POV: Gasper
When Gasper was confident Sookie would stay asleep for a while, he threw a sweatshirt on that would cover his mark and snuck out to go to his office to see what hell was waiting for him. Over a week of being distracted by his mate was sure to leave the pack confused as to how to set tables or what inventory was needed for the kitchen. It would be too hard for them to make such decisions without him.
No matter how hard he tried, he struggled to focus on anything. Sookie's brain was loud in his mind. Even while sleeping, he didn't think she was truly asleep. Azreal was very quiet for a change, which he appreciated. His wolf had been a nervous wreck all week. Gasper could put up a block on Sookie, but he wasn't ready to do that. Someone was still out there that he didn't know. He wanted to be the first to know if something happened to her.
His father walked into the office, and Gasper looked up, one eyebrow raised at him.
"It's late." His father kept shifting his weight from one foot to another.
"Since you seem to have so much energy, would you like to decide if we use silver or gold utensils for the quarterly party? Or what should the color scheme be?"
Annoyed, Gasper threw the papers for that on his side table. Still, his father said nothing.
"Dad, what do you want?"
"I think I owe you an explanation for how Randolph acted."
"I'm not sure I would say you owe it to me, but it would be nice. Cause, I mean, how does he know Katherine?" Gasper demanded. "Why did she respond to him like that?"
Wolves sometimes knew each other even when their humans didn't, from a past life. It wasn't usually something they would reveal, and definitely not that directly, other than identifying a mate.
"You're not going to like the answer," his father said. "But you have to remember our worlds are separate. Pups are assigned wolves that must be around each other to achieve the Moon Goddess's goals."
"Can you just come out with it?" Gasper was too exhausted for the long explanations his father was famous for.
"Katherine is Randolph's daughter."
Gasper's brain could not compute that, and it made him feel like he would be sick.
"So I am mated to my sister?"
"No. Azreal is not my wolf's son. Your siblings are his pups, but you are not. I was given my wolf to protect Katherine should you find her. Azreal was given to you so I could keep you both close and safe."
"Why not give Katherine to Dolly or something? Or give Randolph to Sookie's father?"
"I think it's because of you. You are meant to be with Azreal and Katherine with Sookie. According to Randolph, her father is not a wolf, which is why I got him. I would assume it was best to keep him close by."
"And the Goddess knew all this would happen then?"
That was a stupid question. The Moon Goddess knew everything.
"She probably suspected, yes. Every time we come to Earth, we live different lives, but our intentions don't change."
This idea always exhausted Gasper. Why live multiple lives if you couldn't change from one life to the next?
"Something is going to happen, isn't it? Something bad?"
"I think so. Sookie is special, but Randolph won't tell me exactly why. He says I can't be trusted yet. But every time she is sent to this realm, she is killed in some horrible way. Tortured, bred, raped, abandoned. It never ends well. And Katherine and Sookie have been together a very long time. I suspect you are new to Azreal or haven't always been with him. I can't convince Randolph of that."
"Azreal and Randolph hate me. That all makes sense now."
"They're scared. They think you are someone I can't imagine you are." His father looked sad as he spoke, and Gasper knew they thought he was an awful person, but what exactly had he done?
"What do you mean?"
"Everything bad that happened to Katherine was from Sookie's mate. He sold her, beat her, bred her until she died."
Gasper cringed hearing it. What type of mate could do that?
"Why?"
"He was a dark soul. But I don't think you are that soul. You would never do those things. Not to a woman and certainly not to your mate."
Gasper wasn't convinced his father believed that. He did not respect the sanctity of life. Killing others was easy for him. So maybe he was capable of such things? If he was, he planned to fight against it. Whatever ailed him then, he would not let it affect him now.
"We need to know what makes her special if we are going to protect her. Otherwise, I don't know what I am protecting her from. I don't know how to even protect myself without understanding this more," Gasper said, changing the direction of the conversation.
"Randolph won't say. He needs to make sure you don't turn dark around her first."
Turn dark? What exactly did that mean?
"Azreal won't tell me anything either."
"So I think we have to wait and see."
