9

Vasile opened the door to Jen and Jacque’s room and walked in without knocking. At this point, politeness was not at the top of his agenda. Decebel stood against the wall, his look cold and promising death. Jen and Sally sat on one bed looking very confused, and Fane and Jacque were on her bed. Fane stood up abruptly when he saw the other wolf enter the room with his father.
“Alpha, who is this?” Fane asked him.
“This is Logan, Dillon’s Beta. He has come to introduce himself to Jacque because he will be helping with guard duty,” Vasile explained.
Jacque smiled and said hello but could tell something was wrong. She looked at Fane, who was still staring daggers at his father.
“Fane, I need to speak with you in the hall while Logan introduces himself.”
Fane growled.
“Stop!” Vasile ordered. “Decebel will stay here, she will be fine.”
Fane turned to Jacque and leaned down to kiss her. “I will find out what is going on, love. Will you be okay?”
“I’m fine, Fane. Go, do what you need to, but then come back to me.” She kissed him gently and smiled into his blue eyes. Fane gave her hand one last gentle squeeze and then turned to follow Vasile out of the room.
Logan stepped up to Jacque’s bed and held out his hand. “Jacque, I am Logan, it’s so nice to meet you.”
Jacque smiled politely, but her words were tense. “It’s nice to meet you as well.” Jacque had barely gotten the words out when they heard a loud growl and things being slammed about outside of the hospital room door. Jacque started to get up. “What the hell is that?”
Decebel got to her before Logan could touch her. “Jacque, stay here please. Logan and I will be right outside to see what is going on.”
“Okay, please make sure Fane is okay. He is blocking his thoughts.”
Decebel nodded and then turned back to Jen and Sally. “You two stay put.”
“Once again, I am reminded that I should wear a collar that says, ‘if found please call the bossy werewolf who thinks he is my owner at 1-800-butt-head’,” Jen said sarcastically.
All three girls heard Decebel mutter under his breath, “Little, mouthy, smart ass.” As he followed Logan out of the room and into the hall, he was met with chaos. Chairs had been thrown about and shattered glass littered the carpet of the waiting room. Decebel turned to Logan. “If anything happens to any of those girls, you will die by my hand.”
“I will protect them,” responded Logan.

***

“HE CAN’T HAVE HER!” Fane yelled. His voice had gone guttural, his wolf pushing to take over. The wolf’s claws had pushed through his fingers and his eyes were glowing blue. Fane’s canines had begun to elongate.
“Fane, STOP!” Vasile growled at him.
Vasile had taken him down to the Emergency Room and was using one of the family holding areas to talk to his son. Alina and Lilly had gone with them.
“Ea este cu mine, cu pachetul nostrum She belongs with me, with our pack.” Fane pleaded with his Alpha.
“It’s pack law, Fane. I cannot stop him.”
“ARRGGGHHH!” Fane slammed his fist into the wall, making a hole and sending dust flying. “Nu-mi pasă de legile cu privire la ambalaj, despre legea ta. Ea este prietena mea, sufletul meu, și mă rogi să plec de la ea, I don’t care about pack law, about your law. She is my mate, my soul, and you ask me to walk away from her.” Fane grabbed a chair and threw it across the room, shattering the glass windows. He didn’t even pause before he ripped the television out of the wall and threw it out the window, too.
“Fane este sufficient, Fane, that is enough.” Vasile’s power flowed over the room, driving Fane to his knees. Fane’s shoulders slumped in defeat, his head hung. His hands were balled into fists, the claws that had emerged digging into his palms, cutting deep.
“What would you do if it was mama?” Fane’s voice was so low that Vasile only heard it because of his wolf superior hearing.
“I would kill anything and anyone who kept her from me,” Vasile admitted. “But Jacque is not in any danger, and it’s not forever, it’s just two months and then you can complete the bond and blood rites.” Vasile knew he was asking the impossible. He wouldn’t want to be separated from his mate for even two days, let alone two months, but Fane and Jacque were both still minors and not bonded. By pack law, Jacque’s father had every right to do what he was asking. What could Vasile do?
