Page 2 of Forced Mate Bride
Nikki was there, talking to the barista. She smiled and laughed. She had a beautiful smile. The barista smiled back and handed her a coffee. A caramel and chocolate latte. Jasper knew without having to hear the exchange. She got it nearly every time he had seen her in there, after nearly every training session. Another brief conversation, and the barista dipped over to the bakery cabinet, pulling out a massive cinnamon roll drizzled with cream cheese frosting. Another staple of Nikki’s order.
After this, she would walk through the park and sit on a bench for a little while. She’d probably pull out a book from her bag and read by the lake. Then, she’d head to the library where she worked.
Jasper moved away before she exited the coffee shop and headed down the street behind her. He didn’t know what it was about her, but whenever he saw her, he felt drawn to her. He was always aware of her presence, and he always seemed to pay particular attention to whatever she did. Whenever he went over to help her during the training sessions, he always had to hold himself back, to remain as neutral and expressionless as possible. Even when he tried not to pay any particular attention to her, he could sense her; he noticed her and what she did. Even when he stumbled across her in the middle of town by chance, he found himself watching her, seeing what she was doing, who she was with, where she was heading.
It wasn’t just that he felt drawn to her, though. He had this overwhelming need to keep an eye on her whenever possible, to make sure she stayed safe. The thought of anything happening to her became an uncomfortable distraction, and theonly way to stifle the concerns and thoughts about her was to watch her, to keep an eye on her.
She didn’t go to sit on the bench today. Instead, she headed straight for the library. An early shift, then. He followed a little behind, chiding himself for doing so in the first place. He knew what he was doing wasn’t healthy or normal. He had tried to stop. But he seemed to be drawn to her like a magnet, even if she didn’t notice he was around.
She walked into the library. Jasper waited another moment. For half a second, he entertained the idea of going in after her. He wondered what that would look like. He pictured walking in and trying to fumble some excuse about searching for a book, striking up a conversation.
He turned and walked away. Best not to even consider it. He had other things he had to deal with without adding that complication.
***
“You know, I didn’t think retirement was going to have this much paperwork,” Cillian grumbled, slumping back in his chair. He glowered at the stack of pages in front of him as if they had personally offended him.
“Well, that’s what happens when you decide to work for the new alpha,” Camden said without looking up.
By now, all four of them were used to Cillian’s antics and good-natured grumbling to effectively tune it out. They were in Camden’s oversized office, going over their weekly meeting that went over pack dealings.
“So far, things are looking all right,” Jasper said, looking down at his own notes. “We aren’t experiencing a whole lot of friction—”
“Except for a few of the old guard,” Franco chimed in. “At least a couple of them are still making noise about things not being the way they used to be.”
Jasper tipped his head in acknowledgment.
“They’ll come around eventually,” Camden said. “I hope.”
“There’s always the hope that they’ll storm off and take care of the problem themselves,” Cillian said. “Save us all the headache.”
“I’d rather it not come to that,” Camden said. “I don’t like the idea of people leaving the pack because of something like that.”
“Why not? It would weed out the people we don’t want around, anyway,” Cillian argued.
Camden shot Cillian a withering stare, and the other shifter clamped his mouth shut.
“The point of running Silverrose is to make it a welcoming place,” Camden said.
“We’re working on it. Just as long as we don’t have some other new problem to contend with,” Franco murmured.
“Please,” Cillian said dismissively. He flapped his hand. “Nothing bad’s going to happen.”
“Don’t jinx it,” Franco said.
“Impossible.” Cillian reclined, kicking his feet up on the desk. The top half of the tower of papers began to teeter, and the only reason the pages didn’t tumble to the floor was that Jasper lunged forward to right it. “It’s karma,” Cillian continued.“We’ve already had to deal with so much craziness and danger over the years that the universe is bound to ease up on us now.”
Camden and Jasper exchanged glances. Jasper’s lip twitched upward, but he said, “We’ll see. You never know.”
“Trust me,” Cillian said. “You can relax. Silverrose’s got nothing to worry about.”
Chapter 2 - Nikki
Nikki bent her head down over the computer. “Okay, that’s going to be due in two weeks,” she said, sliding over the book. “I hope you enjoy it. It’s one of my favorites!”
“Fantastic!” Vincent grinned, tucking the book under his shoulder. He checked his watch, then glanced at the short line of people behind him waiting to check out their own books. “Thanks, Nikki. I won’t keep you. I know it’s close to closing time. I’ll see you later.”
Nikki gave a cordial smile and waved before turning to the next person.
