The patio lights flick on.
Jasper and I snap apart, pushing away from each other, and twisting our heads to the house to see who has interrupted our almost kiss.
I tread water and can't believe what was just about to happen.
Jasper and I were going to kiss. My first kiss ever and my first kiss with my mate. Until someone turned on the lights.
I don't notice Jasper getting out of the pool until I turn and find him already out and heading for the shed.
A dark shape moves inside the house drawing my attention. A couple of men in suits are standing in the living room. They both have shaved heads and earpieces.
"Get out," Jasper says.
"What's going on?"
"My Dad is home."
"What? Your dad...the alpha?!"
I hurry for the shallow end and manage to claw my dripping body out of the pool. Jasper tosses me a fresh beach towel. My clothes are soaked through and I'm not sure whether to take them off before drying myself, so for a second I just stand there.
"What are you doing?" Jasper asks, looking at me like I haven't noticed I'm on fire.
"Sorry."
I pull the towel over my shoulders and start rubbing my hair.
"He's out here, sir." I nearly jump out of my skin at the deep, gruff voice. One of Alpha Jericho's men is leaning out the back door.
"Your father needs to see you," he says to Jasper before disappearing back inside.
Jasper stares at the doorway. He pulls his shoulders back and lifts his head. He's bracing for impact.
Once inside, Jasper and I stand shivering with our towels pulled around our shoulders. Water drips onto the floor while we wait.
Two of Jericho's security team––because I guess that's who they are––are watching us, me in particular, with unreadable expressions.
There's a small shift in their posture as a shadow appears in the hallway, and a moment later, the immense form of Alpha Jericho emerges.
Every muscle in my body becomes tense and I clamp down on my jaw to try and stop my teeth from chattering.
The alpha approaches, his stature dwarfing everyone in the room.
He is dressed for business in a sky-blue button-up that could explode off his muscular chest at any second. His jaw is a perfect square and his eyes are startlingly golden. Only his salt and pepper hair gives away his age.
Energy is pulsing off of him as he walks toward me and a lump forms in my throat so large I'm worried I might choke.
"Where were you last night?" Jericho asks Jasper. My legs wobble at the sound of his voice. If he speaks to me I might pass out completely.
"We...I…" Jasper falters, head bowed. "Rogues took Aisha."
Jericho's brow creases with thought. He looks angry when he's thinking.
His eyes dart to me.
"Who is this?" he asks.
My mouth feels as dry as the Arizona desert.
"He's a friend of Aisha's," Jasper says as if he barely knows me.
Jericho's eyes don't leave mine. He squints and his nostrils flare. Is he scenting me? Trying to figure out if I'm a member of his pack? Or is it something else? What else can he figure out about me from my scent?
"Go wait upstairs," he commands.
My legs are moving before I can open my mouth. "Yes, sir."
The security beefcakes watch me as I head to the stairs, but Jericho keeps his gaze on his son.
Once I'm out of sight I stop and listen.
"What were you thinking running into rogue territory like that?"
Jericho growls. "Not to mention taking civilians with you!"
"I'm sorry, sir," Jasper says.
"I thought I'd taught you better than that."
There's a pause and I can't hear anything for a moment. Then Jericho continues.
"You have no business putting people in danger."
"She's my friend I had to…" "Had to what?" Jericho's voice echoes through the house. "You had to be the big man, didn't you?"
"I'm not a kid anymore, Dad."
Jericho scoffs. Man, this guy is tough on Jasper. I feel bad for him.
But the way his dad talks is not unfamiliar. I guess this is where Jasper gets it.
"Not a kid, hey? Then can you explain what you were doing joking around in the pool late at night?"
"He slipped...I…" "I don't want to hear it, Jasper. It's time you start acting like the leader of this pack."
Jasper doesn't respond.
"And until then if you have a problem with rogues you call me––" "But you weren't here!"
Smack! The hard, flat sound of a slap throws the room into silence.
I press my head back against the wall. Did Jericho just hit Jasper?
"Hey." One of the beefcakes has appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Shouldn't you be getting cleaned up?"
"Uh, yes. I was just looking for a bathroom," I say, spinning around like I'm completely lost.
"It's that way." He gestures in the direction of the bathroom.
"Right, thanks."
I start to make my way there when he speaks again. "No more snooping, alright kid?"
I shake my head like I've got no clue what he's talking about and laugh awkwardly. He isn't buying my performance, but I keep it up until the bathroom door clicks shut behind me.
Before me sits a claw-foot tub and a marble counter. Everything in this bathroom is shiny and hard. Just like everything in this house.
I go to sit on the edge of the tub and pull the towel tighter around myself. Suddenly, I feel crazy tired. It must be past midnight and it's been a mammoth couple of days.
My clothes are still wet and I'm starting to get really cold but I don't know where else I'm supposed to go. I don't want to run into Jericho or one of his goons. And I don't want Jasper to think I'm snooping around in his room. So I sit in the bathroom until I hear a knock on the door. I open it slightly, just enough for Jasper to shove a fistful of clothes through the gap.
