ReidThe apartment still smelled like Marcella, but the smell was stale, lingering from the night before rather than because she was within. The sophisticated Indian agarwood, Turkish rose, and sandalwood perfume combined with the smell of smoke and alcohol. Reid stood on the threshold, his breath caught in his lungs, his eyes searching the furniture for something that he knew was not there.Dust caught in the sunlight whirled in the air disrupted by the door opening, was the only movement inside.Jasper placed his hand between Reid’s shoulder blades, the warmth of his palm a comforting reassurance that gave Reid the courage to step inside. Reid crossed to the bedroom, easing open the door and looking within at the messy tumble of bedding, the closet that she had taken such a delight in, and the mirror where Marcella had forever been fixing her face.He moved the items on the dresser restlessly, shifting the compacts, the lipsticks, and the brushes.“Is there…” Jasper cleared his thro
JasperGregory Renmark was okay looking, Jasper decided as he followed Reid into a discrete booth at the bar of the hotel bar. Nothing compared to Jasper’s mate though, he added with a warm glow as he watched Reid order for them from the waitress who had shown them to the table. Both men, however, shared pale faces and reddened, swollen eyes.After the waitress left, Reid and Gregory stared at each other across the table. The beta was dressed in a business suit, but the top button of his shirt was undone and his tie was askew. His hair was a mess as if he’d dug his hands through it many times whilst waiting for them to arrive.“She was a fucking bitch,” Gregory broke the silence, the words almost spat across the tabletop. “But she deserved better than that,” was delivered softer.Reid swallowed hard, a muscle in the corner of his jaw twitching, but he held the beta’s gaze until Gregory looked away, establishing Reid’s dominance. “Yeah, she could be a bitch,” he agreed steadily. “But t
Reid“Do you trust him?” Jasper asked as they watched Gregory leave.Reid considered the question. The beta had abandoned the Morrisons for the Comptons and betrayed their shipping schedule… There was a lot not to trust about him. “Normally, about as far as I could throw him,” he admitted slowly. “But with this? Yeah. I think he has nothing to gain and everything to lose. And…” He leaned slightly against his mate, feeling raw and exhausted. “I think he had a bit of a thing for Marcella and is upset in his way about what happened.”The words brought back the ache of grief and anger. He threw back the last of his whiskey. “I am going to kill them both,” he decided grimly. “Jay Turner and fucking Vincent.”“Okay,” Jasper said but covered Reid’s hand with his own. “But you heard what Gregory said. They’ve been planning this for possibly years and have been recruiting from both packs during that time. They’re not alone Reid, and you and I…” He grimaced slightly. “We are. So, we need to be
JasperReid lowered the phone to the mattress, his hand resting over it. His chin sank to his chest, and his body shook as he wept. Jasper could offer little comfort other than to keep holding onto his mate. It had been hard to face his father that morning, but for Reid to have lost his best friend and had to come out to his family and pack at the same time… Jasper was amazed by Reid’s strength of will, to keep going despite the terrible weight of grief that he was carrying.The plan to take out Jay Turner did concern him, he admitted to himself. In the past couple of weeks since he’d come of age, his life had changed so dramatically from studying art to understanding that illegal activities were the backbone of the pack, and now, to be personally involved in what would be, he knew, a murder. He felt under-prepared and ill-equipped for the situation and feared that his inexperience would endanger his mate.He only hoped that his father would come through for him and Reid.He was young
ReidThey took a taxi from the hotel. Jasper paid the taxi driver at the drop off whilst Reid swept his eyes along the street. It had been raining consistently through the afternoon, and the water puddled in drains clogged with filth, flooding out onto the road so that passing cars sprayed it up in vile showers. The street was a fucking eyesore of boarded up windows, graffiti and filth. Most of the streetlights were broken, creating shadows in which lower level dealers, prostitutes, and their clientele did business.As Jasper stepped back to join him, moving out of the way of the water that the taxi’s wheels kicked up onto the pavement, he followed Reid’s gaze. “Dad deliberately has encouraged this are into decay,” he said in a low voice. “It drives property values down, makes them cheaper to buy.”“And created the perfect place to hide a rogue pack,” Reid replied. “People come and go, and no one asks questions around here, or looks too closely at one another.”“Yeah. The buildings ar
JasperThe dingy, disheveled little bedroom was empty, however, another door opened into an ensuite through which came the sound of running water, and whiffs of steam drifted out indicating that Jay had been in there for a while, possibly since they had seen him in the window.Reid crossed to the rumpled bed and searched through the clothing tossed carelessly there, shoving the guns and knives that he found there into the bag that he wore. He passed the bag to Jasper.Jasper looked from the bag to Reid. “Just shoot him, Reid,” he whispered as he realized that Reid intended to fight Jay hand-to-hand.Reid shook his head. “He’s naked, unarmed, taken by surprise. That wouldn’t be…” He shrugged.“Fair,” Jasper filled in for his mate, his stomach uneasy. “But dangerous, Reid,” he protested.The water in the shower turned off interrupting Reid’s reply and they both turned towards the door. Through the opening, Jasper caught a glimpse of Jay as the other werewolf dried off, wrapping a towel
ReidReid barely looked up from Jasper as the medics carried him out to the street where the ambulance waited. He was aware of the house being filled with armed men from both packs searching through the possessions within the rooms, and, when they stepped out into the street, that the street was roped off, those civilian onlookers curious enough to brave being on the street in this neighbourhood pressing up against the ropes.He saw that the buildings to either side had also been invaded by the pack but had no chance to ask as Jasper was loaded onto the ambulance. Jasper took the spare chair and held onto Jasper’s hand as the ambulance sped off towards the hospital, sirens blaring and lights flashing.Jasper’s eyes fluttered, his mate surfacing from his faint.“It’s alright, Jasper,” Reid leaned forward so Jasper could see his face around the oxygen mask the medics had placed on him. “I’m here.”At the hospital, however, they were separated, with Jasper wheeled off towards the operati
Jasper Jasper surfaced slowly. He could hear unfamiliar sounds, muffled voices in the distance, many different beeps and squeals, and the rattle of trolleys. Reid was snoring somewhere nearby, and that was reassurance that wherever Jasper was, he was with his mate. Hospital, he thought as he fought to open his eyes. He was in hospital. He could vaguely remember moments of consciousness, where nurses and doctors had spoken to him. He remembered Reid crying and holding his hand, and his mother, father, and Charlotte… He managed to open his eyes. Yes, hospital, he agreed with himself. He turned his head and smiled as he saw that Reid slept on an armchair recliner next to him. A figure moved near the door and Jasper tensed as he looked over. A guard stood with his back to the room, adding sugar to a takeaway coffee cup. A werewolf, Jasper realized. He did not know if the man was Compton or Morrison, but his presence recalled to him talking to his father on the phone. His pack had come to