hand go, turning to his top soldier. “What?” he snapped.
Rave took a step back, his features creasing with worry as he
looked from Zeus to Jasper. “Eagle spotted a vampire trying to sneak
into our territory.”
Zeus was informed by Alpha Maverick that they existed, but he
never thought they would travel this far east. His first thought was of his mate. “Let’s go.” He grabbed Jasper by his upper arm, pulling him
toward the house.
“I’m not helpless, you know. I am a Timber wolf.” Jasper tried to
argue, but Zeus wasn’t trying to hear it. The thought of his mate in a fight tightened his stomach.
“Not here, you aren’t. You’re my mate and will be protected at all
cost.” What happened to the submissive man he thought Jasper was?
Zeus groaned. Did he have another hellion on his hands like the three
men Maverick pawned off on him?
Zeus wanted the submissive man back. This guy next to him had a
little too much fire for his liking.
“Protect this.” Jasper gave him a raspberry and jerked his arm
free. Was the guy insane? Zeus grabbed for him again, but his mate
took off running.
“Damn it.” He roared, shifting and giving chase. This was not the
time for his mate to show his independence. There was a fucking
vampire out there somewhere.
“Oh shit,” Jasper yelled when he spotted Zeus closing in on him.
His mate seemed to panic and add a burst of speed, but Zeus knew
22
Lynn Hagen
these woods like the back of his hand now. He feigned left but shot
right, circling around to effectively cut Jasper off.
“Damn it, stop trying to scare the crap out of me,” Jasper panted,
taking a step back.
Zeus stopped running and began to trot over to him, only to have
Jasper take off in the opposite direction, laughing as he fled.
Zeus heart leapt out of his chest when he saw his soldiers taking
formation, boxing in his mate.
They were in wolf form, which meant they weren’t playing
around. He quickened his pace, chasing down his mate, who was still
in human form. Man, could the guy run fast.
“Zeus, what the hell is going on?” Jasper shouted as he skidded to
a halt, his chest heaving as his mate backed away from the wolves’
slow advance.
Zeus jumped in front of Jasper, growling at the soldiers. They
wouldn’t have hurt him, but they would have prevented him from
going any further, and with the way his mate was acting, the outcome
wouldn’t have been favorable for any of them.
The wolves backed off, bowing their heads and retreating. Zeus
shifted, grabbing Jasper by his arm. “What the hell did you take off
like that for?”
Jasper shrank back, and then tugged to free his arm. “I told you I
could take care of myself. Stop getting all caveman on me.” Jasper’s
glance drifted around, looking everywhere but at Zeus. He felt like
shit for yelling at his mate, but the redhead needed to learn his place, and the sooner, the better.
“I won’t have you out here on your own, not when vampires have
come this far east and rogues are still on the loose.” Zeus pulled
Jasper along with him, taking him back to the house. He didn’t care
how Maverick ran his pack. Jasper was finally here, and he would
learn to do things the right way.
Jasper
23
His mate didn’t argue. He let Zeus pull him in through the back
door and straight to their bedroom. “You will not be fighting any
vampires or rogues. You will not be fighting at all.”
“Who the hell are you to tell me what to do? I made it past two
centuries before you came along and have done just fine,” Jasper
snarled darkly.
Zeus would never admit that his mate’s attitude was turning him
on. That would only give Jasper an excuse to run around half-cocked,
chasing down rogues, but he did like his fire. His mouth was
something else though. “I’m your mate, Alpha of this pack, and you
will obey me.”
“Yeah, I’ll get right on that.” Jasper huffed as he walked across
the room and into the bathroom, slamming the door closed.
“Fuck!” Zeus shouted. He had another damn menace on his hands,
just great. He paced his home for months, pining for his mate, and to
find out he was just as difficult as Minsheng? Just fucking
fantabulous. “Get out here!” he shouted at the bathroom door.
“Hell no,” Jasper yelled through the door. “When you learn to act
like you have some sense, I may come out.”
Zeus dropped down on the bed, having no clue how to handle this
situation. He was the Alpha, and Jasper was supposed to listen to him, so why wasn’t he? What the hell was he going to do now?