His father seemed perfectly fine with that. Gasper was not a patient wolf.
"So that's it? We wait around till someone or something shows up on our doorstep and not only takes my mate but potentially destroys everything we worked so hard to build?"
The idea enraged him. He was not one to wait around for anything. Attacking first and asking questions later was more his style.
"It is because of what we have built that we are in the position to succeed. Who better than us to protect someone so important to the Goddess than the strongest alphas around matched with her mate and her father? Throw in your beta as her personal guard, and I say we have the dream team."
"Might need a better gamma to round out the dream team," Gasper said with a sad smile. His gamma, or lead warrior, Yuri, had questionable loyalty.
"Well, we are still working that out. We have a lot of other good warriors and guards around to promote if we need to let him go."
And by letting him go, his father meant executing him. If Yuri was a traitor in some way, it was unforgivable and an automatic death sentence.
"Just assure me that there is no genetic connection that will hurt any of our potential pups. That I'm not bedding my sister."
Gasper shook his head a few times.
"I can assure you of that. Our genetics are completely separate from theirs. Should you have pups, they are not a product of incest. You and Sookie have no genetic connection. It's not the DNA of our wolves that is passed on. It's their spirits. The bonds of love for wolves and their pups have nothing to do with blood like ours do. It's why I have tried to instill that in the pack. All the pups here belong to all of us because their souls belong to Dark Moon. Defending them is not just on the parents. It's on all of us."
"Makes sense, I guess."
Why was nothing in his life ever simple?
"It's also why Randolph took me over. I couldn't contain his worry for Katherine. The way he screamed at me as I ran over here. I never felt that guy so distraught. But I would feel that way about Dolly and Sydney. Just their premature heat was awful. Randolph knew immediately that she was in danger, and he wanted to kill you for it."
Remembering how Randolph had growled at him made Gasper laugh inwardly.
"Yeah, I could feel that."
"He thought you were rejecting her, and you left her to die. I tried to tell him you wouldn't do that, but there's no reasoning with him sometimes."
The look in his father's eyes was distant. Again, he was arguing with Randolph.
"It explains a lot." Gasper's relationship with Randolph had always been awful. The wolf would constantly berate him for any mistake or beat him down, never bothering to build him back up.
"What?" His father asked, being brought out of his argument with his wolf.
"Randolph has never trusted me. I'm not his son, and neither is Azreal."
So why would he have any incentive to love him?
"Shut up, pup."
Randolph was back. Great.
"Well, you gonna deny it?" Gasper raised an eyebrow at him.
"I am. I have been there the whole time with your dad, helping you grow up. Teaching you. I certainly couldn't leave you weak and unable to protect her. I love you and Azreal. But I will be damned if either of you hurt my daughter. So this is your first and only warning."
Then he was gone, leaving his father to laugh at him.
"Oh fuck off, Dad," Gasper said and got up. "I will finish this crap tomorrow. I shouldn't risk not being there when she's up."
"You did the right thing, you know. Holding back. Well, trying to. It would have been easy to get lost in your hormones. That is real love. Don't forget that. And when she is better, she will know that, too."
"If you say so," Gasper mumbled, trying to decide what to do next.
Did it even matter what he did? Could he convince her she belonged to this world at all? Could he protect her if he couldn't? Could he protect her if he did?
His father left without another word, leaving the door open. Victor walked in before Gasper could get up and return to his room. He could feel how angry Victor was with him.
"Uh, where have you been exactly?" Victor asked, closing the door as he entered and then dropping down on the couch where he usually sat in Gasper's office. Gasper thought there was an actual outline of Victor's body on that couch with how often he sat there.
"I had shit going on," Gasper told him, not appreciating the third degree.
"Obviously. Didn't think you should give me a heads up that you were going on vacation for a week? More than a week at this point."
Victor was beyond pissed. His desire to kill Gasper came at him in waves.
"I would not call it a vacation."
Nope. Nothing about that had been relaxing.
"Then what was it?"
