Piercing Silence, Grey Wolves Series Novella

by Quinn Loftis

  Using her wolf’s sight, she had no trouble navigating around trees and bushes. And with her wolf’s sense of smell, she had no problem knowing if there were bigger and badder predators near her. When she took a deep breath, attempting to check for that very thing, she suddenly realized that she could no longer detect Jacque’s scent.

  Jen turned in a slow circle, breathing in and out of her nose, attempting to regain her friend’s trail. But all she smelled were the things that belonged in the forest. She stopped suddenly and tilted her head back a little further. Except that smell, she thought, it doesn’t belong.

  “Peace to you this night, Jennifer, mate to Decebel, Alpha female of the Serbia pack, beloved mother and friend.”

  Jen felt the sudden desire to have a three-year-old moment bubble up inside of her, and she had to force her feet to remain still instead of stomping. She had to bite her tongue so that she wouldn’t allow herself to "word vomit" into the quiet, serene forest. One might ask why she suddenly felt the urge to act in such a way, and Jen would answer because every time this particular voice had popped up it meant crap was going to hit the fan. Jen was seriously tired of cleaning fans.

  “Good evening, Great Luna,” Jen said calmly as she turned to face the creator of her mate’s race.

  The Great Luna smiled serenely at her and Jen could see the understanding in her eyes. “I can understand why you might be leery of my appearance.”

  “It’s just that we finally have a break, and I don’t really feel like fighting a bunch of crazy ass—” Jen said then paused and corrected herself, “crazy butt—man, that just doesn’t have the same kick behind it—supernatural bad guys right now.” She shook her hands in front of her as though she was shaking off water. “Sorry, I digress. I just had a baby. Okay, so it was like six months ago, but seriously do you see what those things do to a girl’s body? It takes time to bounce back, literally and figuratively, and frankly my bounce has not fully returned.” Jen let out a quick huff, her brief tirade complete, and stared back at the deity.

  “You have fought hard, on the battlefield and off. I do not come to you tonight to bring a fight to your door. It is your sister Jacquelyn that must battle, but hers is a different sort of war. She has a lesson to learn.”

  “Damn, I hate it when that happens,” Jen muttered under her breath.

  The Great Luna continued as though the she-wolf had said nothing. “It is not one that her mate can help her with, and yet Decebel and Fane are already in search of you both. All I ask of you this night is to do what seems to come naturally to you.” She paused and to Jen’s surprise a slight smile curved her flawless lips. “A little distraction is in order.”

  Jen tried to keep her jaw from dropping open. The Great Luna had just asked her to keep Fane from his mate.

  “Wait, wait.” Jen shuffled her feet and put her hands on her hips. “You mean to tell me B and Fane are already on their way, and you want me to have a distraction ready? Do you know how long it takes to prepare something? I mean, I don’t have a table. There’s no music. Really, what do I have to work with? I got trees and dirt.” Jen was now looking at her surroundings. She heard the Great Luna say something about having faith that she would figure it out, but Jen simply waved her off as she tapped a slender finger to her lips. “Distraction, distraction,” she mumbled to herself as the wheels of her mind cranked to life. “Can’t really do the whole lifting the shirt thing. Dec has so been there and done that. Can’t do a pretend strip tease. Don’t have any cards to play poker with.” She continued tapping her finger against her lips as she thought of her options.

  A plan began to form in her mind. “It won’t be my best work,” she huffed as she dropped to the ground and began rolling around getting herself dirty. She grabbed handfuls of dirt, spit on it, and then rubbed it all over her face. Next she reached up and tugged on her long pony tail causing it to loosen into a crooked mess. Jen looked down at her shirt and, despite the dirt, decided it was still too neat looking. She grabbed the bottom and jerked, causing a tear to rip across the bottom. She did this several more times, turning her shirt this way and that to spread the rips. Then she yanked off one of her shoes and threw it as hard as she could with her wolf’s help, which was pretty dang far, into the woods.

