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Word Count: 2168

~Thea

The speed of shrugging on the jacket I bought earlier today with Jasper's money was legendary.

Of course I didn't jump from the window like he did, due to the fact that I happen to be missing a certain power that would have allowed me to basically evaporate my body mass, before completely rearranging it again once I was on the ground.

If I did try, I can be assured that I would most likely plummet face first into the snow, and break my nose or something.

Instead I jog downstairs, trying to keep my steps light, but quick so I wouldn't wake Aria, or lose Jasper. Just as I had pulled my last shoe over my foot, I swung the door open and emerged into the night.

After only a few hours, the snow was already thick on the ground, coating it in untouched ice crystals still fresh from the grey clouds above. Bare trees held the burden of the snow, that lay innocently upon the branches, stirred only by the crisp breeze that hit every so often. This Pack is beautiful, but skin shivering cold.

Jasper walks metres ahead, pacing through the streetlamps luminous cones of light. He looks awfully like he decided to go for a late night stroll, but I know something isn't right.

The crunch of my feet against the snow is the only sound, as I stalk behind Jasper.

Feeling stupid doesn't even begin to cover what I feel right now. Perhaps it is pure evil to invade someone's privacy like I am right now, but curiosity was digging at the edge of my soul, ensuring I would follow him like a dog on a leash.

Continuing to follow him, he leads me unknowingly down the street, lit brightly, but still laden with potential shadows for me to conceal myself in. But never once does Jasper turn around.

He leads me to the town square, or at least the is what I assume it is. It must not be too late, because by the look of the lights that illuminated the snow kissed square, everything is still open. Although, what the stores are exactly are indistinguishable, due to the way the frost crawls and twists over the signage.

Jasper just walked directly to what looked like a restaurant, filled with merry looking people, with flushed cheeks from wine, and animated smiles you could only find in this Pack; under a spell of love.

To ensure no one saw me, I kept to the left, rounding around the decorative fountain currently capped with ice, to the side of the brightly lit from the inside restaurant, which I pressed my stomach against in order to kept hidden from Jasper.

The moment he wandered inside the restaurant, I cringed.

I could either turn around and walk back the way I came, clamber into bed, and possibly question Jasper about it in the morning. Or, I could follow him into the room and find out why he decided to take a nightly stroll, even if it was for a late night snack.

Goddamn my insistent curiosity. It's going to get me killed one day.

Giving Jasper a few moments to get into the restaurant, I follow behind, but this time, I don't stalk. My back is straight with confidence, as I stride purposefully toward the door. It is all I have going for me, since I am currently wearing my hair in the wildest bun, in my flower printed nightwear, in snow frosted sneakers.

Almost everyone glanced up as I walked in, eyes dragging over my outfit, drinking it in with stunned expressions they don't bother to cover up. Some stare back down at their food awkwardly, while others whisper to their partner's ears.

Honestly, it doesn't bother me though.

Instead of being offended, I indulge in the heat that wraps around, licking my frost touched skin with the softest caress. Just as I cast a glance around the eclectically styled room, I see Jasper's back, dusted with quickly melting snow.

He is being escorted by a man wearing waiters attire, to what looks like a private room. I watch him walk in, the door closing behind him. I would have been deterred, had there not been a window divider that connected both rooms, with only dark stained shutters between.

The waiter catches my gaze, and I see him blatantly assess my clothing situation. Can he make the decision to serve me? Not that it matters, since I am not here to eat anyhow. Instead I meet the man in the middle, and smile broadly.

"That was my boyfriend," I tell him. He seems to believe me, motioning with his hand as permission to follow Jasper.

Hardly being able to believe that worked, I wandered over to where the room was situated, tucking behind the couch seat that was under the shutters, when the waiter turned his back.

This is ridiculous. Ashamed, I know it is too late to change my mind now, and I might as well find out what brought Jasper here.

The wooden shutters are partially open, a gentle classical styled music drifting through. Along with two voices, that aren't coherent.

Braver than I have ever been in my life, I rest my fingers against the edge of the shutters, pulling them back just enough to catch a glimpse inside. And it is beautiful, furnished and decorated to suit the intimacy of the room.

And sitting on the plush couch on the other side of the room, was Jasper. And a woman.

She is beautiful. Stunning. She is the woman form of Jasper; the perfect specimen. Her hair is long and dark, curling down in subtle waves across her chest, and to her waist. The unfamiliar woman bites her red lips, staring at Jasper with dark, sultry eyes.

From what I can see, she leans suggestively on the couch, facing the Alpha of Devotion, who also looks like he is resting casually. They are deep in conversation, and now in this position, I can hear them perfectly.

"The extraction plan was a success?" she asks, her voice foreign. It sounds wispy; old fashioned. Even her outfit looks outdated, but by the way she pulls of the slim fit, you would hardly notice.

Jasper shrugs. "It could have gone better, but for what it is worth, it is over now."

