Annie's POV:
I heard Jack before I saw Jasper.
The cabin door flew open. My son's voice went high with joy. I came out to find Jasper on his knees in the yard, both arms full of a squirming five-year-old. Jack's laugh was the loudest thing in the pack lands.
"Again! Again!" Jack was shouting. "Throw me again, Teacher Jasper!"
"One more," Jasper said. He stood and swung Jack up. Jack howled with laughter as he spun through the air and came down safe in Jasper's arms.
I stood at the door and watched. The guilt rose in me like water.
Jasper had come back from the training camp an hour ago. He had been on his feet since dawn, training pups, drilling warriors, answering to the Alpha. And here he was, on his knees in the dirt of my yard, being thrown at by my son.
"Jasper," I said when he