  “Okay, phase one, of Distract the Werewolves because the Great Luna Said So, is complete.” She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “DWWBGLSS.” She shook her head. “That’s going to need some work.”

  Jen tilted her head and attempted to listen. The forest was quiet. She couldn’t hear the usual scuttle of nighttime critters. She knew how quiet wolves could be when they hunted, but she was pretty sure Decebel and Fane hadn’t found her yet.

  “Dec?” She pushed open the bond just a little as she reached out to him. She waited several heartbeats before speaking to him again. “Decebel?” It would probably serve her right for him to ignore her, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t piss her off.

  “What are you getting all worked up about, baby?” His voice came through low and sultry, sending shivers down her back. How dare he try to flirt with her when she was trying to figure out what he was up to and how dare he be up to something when mischief was supposed to be her specialty?

  “I’m not worked up about anything. What would give you that idea?” Jen made sure to keep her thoughts about Jacque, the Great Luna, and her little distraction shut tightly away from her mate.

  “You just sounded a little frantic.”

  “I did not sound frantic. So,” she drew out the word before asking, “What are you boys up to? Have you helped Fane deal with his demons and what not?”

  “We talked.”

  “And it went well?”

  “It did.”

  Bloody hell, Jen thought, trying to get information from him is like trying to squeeze peanut oil from a damn lime. “So what are you up to now?” she asked trying to sound as casual as she could.

  “Well, funny you should ask.”

  Jen felt the hackles on her neck rising―nota good sign.

  “After we talked, Fane started thinking about Jacque and her strange behavior.”

  “She’s a chick, B, and she’s knocked up. It’s really her prerogative to act strange.”

  “Yeah, but one thing that he said didn’t make sense,” Decebel continued as though she hadn’t said a word. “Jacque was so upset about him shutting her out when he was struggling before. He told me that for some reason it just didn’t make sense that she would suddenly want space from him when she was so angry at him and hurt when he put space between them. So I helpfully suggested that maybe my mate, beautiful though she may be, didn’t really know what the hell she was talking about. So I made the suggestion that, perhaps, we should come find you two.”

  Jen’s hands were on her hips and her foot was tapping out a steady beat as she glared at nothing because her mate wasn’t standing in front of her to be glared at. “So you’re on your way here now?”

  “Yes.”

  Great. She threw her hands up in the air and tilted her head back. How was she supposed to make it look like she and Jacque had been attacked if she was calmly talking to him now?

  “Are you guys at the mansion?” he asked her.

  She grinned as a light bulb moment happened. She didn’t answer right away.

  “Jennifer?”

  She wanted to feel bad about the worry she heard in his voice, but then she remembered him saying that she didn’t know what the hell she was talking about, and all her sympathy flew out the window.

  “Jennifer answer me!”

  Time to put her famous acting skills into action. Okay, so maybe they weren’t famous but they should have been. “OH CRAP!” she yelled through their bond. “RUN, JACQUE!”

  “JENNIFER! What is going on? Where are you?” Decebel’s growl and command called to her wolf. The stupid hussy thought he was attractive when he went all Alpha on them.

  “I told you we were walking, briskly, because we neede
d some air. Clean air is good for a pregnant chick you know. So here we are out walking in the woods.”

  “You went into the woods at NIGHT, BY YOURSELVES!” he snarled and she could feel his sudden urgency.

  Jen momentarily forgot her roll. “Um, we’re werewolves too, remember? It’s not like we’re helpless.”

  “Then what is going on? Why are you yelling at Jacque to run?”

  “Crap!” Jen snapped out as she realized she’d let herself get distracted. “We might have run into a little problem while walking. Look, I can’t think and talk to you at the same time. You and Fane just get your fine butts into the mountains behind the mansion. I don’t know how far we’ve gone but Jacque just took off and . . .” She paused for effect before yelling. “DAMN! There went my shoe! Hurry up, B. I really had no desire to be chased by wild pigs yet again―or like, ever.”

