Page 18 of Jasper

Could they just pick up where they left off even though nearly a decade had passed? He was still resentful of the separation, and angry that she thought he willingly walked away. But he wasn’t sure if he was more pissed at her or himself.

Why the hell hadn’t he just gone back and gotten her once he’d settled in the park? He could easily have snuck into the packand gotten her out of there, but he hadn’t. He’d been plagued with insecurity, wondering if she’d decidedhewas the one who wasn’t worth the effort.

All those years wasted.

Shoving the thoughts away, because he needed to focus on making the plan for the mission and not on the gooey, woo-woo feelings of his wolf, he dressed in dark jeans, a black shirt, and hiking boots.

Leaving his home in the private living area, he knocked on Joss and his mate Jeanie’s door.

His alpha called out to come in.

“It’s me,” he said as he walked in.

“In the kitchen,” Joss said.

Jasper found Joss and Jeanie at the kitchen table, empty plates from lunch in front of them. Jeanie stood and smiled at Jasper. “I’m going to leave you two to the planning.” She bent and kissed Joss on the cheek, and he let out a low purring growl. “See you later, Alpha.”

“Count on it.”

Joss kept his gaze on Jeanie until she was out of the kitchen, then he gestured to the empty chair. “Hungry?”

“No, thanks.”

The alpha leaned back in his chair and it creaked under his weight. “Tell me what’s going on between you and that she-wolf.”

Jasper’s last heart-to-heart with Joss was when he’d come to the park seven years ago. That night, he’d spilled his proverbial guts as he tried to deal with the separation from the only female he’d ever loved.

His family was gone, and she was all he had in the world.

He’d felt like the center of his body was empty without her, and he’d never really recovered from the loss. He’d just…shut off that part of himself. While the other shifters couldn’t wait tofind their soulmates and hoped the VIP tours would bring them together, he just wanted Melody.

Rubbing his face, he let out a groan. “I don’t know what to do.”

Joss gave him a critical look, then said, “The time apart doesn’t change that she’s your soulmate. You’re feeling conflicted because you were so badly hurt by what you thought was her essentially abandoning you. Not only did you lose your pack, but you lost your mate. Males don’t recover from that easily, if they do at all. The question is, what do youwantto do?”

“Mate her.”

Joss snorted. “So why are you here with me?”

“Because I don’t know what happens after that.” At Joss’s arched brow, Jasper added, “I mean, assuming that I can actually get past the walls I’ve put around myself to keep all that emotional bullshit away and I take her as my mate, then what happens? Her pack is in turmoil and there’s danger everywhere. She won’t want me to leave her parents to their fate without intervening, but when I help? What the hell am I supposed to do then?”

And what if she’d moved on? She didn’t say she had, but he hadn’t actually asked and she wasn’t wearing anyone’s marks. His blood boiled as he thought about her fucking around with other males.

She washismate.

“I can tell that you want to be with her. Whatever happened after you left, you both clearly don’t know the whole story. You left to save her life. I have a feeling her parents know more than they told her, and that means she was working with faulty information. It must be hard as hell to have a wolf inside you and not be able to shift.” Joss’s eyes focused somewhere over Jasper’s head for a moment, then Joss continued, “I can’t tell you what happens after you take her to her pack and help freeher parents. I can only tell you that as your alpha, I highly recommend you donotget involved in the pack politics. Our people are aggressive by nature, and coups happen, and high-ranked males and their families pay the price. Set them free, bring Melody back here to safety—and her parents if they’ll come—and then talk to Melody about the future. She’s probably too worried about her parents to make any kind of decision anyway.”

“True.”

Pressing the heels of his palms to his eyes, he pushed everything out of his mind but the tasks ahead: get to Northbelle, set her parents free, and get the hell back to the park.Withher.

“I’m going to meet with the guys who are coming with me to start forming a plan. I need to get Melody too because I need her to know what we’re doing—but she’s going to stay the hell in the vehicle away from danger.”

“I’ll join you guys at the meeting. Even though I’m not going with you, I’ve got tactical experience. So does Caesar; I’ll call him.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll meet you in the cafeteria in ten.”