"What do you mean missing?"
My head is spinning so fast I'm worried it's about to fly off.
Aisha can't be missing missing...can she? If Jasper has shown up here, looking like this then something has to be crazy wrong. But people don't just go missing, at least, I didn't think they did.
"Where could she be?" I ask when Jasper doesn't say anything. He stares at the empty hall behind me.
"Is there somewhere more...private we can talk?"
"Sure," I say, stepping outside and shutting the door behind me. I get the vibe that Jasper wanting privacy is more about how uncomfortable he seems. His hands are shoved in his pockets and his shoulders are up around his ears.
"We can talk on the driveway." I walk past him, setting off the motion sensor. The lights flick on, illuminating the drive. "Is that yours?"
I'm staring wide-eyed at a black Jaguar sports car. It's so low to the ground. How does it go over speed bumps?
"Yeah," Jasper says, leaning against the side of his car.
"So what happened?" I ask.
"I haven't heard from Aisha in three days. We were supposed to meet last night and she never showed up."
Jasper is shaking, like he's freezing even though it's super warm out.
"Okay, maybe she lost her phone. Have you tried her place?"
He shuffles his feet and sniffs, grinding his teeth.
"Jasper, what is it?"
"I don't know where she lives."
What? I thought Jasper and Aisha were best friends. I'd assumed he was over at her apartment all the time. Hell, I assumed he had a spare key. I don't understand why he doesn't even know what street it's on.
"We fought once when she moved in, and I told her I couldn't go there."
"I don't understand."
"I...I didn't approve of her situation at the time."
I've never heard Jasper mumble so much, I can barely hear him.
"What situation? Why wouldn't you want to go there?"
"Because she lives with a human."
"Oh."
I don't mean to but I take a small step backward. My parents have drummed it into me since I was tiny that there's nothing wrong with humans and nothing wrong with interspecies mating.
I don't know why I'm surprised. Jasper comes from one of the oldest families in the pack. His father is the alpha. He is literally the institution. They represent tradition and the status quo. Old fashioned values. I guess I just thought Jasper wouldn't be like that.
I'm starting to see why he may have reacted the way he did when he found out he was mated to me. If he isn't okay with his best friend dating a human, I can only imagine how he feels about people like me...him...us.
"I'm not proud," he continues.
"You don't have to explain," I say, putting up my hands.
"Everyone's friendships are different."
"I know I was out of line," he says, growling a little as he forces the words out. "I was a dick to her back then and I wish I could take it back."
"Why didn't you?"
Jasper looks at me between the strands of hair that have fallen over his eye.
"I wish…" His bottom lip trembles slightly and I feel terrible. His best friend is missing and I'm giving him a hard time because he once believed something––although awful––that lots of wolves do. "I wish things were different," Jasper says.
"Look, I'm sorry," I say, stepping forward again. "None of that matters now. If Aisha is missing we need to find her. It's just if you don't know where she lives, how do you know she isn't there having a technology detox or something?"
The idea of giving up my phone or my computer for more than fifteen minutes makes my skin crawl, but I know some people like to deny themselves in the name of self-care.
"She isn't," Jasper scowls.
"But she could be there right now and you wouldn't––" "She's missing! I can feel it!"
I back up again, scared that the bulging vein in Jasper's forehead is about to explode.
"Whoa, whoa," I say. "Okay, sorry."
He shakes his head to calm himself down.
"Aisha and I may have our differences but she's the closest friend I have and I can sense when something isn't right with her. And right now I know things are very bad."
"Okay," I say again, edging forward. "I want to help, if I can. But why...why did you come to me?"
Jasper looks up once again and his eyes are darker than normal.
"You were the last person to see her."
"What?"
"You were in the city. You hung out. She...she told me she gave you my number."
"Oh." I rub the back of my neck remembering the text Katie sent Jasper just a couple of hours ago. "Yeah she did...I...wasn't sure if you'd want me to...I didn't use it…" "Did she take you to her apartment?" he asks, ignoring my completely dorky-dork-ness.
"She did," I say, suddenly realizing how I can help.
"Tell me where she lives?" He's already fishing in his back pocket for his car keys.
"I…" I can see the street in my mind, picture the steps leading up to her door. But I can't recall any details. No street name, no building number, no apartment number. "...I don't remember."
