Page 13 of Running with the Alpha’s Son (The Alpha’s Son #3)

“Absolutely not,” Mom says, looking up at Jasper and me from where she and Dad are still sitting on their picnic rug.

“What do you mean?” I ask, face flushing with embarrassment.

“You’re not running to the other side of the country unsupervised.”

“Are you being serious right now?” I ask.

“Deadly,” Mom says.

I groan performatively, doing my best to communicate how freaking annoying they’re being. “Dad?”

“I’m with your mother on this,” he says, completely useless.

“Mr. and Mrs. Remus,” Jasper says, his voice a little shaky. “I promise we’ll be safe. I won’t let anything happen to—”

“You didn’t find him passed out in the woods a month ago,” Mom snaps back.

Seriously, why are they being so ridiculous?

“Is it really that big of a deal?” I ask. “You were more than happy for me to go camping without you around last summer.”

“At the Blue Moon Festival?” Mom asks. “There were hundreds of other wolves there.”

“So? It’s not like we haven’t been away before.”

“When you went running into a den of dangerous rogues?”

Aisha shifts uncomfortably in my periphery. Our little argument has put a dampener on the picnic party vibes. Katie and the others are all sitting quietly, pretending not to listen. I don’t get it. After everything I told my parents about needing some peace and rest, why are they blocking this?

“It won’t be like that,” I say. “Come on, this is what we talked about. It’s what I need—some time and space to, I dunno, clear my head?” I don’t know why it comes out like a question. But the upward slope of my intonation has Mom raising a brow, as if she’s just as uncertain.

“If it helps,” Jasper interjects once more, “I can have a couple of pack security guards positioned nearby. If anything does happen they’ll be there to intervene.”

Mom and Dad share a look. Has the promise of additional wolf-muscle convinced them?

“The thing is,” Dad starts unsteadily, as if he’s searching for the exact right phrasing, “we’re not just concerned about the danger of you two running off together, it’s…”

Is he? Is my dad blushing? Oh…oh no. Oh my freaking moon gods, no.

“It’s that going away with someone that you’re”—he clears his throat painfully—“that you’re with is—is a big step.”

I run a hand over my steaming-hot face.

“And your mother and I are concerned about—uh—about…”

I can’t believe this. Are my parents trying to have the talk with me now, at my birthday party, in front of my boyfriend and all my friends?

Mom slaps a hand on Dad’s knee and takes over. “We just don’t want you rushing into any decisions before you’re ready.”

“Moon gods!” I say, clutching my face.

“And we also want to make sure that you’re prepared.”

This is not happening. This can’t be happening. Jasper is motionless at my side, most likely as devastated as I am.

“It’s important to know—what you’re doing and how to do it safely,” Mom continues. “And it’s not something we’ve spoken about before, so your father and I think it would be better if we all took a minute and talked about—”

I’ve heard enough. I let out a huff, throw my hands up, and storm away. I don’t even know which direction I’m walking in, I just need to get away from the abject torture of hearing my parents discussing my possible future sex life. All I want is to spend some time with my mate without the burden of thinking about how it affects the pack, without being scared my head is going to explode. I haven’t even thought about if we’d…

My feet stop moving of their own accord. Somehow I’ve made it halfway across the bridge that crosses the lake.

Have I been naive? Should I have been thinking about sleeping with Jasper? Should I have assumed that’s what would happen if we went away together? Things have changed a hell of a lot since the first time Jasper and I shared a bed at that dingy motel, back when Jasper was still trying to pretend he hated me. And the time we stayed in the tent in the mountains, neither of us were in a particularly sexy mood. Will this trip be different? Are we different? Am I? And is that something I’m ready for? I place a steadying hand on the railing as footsteps approach behind me.

“Hey,” Jasper says, arriving on the bridge. “You okay?”

I turn and face him, my cheeks still warm, and find him looking strangely bashful, his head bowed, his eyes darting from mine to the ground.

“I didn’t mean to suggest that we’d—I don’t want to pressure you into—we don’t have to—”

With a single step I come to stand an inch in front of him and slip my hands into his.

“Honestly, it hadn’t even crossed my mind until my insane parents brought it up. I mean—I don’t mean it never crossed my mind. Believe me that has definitely crossed my mind.” Where am I going with this? “What I mean is I didn’t think that’s what you were suggesting. Not that I wouldn’t—not that I wouldn’t like to, at some point.”

Finally, his gaze settles on mine and I force myself to hold his stare.

“You would?” he asks, his voice low, with just enough gravel to it.

I bite my lip. “Yeah, I mean, yeah. I would. Would you?”

His smile reaches the corners of his eyes and he nods. “Yes.”

For a moment we’re locked in a never-ending expanse of time. The stars reflected in the calm surface of the water twinkle and rise like fireflies all around us. The wind rustling in the branches of the willows is a gentle whisper, a hum, singing some romantic tune. If this was a rom-com the camera would be circling us as we drift closer together, closer and closer, until we kiss.

When the rom-com moment ends I pull back, stifling a laugh.

“What is it?” Jasper asks, his forehead grazing my bangs.

“I can’t believe how awkward that was,” I say. “I’m sorry.”

“They’re just being good parents.”

