Bonding With The Enemy (BxB)✔

Chapter 32 - Jasper

-Jaspers POV-

The exhausted Alpha flipped through the papers on his desk, reading each one over to make sure he wasn't overlooking anything important.

Satisfied that there would be no repercussions on the recommended ordinances, he gave his signature of approval and moved on to the next task.

Pulling out a large folder, he opened the records he had obtained on his first day as Alpha and scanned the list of transactions. All of them were paid out to various neighboring packs, and all of them had been signed by his predecessors.

The unsettling part was how each one was simply labelled, 'Trade'. Particularly because some of these 'Trades' were in the amount of tens of thousands of dollars.

The entire account history for the Alpha's budget was questionable actually, especially considering that there were twice as many such transactions made by Liam's predecessor. As a matter of fact, these strange payments and withdrawals went back for decades, practically to when the pack was first founded. Despite spending days pouring over it, he had yet to figure out what these payments were for.

Unfortunately he also had a funeral, two murders, an evil spirit, a gaggle of missing kids, Darren, and a comatose key witness to also worry about. Not to mention all the hassle of signing everything over from Liam's accounts. Honestly, Jasper felt like his head was going to explode from the stress of it all.

His office phone rang, drawing his eyes away from the puzzle before him. "Yes?" He answered.

"Mr. Rodgers is here to see you." His assistant replied over the line.

"Let him in."

A moment later, his adopted brother, Gerrit, stepped through the door, looking twice as exhausted as Jasper felt.

The poor man had chosen to grieve the death of their father by burying himself in work. The Alpha had tried making the man take a break, but Gerrit insisted he keep his mind focused on other matters.

Jasper couldn't blame him. When he had first heard of Liam's death, he too was distraught, but he couldn't show it. All his life he had been told he needed to be resilient. Liam made it clear that a decent Alpha did not fall apart under duress. So, he had held his emotions back as best he could.

Most of that day was still a blur. He recalled asking a few questions, hearing the news about Sophie, and watching Darren stumble out of the morgue.

He was so out of it at the time that he didn't register how that news would impact the man, and by the time he thought to follow, he had no idea where the rogue had wandered off to. He recalled the spike of panic he felt as he worried for the man's safety, knowing there was a serial killer on the loose, but just when he was about to lose his composure, the rogue popped his head up from a nearby bush and returned, safe and sound.

Jasper was well aware by that time that he had feelings for Darren, but he was doing his best to keep them in check. At first, it was because he thought he was bonded to someone else, but as soon as he realized it was Darren, he did it out of respect since the man made it clear he didn't want any sort of relationship with him, and who could blame him? Jasper was an ass to the guy for most of their childhood. Unfortunately there were times he couldn't help himself, like when he found Darren coming out of the shower in nothing but a towel, or that time he suddenly began releasing pheromones in his car... 

In the end, the Alpha admitted that his 'hands off' policy lasted a grand total of five seconds before he was right back to taking every opportunity to touch the rogue. Especially when he noticed Darren getting a little too friendly with Gerrit.