Chapter 1 - Jasper
Present
I drove into town with no real purpose, only knowing that I needed to get away from my wolves for a few hours to clear my head. After almost two years as their alpha, I had become increasingly frustrated with our lack of success in the region.
As a member of the Moonstone Pack, I only needed to mention the pack’s name to strike fear into the heart of any wolf I encountered. Being the alpha of the Dark Moon Pack felt like starting over—and with fewer resources to boot. We had managed to convince a few wolves to join us initially, but our slow pace was not what I had intended when we had left our old pack.
By now, I had wanted to have all the smaller, more docile packs in the area incorporated into our fold. Instead, we had barely found a home base from which we could live and run our operations. Only within the past few weeks had I located suitable lodgings for the pack to take over, and they were subpar at best.
Without Aiden, I felt as though I was doing everything on my own. I was doing everything on my own, at least as far as planning was concerned. I suppose I should be grateful that I had managed to bring along a fair number of fierce warriors when I’d left my ex-best friend and his luna behind. We had managed to use force and acts of aggression quite successfully to get us what we needed in the interim.
Just outside of the town of Pinedale, we had found a group of abandoned cabins nestled in the trees between two hills. It was the perfect place for us to set up a permanent camp. By all appearances, the buildings hadn’t been used in decades, and my wolves were currently in the process of making them more livable. Unfortunately, they needed a lot of hand-holding to know what I wanted them to do, and I was finding the entire process even more exhausting than waging a full-out war.
While they handled the tasks I had set for them, I had instructed my second, Killian, to keep watch while I scouted the town.
There was no denying that there were wolves living here. I could smell them from a mile away. Once we were prepared, we could infiltrate their pack and take whatever we needed from the town.
But for now, I needed to see how many wolves we would be dealing with and what kind of defenses they had against packs like ours. I had just left my car parked on a side street and walked a block over when I saw a familiar face.
Luna Madi is pretty far from home , my wolf remarked.
Indeed, she was. She and two other women were leaving a patio across the street. It appeared they had just finished brunch. I wondered what would make Aiden’s mate travel so far from home for a simple meal.
I’m going to follow her, I said. My wolf, Storm, growled in anticipation. I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, but I couldn’t let an opportunity like this pass by.
Madi had been the cause of all the misery I had experienced over the past two years. She was the one who had taken Aiden from me and forced me to take things into my own hands when I left the Moonstone Pack. It was her fault that I had lost my home and my friend. She—and all of Sparkle Hollow—would need to pay for the wrongs they had done. Maybe today, I would finally get the chance to get my revenge against them.
The three women had begun to walk away, so I followed them as surreptitiously as possible. Luckily, the streets were pretty full at the moment, so I had no trouble blending in. They walked for a few blocks until they arrived at a bridal store. One of the unknown women entered while Madi remained outside with the third. After a brief conversation, Madi went inside as well.
Luna Madi is already married, I said to Storm. One of the other women must have a mating ceremony soon. Maybe that will be our opportunity to get back at them. Nothing like a spoiled ceremony to wreak havoc.
When the third woman finally turned around, she seemed vaguely familiar, though I couldn’t place why. Storm instantly perked up when he saw her face, and I could sense his overwhelming desire.
You need to go to her, he told me.
Go to her? I repeated. Don’t be stupid. Why would I pursue an enemy? She’s just a shrew from Sparkle Hollow.
Jasper, please, my wolf was practically begging. Just move closer. I want to see her.
My irritation at him was still on the surface, but there was no harm in getting a closer look. I could hardly believe that the women dared to be out and about, having a day out after all they had done to destroy the Moonstones. What right did they have to enjoy their lives when they had caused me to suffer?
Maybe this was fate intervening, giving me the chance to hurt them for what they had done to me. Aiden Moonstone had plenty of faults, but his kidnappings had done quite a bit of psychological damage to our enemy packs over the years. If Aiden had been stronger, he could have withstood the lure of his luna and done what he should have done with his forced mate: torture her for all eternity.
I could easily do what Aiden had never been able to. This she-wolf had no right to plan a celebration when she and her people had caused such destruction in my life. Someone needed to pay for their crimes, and she was perfectly poised for me to make sure that happened.
As I plotted my revenge, I noticed that the alley next to the woman was all that stood between me and my vehicle. Moving as casually as possible, I walked to the end of the block and crossed the street, continuing around the block to reach my car.
In the glovebox was a syringe of wolfsbane, prepped and ready for use. I hadn’t planned to use it today, but I had learned long ago that it was better to be prepared. I grabbed it and closed the door quietly. If all went well, I would have a mate by the end of the day.