Chapter 13 - Jasper #2
They arrived back at the house, and Nikki dismounted. Her legs were trembling, her face ashen, her eyes staring far away. He shifted back into human form and rushed to her side.
“Are you okay?” He cupped her face, glancing all around, cataloging every scratch. Just touching her sent a fresh wave of relief running through him.
“I’m fine,” she muttered.
Raising his eyebrows, he gave her a skeptical look. “You’re a terrible liar, did you know that?”
She choked out a laugh and gave a shaky smile, but her eyes still looked haunted. He pulled her against him, holding her tight. She leaned her head against her chest, and he felt her tremble. He stroked her hair.
He wasn’t sure how long they stood there, him holding Nikki, giving her comfort. He didn’t care. At the moment, only one thought seemed to enter his head. Nikki was safe. She was here. He hadn’t been too late.
“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner,” he said after a long moment.
Nikki let out a choked laugh that sounded close to a sob. She looked up at him, still pressed against his chest.
“You’re apologizing for coming to my rescue?” she asked. “I don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to work.”
Jasper’s jaw twitched, but he didn’t respond.
“Come on,” he said after a long moment. “Let’s get you inside.”
His hand went to the small of her back, and he guided her into the house. Once they stepped inside, he steered her toward the couch, pushing her down gently so she would sit.
“I’m going to make some tea,” he said. “You stay here.”
Still, he lingered, reluctant to leave her alone even if he was only walking into the next room. After a moment, he finally tore his gaze away from her and moved into the kitchen. While the kettle boiled, he pulled out his phone and called Camden.
“Hey, everything all right?” Camden asked without preamble. “You rushed out of there like your ass was on fire.”
“Vincent tried to take Nikki,” Jasper said. “He lured her out into the woods and was dragging her somewhere.”
Camden swore. “Is she all right?”
“She’s safe, at the very least,” Jasper said. “Shaken up, but she’s at the house.”
There were murmurs, and Jasper knew Camden was relaying the information to Franco and Cillian. There was a loud “fuck!” on the other end of the line that Jasper recognized as Cillian’s voice.
“Where exactly was this?” Camden asked. “I’ll send some guys out to scout the area. They might be able to follow Vincent’s scent wherever he’s hiding. Maybe even track Lucas.”
Privately, Jasper thought the odds of finding any sign of Vincent at this point were slim to none. If the man had any wits about him, he’d take pains to confuse his trail and conceal where he was headed. Still, it was better than nothing. Jasper told him the location.
“I’m glad she’s all right,” Camden said. “We’re going to get these assholes.”
The kettle whistled, its sound loud and piercing. Jasper killed the heat and poured the boiling water into a mug. The aroma of orange and cinnamon wafted up from the cup.
“I’ll help another day,” Jasper said. “Not right now.” He didn’t need to explain why.
“Yeah, keep an eye on her, make sure she’s all right.”
“Keep me posted,” Jasper said, then hung up.
When he came back into the living room, Nikki was still sitting on the couch.
She had barely moved since he had left. She was leaning forward, forearms resting on her thighs, while she stared at the coffee table.
Some of the color had returned to her face, a slight pink to her cheeks, but her leg jittered up and down.
She didn’t raise her head until he placed the mug right in her line of sight.
Her gaze rose slowly from the steaming mug until it met his own stare.
Jasper could have killed Vincent for the haunted look he saw in Nikki’s green eyes.
“Drink,” he said.
She stared at the mug for a long moment before reaching out to take it. When she did, a new flash of rage lanced through him. A dark bruise was beginning to blossom around the wrist Vincent had grabbed. He should have killed the bastard instead of letting him run off.
Noticing his glare, Nikki shot him a look that was both amused and exasperated at the same time, but she took a tiny sip of the still-scalding tea, then another. He moved to sit next to her, and she took another shaky drink from the steaming mug.
“Thanks,” she said.
“What happened exactly?”
She bit her lip. When she finally spoke, it was to the coffee table.
“Vincent came to see me at the library.” Her voice came out not quite robotic, but not far off.
“He wanted to see if I wanted to go on that hike. I said yes. But after we started, I started realizing things were off, and I tried to get him to turn around. He kept insisting we keep going. When I finally put my foot down, he made a grab for me. I managed to get away for a bit, but…”
She trailed off, as if the words had simply stopped coming. She sucked in a breath, and her fingers white-knuckled the cup. “I thought he was my friend,” she said.