Gasper tried to figure out what to call it but failed. He would have ripped their heads off if anyone else had questioned him like this. Victor was not just his beta. He was his best friend. There was no one Gasper trusted more than him except maybe his own family. He wasn't sure why he couldn't tell Victor about Sookie. Part of him regretted telling even his parents. Had he known it was poison, he probably would have only called the doctor.
"I'm gonna pull rank on this one and tell you not to question me about my whereabouts."
Victor looked hurt, and Gasper didn't blame him. He would feel the same way if Victor had done that to him.
"Well, Alpha, I guess maybe all I can ask then is you link me to let me know to take care of the pack next time. Or did you forget about them?"
Victor cocked his head to the side in a challenging way.
"That's not fair."
All Gasper had ever done with his life was care about the pack. He was born to do it and trained to do it. Victor's accusation of not caring was uncalled for, no matter the situation.
"It is if you abandon everyone for such an extended period. Makes everyone distraught."
That was true. Gasper's presence alone brought them a sense of calm. A pack without its alpha was like a body with no heart.
"Dad told everyone, didn't he?" Gasper never asked and hoped that he had.
"He said you were occupied elsewhere and that I would run the pack until you returned. That's not all that helpful, and you know it."
Victor scoffed and rubbed his face with one hand.
"Yes, I suppose it isn't. Give me a break on this one. I'm exhausted and not ready to discuss it yet."
Gasper had yet to find the words to explain this.
"Do it again, and I leave the pack. I don't need this type of bullshit."
It wasn't the first time Victor had threatened to leave, but it was the first time Gasper believed he might. Something had been bothering Victor the past couple of weeks, but he wouldn't discuss it. Gasper's reluctance to discuss his situation left him unable to be annoyed with Victor for not wanting to discuss things with him either.
When Victor got up to leave, Gasper remembered Sookie's necklace he had put in a box in his pocket. He needed to make it safe for her to wear somehow, but he really couldn't leave the pack again right now. So he had to assign his beta to do this for him.
"Victor, I need you to do me a favor."
"Really? A favor? You do realize I'm pissed at you?"
Gasper knew Victor would do anything he asked and was abusing that right now.
"I could make it an order, but I would rather not."
Please do this and stop questioning me, Gasper begged silently.
"Whatever. What is it?"
"Can you take this and have it coated with gold or something?"
Gasper held out the box, and Victor opened it. Before Gasper could warn him, Victor touched it and burned his fingers.
"Fuck!" Victor dropped the box and shook out his hand.
Gasper went over to it and scooped it up quickly, using the box as much as possible.
"Why do you even have this? It's fucking silver."
"I know it is, and that is why I need it coated in something."
Could he not even make that connection?
"Just throw it away." Victor looked so confused, and Gasper didn't blame him. Usually, he would have the same reaction. No one here would wear silver jewelry. It must have been important to Sookie if she was willing to deal with burning herself to wear it. The least he could do was make it safe to wear.
"It's important to the owner."
"And this owner is..."
Gasper was hoping Victor would somehow guess. Saying it out loud was too much, but if Victor asked directly, he wouldn't lie.
"Someone important enough to me to ask you to do this. I don't trust anyone else with it."
Come on, Victor. Put two and two together for once. Not that he wasn't brilliant, but sometimes he was dense.
"Fine. I'll see what they can do next time I'm in the city."
They meaning their jeweler.
"Thank you."
"Any other stupid errands you want me to do?" Victor asked, shoving the box into his pocket. "Maybe pick up a dress for you or something?"
"No, that covers it."
Victor looked like he wanted to punch him, and this time Gasper would let him. He deserved it. He wasn't going to tell Victor that, though. It was too late for a fight.
"If I wasn't so tired, I'd punch you right now," Victor said as if he read Gasper's mind.
Victor was always good at that. He might have that ability. Some wolves were born with special abilities but were usually not forthright about it with anyone. They were coveted and often bred against their will. Sookie was one of them. Gasper was sure of it. He felt power rolling off of her.
"Was just thinking you were thinking that," Gasper told him and touched his shoulder as he walked out of his office and back to his room.
Hopefully, he would finally get some sleep, and he didn't ruin his relationship with his best friend.
He needed Victor now more than ever.