Chapter 21
caught when Fane turned towards her and she saw his eyes glowing, like when you see an animal at night and light hits their eyes. They looked just like that. Freaky, she thought.
Jacque realized, once she got over the shock of his eyes, that Fane was on the verge of losing control. She wasn't sure what might happen if he didn’t regain control, and she could tell he was fighting for it as hard as he could. She didn’t know what to do or how could she help him.
Jacque was too busy staring at Fane to realize that Jen had walked beside her. “He needs you to tame the beast that is roaring inside him. Go to him,” Jen whispered and pushed Jacque towards Fane.
Jacque looked at Jen and then at Sally. She couldn’t believe something so profound had come out of Jen’s mouth.
Sally shrugged. “Who knew?” she said, answering Jacque’s unspoken question.
Jacque turned her attention back to Fane as she walked to him. She was close enough that she could feel his breath on her face. She reached up and laid her hand on his cheek. His eyes closed and he leaned into her hand like a dog begging to be petted. Jacque found herself smiling, but then felt his anger, fear, and jealousy flow through her. Fane’s eyes snapped open and he stared unblinkingly into her eyes.
“I have not meant to scare you. I would say that my wolf is the one out of control, but that would be a lie. The man is just as out of control as the wolf right now and that makes me very dangerous,” Fane shared his thoughts with her.
“You would never hurt me,” Jacque told him in complete confidence.
“No, it is impossible for a Grey to harm his mate. Others, however, innocent or not, cannot have that promise. I have to go, Jacquelyn. Lucas’ wolves will be here any minute, and in the state I am in I cannot guarantee I will be civilized with them,” Fane told her.
Jacque was shaking her head before he even finished speaking. “I don’t want you to go,” she whispered.
Fane pulled her to the side and turned so that his back was facing the others and she was shielded from their sight. He moved her hair away from her neck and kissed her in the same spot he had before, the spot where he would leave his mark. It better be his mark, Jacque thought.
“I love you, Luna.”
“What does Luna mean?” she asked him.
“I will tell you soon, but now is not the time. I must go before the other wolves get here.” He held her a moment more, then stepped away.
Jacque snatched his hand before he could get much further and pulled him to her. She looked him in the eyes, still seeing the wolf glowing there.
“I love you, but if you let this Alpha take me as his mate, I will die just so I can come kick your royal Romanian butt. Got it?”
“Say it again,” Fane told her.
“Say that I'll kick your royal Romanian butt?” Jacque started.
“No, love. Say the first part,” Fane said adoringly.
It dawned on Jacque what he was talking about and it made her smile. She leaned in close to him and whispered, “I love you.”
“Thank you,” Fane said so softly she almost missed it. He kissed her on the forehead and turned back to the others. He looked at Sorin, who stepped forward and bared his neck again.
“You will protect her with your life or you will forfeit it,” Fane told him in a voice Jacque had never heard him use.
Sorin sank down to his knees. It didn’t look like he had meant to, it was like someone forced him there. She heard a whine come from Sorin and then Fane walked to him and laid his hand on his head. He said something in Romanian and walked to the front door.
Jacque rushed to follow him as he opened it and walked out. Just as she stepped out, a car stopped in front of her house and two men got out. Jacque grabbed Fane’s arm, not in fear for herself but fear for him. Fane instinctively took her hand without thinking about the fact that Lucas had said he didn’t want his wolves to see Fane touching her.
As soon as he touched her the other wolves growled, baring their teeth, their eyes glowing. Jacque’s breathing increased and her hand tightened on Fane’s.
Fane turned to her. “You have to let go, love. They are growling because I’m touching you.”
“I don’t give a flying sack of crap that they don’t like you touching me. I will touch who I want, I will bond with who I want, and I will not have mangy mutts growling at me in my own yard!” Jacque was yelling, had let go of Fane's hand, and was stomping toward the other wolves.
Fane was so surprised by her that he'd barely reached her as she got in the face of one of the wolves. She had her finger in his face and was yelling every expletive known to man and some not known, for that matter. Jacque had never felt so angry. How dare this Lucas whoever try to tell her what to do, dictate who could touch her, or challenge her mate.
