Page 21 of Kidnapped By the Alpha

“Whatever,” Jasper said dismissively. “Just leave me alone, alright? I’m done with this.”

I nodded, knowing that I had pushed as far as I could take things tonight. “I’ll head to bed, then,” I said.

I retreated to my room and hoped that he would take whatever space he needed tonight. While I was aware that his anger was misplaced, I could hardly judge him for his feelings. He needed time to process the fact that he had just opened up to me—a woman, just like those who had hurt him.

I could certainly afford to give him that time, but I knew my task as luna had just gotten more complicated. Jasper had never met a woman who hadn’t hurt him. It might take forever, but somehow, I would make him see that not all women were like that. If I could change his mind, then maybe, just maybe, he could become an alpha I could look up to.

Chapter 11 - Jasper

The next few days were busy, allowing me to put my flashbacks out of my mind. After hearing about the upcoming pack event for the Pinedale Pack, I had managed to learn where they would be meeting. Today was the day, and Killian and I were planning how best to go about infiltrating the group.

“You’re going to have to bring April,” my second pointed out. “At least three of them know that you’re recently married. It’ll look incredibly suspicious if you come alone.”

My mate hadn’t attempted to engage me in conversation since I had told her the story of my past. In fact, I had done everything I could to avoid her. I couldn’t admit it to her, but I was ashamed of how I had acted that day. My emotions had always followed a similar pattern: keep everything bottled up until they reached a boiling point, making me explode with anger. It hadn’t caused any serious problems before now, but having April witness it had changed something between us.

I had accused her of pitying me, but that had just been a way for me to lash out at her. There hadn’t been any pity in her eyes, only concern. Part of me wondered if that was worse.

“I’m not sure if she’ll be willing to go with me,” I admitted to Killian.

Now that April had been allowed freedom within the pack grounds, she had rarely been in the cabin. Most of her time was spent tending to the children, but she had also been making some improvements to the cabins. I had even overheard her talking about planting a garden with the women.

“Are you still not talking?” Killian asked.

I shrugged. I didn’t actually know if April and I were on speaking terms right now. “I guess I should go find out,” I said. “Can you have the guys ready to go in an hour?”

Killian nodded and headed off to inform the selected wolves of our plan while I went in search of April. I found her in the kitchens, helping the women prepare dinner while the toddlers colored at the table.

“That’s so beautiful, Maeve,” April said to a little girl as she held up a picture of a bird. Or was it a dinosaur? It was hard to tell.

When she spotted me standing in the doorway, she put down the knife she had been using to slice potatoes and wiped her hands on a tea towel before coming over to greet me.

“Alpha,” she said deferentially. “What brings you here?”

“I was wondering if you would like to go out with me tonight,” I asked.

The invitation came out more awkward than I had intended. It had been a while since I had asked a female to accompany me anywhere. I was much more used to demanding that people go where I told them to go.

“Out?” April asked. “Like on a date?”

“There’s a party in town, and I was hoping you’d come with me,” I explained.

April grinned, and I suddenly noticed how perfectly straight her teeth were. “That sounds like a lot of fun,” she said. “When do we leave?”

“Pretty soon, so you might want to go get ready,” I said.

She said goodbye to the women and children, and I walked with her back to the cabin. She disappeared into the bedroom to change, and I slipped on a clean shirt as well.

As I looked at myself in the mirror, I experienced an emotion I wasn’t familiar with—guilt. April knew nothing of my plan to take over the local werewolf pack. If it weren’t for the fact that she had told the wolves at the store we were newlyweds, I probably wouldn’t have asked her to come with me at all tonight. Her own kindness had made her an unwitting participant in my plan.

I was deceiving her. At some point, she was bound to uncover my betrayal. I hoped she would be understanding when the time came.

“I’m ready,” April said as she came into view wearing a sleeveless, sapphire-blue dress.

“Wow,” I said. I hadn’t intended to comment on her appearance, but she had caught me off-guard. The dress hugged her curves and flared out slightly at the bottom, drawing my attention to her thighs.

She brushed one hand through the soft waves of hair that cascaded past her shoulders, clearly self-conscious about my lingering gaze.

“Should I wear something else?” she asked.

---