Page 7 of Jasper

Ellie ran into her mom’s room and came out with her a few moments later, her mom tying a robe around her waist and yawning. They told her what they’d witnessed, and she walked to the back door and stared out into the darkness.

Melody was going to have a total panic attack.

What if her parents were hurt?

Chantal turned from the back door after turning the lock. “Listen, if someone is taking over the pack, they’re only going to bother the high-ranked males. We’re not in danger. I’m way too low-ranked for anyone to give a crap about.”

“But my dad is high-ranked. And they took Jeremy and his mate Alice from the house across the path,” Melody said. “What if they took my mom too?”

Chantal put her hand on Melody’s shoulder. “Listen, there isn’t anything you can do right now. There’s no one for us to call. All we can do is wait for morning and then we’ll figure things out, okay? I know you want to help, but you could get hurt walking out there right now. Do you understand?”

Melody stared at Chantal, debating pushing her aside to get to the door. “I don’t like it.”

“I’m sure you don’t, but trust me on this. In a coup, if that’s what happened, they just take out the alpha. As long as the high-ranked males toe the line, everything will be fine.”

Melody wasn’t sure what her dad would do.

“What makes you think it’s a coup?” Ellie asked.

“They took Jeremy—he’s ranked fifth. They probably took Alice to keep him in line. Grimes took over the pack by coup, but he just killed the alpha and the rest of the males fell in line behind him.”

“You talk about killing like it’s not a big thing,” Melody said.

“It’s a brutal business being a shifter sometimes,” she said with a shrug.

Chantal ushered them back into the family room and suggested Ellie turn on the movie to take their minds off whatever was going on. She assured them that they’d be told what happened when it was appropriate.

“I’m sure everything’s okay with your parents,” Ellie whispered.

Melody wanted to trust that, but something in her gut told her that wasn’t the case.

Several hours later,while Ellie and her mom were asleep on the couch, Melody ducked out into the darkness and worked her way slowly home. She couldn’t hear anything out of the ordinary from the usual sounds of the woods at night. It took her twice as long to get to her parents’ home, but when it finally came into sight she didn’t feel any relief.

The front porch light was off and the door was ajar.

With her heart in her throat, she walked silently around to the back of the house and opened the door that led into the laundry room. When she was inside, she held her breath and listened intently, worry for her parents making her wolf rumble in her head.

She didn’t hear anything, so she moved forward through the dark house.

She could smell that other people had been there recently. Even with the lights off, she could see the house was in disarray. Furniture was turned over and a lamp was broken on the floor. Her heart was heavy in her chest as she made her way to her parents’ room and found it empty, the blankets on the floor and the door hanging off one hinge.

Someone had come for her parents and taken them in the middle of the night, along with however many of the high-ranked males.

It seemed that Ellie’s mom was right—someone had brought a coup to their sleepy little town—and now…what the hell was she going to do?

As she fought tears and wondered if her parents were still alive, she heard something that made her suck in a sharp breath.

Someone was coming.

Moving fast and silently, she hurried through the house, checked that the coast was clear at the back door, and crept through the darkness to the root cellar. As she ducked down the steps formed out of hard-packed dirt, she pulled the old wooden door shut and peered through the cracks between the slats that formed the door.

She could see males in dark clothing moving through the house, flashlights bouncing off the walls and ceiling. Someone came outside and flashed their spotlight around.

As it passed over the root cellar, which was covered in vines and looked unused, the male turned and went back into the house.

She let out the breath she’d been holding.

Holy shit, they’d come looking for her.

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