An incredible warmth washed over me at his words.

Jasper had told me these same things when I was only fifteen and he seventeen, long before the mate bond overwhelmed us. And he had kept his word when I was ready to mate, he came to the door of my parent's house to claim me. Only then did I learn that he had already asked my father for my hand when he was only sixteen. On my eighteenth birthday, I did not shift. The whole pack found out, and I locked myself in my bedroom, ashamed and defeated. Jasper had almost broken down the door to come in and comfort...