Chapter 14
Jacque squeezed her eyes closed so tightly it was almost painful. She couldn’t get the images out of her mind. So much blood and death, so much pain and confusion, because they hadn’t met as they should have when she was still in high school―before she’d shared her emotions with another and before Fane and his father’s wolves had needed to kill half a pack.
Fane’s anger was like a tidal wave rushing through her as he suddenly shoved himself into her mind. The bond wasn’t fully open but it was enough that she could hear him and he was beyond enraged. She didn’t know how he’d found out what she’d done, and her heart ached to feel how much it hurt him. His voice boomed in her mind but she couldn’t respond, at least not right away. She had to gather her emotions to regain some semblance of control.
“Your mate is quite upset,” the Great Luna’s voice broke through her carefully crafted bubble of silence.
Jacque opened her eyes to find them back in the small clearing where the large boulder rested with her things sitting on top of it. Her stomach dropped as she looked at the bowl with her blood in it. Why had she thought that was a good idea? Fane’s emotions were all over the place, making it hard for her to think. She knew she needed to respond to him, but she was too ashamed.
“ANSWER ME.” His words echoed in her mind and Jacque felt her heart break for the anguish he was feeling. When he was already dealing with so much, she had added to his struggles.
“I only wanted to take
away your pain. Is that so wrong?” she
finally whispered again, this time allowing him to hear her
thoughts. A sob caught in her throat. She was crying more out of
anger than sadness―anger at herself for being so stupid, anger at
the world for being so hard, anger at everything―because it was
easier to be angry than to think about how she’d hurt her mate now
that he’d found out her plan.
“Just talk to him, Jacquelyn,” the Great Luna told her. “You know
now, that though your heart was in the right place, your actions
would not have yielded the best outcome.”
“What if you hadn’t intervened?” Jacque asked through clenched teeth as tears tracked down her cheeks. “What if I’d been able to go through with it?”
“Then it would have been a tough lesson.”
Jacque let out a derisive snort. “Like this isn’t?” Her head dropped down so low that her chin nearly touched her chest. She felt defeated.
The Great Luna’s hand gently ran down Jacque’s head. “It is a tough lesson, yes. But the direst consequences have been avoided. It is a gift. Take it and learn from it and move forward. Yes, you must now deal with the possessive wrath of your mate, but know that he is only angry because he loves you so much. You will get through this and you will come out stronger on the other side.”
Jacque knew the minute she was alone. The warmth that seemed to follow the Great Luna was suddenly gone and she was once again on her own, alone in the cold.
“Where are you?” Fane asked and though he sounded a little calmer, Jacque wasn’t fooled.
Three voices filled the clearing before she could answer him.
“Do you still wish to petition us for your request?”
Jacque whipped around to see the forms of the Fates about ten feet away from her. No longer was she in the same part of the forest as she had just been standing. Her eyes widened briefly as she’d forgotten that they might actually answer her.
She shook her head. “N-n-no,” she stuttered out. “I take it back. I don’t want to change anything.”
“You have seen what could be?”
“Yes.”
“You know now that you should not attempt to alter what has been put in place?”
“Yes.” Jacque didn’t know what else to say. She wanted to scream ‘I got it,’ but decided not to push her luck.
“Then it is time you were reunited with your mate and you finish what destiny has started.” The forms faded from view and the forest around her seemed to morph before her eyes, bringing her back to a familiar landscape. She turned in a slow circle as she began to recognize that she was once again in the forest beyond the mansion. She heard a low growl from behind her and she squeezed her eyes closed.
“I know you’re angry.”
Fane chuckled deep and low and Jacque felt her stomach drop.
“You have no idea, Luna.”
She turned slowly to face him. Her hand instinctively landing on her stomach as his eyes dropped to her abdomen.
“Are you alright?” he asked carefully.
She nodded.
“Is my child alright?”
She nodded again.
Fane let out a slow breath before finally speaking again. “We will return home. Then we will discuss what has happened. You must be cold and hungry and I will see to your needs before we deal with this any further.”
As much as those things were true, Jacque would almost rather just get it done. It was like when she was a child and her mother would tell her that when they got home she would be getting a spanking. The anticipation was worse than the actual spanking ever could have been.
“I can’t do this now, Jacquelyn. I am too upset,” Fane admitted having picked up on her thoughts. She realized that the bond was fully open and he was not attempting to mask his presence in her mind. As her mate, he had every right to be in her mind―just like he had every right to her body and her time and her affection and anything else. She was his and yet just as he had done to her, she’d withheld a part of herself from him. When would they ever learn?
Fane reached out his hand to her and she took it allowing the warmth from him to reach deep inside of her and relieve the ache that had been building. Being separated from him sucked and yet she’d done it willingly.
“Do you hear that?” Jen asked as she lay wrapped in Decebel’s arms. They were leaning back against a large tree trunk, and she wasn’t about to wipe away the goofy grin that had been spread across her face since her mate had begun his pursuit of her. So she’d been a little easy and let him conquer her without a fight; her mate could be quite persuasive when he put his mind to it.
“Footsteps,” Decebel confirmed. He stood up and pulled Jen to her feet. She brushed herself off and turned to face the direction of the noise. A few minutes later, a very ticked off looking Fane and forlorn looking Jacque emerged from the trees.
Jen ran to Jacque and threw her arms around her. She squeezed tight and pressed her mouth close to her ear. “I won’t rip you a new one right now because you look as though you’re kicking yourself enough for the both of us. But if you ever take off like that again, all bets are off.”
Jacque nodded but didn’t say anything.
Jen pulled away and took a second look at her friend. Whatever it was that she’d been up to, it had put her through the ringer and caused her mate to flip his ever loving lid.
“Jennifer, perhaps, we should go on ahead. We need to get back and see to Thia,” Decebel said gently as he reached out a hand for her. Jen gave Jacque one last look before taking Decebel’s hand and letting him lead her away. She didn’t want to go. She wanted to know what had happened and what had put that defeated look in her friend’s eyes. But Jacque was Fane’s wife and some things weren’t her business anymore. Jen didn’t like it, but she understood. She just hoped that Jacque would be willing to open up to her later. She loved the redhead like a sister and wanted to help in any way she could, even if it was only as a shoulder to lean on.
“They will be fine,” Decebel said silently to her. Her anxiety was rolling off of her and through their bond.
“Fane looked like a rabid dog. Whatever it is, it’s not something that a simply apology is going to fix,” Jen pointed out.
“Perhaps not, but we mate for life. They have nothing but time to work it out.”
Jen squeezed his hand as she looked up at him. “Is that why you sometimes just shake your head and walk away from a fight, which you know I hate by the way.”
Decebel chuckled. “Baby, you know there’s almost nothing I like better than a good fight with you. But there are just some things that don’t deserve our emotional energy. Why waste it on trivial things? If I walk away, then you have to think about the situation rationally. And you come to that realization much quicker than if I tried to convince you of it.”
“Stupid, smart werewolf,” she growled.
“Stupid, smart?”
“Shut up, you know what I mean.”
“I’ll take your backhanded comment simply because I know that as long as I’m on the receiving end of your torment, it means you love me. It’s when you ignore me that I know I should be worried.”
“See?” Jen smiled up at him. “You’re stupid smart.”
Decebel released her hand and smacked her on her backside. “Behave.”
“And bore you to tears? No thank you.”