“You can be with her during the day, but he asks that you don’t spend the night with her,” Vasile told him, trying to speak as calm as possible, knowing he was prodding an already angry beast.
“He asks? Do you mean he told you, Alpha to the largest pack of grey wolves in the world? He commanded you to keep me away from MY mate at night?” Fane growled.
“I understand you are angry. I understand you are hurting, but I am still your Alpha. You will submit to me, Fane. You know I will not let anything happen to Jacque, trust me. If not as your Alpha, then as your father.”
After a few moments of silence, Fane finally stood up and looked at his father. “I don’t know if I can do that. You ask too much, Dillon Jacobs asks too much. I may not be the Pack Alpha of the Romanian Greys, but I’m more dominant than Jacobs. He will not take what is mine. I’m sorry, Alpha, but in this I cannot obey.” Fane didn’t wait for his father to respond. He turned and left the waiting area, headed back to Jacquelyn’s room.

***

Jen and Sally came over and climbed onto Jacque’s bed. “You got anything coming in on your reception, Jac?” Jen asked her.
“If you mean is Fane talking to me, then no, he’s blocking his thoughts. I am getting intense anger, though. Whatever is going on, it has Fane royally pissed off,” she answered.
“No pun intended, but,” Jen laughed, “get it? Royally pissed, cuz he’s a prince…anyone, no… no takers? Okay then.”
Sally patted her on the leg. “Any other time, I would have totally given you props, but a werewolf just nearly tore the hospital apart, so, right now, all props are on hold.”
“Noted.” Jen clicked her tongue and winked in acknowledgment to Sally’s statement.
Jacque became anxious over Fane’s lack of response. What could make him so angry?
“This is ridiculous,” Jen grumbled as she rose off the bed and trudged slowly toward the room door, her IV pole in tow. She pulled it open and stuck out her head. Decebel was standing to the left of the door in his usual pose, arms across his chest, looking for all the world like he would be happy to rip someone’s arms off given the chance. Be that as it may, Jen had to take two seconds, okay, maybe three, to acknowledge that the man had a nice chest. Not an option, she told herself, and decided that would have to be her mantra when she was around Decebel.
“Is there something wrong, Jen?” he asked her in his annoyingly calm voice.
“We just heard what sounded like a tornado ripping through this hall and you really want to ask me if something is wrong? Really? That’s all ya got? Are you seriously going to stand there and act like everything is peachy keen, jelly bean?”
Decebel raised a single eyebrow at her. “Which question would you like me to answer first?”
Jen growled at him. “Oh, forget it,” she said as she grabbed her IV pole and walked past him. “I’ll find out what the hell happened without the help of Mr. ‘I’m a big bad werewolf, I will eat you’.” Her voice got deeper with each word.
As she passed him, in a voice so low she nearly missed it, she heard him mutter, “You might like it.”
Jen whipped her head around, nearly losing her balance and knocking her IV pole over.
“Did you just make a joke? Because if you did, then we need to get on the phone with air traffic control to tell them to be on the lookout for fat little pigs with wings, and maybe even channel hell to see if the lakes of fire have frozen over.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied. Decebel softly took her arm and led her back to the room. He gently pushed her inside and pulled the door shut behind her.
Jen stood there completely dumbfounded.
“What did you find out?” Sally asked. Both she and Jacque were looking at their friend in expectation.
“I” Jen couldn’t get her mouth to spit out what her brain was trying to piece together, so she just stood there looking thoroughly confused.
Sally got up and walked over to Jen and helped her back to the bed. “Is it just me, Jac, or does it look like little miss thang has been rendered speechless?”
“Never thought I’d see the day,” Jacque agreed. “But for clarification purposes, Jen, snap out of it and tell me if you found out anything.”