The wolf she was yelling at was leaning back as far as he could to keep from touching her. She was no longer aware of her surroundings, she had tunnel vision, and the only thing she could see was this wolf in front of her who'd dared come in her territory. She didn’t pause to think about the fact that she had just called her yard her territory, she filed that away for later.
Jacque felt something touch her arm. She saw the angry face of the werewolf in front of her and heard him growl ferociously. She turned to see who had touched her. It was Fane. He was saying her name and trying to pull her back from the other wolf. Jacque realized they had an audience since everyone in her house had now come outside.
Jen was marching down the walkway and right into the other wolf’s face. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “You think I’m scared of you?” she asked sarcastically. “I’m your worst nightmare. Just remember, we all gotta sleep sometime. Hope you can sleep with one eye open,” she winked at him and turned to walk back to the house.
Jacque finally let Fane pull her back to the house, then he stepped away from her, and though she tried not to let it hurt her, she couldn’t stop the stab of rejection she felt.
“I’m not rejecting you, meu inimă. Please believe that. I’m trying to protect you,” Fane told her through his thoughts.
She looked at him and nodded her head in acknowledgment as she watched him turn toward the other wolves. He walked past them and when he made it to the street he turned and told them, “If either of you touches her I will kill you and use your pelt as a rug.” And he left.
Jacque watched him the entire way until the door to the Henrys' was closed. One of the wolves standing in her yard walked up and bared his neck to her.
“Do you think it wise to bare your throat to the one who would see it torn out?” Jacque asked, surprised by sounding so confident and in control despite the emptiness she felt without Fane by her side.
“I bare my throat in acknowledgment of my Alpha’s mate,” the wolf told her.
“Then you bare it in vain because I am NOT your Alpha’s mate. If he kills every wolf on this earth I will still not be his mate,” Jacque growled.
“Go inside, my Luna. I can feel how tired you are,” she heard Fane tell her.
“I am just fine, thank you very much. I will go inside, but not because you told me to. I’m just tired of standing out here with these butt heads,” Jacque responded.
She heard Fane laugh. She felt his joy and that made her smile, which made the wolf in front of her cock his head to the side like a dog. Jacque blew a breath out in exasperation and turned to go in the house. Before she could make it in the front door one of the wolves spoke. “Lucas said to tell you he will be here at nine am.” And that was it.
When Jacque walked in the living room, everyone was seated with a mug of what she presumed was hot chocolate. Jen grinned and winked. She saw Sorin sitting in the ugly chair and realized he had not been outside. What's up with that? she thought.
“Why did you not come out to defend your prince?” she asked him, sounding a little more accusatory than she meant to.
“The wolves do not know there is a Grey in the house. If I had gone out they would have scented me immediately. We do not want to provoke them any more than we need to until we are a little more matched in numbers,” Sorin explained to her patiently.
“Oh, right. Got it,” Jacque said with a nod.
Despite what Jacque told Fane, she was very tired. She didn’t know what time it was, and frankly didn’t care. She just wanted to lie down and sleep. Sally and Jen must've picked up on that because they got up and took their mugs to the kitchen and came back to lead Jacque upstairs. Jacque hardly noticed them help her lie down and cover her with a blanket. She had scarcely laid her head down before she was asleep.
Jen and Sally sat on Jacque’s floor. They were worried about her.
“I know she’s tough, but I think this is really wearing her out,” Sally said.
“Well, duh!” Jen responded. “Wouldn’t it wear you out if you'd just met the man of your dreams? Then it turns out he’s a werewolf, then it turns out you’re his mate or whatever, then it turns out there’s this other pack of wolves with a psycho, werewolf leader who wants you as his mate, and then it turns out…” Jen paused. “You get the picture.”
“When you put it like that, it is a lot to take in,” Sally agreed.
Jacque woke up to the sound of Fane’s voice, and for a moment she thought he was in her room, but quickly realized he was talking to her in thought.
“Luna, wake up please,” Fane said.
“Haven’t we talked about this whole 'waking me up way too early could be hazardous to your health' thing?” Jacque teased him.
“I’m sorry to wake you, love, but I wanted to talk with you before Lucas arrives.”
