Chapter 5
Jen walked briskly out of the mansion. A quick retreat was always best when attempting to pull the wool over a wolf’s eyes. Jen was a little surprised that Fane had bought the BS she’d been spewing about Jacque needing space. Granted, there were definitely times when a girl needed some breathing room from the overbearing men they were mated to. But, in this instance, Jen knew that was not what was going on with her friend. Jacque was in too much turmoil over what Fane was dealing with to want space from him. If anything, she probably wanted to be by his side, curled up in the safety of his embrace, just to have the reassurance that―despite his ghosts―he was still willing to let her in. For Jacque to have closed the bond after having Fane do that very thing only a few months ago, instead of letting his mate be what he needed, meant she was in some sort of deep defecation. Okay, so that was a ridiculous way to put it, but she was trying to curb her foul tongue to be a better example for Thia. “Oh, the things we do for our little drool factories,” she muttered as she climbed into the black SUV that she repeatedly told her mate was ridiculously cliché’ for werewolves to drive. He didn’t really care what she thought was ridiculous—his words. She couldn’t repeat what she’d said back since she was trying to tame her tongue.
As she headed in the direction of the Romanian pack mansion, Jen kept expecting Dec to contact her through their bond. To her surprise, she pulled up into the driveway without so much as a ‘get your cute butt home’. It might have been smart of her to consider why her mate was acting out of character, but she didn’t want to take the time. She knew it wouldn’t be long before Fane came to the same conclusion she had about Jacque shutting the bond, and then he would be a pissed off Canis lupus who’d been duped by his mate’s friend—and it was not for the first time.
As soon as she started up the front steps to the Romanian pack mansion, Jen let her wolf’s senses take over and picked up Jacque’s scent. Only it wasn’t headed into the building. Jen turned and looked out at the forest that had caused her one too many headaches.
“What are you up to, little Red?” she muttered under her breath as she followed Jacque’s trail into the forest. Jen realized, after twenty minutes of walking, that she clearly hadn’t thought her plan through. “A coat would have been smart,” she huffed at herself, “and earmuffs, gloves, a canteen of hot chocolate. Bloody hell, Jennifer, you act like you’ve never trekked through the cold mountains before.” She couldn’t help laughing at her ironic statement considering in recent months the forest and mountains had practically been home. Now, as she once again trudged through the foliage, she wondered what could have caused her best friend to return to the woods that was home to many unseen supernatural beings.
Night was falling rapidly and the temperature was dropping as she climbed higher into the mountains. She’d considered phasing to her wolf, but she didn’t like the vulnerability of being naked out here, even if it was only briefly while she put her clothes back on. Not to mention, she’d have to carry her clothes in her mouth.
“How is Jacque?” Her mate’s voice flowed into her mind. She was surprised at how long he’d gone without reaching out to her, though he would have known in a heartbeat if something was wrong. Jen considered his question. She had to play her cards carefully or he and Fane would be ripping through the forest like obsessed mad men.
“She’s good.” Jen didn’t specify that the ‘she’s’ part was meant to be short for ‘she was’ and not ‘she is’. So she wasn’t technically lying. The last time she’d seen Jacque she was good.
“Has she explained why she is closing the bond between her and her mate?”
“Not in so many words,” she hedged.
“What has she said?”
Jen could tell he was growing impatient with her, not that it was anything new. “We haven’t really made it to that part of the girl time. We’ve just been taking a stroll down memory lane. Again, not a lie,” she thought to herself. They both had indeed strolled through the forest where tons of memories remained. They just hadn’t been together while doing it.
“Do you think you could please ask her to let Fane know she’s alright?” Even in her head she could hear the bite in his question.
“I can ask her. That doesn’t mean that she will do it.” Jen stopped to look around because she hadn’t been paying attention in the least to where she was while she’d been answering Decebel’s questions. She shivered when she saw her surroundings and realized where she was. The large boulders protruding from the mountain and deep crevices brought back not so happy memories. “Good times,” she muttered as she remembered being pushed into one of those crevices by Martha, the she-wolf who’d fallen in love with a human and only wanted to be with him. Don’t ask Jen why the nut job thought pushing her into the side of a mountain would make her dreams come true. Apparently, when crazy people do crazy crap it totally makes sense to them.
“Why is your heart beating so fast?” Decebel’s question had her returning to the present, pushing back the memories of Martha and her craziness. Sometimes she appreciated how in tune her mate was to her. And other times she really wished he was as clueless as most women thought the male gender to be.
“Because I’m walking, briskly.”
“You and Jacque?”
“Exactly, I am walking, and Jacque is walking, and it’s at a speed that causes the heart to beat more quickly. This way blood can get oxygen to my muscles so that I can walk briskly.” The words were just pouring out of her even as she screamed at herself to shut the hell up. She still hadn’t lied, or at least she hoped not. It was probably a pretty good bet that Jacque really was, in that moment, walking. Crap, she was in a damn forest. What else do people do in a forest but walk? Okay, so maybe there other things they could do, she conceded with a sly grin.
“Other things, who, could do where?”
“Bloody hell does the man miss anything!” “Listen, B, you know I love our little chats, especially when they get spicy, but I can’t focus on you and Jacque at the same time. So I’m going to need you to skedaddle, while we continue our girl time.”
There was a long pause but she knew he hadn’t retreated. It took everything in her not to beat her head against a tree when he finally spoke.
“So you’re telling me that you and Jacque are having girl time while walking, briskly. Which has caused your heart beat to increase to get oxygen rich blood to your muscles so that you can walk, briskly. And because it takes so much focus to walk briskly and talk about girl stuff, you need me to skedaddle?”
The undisguised humor laced with suspicion had Jen vowing that as soon as she saw him, she was going to kick him. The location of that kick was still up for debate.
“Exactly. So glad we’re on the same page, K. Kiss Thia for me. Don’t forget to sing to her, Don’t wait up, love you, bye bye.” Jen slammed the door on their bond. She was actually breathing hard as if she’d said all of that out loud and not just in her mind. She could feel Dec’s frustration with her. She hadn’t shut the bond completely, just enough that he couldn’t read her every thought. Regardless, she knew she was going to get a lecture from her fur ball when she returned home. “This had better be worth it, Jacquelyn Lupei,” she muttered as she continued through the now dark forest.
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 needed 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.