw the woman sitting in the driver’s seat raining blows down on the head and face of the girl seated next to her. The driver was holding the wrist of the girl, who was attempting to block the blows, but the woman was too strong for her. From their matching hair color and features, I could tell they were mother and daughter.

Without pausing to consider my actions, I ran around the car, opened the van door, and yanked the woman from her seat.

“Jasper!” April shouted behind me. “What are you doing?!”

Hate filled me as I looked into the terrified eyes of the perpetrator. I pinned her up against the van, bracing my forearm across her chest with one arm.

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