"You must be relieved. I understand she is extremely valuable," the woman proclaims, taking a brief moment to check her long nails out. What in the world are they talking about? Who?

"Extremely," Jasper murmurs.

Are these two together? Am I potentially invading on an intimate moment. The blush that creeps onto my cheeks seems to scold me for what I have committed to. I was about to pull away, but their next words made me stop

"I know she means a lot to you," the strange woman breathes, her words, her accent almost entwining with the lyrics set within the song. "When are you planning on telling her?"

A strange thought invaded my mind, and in that moment, I wish I could swat it away. Are they talking about me? An extraction plan, I mean...That sounds awfully close to what Jasper did for me. But he had saved me.

"Soon, when she is ready. The last thing I want to do is to force this upon her after what she has been through. A man she thought was her boyfriend was planning to kill her-"

I stumbled back from the shutters. They are talking about me. 

The words they said were almost imprinted in my mind, as was the way the woman sipped her golden wine thoughtfully as she listened to Jasper. Listened to him talk about...Me? How I mean something to him?

The waiter doesn't have time to question me on what I am doing. The snow hits me like a slap in the face as I stalk outside, the cold seeping its way through my coat, it's chilling tendrils clawing their way across my skin. My mind whirls like the snow around me, disturbed by my footsteps.

I rest my back against the restaurant, trying to rearrange what Jasper's magic wasn't here to combat.

Just as he graced my mind, he suddenly graced my presence in a rush of cold and shadows. He was standing right in front of me, violet eyes blazing as he stands only inches from me. The sight of him instantly knocks the breath out of me.

"What are you doing here?" I question in disbelief.

His wild magic allowed him to appear in front of me in the blink of an eye, leaving behind remnants of his power in the form of curling violet and blue shadows, that captured falling snowflakes.

"I was about to ask you the same," he mutters. For a moment, I assumed he was going to be angry with me, but his lips tinted into a flutter of a smile, and I see the entertainment glinting in his eyes.

"Who is she?" I question, trying to avoid answering his question. He can goddamn look into my mind if he is that interested.

Jasper tilts his head, assessing me for a moment, almost as if I am a strange creature. Then, he surprises me, by leaning forward, close enough so our breath apparent from the cold, mingled, his hands also coming out to press against the outside restaurant wall to trap me in.

"Jealous?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. Automatically, I shake my head.

"No. How did you find me out here?" I decide to ask. Out of nowhere, Jasper had ceased my presence, that I had been hoping to keep away from him. My plan was about to work out perfectly too, with my head start to getting home much higher.

Jasper only chuckles. "I always knew you were curious."

My eyes narrow at his. He is so close, our body heat being shared, only inches away from actually touching.

"I always knew you are hopeless at answering questions."

"Would you really like to know what I was planning?" he whispers, and I swear he got a little closer. Do I? "I was going to blow her mind. Give her the best sex she has ever had before. Fuck her until she screamed my name for all those people to hear."

My mouth fell open, completely stunned by his crude words.

He grinned. "I'm joking."

"In actual fact, I am sure she would rather pursue such ventures with you, rather than me," Jasper tells me, much to my surprise. And here I was thinking those two were attracted to each other.

"Oh," I breathe.

A silence stretches between us, as we stare directly into each other eyes. The moment is unexplainable. Reading about the rest of the world disappearing when you were caught up in someone else was something I used to ridicule. Now that I am experiencing it, my understanding has increased, like the tension between Jasper and I.

"I'm not happy that you followed me out here. Interrupted me," Jasper tells me, slicing through the silence. "Perhaps if you were mine, Thea, I would show you exactly what happens to the ones who step out of line. Maybe in a way that both of us could get behind."

He tilted his head coyly. "If you know what I mean."

I shivered, and not from the cold. His words were full of unspoken promise, that part of me yearned to pursue. Luckily, he doesn't give me room to respond, because I am not sure I would be able to without saying something embarrassing.

"Come darling, let's head back before you catch a cold. And if you behave, maybe I will explain everything to you tomorrow."

❤️••❤️

Want more and don't want to wait?! More of Jasper is available now on Radish!

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This will be the last update before Christmas, so I hope you have a good one, to everyone who celebrates it!

My family celebrates it a week early, because we own a Kennels and Cattery, and it's the busiest season over Christmas. And boy, did it suck...

Since it's summer over Christmas in New Zealand, staying inside isn't always an option, and I'm an indoor kind of person.

My Christmas in a nutshell: My cousins entertaining themselves with a mini game of croquet. My brother shooting native birds to show off. My high class, white grandparents scrapping over first world problems after too much red wine. My mum stealing garden clippings from my nan. My niece screaming every time my grandad looked at her.

And me, secretly filming family fights in the corner.

Let's hope your Christmases are awesome, no matter what you guys do!!!

Snapchat: midikcrane

Radish: Midika

~Midika 💜🐼