Page 23 of In the Monster’s Wake (Monsters Amongst Us #1)

J asper stared at the table. He wished Corey and Kerry hadn’t cornered him into organizing this dinner, but there was no way out of it. Archibald and Braith were coming over to meet Jasper’s best friends, and that was that.

Jasper supposed he should be relieved that Corey and Kerry hadn’t kicked him out of the apartment after finding out he was part monster. So far, none of them knew what that meant, but Jasper didn’t feel any more dangerous or strange than he had before.

Jasper, Archibald, and Braith had left the club after Kester had vanished into the night, and Jasper hadn’t heard from his father since then. It wasn’t for lack of trying on Leroy’s part, but Jasper couldn’t talk to the man. He wasn’t even sure he could still call him his father.

Part of him didn’t want to. Leroy wasn’t a good person, and this might be the best way for Jasper not to have to deal with him again.

Leroy didn’t have any kind of power over him since they weren’t related.

At the same time, even though they weren’t related, Leroy had raised Jasper.

Unfortunately, that did make him Jasper’s father.

That didn’t mean that Jasper had to talk to him. He was angry. Leroy had refused to tell him anything about how he’d ended up being raised by a hunter and his wife, about his parentage, or about how he’d been found. Jasper didn’t know anything about himself.

He wasn’t the person he’d thought he was. Hell, he wasn’t even human. What was he supposed to do with that? How could he accept it after spending all of his life thinking he was human?

“If you stare at that glass any harder, it’s going to explode,” Corey said as he hip-checked Jasper and pushed him to the side so he could put a basket of bread on the table.

It would be a tight fit, especially with how big Archibald and Braith were, but it didn’t matter. They were family.

“It’s going to be all right,” Corey added. “If you worry about us liking Archie, you don’t have to. We can see that he makes you happy, even with the, well, circumstances.”

“That’s good to know.”

Corey squinted. “But he’s not what you’re worried about.” It wasn’t a question.

Jasper could lie, but Corey would see right through him. They knew each other too well. “I don’t understand why you’re still my friend. I’m a monster.”

“So? There’s a reason Kerry and I left the hunters. Besides, you’re our best friend. You being part monster isn’t going to change the person you are.”

Jasper hadn’t been planning on crying, but Corey might just push him into it. “So you’re not going to kick me out of the apartment?”

“Only if you continue not doing the dishes.”

Jasper choked out a laugh. “I’ll do my best.”

“You do that, and remember that no matter what you are, you’re still the same kid who offered me half of his lunch because I dropped mine the day we met.

I don’t care what you are, Jasper. I also don’t care who you date.

I just care about you and about the fact that you’re my best friend, and that’s never going to change. ”

Jasper had known all of that. He hadn’t been planning on keeping the fact that he was part monster from his best friends.

It would’ve been easy since they hadn’t been in the club when the mess had happened, but he wouldn’t do that to them.

Besides, he knew them. He’d been sure they wouldn’t care, no matter how many times he wondered if they would.

They hadn’t. The only reason it mattered to them was that they wanted Jasper to know who he was if that was what he wanted, and it was.

He hated not knowing where he came from.

He couldn’t help but wonder if his parents were alive and somewhere out there.

Were they still looking for him? Or did they know what had happened to him? Had they given him up willingly?

“I just wish Leroy would tell me,” he said with a sigh.

Corey nodded. “I get it. I’m not going to tell you that who your parents are doesn’t matter or that you shouldn’t try looking for them, but remember that we love you. Look for them if that’s what you want, but don’t lose sight of who you are.”

A knock on the door interrupted them. Jasper stepped away from the table to go open, but Corey bounced their shoulders together. He wasn’t done talking.

“And Kerry and I aren’t the only ones who love you. I’m pretty sure that Archie doesn’t give a shit about the fact that you’re part monster.”

“I don’t think he does,” Jasper confirmed. He didn’t treat Jasper any differently, which had been a relief.

Maybe what Jasper was really didn’t matter. The people who cared about him still did, even though they knew that he wasn’t fully human. Corey wasn’t wrong when he said that it didn’t change who Jasper was.

It would still take Jasper a while to wrap his mind around it, and he wasn’t giving up on finding out who his real parents were.

Knowing might not change who he was, but he still wanted to know.

They’d brought him into this world. They’d had to have cared for him at least a bit.

The least Jasper could do was find out what happened to them.

He threw open the door and smiled as soon as he saw Archie and Braith. They both smiled back, and Archie stepped forward to wrap his arms around Jasper. Jasper relaxed instantly.

Whoever his parents were and whatever had happened to them, he knew he wouldn’t be looking for them on his own.