  “Pigs? Jennifer what are you talking―”

  She cut him off not wanting to keep talking. “JUST HURRY! I have to find Jacque.” And once again she tightened her side of the bond down.

  Jen closed her eyes tightly and rubbed her temple with her fingers. “Ok, Great Luna,” she said into the quiet night. “I know you’re listening. I just told my mate we were being chased by pigs. Now, since this was your idea I’m asking for a little help. He isn’t going to believe a thing I say if he gets here and nothing smells like pigs. So I’m going to start jogging that way.” She pointed in front of her which was away from the mansion. “And I need some help with making his other senses believe what my appearance and freaking out are going to be conveying. Deal?”

  Jen didn’t wait to see if the deity responded. She started off at a brisk job, zigzagging through the trees. After a quarter of a mile she paused and looked behind her.

  A huge grin spread across her face and she couldn’t help the small chuckle of laughter. “I think that should do it. Thank you for that,” she told the Great Luna who had indeed heard her request and fulfilled it rather nicely. The ground Jen had passed over now looked as though not only her feet had trampled across it but as though a pack of wild bores had run through it crashing and clomping along tearing up the land and foliage around them. Even when Jen took a breath in, she caught the scent of the wild boars as if they had indeed been there.

  She turned back and started off at her brisk jog again. She knew it wouldn’t be much longer and her mate and Fane would catch up to her. Then the real acting would begin.

  Chapter 6

  “Open your eyes, Jacquelyn,” a soothing voice, one that most definitely didn’t belong to the Fates, said from behind where she knelt. She blinked several times to clear her vision and looked up into the night sky. Stars, more numerous than she could count, stared back at her.

  Jacque stood slowly and turned to face the Great Luna. When her eyes met those of the goddess, Jacque felt as though she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. The cold mountain wind felt even sharper on her skin as she felt her face heat up with the guilt that had been building inside of her.

  “It never ceases to amaze me how selfless my children can be.”

  Jacque felt as if there was a very distinct but that was headed her way.

  The Great Luna began walking slowly, her steps measured and smooth, in a circle around the area Jacque had claimed as her destination for the ritual. Her hands where clasped together in front of her and her posture was relaxed, though her shoulders didn’t slump and her back was perfectly erect.

  “Before you decided what was best for your mate, did you stop to consider what the effect of your actions might be?” There was no accusation in her voice, no condemnation. It was simply a question.

  Jacque hated to admit that she hadn’t considered anything except how it would benefit Fane. She hadn’t considered any other factor, because she feared that if she thought too much about the decision, then she might not be able to go through with it. Her silence was answer enough.

  “If you will permit me,” the goddess continued, “before you proceed any further, I would like to take you on a journey. I will warn you now that it will not be an easy one, but then,” she said and turned to meet Jacque’s eyes, “we both know you are no stranger to challenges.”

  “Do I have a choice?” Jacque asked.

  “Of course. You always have a choice. I will not force your will.”

  Jacque didn’t know why she’d asked. She knew that she would go with the Great Luna because she genuinely believed the goddess had her best interest at heart. “Well,” she heaved a tired sigh, “might as well face the firing squad.”

  The Great Luna reached out her hand and Jacque took it without hesitation. There was a sudden gust of wind and then a pulling sensation that took Jacque’s breath away. It lasted only a moment and then, abruptly, it was over and all was still around them once again. But they were no longer in the forest.

  Jacque’s eyes widened as she realized she was standing in the living room of her house back in Texas. She watched as her mom walked out of the kitchen, and Jacque had to hold herself back from running to her and flinging herself into her mother’s arms. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed her mother over the months or how badly she needed to be held and told that everything would be alright. She realized that it didn’t matter how old a person grew or how their life changed, there was just something about a mom that no one could replace.

  “She cannot see or hear you,” the Great Luna warned before Jacque could attempt to say anything to Lilly.

  “Is this like the Canis lupus version of the whole Christmas Carol thing?” Jacque asked as she watched herself walk into the living room. “Holy blowholes, are my hips really that big?” she muttered, momentarily distracted.

