“I—I’m not sure.”
“You will.” She nods slowly, ending the conversation, or so I think as I turn to leave once more.
“Oh and…” I stop when she speaks again, but stay facing the exit. “You might want to keep an eye on that mate of yours. I know your love runs deep. But we never know what or who might be standing in the way of our own greatness.”
I bristle at this last comment. Because who is she to suggest Jasper is preventing me from accomplishing anything. She barely knows him, has only seen the prideful, alpha-bred side of him. She doesn’t know how much he cares, how much responsibility he takes on. And yet…something has been blocking me. Could it be…?
I shake the thought away and leave her tent.
Jasper is waiting outside, leaning on a wooden signpost.
“Hey, you okay?” I ask.
“Fine,” he says, kicking off the post. “What does she know?”
Yeah, whatdoesshe know?
He nods in the direction of the construction site. “Walk me to the school?”
“What are they thinking?” Jasper asks while we’re still a few minutes from the site. “Harboring criminals. If the packs found out they—”
“Jasper,” I say, stopping in my tracks, realization smacking me in the face. “The packs can’t know about this place.”
He stops as well, turning to look at me with confusion on his face.
“They can’t know,” I continue. “If the packs knew where Rogue Sanctuary was they’d want to take it over, invade it or control it, police the borders. Rogues need somewhere they can go that’s safe, where they’ll be looked after. If the alphas knew…they’d destroy this place.”
He rubs his chin like he’s thinking it over.
“Jasper, you can’t tell anyone about this place. Not even your father.”
Jasper’s eyes shoot from the dirt to my face.
“Max, I—”
“No.” I step closer to him. “Promise me, you won’t tell anyone.”
He slips his hands into mine. “If you’d let me finish. I was going to say…of course. If the packs knew about this place it would be a disaster. I don’t have to love how they do things and I don’t have to trust them implicitly. But I also won’t be responsible for ruining the lives of these people.”
I can’t help grinning a little smugly, just a smidge.
“What?” he asks.
“You called them people.”
He rolls his eyes and lets his head fall back. “Well, they’re notnotpeople. Come on.”
He leaves one hand in mine as he leads me on. Just as we reach the almost fully erected school tent, Omar appears looking ready for a six-month hike. Seriously, he’s got walking boots on, a khaki baseball cap made of some waterproof fabric on top of his head, and a pack that looks stuffed with enough clothing and provisions to last a long winter.
“Whoa,” I say, “you going somewhere?”
“Not just me,” he says in return, smiling.
“Wait, what?”
“I was just coming to find you actually. Yoki thinks you’re ready to take things up a notch.”
I glance at Jasper, who is eyeing Omar skeptically.
