Page 50 of Escaping Monsters

His blue gaze fell to the floor and then rose to meet my eyes. “I wanted to ask you a question.”

“Okay.”

“When I decide that there is no other option but kill Oliver Hunt, do you want me to tell you, or do you want me to never mention it again?” Jasper asked.

The answer came automatically. “I’d rather know than wonder—always.”

It would probably inevitably come to that, but I was hoping that some other magical solution would present itself first.

Jasper kicked off the wall and came to stand over me. He inspected my face closely, and there was puzzlement in his blue gaze. “Sometimes… I have a hard time understanding why people act the way they do. Like now, I can’t understand why you’d want to keep this man alive while he’s a direct threat to you and the pack. Do you feel guilty?”

I shook my head.

“You broke a bottle and held it to my throat, and you carry a gun with silver ammo.”

“I did.”

The werewolf world was brutal. I had no delusions about that. Oliver had invaded Jasper’s territory and attempted to kidnap Jasper’s mate. No werewolf alive would deny that Jasper had every right to kill Oliver, and on top of all that, Oliver was a piece of shit asshole.

I gripped my hands into fists. And for just a moment, I wanted to tell Jasper the horrific truth. My hands would never come clean from all of the blood I was forced to spill. There was only one thing that I could say that was true, “There have been too many deaths in my life.”

Jasper didn’t look like he understood me any better, but he nodded. “I’m going to eat out there with the pack. Do you want to join us? I could bring you a plate in here if you want some time alone. Maybe we’ve been crowding you.”

I shook my head. “I’ve felt so desperately alone for so long that being with you guys… it’s wonderful. I’d much rather join you guys for dinner. Just give me a minute.”

Jasper's hands raised, and he cupped my cheeks. His thumb brushed over my chin. “Sometimes, I think more like a wolf than a human. I don’t want to frighten you.”

I licked my lips. “You don’t scare me, Jasper.”

I was the one who scared myself because it was so very easy to end a life—messy, but easy. The knife slips in, the screaming ends, and the spark of life flickers out. Then one was over, and one was forever shattered.