A Taste for a Mate (7 page)

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Jasper and Willow walked the short distance to meet his family. Rather than worrying about all the questions still unanswered, she took in the scenery. Tall trees Jasper assured her were not redwoods surrounded them, and he told her the story of how his Pack had been was misnamed. Walking along the undergrowth over the worn paths, she felt as if she were in another world without city life. She snorted.

Yep, that pretty much covered it.

Though she’d been there less than a day, she’d already fallen head over feet in love with the den, and was well on her way to falling in love with the man beside her. If they gave her a chance, she’d feel right at home and never leave. A desire and need swept through her – the need to have a family, a home. She’d do anything she could to make this fairytale land hers.

Soon they reached another home with light beige paint and chocolate trim. Ivy crawled up the side, reminding her of an English cottage.

Willow took a deep breath to steady herself and she felt Jasper lightly squeeze her hand. She glanced up at him and froze.

His pupils were so large she could barely see the green rim. Though strength and honor shown through, she knew he’d do anything to protect her, even from his family. Something lurked in his gaze she couldn’t quite grasp. That thought and reassurance staggered her.

Did he truly want her?

But before she could fully comprehend his look, the front door opened, and a beautiful blonde woman stepped out to greet them. Shorter than Willow, but curvier. She had a pert nose and large blue eyes, along with an ivory complexion and a welcoming smile.

Willow relaxed slightly.

“You must be Willow. I am so happy to meet you, even under these circumstances.” Willow was immediately wrapped in a warm hug that wasn’t too tight on her still sore ribs.

“Willow, this is Melanie, my sister-in-law,” Jasper said.

“Let’s get you in the house. You must need to sit down and rest.” Melanie released Willow and took her hand to lead her inside. Willow gave Jasper an almost desperate glance over her shoulder, but he stared blankly before following them inside the home. Whatever look and feeling that passed between them before Melanie interrupted, was so far gone it was like it never happened.  The achy feeling in her chest was no longer just from the pain of a few broken ribs.

Damn it. Why did Mel have to walk out of the house right at that moment? What was Jasper thinking? What did that look mean? Her arms tingled and her heart sped. God, she was in high school again, falling for the cute quarterback. But this time, did the object of her affection return her feelings?

Walking inside the house, she noted it was on the verge of melding two personalities. She could tell it had  started out as a vastly masculine bachelor home. There were dark contrasts of deep greens and browns spread throughout the house, along with architectural drawings that looked to be hand-drawn.

 From what she remembered from the rumors around town surrounding the sexy Jamenson family, Kade, Melanie’s husband, was the part-owner of their family contracting and construction company. Kade served architect, while Jasper was the second owner and main contractor. It was well known he liked to go in and work with his hands and get dirty when it came to wood-working. The hand carved figurines and other decorations around Jasper’s home came to mind, and she almost gasped aloud at the immense talent he possessed.

Those hands could work wonders with wood. Wonder if they could work other places, too.

Shaking her head to return to the present, she took another step to fully enter the living room and immediately froze at the group of drool worthy model-like male flesh in the room.

The Jamenson brothers stood in front of her, and Willow didn’t know what alter their parents had prayed to, but they’d all been blessed in good looks and build. Most gave her small smiles that she returned but one sat in the corner with a glare on his scarred face. A shudder went through her before Jasper placed his hand on the small of her back. Warmth spread through her, and she calmed.

Jasper’s deep voice broke through the silence. “This is my mate, Willow. Willow, this is my family. You have already met Reed, Adam, and North.” He nodded his toward each of them, and they returned the gesture while giving fuller smiles to her.

She raised her hand at a sad attempt at a wave before letting it fall. Talk about awkward. What could she say to the men who’d seen her naked and chained to a stone wall before saving her life then had witnessed the best orgasm of her life? Hallmark didn’t make a card for that.

“You’ve just met Melanie, and this is her mate Kade, also my partner at the company,” Jasper continued.

She looked up at the brother named Kade and saw a man who looked closer to Jasper in looks than the others. His hair was slightly lighter than Jasper’s jet black, but darker than the rest of the brothers. They shared the same piercing green eyes and honey tan skin. He was also built and tall, but not as tall as Jasper. If anything she was sure Jasper was the biggest of the bunch. Good thing she liked big.

Kade came up to her with his hand extended and she placed her hand in his firm grip.

“Ionti alm very happy that Jasper finally has someone to share his life with. I’m just sorry it had to occur this way. Melanie and I were lucky enough to meet relatively unscathed.” He released her and put his arm around his mate’s shoulder in a sign of pure love and contentment.

Again, Jasper growled at his brother and Willow ached that he was stuck with her. Dammit, she really needed to get over herself and show him that she was worth it. Maybe tomorrow.

She smiled and nodded at him. Words stopped in her throat and she found herself unable to speak again. For supposedly being such a smart person, she wasn’t doing too hot at this moment.

Jasper squeezed the side of her hip and turned her to the scarred man the corner. “Maddox, this is my mate. Behave. Willow, this is Maddox. Pay no attention to him.”

Maddox stood to his full height, which was about five inches shorter than Jasper’s six foot six, and stuck his hands in his pockets as if he were afraid to touch her. He had dark blond hair, and other than the long scar that ran down the side of his right cheek from eye to chin, he looked familiar. She’d seen this face before. North.

“Twins.” Her voice only a whisper, but the wolves heard.

“Yep.” Maddox gave her a sad quirk of his lips. “But I am the pretty one.” He sat back down without another word and folded his arms across his chest. Sadness slid across his eyes.

Why would he be sad?

 “It’s nice to meet all of you.” Her voice finally returned but she was too overwhelmed meeting his family to say anything more.

