the deterioration was caused by a lack of physical contact, but what was he supposed to do about it? Force himself on Elias? Obviously not. So he kept wracking his brain, trying to come up with other ways to integrate him more tightly into the fold.
“Why don’t we do some sparring?” he suggested one evening after dinner.
Summer was in full swing, and the sun was still high in the sky. Saul had gone back to work on the foundation he was laying. It was a lot of digging—more than it was fair to expect him to manage on his own—but townspeople had been showing up to help. Not because anyone had asked them to. Just because… because Jasper was an uber-alpha, and the town was starting to get the idea that he was their uber-alpha. The help was appreciated, but he worried there’d be a price to pay for it down the road.
“Sparring?” Elias repeated. “Like you want to fight me?”
“I want to teach you to fight.”
If Elias was going to act as Jack Henry’s bodyguard, then Jasper needed him to know how to fight. Plus fighting meant touching, and maybe non-sexual touch would work. Even outside of sex, Elias had a tendency to remain at a distance from him and Saul whenever he could. Jasper was hoping to change that.
Elias ran his hands up his forearms as if he were wearing long sleeves that needed to be pushed up. Psyching himself up for a beat down, maybe.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Jasper promised with a smile that bared his canines. He was teasing a little, poking at the edges of the walls Elias kept between them.
“I’m not worried,” Elias grumbled. He was worried, but that was all right. He wasn’t backing down, which was the main thing Jasper needed from him. As an alpha, Elias wouldn’t have any trouble handling a human if one came at him, and since Jasper was the only uber-alpha in town—possibly in the world—that only left regular alphas to worry about. Regular alphas like Lon.
“You hear anything from back home?” he asked as he led Elias out to a bare patch of land downwind from where Saul was working on the house. Jack Henry was helping Saul—mainly by handing him things while he drooled over Saul’s bare chest—and Jasper enjoyed being able to smell the two of them.
“Called my mom from work today.” Elias had gotten a job at the library because he was a clever young man. Book smart. “They’re telling stories about us all over town.”
“I’ll bet.” Jasper used his heel to draw a ring in the dirt big enough to give them room to fight but not so big that Elias could play keep-away. “Good stories or bad?”
“Mostly it sounds like they’re glad we moved to Galvetta. Galvetta’s troubles make good gossip.”
“So they think we’re trouble?” That was why Jasper needed Elias to be able to fight. If folks thought the pack was trouble, folks might cause trouble.
“Lon’s been shooting his mouth off, claiming the race wasn’t fair. Something about how Jack Henry rightfully belonged to him because he was in a tree—whatever the hell that means—but a rogue alpha tried to claim him against his will and then Lon tried to save him but the three of us ganged up on him.”
“Huh. That’s not how I remember it.” Jasper should’ve killed Lon when he’d had the chance. “And it’s too late now, either way. Jack Henry is mine.”
“Ours,” Elias corrected.
Jasper shrugged. If Lon was refusing to accept the claim, then all the more reason why Elias needed to be able to fight. So let him be angry. Jack Henry’s safety had to be Jasper’s priority. He raised both hands and let his claws pop free. He wouldn’t go full wolf on Elias, but he intended to challenge him, and just hearing Lon’s name made his wolf rise to the surface.
“Come at me.” He waved Elias on, but Elias remained at the edge of the circle.
“Why do I need to know how to attack someone? My job is defense.”
“You’d rather I came at you? Fine.” He didn’t offer any more warning than that, just sprang, easily covering the four feet between them to drive Elias into the dirt. Someday, this would be good farmland. For now, it made a reasonably gentle landing zone. Elias exhaled hard as he hit, his breath coming out in a long whoosh that fanned across Jasper’s cheek.
Jasper raised his hand to Elias’s neck and let