12

"Do you think it was wise of you to make Decebel her protector?" Alina asked her mate.
Vasile continued to stare at the road as he drove towards the site of The Gathering.
He knew it was a gamble placing Jen in Decebel's care. "I don't know," he admitted. "I guess I'm trying to force him into action. Maybe if he sees others pursuing her, he will get over this fear and make a move. Or I could just be setting up some poor wolf's demise."
Alina watched him carefully while he spoke, noticing the faint lines that ran along his skin. Even after two centuries her mate was still unbelievably handsome, but it seemed the stress of life was catching up with him.
"Sometimes dominant wolves have to be pushed over the edge when they won't jump on their own. Why do you think that is?" Alina's tone was teasing.
Vasile's lips lifted slightly. "Even us dominants have to have one flaw, Luna, otherwise it wouldn't be fair."
Alina laughed and shook her head at her mate's forever cockiness.


"I spy something green," Sally announced.
"Trees," Crina hollered, while Mariana called out, "Grass,"
"Nope," Sally answered.
"What's the point of this game again?" Crina asked.
"Mindless entertainment," Jen announced. “It's what Americans are known for."
Fane and Decebel laughed at Jen's words.
Vasile had devised the riding assignments, and so Jen, Jacque, and Sally had been paired with Crina and Mariana as well as Decebel and Fane. One big, happy family, Jen thought as she looked around the cab of the Hummer. She was really glad that Crina and Mariana had turned out to be cool. It would have sucked big time had they turned out to be ninnies.
"Anymore guesses?" Sally asked.
"I think we've had enough of I Spy, Sal," Jacque told her.
Sally's face fell briefly, but perked up when she said, "Okay, how about -"
Before she could finish, Jen cut her off. "How about we discuss the plans for when we arrive at this little 'meet your baby daddy' festival."
The entire vehicle erupted in laughter at Jen's slang. Jen blushed ferociously when Dec gave her a heart-stopping grin.
"How do you all keep from peeing on yourselves when she's around?" Crina asked, wiping the tears that had welled up in her eyes.
"No doubt, it's tough," Jacque told her. "And sometimes it's wise to bring a change of clothes if you're going to be around her for any extended period of time."
After the laughing and bantering finally died down, Fane addressed Jen's earlier question.
"I think tonight there is a large gathering with all the packs to lay out the ground rules and purpose behind The Gathering," Fane explained. "There will be lots of mated pairs all around and Alphas to keep the males in check."
"I feel like I should wear a raincoat or something," Jen only halfway joked.
Crina laughed. "I take it you're afraid someone's going to hike a leg?"
Jen grinned. "I knew from the moment I heard you take on Vasile I would like you."
Decebel rolled his eyes. "Great, now we're really outnumbered."
"Don't you forget it, bucko." Jen tossed a crumpled piece of paper but he caught it before it hit him.
"You do like to push your luck don't you, Jennifer?" he asked her.
"Push it, or just give it a great big shove. Whatever gets the job done." She winked at him and then slid down into her seat. "I'm going to try and catch some Zs before we get there. I have a feeling I'm going to need my wits about me."
"That could be a problem, Jen. You have to have -" Sally started.
"Not another word, Sally." Jen's words were followed by snickers from the other girls, and then the vehicle fell silent.


Thad watched as his wolves set up the meeting room with chairs and tables for the packs. The American pack had already arrived and was getting settled into their rooms. The others were due to arrive any moment.
Thad's eyes followed the movement around the room but his mind was elsewhere. He couldn't help but wonder if he would finally find his true mate among those who were coming to The Gathering. Two centuries was too long to be without a mate. Especially when the other Alphas were all mated. He wasn't a weak Alpha by any means, but it was a fact that a mated Alpha was a stronger Alpha. So regardless of his own strength, until he was mated, he would not stand a chance against another.
Thad was pulled from his thoughts when the double doors to the large room opened. He watched as Vasile and his mate entered. Behind them he saw his Beta and Fane, the Grey Wolf Prince. The sheer size of them blocked any view of those who might be behind them. Thad was sure that was a tactical move on Vasile's part. His females would be well protected. That could be a problem, but not insurmountable, he thought.

