Page 30 of Escaping Monsters

“All right. That’s your plan.” Jasper’s gaze seared straight through me. “Do you want to hear mine?”

The way that Jasper was looking at me made butterflies take wing in my belly, and I wasn’t at all sure that I should hear his plan. But I nodded. “Sure.”

“I’m going to kill Kane,” Jasper said it like it was the simplest thing in the world.

I coughed, almost choking on the bite of food I was eating. “You’re going to kill the Head Alpha of North America?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Just like that?”

“Yes.”

“And… then you’re going to take over?”

He shook his head slowly as if this should have been obvious. “I’m needed in Grayhaven. Fire season is coming. I couldn’t give a fuck who takes over as head alpha, so long as Kane is dead.”

I groaned and rubbed my hands over my face. “Do you have any idea how many supernaturals have tried to kill Kane? When I said no one had challenged him, I meant legally. I once saw him kill another werewolf alpha in less than a minute. And, those are the supernaturals that get to him. Most don’t even get close.”

“I’ll get to Kane,” Jasper said with complete confidence.

“Uh-huh. How?”

“Because…” Jasper held up a piece of meat in front of my lips, “I’ve been tracking Kane’s movements for years. A friend of mine sends me a letter every time that Kane is on the move, and I have it on their authority that Kane is hunting you personally. I’m going to be there when he finds you. It will be easier if it’s here in Grayhaven with my pack, where we’re familiar with the land and have allies, but if we need to go with you to the Boreal wildlands, then we will.”

“I’m not going to lead you guys to your death. No. I appreciate that you want to help me—”

“This isn’t just about helping you, Teagan. I’ve been preparing to face Kane for decades. He needs to die, and this might be my pack’s only opportunity to kill him.”

I shook my head. “This is… if Kane is setting a trap for me. More than likely, we’ll all fall into it.”

“Then stay here,” Jasper said. “Where we can set a trap for him.”

“I can’t. My money will run out quickly here, and then I’ll be broke and unemployable in this town… I’d be stuck here, trapped and depending entirely on the generosity of others. I need to live in a place where I feel like I could leave without asking anyone’s permission.”

“Grayhaven could be that for you,” Jasper said with his blue eyes fixed on mine. He set his beer on the kitchen island. “Declan was talking out of his ass when he offered you a job, as you know, but I do have a job offer for you.”

I raised my right hand. “A one-handed job?”

Jasper stepped forward just close enough that his power crackled against my skin and his smell of fresh pine and wolf musk filled my senses. It had to be deliberate. I was pretty sure everything this alpha did was intentional. “This job won’t strain your injury, and you have the right skillset for it.”

Heat flushed up my whole body as the implications of his words hit me. Obviously, the Teagan show last night gave him the very wrong impression, and I was sure using the words that I wanted a “one-handed job” didn’t dispel him of that notion.

“Jasper, I don’t know what skillset you’re referring to, but you should disregard everything I said last night.”

“Last night?” He moved in closer, so close his proximity made my skin tingle with awareness. His hands slid down to grip my hips, and my breath caught as he pinned me. “What do you want me to disregard, Teagan?” Jasper scooped me up under my thighs and slid me onto the counter.

“I was talking nonsense.” Without even thinking about it, I parted my legs for Jasper, and he slid in between my thighs.

“Which part was nonsense, when you called me a dick… or when you said that you want to fuck me?”

At this moment, as Jasper stood flush against me, I definitely could not deny the second part. Every inch of my body ached for his touch.

“We don’t even know each other,” I said.

“You don’t have to know someone to think they’re a dick.” His hands gathered up my sweatshirt and pulled it up over my head. As he set the garment aside, his eyes came up to meet mine. “You definitely don’t have to know someone to want to fuck them.”

It was distinctly possible that my panties were truly melting off me. I was pretty sure that Jasper was a live wire of sexual heat, and I was far too close. His hips pressed into my thighs, and it felt electric. My core pulsed and every centimeter of my skin felt sensitive, waiting for his touch.

Jasper’s fingers closed around the button of my jeans, and he flicked it open and zipped down my fly. I gasped. “I wasn’t lying when I said that Kane will kill you.” The objection came out as little more than a whisper. “He’ll never let me go.”

“Kane doesn’t need to let you go, Teagan. You’ve already escaped him all on your own.” Jasper’s hands tugged at my jeans, and I lifted my butt so he could pull them down. His fingers closed around my hips, rasping over the lace of my panties, and he pulled me tight against him. Pleasure pulsed through me where his rough jeans touched my core, sheathed only in a layer of lace. My head clouded with lust as my folds slickened with heat.