"Get dressed," he says. "I'm taking you home."
"Oh, okay." I shut the door and get undressed. Jasper has given me a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt that's at least three sizes too big. They don't look like his regular apparel. Maybe he wears them on laundry day?
I look for any sign of Jasper when I step out into the hall but find no one. The door to his room is ajar, so I head inside.
Jasper is facing a set of drawers across the room with his shirt off.
He has one arm over his head and is inspecting his ribcage. He touches it lightly and flinches.
"Are you okay?" I say.
Jasper drops his arm but doesn't turn to look at me or respond. He pulls a shirt from one of the drawers and slips it on, moving awkwardly to accommodate for his sore ribs.
Did a rogue give him that injury or...did Jericho do more than slap him?
To my left, Aisha is asleep in the bed. I don't care what Jericho says.
Jasper did the right thing going after his friend. It's exactly what I would have done. I'm kind of proud of him for it.
If Jericho can't see that then he's an idiot.
"Are you ready?" Jasper asks, dressed and turning to face me.
"Yeah, I just need my phone and I'm not sure what to do with these." I hold up the ball of my sopping wet clothes.
"Here." Jasper hands me a backpack without thinking about it, like it's a trash bag.
"Are you sure?"
"Really." He lowers his gaze. "It's nothing."
I shove my clothes in the bag and grab my cell from where I'd left it plugged into the wall.
"Good to go. Are you sure you want to drive? It's pretty late."
Jasper is waiting by the door. "My father wants me to take you home."
"Yeah, but it could be dangerous."
"He's the alpha," Jasper says, whirling to face me. "He's your alpha.
What he wants he gets."
I don't move. Jasper is being ridiculous. He nearly killed us both already by driving tired. He shouldn't have to drive me home just because his dad says so.
"Max," he mutters, and I notice his hand is shaking.
If we don't leave now I won't be the one who's in trouble. As much as I hate seeing Jasper like this, there's nothing else I can do except go with him.
"Coming."
I follow Jasper back out to his car.
In the garage, I wait for Jasper to unlock the doors before throwing my bag of clothes onto the back seat.
I step one foot into the car but freeze when I notice a car on the other side of the room that wasn't here earlier. It's a black town car, almost identical to the one I saw outside the rogue hideout. No, it is identical.
But why would the same car be here? Unless...
Alpha Jericho just arrived home.
Was he in this car? Does that mean he was there in Rogue City when we rescued Aisha?
None of this is making any sense.
It's late, I'm tired and maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me. I shake my head as my vision goes fuzzy.
"What are you waiting for?" Jasper asks from the driver's seat.
"Nothing," I say. I must be hallucinating or putting dots together that aren't there. Because the idea that Alpha Jericho was somehow involved in Aisha's kidnapping is too wild to be true. It's insane.
"Nothing," I say and slide into the passenger side.
The entire ride home I keep picturing that car. The more I think about it the more convinced I am that it was the same. But I can't think of any reason why the alpha would have been in Rogue City. At least none that are good.
Jasper doesn't speak to me for the entire ride and I can tell that's how he wants it. I also know he's in no mood for me to start asking questions. If I were to suggest his father had something to do with Aisha's abduction, he's more likely to bite my head off right now than listen. So I keep quiet.
My street is silent and empty as we pull up outside my house. Jasper puts the handbrake on but doesn't turn the engine off.
In films, this is where the cute teen couple would have an awkward but sweet first kiss. My date won't even look at me.
"Well, I…" This is it. The end of the line. I have to get out of the car and go inside and that means leaving Jasper.
I have no idea if he even wants to see me again and this feels so rushed. After everything we've been through in the last few days, leaving now feels too abrupt, too final.
There has to be more.
But I don't know what to say.
"Jasper––" He reaches across me and opens my door. My breath hitches at the brief moment of closeness, but when Jasper sits back in his seat, all that's left is the cool night air telling me it's time to exit the vehicle.
I thought we were making progress. We nearly kissed, didn't we?!
Whoever that boy was, the one I spoke to by the pool, he's not here in the car.
In the course of one conversation with his father Jasper's changed, reverted to the emotional husk I met at camp.
I grab my bag from the back seat and step one foot out of the car.
"See you round," I say, looking back one last time.
"Goodbye, Max."
Jasper won't look at me, his eyes stay trained on the steering wheel.
I stare at the side of his head, wishing my eyes were emotional laser beams so that I could transmit everything I'm feeling straight into his brain.
Just look at me, you dumb jerk! Just one time. Look at me!
He doesn't budge.
My face tightens. There's no point even trying. I step out onto the road and slam my door shut. The engine revs and Jasper zooms away before I've even mounted the curb.
I watch Jasper's red tail lights until they turn a corner and are gone.
Maybe forever.