"Daaaaang," Jacque whispered as the double doors opened and they walked into a large room. "Would you look at this place!"
"I feel like Beauty in Beauty and the Beast," Sally whispered to Jen. "You know, when she walks into the grand ballroom for the first time?"
"Well, you got one thing right, Sal," Jen murmured as she too took in her surroundings, "we are not short on beasts."
Jen tilted her head back at Jacque's prompting and her own mouth dropped open at seeing the height of the ceiling. That wasn't the only thing that had their mouths hitting the freshly waxed floor. Painted on the ceiling was a forest covered in shimmering snow. Somehow the artist had achieved a nearly three-dimensional effect, and by looking at it you felt as if you were falling into the painting. Among the hills and trees there were wolves. Some were running, others lying quietly.
The theme was quite obvious once you picked up on it, Jen realized. There wasn't a single wolf alone. Each one was paired with another. And as she looked harder, she could see that every pair was touching. The wolves running side by side were painted so that their tails intertwined as they ran, the ones sitting together had one tucked in close to the other, and those lying down had one wolf literally curled around the other, protecting, sheltering. It was beautiful, and the meaning was clear: wolves weren't meant to be alone. They were created for a mate.
Jen pulled her eyes from the compelling painting when she felt a tug on her sleeve. She turned just as Mariana was waving them all to follow.
“This handsome gentleman offered to show us to our rooms,” Mariana told them. Jen looked back and saw that Vasile was talking to some other guy who looked to be in charge of something. They probably weren’t needed. She looked at Jacque and nodded in the direction Mariana was headed.
“I’m in. You?”
“Lead the way,” Jacque answered.
Jen didn’t know if she should say something to Decebel, but she figured, He’s got wolf hearing, surely, he'll hear us leaving. Not only that, but there was no way Fane would not keep tabs on his little she-wolf. So, she shrugged her shoulders and followed the rest out of the large room. With her back turned she didn’t notice Decebel nod to Costin, a silent order to keep an eye on the girls until he could leave without appearing disrespectful.

“Vasile.” Thad raised his voice to be heard across the room as he made his way over to the Romanian Alpha. “So glad that you could come.”
“I want our species to thrive just as you do, Thad. Our pack appreciates you inviting and giving our single pack members a chance to possibly meet their true mates.”
Decebel felt his skin begin to prickle as Jennifer got farther and farther away from him. He was very close to simply ignoring protocol and going after her, but that would make Vasile look bad in the eyes of other wolves and he wouldn't do that to his Alpha. He just kept reminding himself that Costin would keep an eye on her and not let other wolves near her. Still, his wolf was restless. This is going to be a long week, Decebel thought.
"What time should I have my pack down for the gathering tonight?" Vasile asked Thad.
"We are to begin at six, so you probably want to have them down a little before to get seated. I will have two of my wolves show you to your rooms." Thad looked around Vasile at where the girls had been standing only moments before. "It looks like the dominant males have already made themselves known to your females." He chuckled.
Decebel growled, but before he could get much sound out Fane elbowed him hard in the side. Decebel coughed. He cut his eyes at Fane, who had the gall to wink. His red headed mate was rubbing off on him already.
After Thad and Vasile finished talking, Vasile turned to the pack members who had stayed with him. "Follow those two gentlemen, they will take us to our rooms." Vasile indicated two wolves standing directly in front of a large staircase in the entryway.
As they climbed the stairs, Vasile positioned himself in between Fane and Decebel. "I want you two and Sorin to go and make sure the girls stay out of trouble until tonight."
"As you say," Fane and Decebel spoke at the same time.
When they reached the top of the staircase, Decebel's head snapped to the right. There was loud laughter coming down the hall.
He nudged Fane. "My bet is we'll find trouble down that way." He indicated the direction the giggles were coming from.
"Are we going to survive this week?" Fane asked Decebel wearily.
"What's this we crap? You're mated, you can go hole up with your woman. I, on the other hand, get to be smack in the middle of the festivities," Decebel said the word as if it were a disease.
Fane laughed and patted Decebel on the back. "However, I can help, Beta, I will. But I don't envy you when it comes to being responsible for Jen."
"No doubt. She's a handful."
"You wouldn't have her any other way, would you?"
"Not on my life," Decebel admitted shamelessly.
Just as they reached the door from which all the noise was coming, they heard – for the first time – male laughter. Decebel snarled as he grabbed the doorknob and threw the door open. Fane was right behind him, immediately searching the room for Jacque. He wasn't as angry as Decebel because he'd been able to feel Jacquelyn, and knew there was no danger.
Of course, danger isn't entirely what Decebel is worried about, Fane thought.

