Page 99 of Pack Kasen: Part 2

I consider leaving, but this feels like an opportunity to learn more about Aren from someone who doesn’t have a reason to lie or tell me only the good parts. Jasper doesn’t belong to his pack. At least, not yet.

I return to the grass. “What kind of stuff did they warn you about?”

“He’s intense, incredibly focused on hunting down ferals, and you never want to get on his bad side.”

“Oh?”

That sounds like Aren.

He glances at me. “And he would do anything for his pack. Not all Alphas are so fiercely protective.”

“Isn’t that what it means to lead a pack?” I wrap my arms around my raised legs.

“Power can go to a person’s head.”

“Is that why you left your pack?” I turn to look at him, yanking hair from my mouth as a gust of wind blows strands into my face.

“That’s a long story.”

“I’m not in a hurry to go back inside.”

“That terrifying, huh?” The corners of his eyes wrinkle with amusement.

I scrunch my nose. “It’s not that. Just…”

“It’s complicated?”

I smile at him. “Yeah.”

“Can’t be easy being mates with someone so…”

“Arrogant? Bigheaded? Cavemanesque” I suggest, which makes him laugh.

“Dominant. I’m surprised he’s not out here growling at me to stay away from you.”

Silas warned me about that.

“He knows exactly what would happen to him if he tried,” I say.

He arches his eyebrow.

“I’d be the one doing the growling. No one decides who I speak to.”

“I heard about you,” he says after a long while. “Kataleya Prairie, the missing Lake Prairie pup.” He darts a rapid glance my way. “I was too young at the time, but my parents and some of my pack looked for you.”

“They did?” I blink.

He nods.

“But they didn’t know me.”

“You’re a shifter pup. That’s all they needed to know. How do you feel about being his mate?”

I shrug, looking away.

Everyone is telling me I’m his mate, and I do feel… something for him. Mostly rage, but there’s something else. “It’s okay, I guess.”

“But you’d prefer if you weren’t?”

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