Sally snapped her fingers in front of Jen’s face. This finally brought her brain back online. “Okay, you,” Jen pointed a finger at Jacque, who pointed to herself and mouthed “me” to Sally. Sally just shrugged her shoulders. “I have no information to give you other than the hall is a mess. That’s all I know.” Jen then turned and looked at Sally. “I did, however, find out Decebel has a sense of humor…I think, maybe, sort of, crap I don’t know.”
Before Sally and Jacque could ask Jen to clarify, the door to their room opened and Lilly walked in, looking exhausted.
“Mom, what’s going on?” Jacque asked her mother.
“We need to talk.”
“That’s never a good sign,” Jen said.
“Sally, Jen, you both need to stay and listen, this will affect you both.”
“No, Jen, that is never a good sign. The last time she asked you guys to stay, I found out I was half werewolf,” Jacque said, her voice wavering.
Before Lilly could get started, there was a light knock on the door.
“Come in,” all three girls yelled.
Alina walked in apprehensively. “Lilly, I thought maybe I could help explain things if there were any questions.”
“That would be great, Alina, thank you,” Lilly replied.
“Ok,” Lilly said, pulling up a chair to sit down. She placed her elbows on her knees and leaned her head down, running her hands through her hair. “let me get this out before Fane gets here because once he gets here no one will be coming anywhere near you, Jacque.”
“Mom, you’re making me nervous, what’s wrong?”
“Dillon is invoking Alpha rights as your father because you are a minor,” Lilly told her, frustration from her earlier encounter with Dillon leaking into her voice.
Jacque stared at her mother blankly, knowing she should be outraged. She just wasn’t sure about what, exactly. “Alina, translation please,” Jacque asked, turning to look at Fane’s mother.
“First, I want you all to promise not to say anything until I have explained completely,” she told them. “Do I have your word?”
“Word,” all three said dryly.
“Dillon does not think you and Fane are old enough to mate.”
Jacque started to interrupt, her face full of obvious outrage, but the look in Alina’s eyes was pure Alpha and Jacque’s mouth snapped closed. Alina nodded her head in approval and continued. “Since he is your father, and that he is the Alpha of his own pack, and you are under the age of eighteen, Dillon can invoke what are called Alpha rights. Basically, he is saying he can keep you and Fane from becoming bonded until you come of age—turn eighteen. He wants you to go back to Colorado with him and his pack for the next two months until your birthday. He thinks that you and Fane need to mature some and that Fane is not ready to be a mate and protect you as you ought to be protected.” After Alina finished talking, she waited for the inevitable, but it didn’t come. Instead, Jacque sat still as stone, her breathing even, her lips drawn tight in a straight line.
“Fane, I know you can hear me. I need you.” Jacque sent the thought to Fane, allowing him to feel her anger, her fear and worry.
“I am on my way. You need to know, Jacquelyn, I will kill anyone who tries to take you from me. Anyone.” Fane’s voice was like death itself, cold, dark, and unrelenting.
Jacque shivered at the sound of it in her mind. “Just hurry, please,” she said.
“Well, if Jacque will not share with the room the anger which she is undoubtedly feeling, by all means, allow me,” Jen announced. “Dillon Jacobs and what furry army is going to try, and let me just reiterate that…try…as in will, endeavor, strive, aim, seek, and unsuccessfully attempt to take Jacque away from us?”
Sally looked at Jen and couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. “Your vocabulary never ceases to amaze. Just when I think all you know is profanity and perversion, you come out with a speech worthy of Braveheart. Well done.”