Jen nearly rolled off the bed as she laughed. The two guys who had led them to their rooms were hilarious, though it wasn't completely them. They didn't understand a lot of American sayings and when they repeated them or tried to use American slang, it came out really funny.
"So, are you liking Romania?" the wolf called Damion asked her.
"Well, it's cold," Jen started, "but it's alright. We got to go out to one of the dives and dance. Costin over there," Jen pointed to Costin who was standing in a corner with his arms folded across his chest, looking way to close to being mini-me Decebel, "hooked us up with drinks. He even let me dance on the bar."
"Forgive me, but what is a dive? And how do you hook a drink?"
Jen, Sally, and Jacque couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up at his innocent question.
"Sorry, Damion. We aren't laughing at you," Sally explained when he began to look even more confused. "It's just we don't really think about how our words must sound to someone who doesn't use the same slang."
Damion waved her off, obviously not offended.
"So, a dive is like a bar or club, you know, somewhere to hang out. When I said hooked up, I mean like helped us out, or provided us with something."
Damion grinned and looked at his pack mate Adrian. "I think I like this term 'hook up'. What do you think?"
Adrian nodded. "So, would it be correct for me to say I want hooked up you?"
That did it – even Costin's stoic façade fell apart. The entire room erupted into laughter. This time Jen did fall off the bed and landed next to Damion, who helped steady her just as the door flew open.
Jen looked up and the first word that came to her mind flew right out of her mouth, "Shit!" She slapped her hands over her mouth, which only made her lose her balance more and she fell forward, across Damion's lap. So not good.
The room suddenly plunged into deathly silence.
Decebel's eyes landed on Damion and then at Jen as she struggled to right herself from Damion's lap.
His eyes began to glow and, for the first time in a long time, his wolf won.
Jen watched in complete horror as several things happened at once. Decebel lunged for Damion as Fane, Costin, and Sorin, who had appeared out of nowhere, all lunged for Decebel. Jen felt herself be pulled back and she tumbled onto her butt.
"We haven't been here thirty minutes," Jacque said, sitting down next to her.
Sally pulled up some carpet on Jen's other side. "Wow, that's impressive."
Crina and Mariana, who had been sitting close to Costin, came over. "I guess I know where I need to be if I want free entertainment," Crina teased.
"Yyyep," Jen said with a pop on the "p." "Just call me prime time, because if this kind of crap follows me all week, my ratings are bound to soar."
Jacque snorted. "Lucy, esplain this mess." she used her best Ricky Ricardo voice.
"Ahh, Ricky, I just wanted to surprise you." Jen tossed back.
Sally laughed with them. Then the collective group of five cringed as Decebel got one good punch across Damion's face before the other males finally pulled him back.
Dang, he's strong, Jen thought.
Finally, Decebel collected himself and shook the others off. "I'm fine," he said, holding his arms up in surrender.
Damion wiped the blood from his lip, his eyes now glowing an eerie green.
Sorin stood in between the wolves, his hands held out between them as if to hold them off.
Decebel growled when Damion continued to meet his eyes. Damion finally relented and dropped his eyes.
Jen muttered, "Good grief."
"Charlie Brown," Sally finished.
Decebel's eyes fell on Jen, which made her squirm, only she didn't know why because she hadn't done anything wrong. Jen continued to meet his stare and the longer she held it the angrier she got. Finally, she stood up, causing Jacque and Sally to scramble to their feet, not wanting to be the only ones on the floor. Fane walked over to Jacque and took her hand.
"We need to go," he told her gently.
"Do you think it wise to leave just now?" Jacque asked through their bond.
"Most definitely," Fane answered as he tugged her towards the door.
When no one else made to follow Fane and Jacque, Decebel growled, "Everyone out!"
Suddenly everyone was in motion. Jen grinned to herself as she began to head to the door with everyone else. She heard Crina chuckle behind her, obviously having caught on to what she was trying to do.
"JENNIFER." Decebel's voice wrapped around her, pulling her to a halt.
Damn Beta, she thought.
"Good try," Crina whispered as she squeezed past Jen.
