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Chapter Twenty-One
Jasper
“Fuck,”Isaid,runningmy hands through my hair.“I’m sorry about my brother.”
“Things were actually okay before you came along,” Edie said, crossing her arms over her chest.“We were finding some common ground.”
“That was when he thought you agreed with him.When you find common ground with Flint, he’s usually laced it with land mines.”
“Are you here to yell at me too?”
“What?”I really looked at her for the first time.The moonlight put her features in sharp relief.Maybe that’s why she looked so pinched and frustrated.“Why would I yell at you?”
“Your mother.”
“That’s not your fault.Did Flint try to blame you?”Fury spurted through me again.It felt better than helplessness, so I embraced it.“No one can control my mother.She did this to herself.”
“She’s ill, Jasper.”
“You think I don’t know that?”Looking at my mother, frail and pathetic in her bed, felt like having my legs kicked out from under me.Mom and I leaned on each other.Without her, how could I possibly stay upright?“She’s also stubborn and willful.She doesn’t think things through.She should have told me that she thought she was losing connection to her wolf.”
“What would you have done?”
I opened my mouth, found I had no reply.
My shoulders slumped.I’d done everything I could to fight my mother’s illness.I was losing that fight.
Tentatively, Edie stroked my shoulder.Wordlessly, I pulled her into my arms.
Holding her close felt like letting go.I buried my face in her hair.It smelled like spring breezes, and I breathed in the sweetness and warmth.Her hands were rubbing up and down my back, massaging the muscles I hadn’t even realized I’d been clenching.
She pulled back far enough to search my face.Before either of us could think too much about it, I kissed her.She whimpered, as if she needed the comfort as much as I did.The kiss was slow and gentle and emotional, as if we were passing our stress and fears back and forth until the sharp edges were worn away.
She broke the kiss and pressed her forehead into my chest.We were both breathing hard.“I didn’t mean to do that,” she said.“This only makes things more complicated.”
“I know,” I said.“I can’t seem to stop, though.”
She laughed, more an expression of nervousness than humor.“I feel so different around you.I don’t know why I can’t control myself.”
I knew why.
I wanted to tell her.But she was already on the verge of running away from Twisted Pines, running out of my life.So as much as I wanted to tell her we were fated to be together, that we’d be bonded together for the rest of our lives, I couldn’t do it.
“Let’s take a walk.”
Surprise creased her face.I knew that if I took her into the cabin at that moment, we’d seek comfort and pleasure in each other, and damn the consequences.But I couldn’t do that to her.She needed to know the truth before things went any further between us.
“It’s dark,” she said.“Do we need a flashlight?”
“The moon is bright tonight.Are you warm enough?Do you need a jacket?”
She shook her head, then fell into step beside me as I led her away from her cabin.I wanted to take her hand, but she kept them stuffed in the pockets of her blazer.“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
She sighed, looking up at the sky.“It’s hard to believe that this is the same universe I’ve lived in my whole life.The stars look so different out of the city.”
“We sometimes do star-gazing nights when there’s a meteor shower,” I replied.“And bonfire nights are really special.”