Jacque would have acknowledged her friends’ efforts to defend her had the door not flew open and a raging, pissed off werewolf prince walked in. His power swirled around them so strongly that Alina let out a whine, sounding alarmingly like a wolf in pain. Even Jacque felt the dormant wolf gene in her wanting to submit to the power of the Alpha wolf in Fane. It was getting hard to breathe, the air was so thick with his anger. He walked over to Jacque, whose head was bowed and turned so that her neck was bared. It was like she knew instinctively to submit so as not to provoke the dominant wolf. Hopefully, she would subdue him in her surrender. Fane’s wolf must have been the one in control of the wheel because he leaned down over Jacque and growled low. He placed his face against her neck, breathing deep, and his voice was guttural when he spoke. “Mine.”
Jacque turned her head slightly and did what no other could ever do when an Alpha was at this point, she looked him in the eyes. “Yes, I am yours.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Fane pulled his power in and suddenly it was like a weight had been lifted and they could breathe again.
“Note to self,” Sally coughed to clear her throat, still trying to drag air in, “never anger an Alpha.”
“Good call, Sherlock,” Jen said sarcastically as she fell back on the bed, taking in deep breaths. She threw her arm across her face and tried to calm her racing heart.
Jacque looked around. “Everyone okay?” They nodded. She turned and looked at her mate.
“Sit,” she told him firmly.
Fane’s eyes continued to glow, and Jacque noticed his human hands had claws. His wolf was still here to play. Good to know.
Fane growled, or rather, his wolf growled. Jacque blew her breath out in exasperation. “Mate, you have made your point, we all submit and yada, yada. Now, will you please sit down next to me?” When Fane didn’t acquiesce, Jacque turned and looked at Alina as if to say, ‘fix it’.
Alina walked over to where Fane stood, and he turned and growled at her. Alina bared her throat, careful to keep her head lower than his and to not make eye contact. “The wolf is in control, Jacque, so until Fane can pull him back, he is going to respond just like an Alpha wolf in the wild.”
“What do we do then?” Sally asked.
“Everyone just stay calm,” Alina told them. “Nobody but Jacque can look Fane in the eyes right now. Also, please keep your head lower than his.”
“Well that’s not hard to do, he’s a mountain with legs, albeit a hairy mountain,” Jen muttered to no one in particular.
Jacque turned her notice back to Fane. She took his hand, drawing his attention from his mother. He looked down at her and she could see his eyes soften. She stood up slowly, gingerly, because despite her rapid healing she was still in pain, especially when she moved.
“You sit,” his mate told him.
“No, I stand.”
“Me Tarzan, you Jane,” Sally mumbled.
“Snap, you beat me to it. Nice going, Thelma.” Jen grinned at Sally.
“I learned from the best, Louise.”
“Damn straight.” Jen and Sally bumped fists and turned to look at Jacque, who had cleared her throat louder than necessary.
“What?” they both said in unison, shrugging their shoulders.
“I swear I have my own tweedle dee and tweedle dumb.” Jacque rolled her eyes and turned once again to her mate. “What can I do to help you?” Jacque spoke through their bond, hoping to soothe the wolf who was still the one manning the boat.
“Touch,” was the wolf’s response.
Jacque nodded her head in acknowledgment to his response. She took his hands and placed them around her waist, she wrapped hers around him and then put her hands up under his shirt so that her skin was touching his. Then she laid her head on his chest and listened to the beat of his heart. She felt him lay his cheek against her hair, and could hear him breathe in. Jacque knew he was taking in her scent, which, for some reason, comforted him. She ran her hands up and down his back, enjoying how smooth his skin was, how strong he felt.
“I love you,” Jacque whispered into his mind, pouring every ounce of emotion into those three words. She felt a deep rumble in his chest and knew this was what he needed. Just as wolves sought comfort through touching each other, Fane’s wolf needed to feel her, a physical reminder she was his, that she was safe.
“Mulţumesc, Luna, numai tu îl poți calma, Thank you, Luna, only you can calm him.” Jacque exhaled a deep breath at the sound of Fane’s voice in her mind.
She pulled back just enough to look at his face. “Welcome back,” she whispered to him. Fane turned her so that his body was shielding her from view and he placed his hands on either side of her face and just looked at her, like he was trying to memorize her every detail.
