As I'm tugging my shirt on on the morning of the full moon, someone knocks on my window. I pull back my curtains and nearly fall back. Jasper is standing on the other side. I drop the curtain.

"Addy, please, I'm here to help." His voice is muffled.

Should I? I hold the curtain to the side. "How?"

"Can I come in before someone sees me?"

"You bit me."

"Fair point, but really, I want to help."

With a horrible feeling about this, I unlock my window and push it upwards. He climbs in and I shut it, leaving it unlatched it. For a few seconds he stares at my exposed mark. I raise my eyebrows and clear my throat.

He rubs his chin. "I joined Xavier's pack."

What? "You hate alphas."

"I know. You need to come with me to his territory. Just for tonight. You won't have to worry about hurting your family."

"Travis showed Eliza how to lock me up."

"If she doesn't do it exactly right, you'll escape. Do you want to risk killing everyone in this house?"

"This wouldn't even be an issue if you didn't bite me."

He rubs his face. "I'm sorry, okay? I knew turning you would be the only shot I had of seeing you again. I'm a selfish wolf, and you can hate me all you want, but please, I'm begging you, let me help you."

My parents will flip. If I tell them I'm staying at Eliza's, they'll call her parents to make sure and then the lie will be up. They've already taken away pretty much everything they'd take away if I was really grounded—besides internet and television. Okay internet has been on restricted access. I feel like I'm one of those kids commercial tell to ask their parents' permission before logging onto their site. But I don't even have to ponder if I want to give it up. I will to protect them.

But going with Jasper means I may never return. Xavier could even kill me for being the reason he doesn't have Eliza.

"I can't even trust you to bring me home in the morning."

"Do you trust yourself to not kill your loved ones?"

I grab a notebook off my bookshelf and a pen, scribbling down:

    I'll be back tomorrow.

Might as well give some reassurance to them. I can't tell them I'm going to Xaviers' that's a no brainer.

I raise an eyebrow at Jasper, an ability I've been working on. "Try anything and come tomorrow I'll be able to shift whenever I want. Understand?"

He lets out a sigh of relief. "Absolutely. Come on." He lifts my window and climb through. I grab a pair of boots and socks, holding them as I maneuver my way out my window. I'll put them on in the car. "I parked farther down the sidewalk."

As we walk, I spot a silver truck. "You drive?"

"Just learned a couple weeks ago."

Unease overcomes me. "Maybe I should drive."

"It's fine. I haven't crashed yet."

"And I don't want to be in it when you do."

I convince him to hand over they keys, and once my boots are on, I follow his directions on which way to drive. He says it'll take roughly five hours.

We both allow the awkward silence and tension to build for an hour before I finally ask, "Why'd you join the pack?" I spare a glimpse from the road to look at him.

He rubs his palms over his thighs. "I knew that when you shifted you'd become a luprau, and if a pack wolf smelt you, they'd kill you without question. I joined Xavier's pack solely for you. If I could get you to his pack, he could accept you into it and you'd be safe."

I force my eyes to focus on the road as my brain tries to steer me to think about what he said. He did it for me. But he wouldn't have had to do anything for me if he didn't mark me. My grip on the wheel tightens and I take deep breaths. It's the full moon flaring your temper. Calm down. "That's. Really. Sweet. Of. You. Jasper," I force the words out of my mouth, because I do want to say them—or something along their lines—but my anger and stress is amplifying throughout today.

Slowly the clock on his dashboard changes from 10:35 to 1:22 and my stomach decides right now to let out it's biggest grumble of this drive. I skipped breakfast. No intentionally, but Jasper showed up before I could get around to it. I wanted to be sure that I was full all day so that. . . well maybe if I was full I wouldn't want to eat Eliza or my parents. The grumble sounds like a tire rolling over a glob of goo.

"Hungry?" Jasper finally acknowledges.

"Starving."

"We can't stop. You'll be able to eat at Xavier's."

Hungry and werewolf hormones don't mix. "We'll be there around three, that leaves nine hours before midnight." I try keeping my voice from lashing out at him.

"Two reasons, I won't be able to hold off shifting that long, and two, the later it gets the more our instincts start to kick in, as well as our irritableness. You don't want to be driving with splitting headaches, do you?"

"Uhh no. No thanks."

"Exactly." He leans his seat back and closes his eyes. My GPS is thinking about taking a nap.

"What's it going to be like?"

He cracks an eyelid. "You really want to know? You don't just want to wait?"

"Tell me."

Sighing, he straightens his seat back up. "You're not going to have to worry about being locked up in chains."

I nearly slam on the breaks. "What?"

"Without Eliza there, Xavier doesn't have to lock himself and the rest of the pack up."

"But that's dangerous."

"Ehh. . . there shouldn't be any humans on his territory."

"Shouldn't?" My voice raises a few octaves.

"I believe shouldn't is composed of the words should and not. There's a not so don't worry."

"You really know how to comfort someone, Jasper." My bones start to ache. On the last full moon, wolves were at Hunter's, though maybe Hunter's house counts as Xavier's territory since he's in the pack. That would mean humans are on his territory. "How are you keeping your emotions under control? Don't you just want to rip someone's head off."

"Yes, but since you're the only one around for me to do that to, I'm trying to be pretty zen, but I can sense your hormones ,and it's not putting me at ease. I keep expecting you to attack me."

"You can?"

"Regular wolves don't have the ability. We're werewolves, you've got to expect some differences. You'll be able to once you shift tonight."

I wouldn't be shifting tonight if it wasn't for him.

"Seriously, Addison, you're making me anxious."

I clench the wheel, aches rolling through my body. "Sorry."

A little bit after three I pull into the driveway, passing the mailbox I put my letter to my parents in. I never thought I'd be back here, and truthfully I'm not sure how I'm feeling. Anxious or relieved? Definitely terrified to see Xavier.

"Jasper?" I ask as I drive closer to the house.

"Yeah?"

"You said once I shift, I become a luprau and any pack wolves will kill me."

"Xavier is going to accept you into his pack once we see him." Jasper points where I should park.

"Is he going to really accept me?"

"He better. That was a part of the deal for me joining his pack."

I put the truck in park. "What does being a part of his pack mean?"

"You listen to him, a part from other things which you won't have to mess with for a while."

"Other things?"

"Like defending the pack when you're older."

"So fighting?"

He opens his door. "It's that or be slaughtered at midnight." Hopping out he shuts his door with more force than I think he intended or even thought he was using.

Okay, I can do this. I can make it through this night. I'll turn into a wolf, and it will be okay. I may be crazy and dangerous. Jasper's going to stay with me, right? He's not dropping and ditching me?

A/N
Happy Easter! He is risen! ⛪️✝️🐇🐰🐣 Sorry for the delay in posting this!