by Quinn Loftis
“This is how I want to spend my nights for the rest of my life,” Jacque told Fane.
“I guess that’s a good thing since I intend to keep you for the rest of your life,” Fane said, only half-teasing.
“It’s late, love. Why don’t you go to bed? I don’t want you to be tired tomorrow.”
Jacque looked up at him and kissed him gently on the lips.
“I don’t want to sleep in my bed tonight,” she told him.
“Just where were you planning on sleeping, Luna?” he asked her.
“Well, this is a big couch. I imagine two people of reasonable size could sleep on it together,” she said, trying to suppress a grin.
“What do you think the mom of one of the reasonably-sized persons would say when she found her with another reasonably-sized person of the opposite sex laying on a couch together?”
“Don’t know. Want to find out?” was Jacque’s reply.
Fane laughed at her silliness and much to her surprise, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Only live once. If I’m going to die, I would rather die lying in the arms of the woman I love, even if it is by said woman’s mother.”
Fane kicked off his shoes and stretched his long body out on the couch. Jacque, trying not to be clumsy, stretched out in front of him. Fane put his arm over her waist and pulled her close against his chest. Jacque giggled when she heard him make a purring sound.
“What are you laughing at?” he asked her.
“Did you just purr? ‘Cause I didn’t think wolves purred.”
“I didn’t purr, I rumbled,” Fane said with as much dignity as he could muster.
“You rumbled? Seriously? Pray tell, what does that mean?” Jacque asked him, trying hard not to laugh.
“When wolves are content they often make a rumbling sound. I guess you could say it's equivalent to a cat’s purr,” he explained.
“It’s cute,” was all Jacque said in reply.
Fane began humming again and would periodically kiss Jacque’s hair. The last thought Jacque had before she fell asleep was that she didn’t have any details that Jen would think were good. That made her smile.
Chapter 26
Fane didn’t want to sleep. He didn’t want to miss a moment of having Jacquelyn in his arms. He figured it wouldn’t last much longer, because once her mom got home she would probably make Fane sleep on the porch. Still, he would sleep in an igloo if it meant he could spend this night holding his mate, his Luna. He took a deep breath, taking in her smell, cotton candy and snow, and he pulled her even tighter against him. Mine. Fane’s wolf was restless to complete the bonding and the blood rites. First we must fight, Fane thought. For her, for the future of our Pack, we must fight.
Fane didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until he felt something nudging his arm and a voice telling him to wake up. He opened his eyes, blinking several times to clear his vision. He looked down at Jacquelyn and saw that she was still asleep. She must have really been tired to be sleeping through three Romanians speaking ninety to nothing in their native tongue. He realized with that thought that his mother and father were here.
“Shhh,” Fane told them, pointing at Jacquelyn to make his point. “She really needs the sleep. Can we take this to the dining room, please?”
Fane slowly crawled over Jacquelyn, trying not to jostle her too much. Once he was up, he straightened the blanket that covered her, and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead.
When Fane walked into the dining room, he realized Sorin was home.
“Sorin, did Lilly come home with you?” Fane asked his guard.
“Yes, she went straight to her room when we got home. Although, as she walked through the living room past a certain couch where two bodies lay, she did mumble something about a stinking, grubby-pawed werewolf. It was difficult to hear her, and there might have been an expletive or two.” Sorin was obviously taking great pleasure in sharing this information, especially in front of Fane’s parents.
Fane chose not to take the bait, and turned to his father instead. “You brought some of the Pack with you?” Fane realized he could smell other Greys in the house. He tensed at this, and suddenly wanted to be back in the living room with Jacquelyn. Although she was his mate, they weren’t bonded. An un-bonded mated male Canis lupus was the most dangerous kind. As if on cue, he heard a slapping sound, and Jacquelyn yell, “Get your nose out of my face, you trespassing hair ball!”
Fane was moving before she even finished her sentence. Then he had the Grey by the throat and on the ground.