“Dragostea mea, te-aș sărut acum, My love, I would kiss you now.” Fane spoke so softly that Jacque nearly missed it.
“What did you just say?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
“I said I wanted to kiss you now.”
“Then why are we still talking?” she asked with a wicked look in her eyes.
Everyone in the room ceased to exist at that point. The only thing Jacque could see was Fane’s waiting lips. He leaned down while she stretched up on her toes to meet his eager lips. Usually, when he kissed her, it started gently, but not this time. Fane let go of her face and wrapped his arms firmly around her, pulling her close to his body. Jacque ignored the stinging pain caused by his tight embrace. For this, she would burn all over again. Jacque felt his tongue slide against her lips and a moan escaped her lungs. She heard Fane’s low growl in response. Jacque pulled back. Breathing hard, she looked around Fane’s shoulder, remembering they had an audience.
“They’re gone,” he whispered, his breathing just as labored as hers.
“No wonder you were getting hot and heavy.” She grinned.
“I’m sorry if I hurt you when I held you,” he said as he gently led her to the bed where she had spent the last month while her body desperately tried to heal. Healing was not the thing her body needed right now.
“Wolf-man, if you are gonna hurt me like that, by all means hurt me.” She laughed when he fake growled at her and bared his teeth.
She sat down on the bed and leaned back against the pillows at Fane’s prodding. He leaned across her, propped up on one arm, careful to not put any weight on her legs. With his free hand, he reached up and pushed her hair away from her neck. He ran his fingers down her collar bone and back up to her neck. Jacque shivered at the sensation of this hand on her skin. He continued to trace this same pattern from one collar bone to the next and back up to her neck.
“I love touching you.” She heard his deep voice in her mind.
She smiled at him and ran her fingers through his hair. He rewarded her with a groan. “I love hearing you make those kinds of noises, and I love even more that I’m the one who causes them.” Jacque couldn’t believe how candid she was being. But she wasn’t embarrassed with him, not anymore. This was Fane, her mate, her best friend, her love, and the last person in the world she would ever need to feel embarrassed in front of.
“I’m glad you’re finally catching on,” he said in response to her thoughts.
Jacque tugged at his hair in retaliation to his eavesdropping.
He laughed. “It’s not eavesdropping, love. I’ve told you it’s being attentive.”
“So, do I have your attention?” she whispered as she traced his lips with her fingers.
“Undivided,” he said, lips barely moving. “I’m mesmerized by you, by your touch, the only thing that can bring my wolf to heel.
“Good, cause you might want to pay extra close attention to what I’m thinking right,” she paused as she pictured in her mind what she wanted, needed from Fane, “now,” she finished.
“I think I can handle most of that,” he said as he kissed her fingers.
Jacque’s brow furrowed. “Not all?”
“You’re a wicked, wicked woman. You know that, right?” Fane teased her as he leaned forward and kissed her neck, nipping gently where his mark would soon be.
“There we go with the whole ‘soon’ thing.”
“Hush, my love. No more words,” Fane said in between kisses on her neck, collar bone, and lips.
And there were no more for a long while.

***

“I understand what you need me to do, Logan. I don’t need you to explain it twelve different ways.” Dr. Cynthia Steele’s frustration showed on her face.
“If something changes in the plan, if for some reason Fane is able to stay with her tonight, we need a Plan B,” he told her.
“I’ve already got it. If something goes wrong, I come tell the wolves that the blood tests I took from Jen are abnormal and that I want to take Jacque to the lab and draw more blood so I can compare the two. They will be confused and focused on Jen,” she explained. “They won’t realize Jacque is gone until it is too late.”
“Is it abnormal?” Logan asked her.
“That’s patient confidentiality, Logan, you know I can’t tell you that.”
“You are helping me abduct a future Alpha’s mate and you are worried about patient confidentiality?”.