“Uggggh! I was really hoping this was all a bad dream,” she moaned.“Well, not you. I mean the part about this Lucas dude and the challenge.”
“I’m sorry, Jacquelyn,” Fane told her sadly.
“Ah well, that’s how it goes. I’m too irresistible for my own good.” Jacque tried to lighten the mood.
“That you are, Luna,” Fane replied.
Jacque picked her phone up to look at the time and saw that it was eight thirty. Crap. She needed to get up and get dressed. What do you wear to talk to a crazy, Alpha werewolf? she thought to herself.
“As much clothing as possible,” Fane answered her thought.
“I was thinking maybe I should wear that bikini you like so much,” she teased him.
“That would be a very poor choice, Luna. I want your marks covered completely,” Fane replied.
“I think a please is in order,” Jacque told him.
Fane growled but then relinquished. “Please, love.”
“Oh, all right, since you’re not being all jealous or possessive,” Jacque smarted off.
Jacque got up and tiptoed around her two best friends. She wondered if their parents knew they were at her house. She figured they must know or else the National Guard would be out looking for them. She stepped into her closet and flipped through the shirts she had hanging. She honestly hadn’t realized how many t-shirts she had with smart ass sayings on them. Go figure, she told herself.
The one she finally settled on made her smile. It was a black baby tee that had a picture of Edward from Twilight on the front and on the back the words, “Team Edward.” That made her laugh out loud. “Take that, you mangy werewolf.”
“You’re just too pleased with yourself, aren’t you?” she heard Fane say.
“Hey, get out of my head, you perv. I’m trying to get dressed.” Jacque feigned outrage.
“Sorry, love. I was just curious to see what you would pic. Your sense of humor is one of the things I love most about you. Please be safe, don’t provoke Lucas – oh, and maybe it would be wise to keep Jen away from him,” Fane told her.
“Good idea. I feel like I should say bye, or talk to you later, but that’s just weird,” Jacque told him.
“How about I just tell you I love you?” Fane asked her.
Jacque smiled. “I love you, wolf-man.”
The last thing Jacque heard was Fane’s deep chuckle. She could feel him pull away from her thoughts and she felt bereft. She took a deep breath and started going through her jeans and picked out a low-rise pair of cargo pants.
She walked out to the bathroom to dress and throw her hair up in a pony tail. She realized once her hair was up that the marks on her neck came above the collar of her shirt.
“Hells bells,” she huffed as she pulled her hair back down. She pulled her bangs out of her face and secured it back with bobby pins. “That’s as good as it’s gonna get,” she told her reflection in the mirror.
When she walked back into her room, Sally and Jen were both up, stretching and yawning. They both took one look at her shirt and cracked up laughing.
“You're my hero,” Jen told her.
“Kill 'em with sarcasm. I always knew that was your motto.” Sally still laughed.
“I’m sorry I crashed on ya’ll like that last night. I was just so tired. I don’t think I've ever been that tired,” Jacque apologized.
“Well, it’s not like you’re under any stress or anything,” Jen said sarcastically.
Jacque grabbed a pair of flip flops from under her bed and slipped them on. As she reached for her phone she heard Jen’s phone start playing the Jaws theme song. Sally and Jacque looked at her.
“It’s my mom's ring tone.”
“Nice,” Sally and Jacque said at the same time.
Jen answered her phone and then stepped out in the hall to talk to her mom.
“Do your parents know you're still here?” Jacque asked Sally.
“Yeah, I called them last night. Your mom talked to my parents and Jen’s,” Sally answered.
“She did? What did she tell them?” Jacque asked.
“She asked them if they minded if we stayed the rest of the week for a final vacation before school starts. Just the girls, doing girl things like facials and pedicures and whatnot. They totally bought it and thought it was so nice of your mom. You know, to let us all get one final week of relaxation before our stressful senior year starts.” Sally put the back of her hand on her forehead and swooned.
“My mom totally rocks,” Jacque said.
“I totally do, don’t I?” Lilly said, standing in Jacque’s doorway.
“Hey, mom. What’s up?” Jacque asked her.
Lilly looked at her daughter’s shirt and gave her thumbs up. “Nice job on the shirt.”
