Soulless Mate

Fourteen: Jasper

WARNING: Since this story takes place several months after HLMM, there are minor spoilers at the end where Jasper says that he's been "preparing." You can stop there if you don't want the spoilers!

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"He has a temper."

That was the first thing Reina's sister by law said the minute they decided not to talk about whatever the hell blue blood meant.

"Yes he does," Reina said, maneuvering around the room. It was Sayora's room, and Reina was still a bit rattled by the whole out-of-control, not to mention menacing, room-shaking. Stone walls didn't just shake on their own. On top of that, she'd felt a very menacing evil in the room with her, enough to raise hairs. It had happened earlier today when she woke by beside Zeron's mother, and it happened again with Iyla. Yeah, it was frightening, but Reina was also pissed off more than anything that this apparition decided to stick its nose into her affairs. So Reina being Reina, she was going to get to the bottom of this. "Honestly, I think it's pretty impressive. I didn't think anything could top me, but look what we have here. My own mate tops me every time."

A low chuckle emerged from Iyla. "Looks like you found your match, sweetheart. Fate messes with us in funny ways, yeah?"

"Yup," Reina grumbled out. She dropped to her knees, her mind made up. Taking a deep breath, she crouched real low. Low enough to see right beneath the bed.

"Reina...what are you doing?"

"Investigating." She darted her eyes back and forth. Nothing. What the hell? She could have sworn there had been something there last night. She felt the thing's hunger. It had seen her feet, and it knew she was on the mattress above it. What in the name of Moon was it?

"Investigating what?"

"You know what."

"Reina, it's gone. Whatever it was, it's gone. I can't feel him anymore."

"Him?" Reina snapped her head up, staring at Iyla quizzically.

Her sister by law only shrugged. "From what I could tell, yeah. He's male. Air he gives off is ancient, close to Alpha level. Your mate had any pissed-off Alpha ancestors around here?"

"The only pissed-off Alpha I can think of is Zeron," muttered Reina, rising back to her feet and dusting her legs and arms. She'd changed out of the dress Sayora had given her and found some very comfortable skins that Sayora used to wear back in the Stonelands when they'd existed as their own territory. The garments fit her perfectly, but since Reina was built like a warrior now, her thighs and upper arms fit more snugly than the rest of her body.

"He may be a pain in the ass with his temperament, true, but you wanna know a secret?"

"What?"

"He's anything but evil."

That caught her slightly off-guard, only because she didn't expect her to say it. Deep down in her heart, Reina already knew Zeron wasn't evil. The man treated her callously, sure, but she didn't sense any evil intentions rolling off him. And Reina had been with a shit ton of males to know good from evil. Still, she crossed her arms and stared at Iyla with a raised, inquisitive brow. "How are you so sure? Not that I think he's evil, but how do you know?"

A grin began to spread on Iyla's lips. "Sweetheart," she said, cocking her head. "What do you think all that bickering between him and I was about? I was just teasing the poor guy. You gotta admit, he put up with me quite well. Well, I didn't exactly expect the temper, but I didn't really give a shit since my sister by law's involved. Besides, pissing him off gave me all the answers I needed."