“I have nothing against Jen. There’s no reason to violate her privacy. You only need to worry about Jacque.”
“Fine,” Logan growled. “Just make sure that one way or another, we get Jacque away from those mongrels and that she is sedated for our departure.”

Cynthia watched the wolf leave her office. She wondered, not for the first time, if she was doing the right thing. Then she would see her brother’s face in her mind. He had been so unhappy the last few years. She had known his wolf was growing uneasy at being unmated for so long. As an Alpha, it was doubly hard on him. His death was a perfect testament to what could happen when a wolf went after a female that wasn’t his true mate. So why was she helping Logan? It was obvious Fane was indeed Jacque’s mate. The truth was, she was angry and hurt, and Fane was the cause of that anger and hurt. She couldn’t challenge Fane for killing her Alpha, but she could hurt him just the same. That’s all there was to it. Fane had taken what was hers and now she would take what was his.
The papers she held in her hand drew her from her thoughts as she once again went over the lab results that belonged to Jennifer Adams. Although Jennifer looked ordinary enough, there was nothing normal about her blood, and she knew if Logan was aware of it, Jacque wouldn’t be the only female he would try to take to his pack.

***

“Dillon, just let him stay the night with her,” said Lilly. “I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“The big deal, Lilly, is that she is only seventeen and you’re okay if a guy spends the night with her. What else are you okay with our daughter doing?” Dillon’s nostrils were flaring as his frustration at the situation rose.
Jen, Sally, Vasile, Alina, and Decebel sat in the family waiting area that had become the undeclared meeting spot. They all looked on as Lilly and Dillon squared off.
“Does he realize what a major no-no he just made?” Sally whispered to the group.
“I don’t think he does, Sally. He criticized her parenting. That was probably the dumbest thing he could do,” Vasile agreed.
Alina patted her mate’s leg. “I knew you were smart when I met you.”
“Come now, Mina. Don’t be too shy to admit that you were so taken with my good looks that you could not focus on anything else.”
“He’s remembering it backward,” she whispered conspiratorially to Jen and Sally. “The first time we met, the only words he could say were Luna and mina, and even then, he didn’t say them in the correct order.” The girls laughed with Alina.
“Ahh, my love, now you are just being mean.” Vasile whined, and to hear an Alpha whine only made them laugh harder. Jen caught Decebel watching her, but he quickly looked away when she caught his eye.
A loud slap brought their laughing to a halt as they all turned to see a shocked Dillon Jacobs standing with a red hand print across his face.
“You can go to hell, Dillon Jacobs, and take all your damn smelly, flea infested wolves with you.” Lilly turned on her heel, barreling through the waiting room door. They all jumped when it slammed closed.
“Do all of you think we have fleas?” Decebel asked as he looked at Jen and Sally.
“I think we just assume because of the hair and what not, that you, ya know, might have a problem with the little buggers when you are in your wolf form.” Decebel’s face got more dubious with every word Jen spoke.
“Well, crap! Everything else with fur has fleas what did you expect us to think?” She snapped at him.
Decebel’s only response was a slight lifting of his lips that might have even passed for a smile…maybe.
Sally looked at Decebel with an obvious question written across her face. When Jen was no longer looking, Decebel winked at Sally, a silent acknowledgement that she knew something was up, and he wasn’t sharing.
Vasile walked over to Dillon and took a deep breath. He placed his hands on his hips and looked at the ground for a long moment.
“Are you sure this is still what you want to try and do?” he asked Jacobs.
“I don’t know any more,” Dillon admitted. “Lilly’s angry with me, Jacque probably hates me, and your son would just as soon kill me as look at me. But, Vasile, she’s my daughter, she’s so young.”
“She is young, and so is Fane, but that does not change the fact that they are true mates. His marks are on her skin.”
“What?” Dillon’s head snapped up.
“You didn’t know?” Vasile asked him.
“No,” Dillon replied, shaking his head.
