Jasper's Soul Mate (18+)

Chapter 20: Blood (Part Two)

I know who this is.

Yet, as I think back to every face that's crossed my memory, I can't find one that fits. But I know this female. I know those eyes like I know that smile and that calm heartbeat.

"Jasper," she speaks gently.

The subtle lilt and every other note of her voice is familiar. It registers with a locked part of my mind that refuses to let me access what's inside.

My head erupts in pain the harder I concentrate on her appearance and try to remember who she is. For some reason, the thought alone of finding out makes my stomach drop and my skin uncomfortable to be in.

"You're all grown up, and you look so much like your father." Her eyes drift over me, smile wavering as she takes in the marks on my skin. I never cared about how they made others feel. Not until Rebecca... and now with this female, who makes me long for approval.

She takes another step closer and I tighten my grip on Rebecca's hand, not quite trusting her. There's something about her features, but her scent isn't right. "What are you?" I ask boldly. All the while, the one question I want to ask the most circles in my mind. Who are you?

The female's forehead tenses and she reaches down to smell her jacket. Understanding crosses her features a second later. "I'm like you, a wolf shifter," she explains. "I spent some time with a bear clan. Their scent must have worn off on me."

I take in a deep searching breath, finding the telltale smell of redwood and brawn and that she speaks the truth. The restlessness in my head does not cease despite this. I keep my eyes watching her every move, expression, and even the sound of her heart. I still can't place how I know her and it's putting me on edge.

She could be with the hunters.

She could be lying.

She could harm my mate.

My wolf bristles and rises up at the thought of my greatest fear. I'll never take a chance with her. Never let danger have the opportunity to take her from me. Especially not now when she's so close to being mine.

Perhaps that fierce protective streak inside of me is why the next step forward the unknown female takes is near-lethal, evoking a dark rage from deep within my soul.

All human teeth in my mouth shift to those of my wolf, and I snarl viciously enough to have her freezing on the spot.

I no longer care who she is. The next move she or any other makes toward us could decide whether or not a warm, bleeding heart is in the palm of my hand.

Through a crimson haze, I look back and forth between the only others in the room. My uncle remains still despite the clear challenge in my eyes, and the female... It shouldn't come as a surprise when her blazing eyes counter mine.

The sight of them, blue, and bearing an uncanny resemblance to my brother's, steals my breath for a second time.

Of all the things to jog my memory, her wolf's eyes are what do it.

Rebecca squeezes my hand, and I squeeze it back tighter as the locked away memories in my mind escape in a flood. Those blue depths are at the center of each one.

I remember seeing them above me, as she reached down and picked up my much smaller frame. I remember looking into them, as she held me against her chest while I listened to the sound of the calm heart beating inside. I remember them full of kindness, warmth, and love that I desperately held onto long ago.

Before it became too painful. Before I came to terms with the fact that I'd never see them again. And that letting go of everything I knew before was necessary to stay alive.