“Don’t forget me.”

A sultry voice came from behind them, and Willow turned to see the most beautiful woman she’d ever laid eyes on. She was about five foot five and fit but skinny. She had a lighter version of Jasper’s green eyes and straight black hair, that was so black it was almost blue.

“Now that you’ve met the brothers, I guess it’s time to meet the sister.” Jasper’s sister glided across the room like a dancer and gave Willow a strong hug.

“It's good to have more women here. I can only take so much testosterone.”

“Cailin, I was getting to it. You weren’t here yet.” Jasper gave his sister an exasperated look and nodded toward her. “Willow, this brat is my annoying baby sister Cailin. Beware, she may look nice now, but she bites.” Jasper tossed them both a playful look before the room erupted with laughter.

“Dude, I would keep one eye open tonight. Cailin is likely to gut you for that remark.” Someone – it sounded like Reed –warned Jasper.

 “Let’s take a seat, and ignore Reed.” Jasper’s face sobered before he continued. ore he t>

Willow just nodded and urged Jasper to continue. This was one of the moments she’d been waiting for.

She was in a new place, filled with new people. Now, she has a new family, but knew nothing about them. The glimpse of a nice little life that could come her way if she stayed with Jasper would be nice. But she was still terrified.

She was Jasper’s mate. Right? But he didn’t really want her. There were a million things to both dread and look forward to, but first she needed some answers. And at this moment, he was offering some. She had dozens of questions, but no idea where to start or stop. She needed to shut up and listen. Her mind spun and she blinked at Jasper’s concerned face.

“Okay, werewolves can be born and made. Most wolves are born. Turning someone is beyond painful. It takes a bite and almost true death for it to occur. And even then, sometimes the change doesn’t take, and they die anyway. Hence the reason we don’t do it often.”

She didn’t know if she wanted to be a werewolf just yet, but a little pain wasn’t going to keep her from him. Okay, he said a lot of pain. But that still couldn’t stop her if she set her mind to it.

Jasper held her hand and goose bumps spread over her arms. Her body flared with a subtle arousal and she blushed. This overwhelming need for him shouldn’t be happening so soon. But ever since that bite, she couldn’t stop wanting him. Thinking about their future. Crazy, but real.

“Our wolves live within. They’re another being we try to work cohesively with. However, at a young age, we must learn to take control over them. They’re more primitive and in more tune with nature than our human selves. Unlike what the media portrays, we don’t need the moon to shift, but during the full moon, our wolves are more of a presence, and we do feel the call toward it. At that time, our Pack likes to go for hunts as a group. The full moon pulls us together as a Pack and allows our wolves in control, if only for a short while.”

“So all of you turn into wolves?” She asked.

Jasper smiled and a lock of hair fell into his eyes. Oh how she wanted to brush it out of his face. But she didn’t want to come on too strong.

“Yes, all of us do.”

“Can your wolves talk?”

“They talk to us in our heads.” He grinned and she wanted to kiss him. “It’s like having another person inside your head sometimes and gets annoying, but you get used to it.”

“That’s really weird. Do you talk out loud?”

He laughed, his brothers joining in. “Sometimes. But mostly we just respond in our heads.”

“So your wolf is its own being.”

“Yes, and much older than us. Like an old soul.”

“Really?” How awesome was that?

 “Really.” He smiled and brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. Warmth tingled throughout her body and she struggled not to jump on his lap.

Where was this coming from?

“As for the positions in the Pack,” Jasper continued. “It can be a little more complicated. What I am about to tell you goes no farther than this room. Not all in the Pack know every part of every position, and not all Packs have our, for lack of a better word, magic. But since you’re my mate, you have the right to know all of this.”

There was that word again.
Mate
.

“First there is the Alpha, the leader.” Jasper continued. “Our father. The Alpha can feel every single one of his Pack’s souls. Some bonds are stronger than others, like those with his family, but no matter what the relationship, he can feel them, and the Pack is comforted by that. Also as the Alpha, he leads the Pack and makes the decisions. We’re not a democracy, and there’s no council of elders who decides things. Our elders are our knowledge holders, not our masters. If the Alpha is corrupt, then someone can challenge for his seat, but it would take a strong wolf to take down our father. As it is, I am not sure anyone other than one of his sons could do it, and I don’t think we would.

“The Alpha’s sons hold most of the other positions. Only three are by birth, however. The others are gifts sent by the magic of the wolf that blesses them with their gifts.” Maddox snorted at this statement, but Jasper ignored him. “Our generation, however, is the first to be missing one of the positions gifted to us, but that just means we haven’t found that person yet.

“Back to the positions. The Alpha’s first son is also an Alpha wolf in terms of his strength. He is called the Heir, and in our case that title falls to Kade. He too can feel the Pack, but not to the degree that our father can. As he ages and gets closer to taking over the Pack as true Alpha, the strength of the bond and his responsibilities with increase. Our father can either die to give Kade the new position or step down in the future when he reaches a certain age, but as Dad is only around two-hundred and fifty and Kade is only a hundred-and-five, he still has time.”

Willow’s jaw dropped, and Jasper smiled.

He looked damned sexy for his age.

But what if she didn’t change? So she’d grow old and die while Jasper stayed young? A shiver crept through her. She couldn’t live with that.

Jasper chuckled. “I guess I forgot to tell you. As werewolves, we age very slowly. We are not immortal, but we are harder to kill. I think the oldesre t wolf we have at the moment is about one thousand, but she is very secretive about her age. This is one of the reasons mates choose the change to werewolves. It would be a sad existence to watch your love grow old and frail and not be able to do anything about it.”