“What are you doing with your nose near my mate, Boian? And why should I not snap your neck for being so near her?” Fane asked the wolf.
“I meant no disrespect,” Boian answered.
“I knew we were missing something. Didn’t I tell you, Sally? I said, 'hey Sally, I think something’s going on downstairs', and what did you say? 'No, it’s just your imagination'.” Everyone turned to see Jen and Sally coming down the stairs. “Ok, Fane, we’re here. You can continue strangling whoever this fine piece of meat is.”
Fane slowly let the other Grey up and stepped in front of Jacquelyn. He did not take his eyes off Boian, nor did he relax his stance.
“Would someone like to clue me in as to what in tarnation is going on?” Jacquelyn asked, trying to look around at the people in the room but unable to do so because Fane was right in front of her. “Fane. Seriously, dude. You have a great backside, but I don’t think this is really the time for me to admire it. So could you please get your royal butt out of my face?”
The other wolves in the room all tried to disguise their laughs with coughs, obviously finding it amusing that a little human would talk to the Prince of their Pack in such a way.
“You can park your royal butt in front of me, Fane, I don’t mind,” Jen told him with a wink, which only made the other wolves laugh harder.
Fane growled but acquiesced to Jacquelyn’s wishes. He moved to the side but did not sit down. It was not wise to sit in front of other dominant wolves, it made you look like prey.
“Jacquelyn, Jen, and Sally, I would like you to meet my father, Vasil Lupei, and my mother, Alina Lupei.” Fane turned to three other new additions to the room, one of them being the wolf he had disciplined. “And this is Boian, Skender, and Dorian. They are upper members of the Pack.” He looked at his father. “În cazul în care este Decebel (where is Decebel)?”
“Urmărind pe ambalaj (watching over the Pack),” Vasile told him.
“What is 'desebell'?” Jacque thought to Fane.
“He is our Beta, our second in command,” Fane replied.
After nodding her understanding, Jacquelyn stood up, attempting to straighten out her shirt. She started to fix her hair, but she knew it was lost cause so she just let it be. She walked over to stand in front of Fane’s parents and tried hard not to look as messy as she felt.
“I’m Jacquelyn, Fane’s, um, well his, you know...” Jacquelyn tried to spit it out but it just wouldn’t leave her lips.
“My mate,” Fane finished for her.
“Yeah, what he said,” she agreed. “It’s so nice to meet you. I’m sorry you’re seeing me all sleep-ified and stuff.”
“She cleans up real nice,” Jen threw out there.
“Thanks for that, Jen,” Jacquelyn retorted.
Fane walked over to her and put his arm around her waist. She was beautiful to him. Hair all a mess, sleepy eyes – she was adorable.
“Tata, mama, nu-i asomarea (Isn’t she stunning)?” Fane asked his parents
“Intr-adevar ea este (Truly she is),” Alina answered.
“Would you care to share what exactly ya’ll are talking about?” Jacquelyn asked Fane through her thoughts
“I told them you were stunning and they agreed,” Fane answered.
Alina stepped forward and pushed Fane away from Jacquelyn, taking her into an embrace. “Jacquelyn, it is so wonderful to meet you. I am so thankful Fane has found you.”
“Thank
you,” Jacquelyn said simply.
Then it was Vasile’s turn. He embraced her as well, but when he spoke to her it was in Romanian, “Ai mei sint fiii cealalta jumatate, el putina lumina, de o moarte sau viata te vor fi protejate de haita (You are my son's other half, his little light, by his death or life you will be protected by the Pack).”
After he said this, every wolf in the room responded, “Asa cum veti se, Alfa, ea va fi adoptata (As you will it, Alpha, it will be done).”
“What exactly just happened? ‘Cause we all know there was some sort of pack voodoo going on,” Jen said, looking at Fane.
It was Fane’s father who spoke instead.
“That is something Fane can discuss with you later. Right now we have more pressing matters. Jacquelyn, I hate to ask this of you, but I need you to get your mother.”
