Page 124 of Shrouded in the Dark

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Jasper

Thoughts swirled in my mind going a mile a minute. Gary had put his trust in the resistance, but he didn’t want them to know about Becca. Could they be just as dangerous as the Venandi?

I needed to see for myself. The Fae weren’t just going to sit back against a direct assault. That’s why we were here. Our priority was to protect our family, but Seth was looking at the bigger picture. Becca was too.

I hid a smile when Becca’s stomach growled as we walked into the hotel. She never failed to make a situation less intense, even if she didn’t mean to.

“We’ll eat the bagels your mom packed as soon as we get into our room, okay?” It was my turn to hold her around the waist as we stopped behind Gary as he checked us in early.

“We could have eaten in the car if we hadn’t had to wear those hoods,” Becca grumbled under her breath. “Don’t think I’m not telling Mom!”

Gary’s shoulders shook slightly as he continued to speak with the hotel employee as he fought back a laugh.

“I don’t know.” Cody leaned into Becca’s other side. “It gave me ideas for later.” His hand moved to her ass.

“If you pinch me, you’ll sleep on the floor tonight, Cody.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m hungry.” The warning was clear and the wolf grinned at the challenge.

“Alright. Behave.” As much as I’d enjoy the verbal spat that would happen, we were here for a reason.

“Here’s your room key.” Gary finished at the front desk. “The meeting is in thirty minutes. Eat and relax for a little bit. Go to the meeting room marked on the brochure.” He handed me the keys and paper. “I requested a room down the hall instead of next to you.”

He looked at Becca with a soft smile. “Eat breakfast and prepare.” He ruffled her hair. “I’ll see you three in a little bit.” He walked off down the hallway to the elevator.

“Alright, you two.” Becca clapped her hands together. “Let’s go eat.”

She grabbed our bags before we could pick them up where we’d placed them.

“Lead on!” She laughed at Cody as he tried to take the bags and she wouldn’t let go.

I walked to the elevator, pressed the button, and waited for them to follow. Plans already formed for how we would approach this meeting.

Even though Cody was a goofball, he’d be serious during this meeting because of its importance. He wouldn’t allow any harm to befall our mate. Not again. We failed her once, we’d never fail her again.

The image of her still, cold, and dead body would be forever burned into my retinas. It haunted my nightmares.

As we got into the elevator, the two were still arguing about the bags when I took the bag from Becca without a word. Cody groaned as she laughed, threading her arm through my elbow.

“Here’s the room key.” I gestured to Cody with it. “Why don’t you find our room and open it up for us?”

The elevator dinged, opening onto our floor. Cody rushed down the hall, looking at the room numbers until he got to the very end of the hall.

“Here! Only one neighbor. Score!” He went inside as we walked closer to it.

“Hey, you doing alright there?” Becca’s soft voice reached my ears. “You’re looking pretty serious.”

I looked down at her, taking in her large eyes, her lips that were so addicting, and her beautiful hair. How could I have not known she was my mate the first time we met at that party? My fox had. “I’m just making plans on how to approach this meeting. It’s frustrating that this happened right after you were turned, making this world even more dangerous to you, but if we can help stop the Venandi? We’re game. No one will ever harm you again.” Not while there was still breath in my body. My fox huffed in agreement. She was ours.

“Jasper.” She stopped us, looking up at me with a soft gaze. “I can protect myself now. I’m not as helpless as I was during the attack. I’m going to help protect you and the others as much as you protect me.”

I had to blink for a second. I hadn’t given her enough credit. She’d grown so much over the past couple of weeks. I couldn’t help the pride that swelled inside of my chest.

“You’re right, love.” I leaned forward to kiss her roughly. Her sigh of surrender turned me on even more. I’d just started to slip my tongue inside of her mouth when Cody interrupted us.

“As much fun as it is to watch you two make out in the middle of the hallway,” he didn’t disguise his laughter. “I don’t think Becca is big into PDA. Plus, her stomach is probably going to make itself known soon again.”

As if on cue, her stomach grumbled and she turned that delicious red color that matched her hair. My cock jerked. If she wasn’t hungry, I’d take her right before the meeting to make sure she was covered in my scent.