I sigh. Jasper is right and in a way that’s sort of comforting. In a sea of wild emotions and dramatic events, my parents wanting to awkwardly discuss sex with me is a wonderful island of normalcy.

“How are we going to convince them to let us go?” I ask.

“We could…make it a group thing? See if Aisha and Troy want to tag along? Katie too?”

“Sort of betrays the point of getting away, no?”

Jasper’s shoulders slump forward. “I guess.”

As much as I want to get away without anyone else, to spend some serious one-on-one time with Jasper, his idea has merit. Maybe making our solo trip into a group hang is the only way to convince my folks to let us go.

“It’s worth a shot,” I say.

“It won’t be too disappointing?”

I shrug. “It’ll be fun.”

We head back to the picnic site hand in hand. The sun has fully set and the park has grown dark. The rugs have been packed away, the food and cups stashed in bags and a cooler. Everyone is standing in a line, waiting for us, ready to leave.

“Hey,” I say to my parents, letting go of Jasper’s hand and stepping forward. “About the trip. We were thinking maybe if everyone is free it would be okay if—”

“Max,” Mom says, stepping forward. Dad follows closely behind. “Your dad and I have had a little chat and…”

Mom pauses. I glance across the faces of everyone present. Aisha has a cheeky grin and Katie is swaying from side to side with a knowing smirk.

“Well, you are seventeen now and in some wolf cultures that makes you an adult. Your father and I met when we were fifteen and sixteen.”

Dad joins in. “And we certainly didn’t wait to—” Mom coughs, stopping him before he says way too much. “What I mean is,” Dad says, course correcting, “you’ve been through a lot and we know we can trust you—”

“So, we would be happy for you and Jasper to go on this trip”—oh my moon gods, what? This is too good, this can’t be happening—“on one condition.”

Oh. My stomach drops. Of course there’s some random condition. We can’t just have a good time.

“You need to check in with us every day,” Mom says, issuing her decree. “Let us know immediately if anything goes wrong. We need to be in the loop. No radio silence like the last time you ran off.”

I rub the back of my neck. So far so good. “Okay, I can do that.”

“And Jasper, you mentioned a couple of security guards,” she continues.

Jasper nods. “Yes, I’ll have my father arrange it.”

“Good,” she says. “But double that number. I think four guards is reasonable after the trouble you two have been in.”

Jasper’s blushing but also smiling. “I’ll need to confirm with the alpha, but I think that can be arranged.”

I look between Jasper and my parents. “So, is that it? Can we go?”

Mom and Dad glance at each other. I can tell they’re unsure, but they know how much this chance means to me and I know they don’t want to deprive me of a second of happiness.

“Yes,” Mom says, and I’m just about to jump for joy when she spits out, “and one more thing!”

“You said one condition,” I say, knowing how whiny I sound.

My parents share another awkward glance. Both of them are hesitant to say whatever they have planned next.

“What is it?”

Dad raises his eyebrows at Mom as if to say Go on then . She stares at him with a tight mouth for a moment before sighing, rolling her eyes, and huffing.

“Fine.” She pauses, shakes her head as if she can’t quite believe what she’s about to say, which does not bode well. “Your father will take you shopping for”—she clears her throat—“supplies.”

I squish up my face. “What sort of supplies?”

“The kind that you might need…in…order…to…have…safe—”

“Condoms!” Dad says, announcing it to the entire park.

Katie and Aisha can’t help giggling. Todd and Simon pretend to stare at the ground. Troy hides his embarrassed grimace behind a hand. Even in the dark I can tell Jasper has turned raspberry red. My face is devoid of blood, my hands cold and clammy, my mouth hangs open in stunned silence.

Dad coughs and adjusts his posture, realizing just how loud he shouted condoms in front of a bunch of teenagers and the stragglers making their way out of the park.

“That is, we want you to take—”

“Don’t say it again!” I shout, holding out a hand in a stop sign. “Fine, you can buy us those, just please, don’t say it again.”

For a moment it seems no one out of the nine of us lingering in the dark knows what to say next, until eventually Katie clears her throat.

“Anyone up for karaoke?”

An hour later Katie and I are belting out the lyrics to “Cruel Summer,” pretending we’re center stage on our very own Eras tour. The karaoke room we booked is in the basement of a building in Greenwich. Down here it’s just us. Blue lights cast everyone in an otherworldly glow.

In a way we have moved into a new era . We’re still besties but now we both have relationships, our friendship group has expanded from just the two of us, into a mixed and fun group. I know Katie was worried we were growing apart—and we are, sort of—but as I take her hand for the final chorus I know there’s no one In the world who gets me quite like she does.

After their embarrassing attempt at sexual education my parents headed home, telling us to be safe and to have fun. So far we’ve covered everything from Olivia Rodrigo to Wicked the musical. Troy performed an Usher song with surprising vocal dexterity. The bro-twins gave a stunning duet performance of “Total Eclipse of the Heart . ”

Jasper refuses to sing. But as I howl into the mic I lock eyes with him and neither of us can help smiling.

Finally, after all this time we’re going to be together, without school or college getting in the way, without pack relations, friend drama…no kidnappings, mystical powers, or psycho wolves to distract us.

This just might have been the best birthday ever, and this summer is going to be one I’ll remember for the rest of my life.