"You don't…" Jasper starts taking these angry little breaths.
"I don't remember the name of the street, but I remember where it is! I remember which door it is and everything. If you take me with you I can show you."
The cogs are turning in Jasper's head. Judging by his expression he reeeeeaaally doesn't want to have me tagging along. But he doesn't have a choice. If he wants to check Aisha's apartment then I'm his best option.
And as much as he hates it, he knows it too.
"Fine," he sighs. "We have to go now."
"Let me just tell my parents!"
I'm already running back to the house, my heart thumping in my chest.
I hope Aisha is just sitting at home, with her phone switched off in a bag of rice. And I hope Jasper isn't so pissed at having me in his car that he drives us off the road.
But if Jasper is right and something is really wrong I need to help.
Aisha has been so amazing to me. Jasper might not want me to come with him but he can stick it.
It takes a bit of explaining and a bit of convincing to get my parents on board. They keep asking to speak with Jasper who, I'm assuming, is waiting in his car unwilling to step inside my family home. When I eventually manage to press on them the urgency of the situation they let me go.
I hug Katie and she kisses my cheek before I run back out to the car.
I open the passenger side door and step inside.
With a roar like a tiger, Jasper reverses out of my driveway and we speed through suburbia.
Jasper is driving so fast I think we might qualify for the Grand Prix.
But his turns are smooth and the engine noise has sunk back down to a low purr.
The car's interior feels like sitting in a spaceship. A thin strip of blue light runs around the inside giving futuristic vibes and the dashboard looks like the control panel of Nick Fury's Helicarrier.
Jasper changes gears seamlessly and his hand drifts dangerously close to my knee. I hold my breath. Should I move away? I don't want to be too obvious about it.
Jasper changes gears again and his gaze darts, briefly, in my direction. I snap my eyes back onto the road and keep them there for the rest of the journey.
Finally, we cruise slowly down Aisha's street. I point and yelp when her steps come into view.
"That one there!" I say and Jasper pulls into an empty park.
At the door we come face to face with a lit-up panel of resident's names and their corresponding buzzers.
"Crap," I say, "I don't know which one it is."
Jasper glares at me quietly, telling me with his eyes to be more useful.
"I'll just try them all until someone lets us in."
I have to speak to a grumpy old man, a stressed-out single mother, and someone who I definitely woke up, before we hear the sweet sound of the door buzzing and the lock clicking open.
We push through and I barely take three steps before Jasper puts his hand out to stop me.
"What...is there…?"
He lifts his nose into the air, a stern look of concentration furrowing his brow.
"Quickly," he says, and starts leaping up the stairs two at a time.
"What is it? What did you smell?"
I'm not as out of breath as I expect to be when we reach the fifth floor.
"Jasper, what's up? What did you…?"
"Shh," he says, bringing a finger to his lips. "Wolves have been here. At least three."
I try to catch a whiff of their scent but there's nothing but a musty hallway and a masala curry cooking two floors down.
"I can't…" "Is it this way?" Jasper says walking in the direction of Aisha's apartment.
"Uh, yeah."
I follow Jasper, who heads right to Aisha's door. I suck in a sharp breath when I see it's been kicked in. The lock is torn right out of the frame.
"Aisha!"
Jasper charges into the room, claws at the ready, and fangs bared.
I stand in the hall wondering what I should do.
Beyond the door, the room looks dark and uninviting. A stark contrast to the last time I was here.
Even though I'm freaking out of my skin, I know I can't let Jasper go in there alone. So I brace myself and head inside.
My eyes take a second to adjust to the darkness. Red light from a neon sign shines through the window, casting a creepy-AF glow across the floor.
It's quiet.
Jasper is standing on the rug, blacked out by shadow. He's still but I can tell he's trying to use his scenting ability to figure out what's happened here.
Whatever it was, it's over. The place is empty. And it's a mess.
Cushions are ripped open and strewn across the floor. The curtain rail is broken, there is shattered glass on the rug. Aisha's coffee table has been upended and is lying like a turtle on its shell, unable to right itself.
I wrap my arms around my chest.
"What happened?"
Even though I know it's a futile question I can't help asking.
"She fought," Jasper says, unblinkingly.