“No need, I’m here. Believe it or not it’s kind of hard to sleep with a pack of wolves in your living room. I’m Lilly Pierce, Jacque’s mother,” Lilly said as she strolled into the living room.
Alina walked right up to her and hugged her just as she had Jacquelyn.
“I’m Alina, Fane’s mother, and this is my mate, Vasile,” she told Lilly.
“It’s very nice to meet you both. Please make yourselves at home while you're here. Although, I’m not sure how we are going to accommodate all of you,” Lilly told them.
“Oh, I talked with the Henrys and they were more than happy to have whoever stay at their home,” Fane explained.
“So, what’s this pressing business that needs to be discussed?” Lilly asked Vasile.
Jacquelyn turned to sit on the couch and started to pull Fane with her, but he did not move, nor did he let her hand go. She looked back at him in question and saw that he was staring at the other wolves in the room.
“Are you just going to stand there through this whole conversation? If so, then you’re on your own ‘cause I’m tired, I’m cranky, and I want to sit down…now, Fane,” Jacquelyn told him, glaring daggers at him.
Fane was not going to sit down until the other wolves submitted first. They were being stubborn because there were females in the room and they wanted to look all big and bad. He knew his father was not going to intervene because he wanted to see if Fane could submit other dominates. Only one way to find out. I’ve had enough of this, Fane thought. He turned so that his body was facing each of them directly, and he looked at each wolf. First Borian, then Dorian, and last Skender, until they each dropped their eyes. Then he spoke in the voice that they could not disobey.
“Stai (sit).” All three sat immediately, eyes still lowered.
Fane turned and bared his neck to his father, then pulled Jacquelyn over to sit on the couch.
“You are going to explain that later, right?” Jacquelyn whispered.
“Do I have a choice, Luna?” Fane asked.
“Point to you,” she told him.
Alina and Lilly both sat on the loveseat while Jen and Sally sat on the floor in front of the couch. Sorin was in his usual spot, the ugly chair, and the three wolves were all sitting on the floor around Sorin’s feet. They did not look happy. Vasile stood at the front of the room, looking out at everyone.
Jen looked over at Jacquelyn and whispered, “You know this really calls for some hot chocolate, right?”
Jacquelyn nodded in agreement as Sally stood up, saying, “I’m on it.”
“The challenge is to be tomorrow,” Vasile announced. “I will be calling Lucas Steele in a few hours to discuss the details. One thing that I would like to have set is the location of the challenge. I do not want it in his territory. It needs to be a remote location where there will be no chance bystanders will happen upon it. Do any of you know such a place?”
Jen and Jacquelyn spoke at the same time. “Field of dreams.”
Jen reached up and fist bumped with Jacquelyn. “Good call, Sherlock,” she said.
“All in a day's work, Watson,” Jacquelyn responded.
“What’s the 'field of dreams'?” Fane asked.
“It’s just an empty field out in the boondocks.” Jacquelyn answered.
“Ok, so why is it called the field of dreams?” he asked again.
“Jacque’s just embarrassed to say,” Jen told him. “It’s called the field of dreams because it’s where all the couples go on Friday nights and, ya know, hope their dreams come true, so to speak.”
Fane looked at his mate, and found her face nearly as red as her hair.
“Do you have personal experience with this field?” he whispered in her ear.
Jacquelyn slapped him on the leg, hard. “No, you possessive cave man, and you already knew that,” she growled, forgetting briefly that she had an audience.
“She’s a feisty little thing, isn’t she?” Fane’s father commented.
“Aveţi nici o idée (you have no idea),” Fane answered.
“Will there not be kids out at this field?” Vasile asked.
“Nope, they have it fenced off and gated. So we would have to do some B and E, if ya’ll are ok with a little law breaking,” Jen offered.
“What is B and E, love?” Fane asked Jacquelyn.
“Breaking and entering,” she answered.
“That’s not a problem,” Vasile told her. “Okay, good. Location is determined. The next thing I need to discuss is the challenge itself and how werewolf law works.” He paused as Sally walked back into the living room with mugs of hot chocolate and handed them out. Once she was seated on the floor next to Jen, Vasile started speaking again.