“If you try to separate them, Fane will just come after her, and he will probably kill every wolf that gets in his way. He may be young, Dillon, but he is more dominant than any wolf I know, maybe even myself,” said Vasile.
Dillon clenched his jaw and ran his hand through his hair. He felt like he had aged twenty years overnight. He still hadn’t told his mate what he was really up to. That conversation was going to add another twenty years to his ever-shortening lifespan. He took a deep breath, let it out, then looked at Vasile. “Let me think about it tonight. I’m tired, everyone’s tired. Fane can stay with her tonight. Your wolves can guard her if that’s what you want. I will talk to all of you about it in the morning.” Dillon paused as he was opening the door to leave. “Tell Jacque goodnight for me. I have a feeling it wouldn’t be the best idea to go see her right now.”
“Considering she’s probably thoroughly lip locked with white fang, then, no, it would definitely not be a good idea to go see her. Oww, WTH, Jen?” Sally rubbed her arm where Jen had smacked it.
As Dillon stood like a statue in the open door, Jen glared at Sally. “Did you have to point out to him that his daughter was making out with a boy…alone…in a bed…alone?” she muttered.
“Jen,” Decebel grumbled. “You’re not helping.”
Jen continued as if she hadn’t heard. “I mean, geeze, Sally, why not suggest he go give them a condom just to, ya know, be on the safe side? And while he’s at it, he could take a banana and demonstrate how to put it on, and—”
“JENNIFER!” Decebel snarled.
Sally and Jen both jumped and turned to look at him. They heard the guest room door clang shut. “What?” Jen growled right back.
“I think he was just trying to say that we all got the point, Jen,” Alina mumbled.
“Oh, well, why didn’t you just say so? You didn’t have to snarl at me.” She huffed at Decebel.
“I didn’t snarl at you.” Decebel’s voice was low and tight.
“Yes. You. Did,” Jen argued.
“I have to agree, Dec, there was definite snarlage going on,” Sally said, nodding her head.
“Okay,” Decebel said calmly. “I’m sorry I snarled at you.”
“My name.”
Decebel cocked his head and looked at her quizzically. “What?”
“My name,” she told him. “If you are going to apologize to me, then you need to say my name.” The look on Jen’s face was completely wicked.
Decebel clenched his jaw. His eyes were beginning to glow gold, but he managed to say politely, “I’m sorry, Jennifer, for snarling at you.”
Jen grinned and held up the phone she had been holding. “That’s going to be my new ring tone, the big, bad wolf apologizing to widdle ole’ me.” She batted her eyes innocently.
Sally was coughing back a laugh, at the same time hoping Jen had not just prodded a sleeping lion.
Decebel said nothing as he rose. He walked toward Jen, who had the good sense not to run from a predator, although her eyes grew a little wider. He stopped just beside her and leaned down so that his mouth was next to her ear. “A banana, Jen, really?” He whispered and then walked away.
The door was nearly closed by the time her brain started functioning again. “Oh, come on! It was all I had!” she yelled, hoping his wolf hearing would pick it up.
Alina and Vasile had sat quietly through the exchange. “Have I ever told you how glad I am that we don’t have a daughter?” Vasile asked her under his breath.
Alina slapped his leg. “Hush, did you just see what I saw?”
“Yes,” Vasile answered, sounding very tired. “I saw it. I haven’t decided what to do about it.”
Alina looked at him dubiously. “Do about it? Alpha, you’re going to leave it be and let fate take its course.”
“Mina,” Vasile started to argue, but Alina was already turning her attention back to Jen and Sally. Obstinate woman.

***

“I will be home in a few days, Tanya,” Dillon told his mate over the phone. She had called his cell phone several times and sent him text messages as well, all of which he had ignored. And he’d kept their bond closed up tonight. Needless to say, she was not happy with him.
“Why can’t you tell me what you are doing? And don’t tell me its pack crap, you always tell me what’s going on between the packs.” He could almost see her snarling at him as she spoke.