"Scream really loud if you need to be rescued," Mariana told her, then winked. "We'll send someone."
"Yeah, thanks for that, wolf-girl."
The door clicked shut, leaving Jen alone with one very large, very angry wolf.
She turned around slowly and made her way towards the window, almost casually.
"So, how are you liking the weather?" she asked as if he hadn't just nearly torn a man in half.
"What part of 'don't touch another male' didn't make it through that thick skull, Jennifer?" Decebel's voice was deep and low.
Oh, hell no, Jen thought. He did not just imply what I think he did. She whipped around and pinned him with ice blue eyes. "You know what, Decebel? I think this whole thing," she motioned between them, "is a conflict of interest. Yeah, the more I think about it the more I think it's detrimental to your health for you to be on my security detail."
"A conflict of interest?" he repeated sarcastically.
"Exactly. Your interest in me has caused your good sense to become conflicted, or impaired, actually. Wait, I'll do you one better than that – your good sense has kissed your ass goodbye on its way out the door, waving and smiling with well wishes."
Decebel stood dumbfounded at the anger in her voice. Why is she angry? he wondered. He was the one who had found her in another wolf's lap. Oh, that was not a good thing for him to dwell on. He felt his canines trying to lengthen and took a deep breath, pulling his wolf back.
"All I know is we are apart for five minutes and you're cuddled up next to some pup."
"Cu-cud- cuddled," Jen was so angry that she couldn't even get her words out. "If you would open your freaky glowing eyes and quit jumping to conclusions, you would have seen that I wasn't cuddled in his lap. I fell off the bed and landed next to him. You barging in surprised me and I lost my balance, that's when I ended up in his lap."
"He's interested in you," Decebel bit out.
"Of course, he's interested in me, flea bag. There is all kinds of interest to be had up in here." Jen couldn't help but goad him on, it was just too stinking easy. She could almost see steam rising from his head at her words.
"You aren't helping, you know."
"You didn't ask for my help, B. You barged in here thinking the worst of me and then acted like a barbarian. Then you accused me of purposely throwing myself at some guy I don't even bloody know." Jen was to the point that she just really wanted Decebel out of her room. Her emotions were raw. She had been having fun, laughing and, sure, flirting a little. But much to her chagrin, no matter how hot Damion and Adrian were – who, by the way, were mega hot – she wasn't interested. Then Decebel has to come in and be all, well, all Decebel.
"Look, we need to take five, okay? Go get a Kit Kat and give me a break."
Decebel cocked his head to the side, obviously not understanding her reference.
She shook her head. "Never mind, just leave. Is that clearer for you?"
"You want me to go?" Decebel took a step back, obviously caught off guard by her statement.
Yeah, well, that's what you get for being something that rhymes with stick, Jen thought angrily. "Can you not get that through your thick skull?" She threw his words back in his face.
Decebel felt like she had slapped him, and realized how his words must have made her feel.
"Jennifer..." He took a step towards her, his voice much gentler.
Jen held her hand up to hold him off. "Save it. I'm not ready to hear how you didn't mean to hurt me and blah blah, boo hoo. Okay? I just want to chill out before this thing tonight."
Jen walked to the door, pulled it open, and waited.
Decebel stood there for a moment, still completely shocked that she was kicking him out. Finally, he shook his head and made to leave. As he walked through the door, he heard her mutter, "It'd be nice if you could try not to pee around my door." Then she slammed it shut. Decebel heard the lock click in place.

Jen leaned her back against the door and slid to the floor. She drew her knees up and looked around the room. It was very elegantly done in candlelight and sage. It had a calming effect – well, when there wasn't a raging werewolf standing in the middle of it.
She closed her eyes as she leaned her head back. "Well, this has started out splendidly. Fall in one little lap and all goes to hell in a hand basket" she said to no one.
Jen jumped when there was a knock at her door. She rolled her eyes and growled, "Go away, fur ball. I told you I'm done."
"Jen, it's Cynthia. I think we need to talk."
Jen's eyes popped open and she stood up. "I think you read my mind."