“I know.” His hand went to her shoulder. She flinched slightly but didn’t recoil. She stared down at her mug, running her fingers through her hair.
“Lucas plans on getting rid of you and Camden and the rest of your group,” she finally said. “He wants to take over the pack. Vincent was going to be his right hand.”
That fit with what Donovan had told them the other day and what he had relayed to Franco. “I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Jasper said.
She buried her head in her hands. “I can’t believe I was so stupid,” she said. Her voice cracked, and she took a deep, trembling breath.
“You’re not stupid,” Jasper said.
“It sure feels like I am.” She sucked in a breath. “I thought he was a friend. I trusted him. Otherwise, I never would have gone with him.”
He tried not to wince. “It’s not your fault,” he said.
He wanted to add, it was mine. He should have warned her.
If he had told her about Donovan’s conversation, she would have been more prepared.
She wouldn’t have waltzed into danger like that.
She would have at least known it was a possibility that Lucas had people inside the pack.
She would have thought twice about going off on her own with anyone, even a friend.
He knew he needed to say it, but the words stuck in his throat and refused to emerge.
He wanted to apologize. He needed to apologize. Except after what she had just been through, now didn’t feel like the right time to have that conversation.
“Trust me,” he said. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I’ve been an idiot,” she spat, not bothering to hide her vitriol or self-loathing. “And I can’t believe I ever thought that I could handle myself.”
“What are you talking about?”
“All those training sessions? Look at how useless they were. It doesn’t matter what happens or what I did. It didn’t do any good.”
Jasper paused. He twisted and turned so he was looking directly at her hunched form. “You’re joking, right?”
Nikki’s brow furrowed. “What?”
“You don’t think the training sessions did any good?
” He wanted to laugh. “You do realize that you managed to kick Vincent in the balls, run away, and were defending yourself pretty damn well by the time I got there. Do you really think you aren’t capable just because you couldn’t knock out a guy twice your size with your bare hands? ”
Nikki regarded him, her face inscrutable. Her eyes strayed down toward her tea. “You’re the one who knew I needed protection, that I couldn’t handle it on my own.”
Jasper barked out a laugh that was partly due to the sheer absurdity of the statement and partly because of just how wrong it was. He twisted until he was facing her and grasped her shoulder until she was looking right at him.
“Nikki,” he said. “I can’t express to you just how wrong you are.”
“But I—”
“You managed to hold off Lucas for a good long while before I managed to get to you,” he said. “If you couldn’t handle yourself, then you would have frozen the first second he grabbed you instead of fighting with all you had.”
“I froze the second I realized who it was,” she said with that same bitter self-loathing.
That tone was enough to make him grasp her tighter, willing her to see just how wrong she was. “I’m not surprised. The guy tormented you during one of the most traumatic parts of your life, and you never thought you would see him again. Of course you froze. Anyone would.”
“You wouldn’t,” she muttered.
“Maybe not,” he conceded. “But that’s because I have years of training and experience.
You don’t, and you still managed to keep your head for a good long while.
And today, if you couldn’t have handled yourself, then you’d be in Lucas’s clutches right now.
You managed to break free and run away. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. ”
“Then why do you always have to come to my rescue?”
“Do you know how many times Camden or Franco or Cillian had to save my ass?” Jasper asked. “Because I’ve lost count.”
“But you don’t always need rescuing,” she pointed out.
Jasper sighed. He reached out and nudged her until she was looking at him.
“Nikki, I need you to understand something. I didn’t want to protect you, not because I didn’t think you could handle yourself.
I wanted to protect you because I care about you and want to make sure you’re safe.
I would do the same if you’d been training in self-defense your entire life, if you could fight off any opponent.
What you can do, or your background, has nothing to do with it. ”
She stared up at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. She blinked and glanced away. Not finished and unwilling to end the conversation, Jasper took her by the chin and guided her head until she was looking at him again.
“I will always come chasing after you,” he said. “And I will always be protective of you, no matter how strong you are or how capable you are of protecting yourself. Because I care about you, and I would rather rush to help you and you not need it than sit idly by.”