“Oh? Which one?”
Jasper chews his lip.
“Ours,” he says. “Olivia said that until the Rocky Pack becomes as welcoming to rogues and outsiders as we’re trying to be, they don’t want to be there. Which is totally fair. But Morven isn’t too happy about it.”
“Sometimes you gotta make people uncomfortable if you want things to change,” I say. “Are they staying in the city? I’ll check in on them after, you know, we’re done here.”
“Yeah, a place in Queens. It’s cute.”
Instinctively, my hand rises to my chest where a small ache has taken hold. I know I’ve made the right choice and the work I’m doing out in the world is important. But still it hurts my soul a little not to be here with my friends, helping them out during tricky times, or just enjoying being near them.
“And what about the others?” Jasper says vaguely, though I know exactly who he’s talking about. Even after all this time I get a cheeky thrill knowing he’s resistant to mentioning Omar by name.
“Last I heard they were trying to make things work as well. But obviously Mason’s dad’s not as cool as yours or Morven. I think they’re finding the mountain a little hard to climb.”
“That sucks.”
“Yeah, actually now that I think about it, it’s been a few months since I heard from either of them.”
“Maybe things have improved?”
“Maybe. I should check in.”
It’s easier than I thought to lose track of time and correspondence when you move around as much as I have been. I send out a little prayer to the moon gods that Mason and Omar are doing okay and promise myself I’ll check in after tonight.
“Here we are,” Jasper says, moving a last pine-laden branch out of our way and opening up the path to the clearing.
As I step from the shade of the forest into the open space I’m hit with an immediate burst of lunar energy. The moon is hanging in the middle of the sky, right above our heads, as always.
We move to the middle of the soft grass and stand still for a moment, bathing in her light. I take a big, long breath.
“I’m glad we came here,” I say.
Jasper shrugs. “We made a promise. I always keep my promises.”
He turns to me with a devious smirk and hungry eyes. The moon juice must be pumping up his libido. Mine too.
We crash into each other at full force.
Lips pressing.
Hands roaming.
Bodies inseparable.
When at last Jasper rears back gasping for air I notice his fangs are elongated.
He whips his head to the side like there’s something clouding his vision.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” he says, panting deep breaths. “I just ... It’s been a while.”
We both laugh. “Yeah, for me too.”
Again, our mouths meet.
Air travels from my lungs to his.