He crosses the room to the kitchen counter and bends down to inspect it.
"Blood," he says.
"Is it…" I can't bring myself to finish the question. Is it hers?
"Someone came in here and attacked her," Jasper says, casting his glance across the room once more, trying to piece together the story. "And they took her."
"But why––?"
A low moan interrupts and my muscles seize up in terror.
There is someone else in here.
"Don't move," Jasper says, his eyes landing on a set of gym lockers.
Aisha told me she'd found them on the street and brought them home to use as a cupboard. He moves swiftly, pushing an already upturned chair out of his way, and crossing the room.
Without hesitation, he readies his claws and tears the locker door off its hinges. The door flies across the room, clattering on the concrete. And I hear a man scream.
"Stop!" I yell as Jasper pulls back his hand preparing to strike. "It's Troy!"
Aisha's boyfriend is squished into one side of the lockers, his face contorted in terror.
"What did you do to her?!" Jasper growls.
Troy shakes his head. His whole body is quivering. I get that Jasper is upset but I also know there's no way the awesome, friendly guy I met here would have done anything to hurt Aisha.
"He's bleeding," I say, noticing the red patch on Troy's shirt and rushing to him. I take his hand and help him out of the locker.
He looks relieved to see me.
Jasper, still eyeing the human suspiciously, grabs a chair and turns it right side up. Troy is full-on quivering as we help him lower himself onto the seat.
"What happened?" Jasper demands. Troy looks up at him as if he's replaying it in his mind. The look of horror in his eyes is unmistakable.
"They...they...took her…" "WHO?!" Jasper roars.
"We need to get him to a hospital," I say, interrupting the interrogation but keenly aware that Troy is beat up really badly.
"Not until we know what happened," Jasper shoots back.
"It's fine," Troy stammers, placing a hand over the bloody patch on his stomach, and grunting. "You have to save her."
"Tell me what happened," Jasper says, leaning closer.
"There were three of them, big crazy-looking guys," Troy says.
"They busted in here and turned into wolves. One of 'em got to me, slashed me with his claws but Aisha, she was mad. She told me to hide, shoved me in the locker and she changed too. She fought them, all of them. But they were too strong."
Troy's words become more and more mumbled, choked by the sobs racking his body.
"They got her. Once they had her they didn't care nothing about me.
So they just left but I...I couldn't stop them. I couldn't save her. All I did was hide..."
He breaks down completely and I look at Jasper, pleading with my eyes. He gives me a subtle nod, so I pull out my phone and dial 9-1-1.
"The ambulance is on the way," I say, as the call ends.
Troy has calmed down a little but he's shivering like it's below freezing.
Jasper kneels in front of him.
"Troy, I need you to tell me everything you saw. I need to know who these wolves are." "It was all a blur, man. They took out the lights."
Jasper huffs in frustration. He stands and paces about the room.
"There must be something," he says, running a tense hand through his hair.
I grab a blanket that's draped over the back of the sofa and wrap it around Troy's shoulders. I kneel beside him. "I couldn't save her," he says to me. "I couldn't do anything. I just hid."
"It's not your fault, there's nothing you could have done," I tell him.
"Those wolves would have killed you if you tried to fight them." Troy shakes his head. I wish he could believe me but I understand how he's feeling.
I glance behind me but Jasper is still pacing, trying to think of his next move.
Looking back to Troy, I try one more time. I ask him as calmly as I can, "are you sure you don't remember anything? Anything at all about these guys?"
"I'm sorry, man. I'm really sorry."
"It's ok," I say, sighing, and lay a comforting hand on Troy's shoulder. His head jerks up, his eyes wide like saucers.
"Wait," he says, snagging Jasper's attention. "One of them had a tattoo on his shoulder. I caught a glimpse of it just before he changed."
"What did it look like?" Jasper asks, storming back over.
"It was like a wolf head with a bolt of lightning running through it."
Jasper takes a step backward, his nostrils flared and his fists clenched.
"Does it mean something?" Troy asks, desperately.
I shake my head but look to Jasper.
Whatever the tattoo means it's completely oblivious to me. But from the look on Jasper's face, it's obvious to him.
I stand up and step to Jasper.
"What does it mean?" I ask.
"It means I know who took her."
"What? Who?"
"Rogues…"