“It’s not something to discuss over the phone, you are just going to have to trust me.” Dillon was losing his patience.
“Dillon, just tell me.”
“Enough!” Dillon growled.
Silence came across the phone. All he could hear was her breathing. “Tanya, I’m sorry, love, I didn’t mean to yell at you. I’m just a little stressed at the moment. Will you please trust me? It wasn’t right of me to leave without talking to you first, but what’s done is done.”
She didn’t respond right away, and Dillon was beginning to think she might have hung up on him.
“I trust you, but you won’t do this to me again, mate. I am your Luna and deserve more than that.” Her voice was calm and unwavering. She once again showed why she was his Alpha female. She was deceivingly small and quiet, but when Tanya needed to be an Alpha, she had no problem delivering.
“You are right, Luna. I won’t let it happen again. I love you,” Dillon told her just before he hung up.
He stood in his hotel room, nursing the scotch he had poured himself. He had called Logan and told him to pull the wolves back for now, that they would regroup in the morning. Logan insisted on staying at the hospital just to keep an eye on the Romanian pack. Dillon told him to make sure he stayed out of sight and didn’t cause any problems. Dillon had underestimated Fane’s reaction to his announcement that he planning on taking Jacque home with him. He had no doubt what Vasile said was true, Fane would kill anyone or anything that kept him from his mate. Which is the way it should be, right? He would move heaven and earth for Tanya. The only reason he hadn’t told her about Jacque was because he knew it was going to be one more reminder she was not able to conceive. He didn’t want to cause his mate sadness. He didn’t want her to feel inadequate because she could not bear him any pups. Dillon didn’t care, he was perfectly happy with their life, or was, until he found out about Jacquelyn.
In truth, he was once again being a coward, just like when he walked out on Lilly without a word. Now, he had left without a word to his mate about a child he’d just discovered. Dillon was afraid Tanya wouldn’t want him to have a relationship with Jacque. He had a lot of groveling to do when he got back. But first, he had to set things straight with Jacque and Fane. He didn’t want to lose her, but forcing her to come with him would not make up for seventeen years of absence. He realized now it would only drive her farther away. Dillon would tell her tomorrow he had been wrong. Those were the hardest words for any Alpha to say. It seemed like those were the only ones Dillon needed to say to the women he cared about.

***

Logan stood in the parking lot of the hospital. He had been watching and listening for any information he could get about the Romanians’ plans concerning Jacque. They suspected nothing of Dillon or his pack, even after Sorin, Fane’s childhood bodyguard, had found the mechanism Logan had placed on Lilly’s vehicle. Vasile had decided it must have been the Coldspring pack retaliating and sent two of his other wolves out to meet with their new Alpha. Of course, the new Alpha had no clue of the mutiny taking place in his own pack, so Logan was safe on that end. His next move was going to be to call Dr. Steele, as Plan B would need to be executed. Fane would not be leaving Jacque tonight, so they would just have to get Jacque away from her mate for a moment. He pulled out his phone and called Dr. Steele.
“Dr. Steele,” she answered.
“Plan B.”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yes,” she said finally. “It’s 5:30 p.m. now, so, give me a couple of hours. I will have to wait until one of the labs is clear. Once I have her in the lab and under sedation, you can come help me put her on the gurney to wheel her out. I will have to get you some hospital scrubs to wear, so you don’t look suspicious pushing through the halls what will appear to onlookers as a dead body.”
“I will wait for your call.” Logan didn’t wait for her response, he simply hung up.
Taking a deep breath, he turned his face up toward the setting sun, feeling the heat even this late in the day. He hated the heat, it depressed him, even his wolf. He would be glad to get back to his mountains in Denver. An iniquitous smile stretched across his face and his wolf eyes glowed. He wouldn’t be returning to his mountains alone. That thought perked him and his wolf right up.