Blood Rites

Michael looked at Dillon for permission to answer. When Dillon nodded he turned back to Vasile. "Sam's father is the Alpha in Springfield, Missouri. When Sam goes to visit his family he usually stays at the cabin on the land that the Springfield pack hunts on."

"This just keeps getting better and better," Decebel grumbled.

Fane turned around slowly as Michael finished speaking. He looked at his father and then at Dillon. "So what he's saying is, my mate has been kidnapped and taken into the territory of an Alpha who doesn't know she is there and placed in the middle of his hunting ground?"

"Yes?" Michael's voice was nearly a squeak as he watched Fane's eye glow brighter and his canines lengthen.

"Dillon, do you know where this cabin is located?" Vasile asked, his eyes never leaving his son.

"No, but I will contact Sam's father. If I tell him what is going on maybe he will be willing to help."

"Or once he figures out his son is involved he may decide it's in his best interest to just stay out of it," Decebel added.

Dillon nodded his agreement as he pulled out his phone and dialed the Springfield Alpha's number.

When the interrogation had ended and Fane returned to the car, he slammed the door of the SUV, causing the four women waiting to jump.

"Things went that good?" Jen muttered under her breath.

Vasile and Decebel climbed in with less fanfare. Vasile was already on the phone with Sorin as he pulled out of the Denver pack's driveway.

"Sorin, get the plane ready. We're going to Springfield, Missouri." There was a pause as Vasile listened to Sorin on the other end of the phone.

"Yes, we're taking everyone. Get us a hotel. I'm not totally sure about all the details yet so we will need a place to regroup." Vasile ended the call and looked in the rearview mirror at Lilly, who waited patiently.

"Logan has been getting help from a pack mate whose father is the Alpha in Springfield and has some land with a cabin in Ozark. We think this is where Logan is holding Jacque."

"Well, that's good news, right? So what's with the obvious anger?" Sally asked.

"The Alpha is not cooperating. He wouldn't give us the location of the cabin. All he said was that he wouldn't let his son know that we knew their general location," Fane growled out.

"What the hell! Vasile, can't you do anything to this Alpha? Give him a good shake by the scruff or something?" Jen asked, her frustration obvious.

"Did you just say a good shake by the scruff?" Sally asked her dubiously.

"What? I'm just saying."

"If it comes to that, then yes. But I don't have my whole pack with me and the Springfield Alpha is no weakling," Vasile answered.

"Oh, right. Geeze, this SUCKS!" Jen growled out.

The drive back to the hotel was quiet. The tension was palpable and the waves of frustration rolling off of Fane were enough to cause motion sickness.

They hadn't been back in the hotel room five minutes when Fane collapsed to the floor. He grabbed his head, fighting the stabbing pain. As he squeezed his eyes closed he realized it was Jacquelyn's pain he was feeling. Something was seriously wrong. He reached out to her but she was pushing as hard as she could to keep him out. Fane pushed harder. He got a very brief sense of fear, or terror rather, and then she slammed the walls down even harder.

"Ahhhh!" Fane yelled.

"Fane, what's wrong? Is she okay?" Sally and Jen were both kneeling on either side of Fane, who continued to growl so menacingly that for the first time Sally really was afraid.

Decebel let out his own growl as he gently took Jen's arm and pulled her away from Fane's side.

"Hey, what the-" Jen began to protest, but when she looked up at Decebel's face she shut her mouth. Decebel's eyes were glowing and his canines had lengthened. Something told her it would be better to just sit this one out.

Fane tried again to reach Jacquelyn, "My love, I'm here." And what he heard in response tore his heart in two.

"I'm sorry, Fane. I'm so sorry." Jacquelyn's voice in his mind was so broken and helpless sounding. He knew then that he would rip Logan's heart from his chest for being the cause of that.

"Jacquelyn," Fane groaned as he knelt on the floor, the depths of his despair etched in every syllable of her name.

"Fane, please, what's wrong? Is she okay?" Sally asked him gently.

Fane looked up into Sally's fearful eyes. "I don’t know." Then he looked at Jen. "I don't know if she's okay."

Jen sat on the park bench and although she looked to be watching some kids play on the playground, her eyes were glazed over, her thoughts far from where she sat. Moisture rolling down her cheek snapped her out of her stupor. She couldn’t remember a time when she felt so helpless. Even during the wreck she was at least able to do something to help, but all she could do right now was wait. Wait for Vasile to get the travel arrangements made, wait for Fane to hear from Jacque that she was okay, wait for the freaking world to open up and swallow her because she couldn't imagine a world without Jacque. She wanted to scream at the injustice of it all. Jacque was one of the nicest, most loyal people she knew. Why was this happening to her? Jen closed her eyes and tried to fight the overwhelming fear that threatened to crush her spirit. She felt a big, warm body sit next to her on the bench and for some reason she was not startled or surprised at his arrival.

"What's wrong, Jennifer? I've never seen you so distant." Decebels voice conveyed the worry he was trying to hide.

"I'm tired, Decebel. I'm worried and I don't have any humor left to help ease the tense situation." Jen's face showed the fear that for the first time she allowed him to see. "I know I'm sarcastic and I joke a lot, even in the most serious situations. It's how I deal, how I cope so I don’t fall apart. But I don't have the strength to be the one who lifts the spirits of everyone. I don't have it in me to hide the sick ache that threatens to choke me for fear that I will never see Jacque again or that something horrible has happened to her."

Decebel pulled Jen close in a show of gentleness that she was beginning to notice he only displayed with her. "You don't always have to be the strong one."

"That's where you're wrong, Dec. I do, for them. Sally, Lilly, and at times even Fane. I have to be the one who believes so strongly that we will get her back that I can be sarcastic. That I have the luxury of bringing humor be it light or dark into this majorly messed up situation. And not that we will just get her back, but that we will get her back whole. There are worse things than death to a woman, Decebel."