“Jacquelyn, what I’m going to tell you now is not pleasant, but it is our way and our law. It is going to be hard for you to understand and to accept, but I tell you now as your Alpha, and yes I am your Alpha as you are my son’s mate, you must abide by these laws and rules. Are we clear?”
Jacquelyn looked at Fane. He could see the panic in her eyes.
“It is okay, love. He is only trying to keep you safe. Trust me,” Fane told her.
She held his hand and turned to look at Vasile. “Crystal,” was all she said.
Vasile nodded his approval and continued. “The rules permit that an Alpha who challenges another wolf may bring his first four wolves, but the rest of his pack must stay away.”
“What do you mean by 'first four'?” Sally asked
“A wolf pack is a hierarchy. You have the Alpha, the Beta, then your dominants and your submissives. From there they are put into order of their rank, usually just the first four are acknowledged. An Alpha’s first is basically the next in command, he is the next most dominant after the Alpha, and it goes from there to the second, third and fourth, each one descending in their level of dominance,” Vasile explained. “Does that answer your question?”
“Yeah it did, thanks,” Sally answered. Vasile tipped his head to her in appreciation.
“Now, the rules also allow for the challenged to bring his Alpha and first four, which is why I brought three Pack members, Sorin makes four. My Beta Decebel is back home, so Dorian has taken his place. The only others allowed in attendance are the Alpha female and the female over which the challenge has been issued. No others will be permitted,” Vasile said resolutely. “I realize that each of you wants to be there with Jacquelyn, but I must make you understand it would be too dangerous. There are going to be ten wolves in a small area, two of them fighting for the right to take a mate. This will make the others edgy – women tend to do that to us males. If Fane is not the victor, it will be me and my wolves against Lucas and his wolves. It will be easier to protect Jacquelyn if our attention is not divided.”
Fane did not miss the way Jacquelyn’s face fell when his father mentioned the possibility of Fane not winning. He realized then that this next part of the conversation was going to be bad, very, very bad.
Chapter 27
Jacque had to look away when Vasile mentioned that Fane might not win. The thought made her sick to her stomach. She was also scared beyond belief knowing that she would not have her friends
or her mother there for support. Granted, she would have Alina and she was thankful for that, but she couldn’t help suddenly feeling very alone.
“You okay, luminita (little light)?” Fane asked her.
“No, wolf-man, I’m not,” she answered.
“Jacquelyn,” Jacque turned her attention to Vasile when he called her name. “I need to make some things clear to you that I imagine my son has not because of the ugliness of it. We are not human. Some of our ways follow the way of the animal we carry inside us. When I say this is a fight to the death, that’s exactly what I mean. If Lucas gets Fane by the throat and submits him, which is to say that Fane stops fighting, Lucas will still kill him. Some fights are fought until one wolf submits or is killed. This fight is not that way because a wolf will not give up his mate, so if another wants an un-bonded, mated female he must kill her mate.” Vasile paused to gauge her reaction and continued when all Jacque did was stare at him.
What else can I do? she thought. How am I supposed to just stand there and watch another kill him? Jacque felt like she was about to be sick.
“If Fane loses, you and your mother will come to Romania under my protection. Lucas will not give you up; he will expect you to become his mate. The only way to avoid it is to leave. Do you understand that?” Vasile addressed both Lilly and Jacque.
Both nodded solemnly.
“I’m sorry to speak of this so bluntly. Please do not mistake it for lack of care. He is my son, remember that. I am going to have to watch my son fight and maybe die and there is nothing I can do about it. Even though I know I could save him, I am not permitted to, so I do understand your fear and pain. As your Alpha, though, I must make sure you understand the possible outcomes and results of those outcomes.” As Vasile finished, there was a small sniffle and when Jacque turned in the direction of the noise she saw that it was Alina crying. Jacque’s heart broke and her own tears began to spill.