  “This is what could have been,” the goddess answered. “If you and Fane had failed to meet, to complete the unique bond that you had with only one another, then these are the events that would have come to pass.”

  Jacque didn’t like the sound of that because she was pretty sure it meant that she was going to be seeing more than just her own could-have-beens. “So what day is it? Should I have met Fane already?”

  “This is several days after you would have met Fane. But in this reality, he did not come to Cold Spring as an exchange student. And since Fane was not here to stop him, another has stepped in ready to make a claim on you.”

  There was a knock at the door and her mother walked over and answered it. Jacque’s eyes widened as she watched her mother speak cordially with none other than Lucas Steele.

  “He’s dead,” she whispered and instinctively took a step back. To her shock she watched herself walk over to the door and smile―bloody hell, she actually smiled at the jerk! “What am I doing? Don’t smile at him, you shameless hussy,” Jacque growled at her past self.

  “Trent still broke off your relationship because he was still threatened by Lucas to stay away from you. You met Lucas at a gas station. You were having trouble with the pump and he saw you and came over to help you.”

  “How kind of him,” Jacque huffed as her eyes narrowed on Lucas and herself chatting like old friends. Jacque feels a warm hand on her arm and then the pulling sensation is back. In a matter of seconds they are no longer in her home watching herself flirt with Lucas.

  Jacque looks around and realizes immediately where they are. “This is Jen’s room.”

  The Great Luna simply nodded and looked at the door of Jen’s bedroom which suddenly flew open with a loud thud as it hit the wall.

  “I’ve had it!” Jen snapped as she stomped into the room. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and tapped the screen a few times before putting it to her ear. “Sally, she’s done it again,” Jen yelled without bothering to say hello. “We were supposed to have a girls night, hang out, and do our nails and all that crap. And what does little Jacquelyn Pierce do? She texts me, TEXTS me, Sally, that she forgot that she’d already made plans with Lucas.” Jen sneered the name as if it were a toxic waste she was talking about an
d not a person.

  Jen listens to Sally, all the while nodding her head ferociously. “I know. I know. Girl you aren’t telling me anything. We both told her that if she didn’t cut this crap out we were going to take matters into our own hands. They’ve been dating for four months and he’s like a freaking baby cat attached to its mother's teat. Yes, dammit, I said 'teat.' That’s not the point, Sal. The point is there is something not natural about the guy. He gives me the heebee jeebees.”

  Jacque was speechless, not that they could hear her even if she did have words. How could she possibly be dating Lucas Steele? How could she pick him over her friends? Even with Fane, her friends were still mega important and he totally understood that.

  More nodding was coming from Jen as she was apparently listening to Sally give a similar opinion of the situation. “I’m thinking a major intervention is in order,” Jen barked into the phone. “I’m talking full blown, tie that bitch up, and drag her away from him so that we can talk some sense into her.” Jen was pacing the room like a mad woman, her hand clenching and unclenching at her side. Jacque hadn’t seen her friend that mad since Decebel decided it was his duty to die for their child.

  Again Jen was listening intently to Sally on the other end of the phone. This time she added grunting and cat-like hissing sounds to her continued nodding. “Oh, don’t even get me started on the secrets she’s keeping,” the blonde suddenly spat. “She thinks we don’t know her well enough to know when she is hiding something from us? I swear he’s doing voodoo on her or something. When has our red-headed friend ever, EVER, not told us everything? I mean our whole friendship has always been based on full disclosure. It’s like in the best friend code of conduct or some crap like that. Best friends don’t let best friends drive into stupid boyfriend situations.” She paused, listening to Sally again. “Exactly. I say we ambush her at like four in the morning. If that’s the only time we can get her alone, then so be it. Operation knock some bloody sense into our red-headed friend who’s got her head shoved so far up her butt she doesn’t even smell a rotten douche bag when he’s standing right in front of her is now under way. Yes, yes, I know that’s a ridiculously long name. Sue me, I get wordy when I’m pissed. K bye.”