Jen scooted in past Lilly and plopped back down in the floor. “My mom just wanted to know if she could bring anything over for us – brownies, nail polish. Ya know, girly stuff. I told her we had it covered. She told me to tell you thank you again, Lilly.”
“Your mom wouldn’t thank me if she knew the big bad wolf was coming over to play,” Lilly said. “Speaking of, Lucas Steele is here.”
Jacque’s mouth dropped open. “Here here? As in, in this house here?”
“Yes, Jacque, he is here here.” Lilly answered. “He's asking to speak with you in private.”
Without even thinking, Jacque reached for Fane’s mind. “He’s here.”
“I know, love. I saw his car drive up. Are you ok?” Fane asked her.
“I’m ok. I’m fixing to go talk to him. Be with me.”
“Always,” Fane responded.
Jacque asked Sally and Jen to wait in her room; she didn’t want them brought to Lucas’ attention.
As she walked into the living room, she saw him sitting on the couch, arms spread over the back, looking quite relaxed. Smug little fur ball, she thought to herself and was pleasantly surprised to hear Fane’s chuckle in her mind.
“Are you comfortable?” Jacque asked Lucas as she walked into the living room.
When he turned to look at her, Jacque was caught off guard by his eyes. They were two different colors. His right eye was crystal blue and his left green as ivy. He had brown, wavy hair that he wore messy, but she could tell it was a carefully placed messiness. He had a five o’clock shadow across a strong jaw line and when he smiled at her a dimple appeared on both cheeks.
“I am, actually. Thanks for asking,” he responded.
He had a deep voice, but not quite as deep as Fane’s. She had to admit he was an attractive guy. She heard Fane growl. “Chillax, wolf-man. I only have eyes for you,” she told Fane.
“Jacque.” The sound of her name got her attention. She realized Lucas was now standing in front of her and she had to look up to see his face. He was at least 6 feet, maybe a little taller. “My name is Lucas Steele. I’m sure Fane has told you that I am the Alpha of the Coldspring pack.”
“Yeah, he told me. He also told me that you are under some sort of delusion that I am going to be your mate,” Jacque retorted.
“I distinctly remember advising you not to provoke him, Luna. Do you remember that?” Jacque heard Fane's voice in her mind.
“I don’t know. Some things seem kind of hazy at the moment,” she responded vaguely. Fane growled again. I have a feeling he’s going to be doing a lot of that being mated to me, she thought to herself.
“I claimed you before he even knew you existed. You should be mine,” Lucas told her calmly.
Jacque was staring at him intently, trying to get a lock on how old he was. She could tell he was definitely older than her but she couldn’t tell how much older.
“How old are you?” she finally asked.
He looked a little surprised by her question. That’s good, keep him on his toes.
“I’m twenty two,” he answered.
“You do realize that I am not eighteen yet? That makes me jail bait.” Jacque pointed out.
“Human laws do not matter to Greys. Besides, I’m not saying we have to consummate our relationship, just that you will bond with me,” Lucas told her.
“You so did not just say that. I mean, good freaking grief man, is that all you wolves talk about?” Jacque asked, obviously annoyed.
Lucas looked a little confused and then caught on. “Are all human females this silly?” he asked her.
“I am not silly,” Jacque said indignantly. Then his eyes wandered down to the front of her shirt and she realized he'd noticed the vampire depicted there. She smiled and turned around to show him the back. Without thinking about it, she pulled her hair up so he could read the words.
At first she simply heard him smirk, but then she heard a deep, feral growl.
Jacque dropped her hair back down and turned around slowly. Lucas’ eyes were glowing and his teeth had grown quite long. His breathing was fast and she could tell he was struggling to keep his wolf under control.
“He wasn’t lying when he said he could prove you were his mate,” Lucas said, his words a little difficult to understand because of the length of his teeth.
Jacque’s eyes got big as she realized he had seen her marks. Just then she heard a ferocious snarl and realized that Fane had caught that last thought.
“I’m sorry, Fane. I was just showing him the back of my shirt and I forgot my marks,” Jacque told him quickly.
“Pay attention to Lucas, Jacquelyn. Look at him and let me see his face,” Fane instructed her.
Jacque pictured Lucas in her mind just as she was seeing him.
“Jacque, you must be careful. He is not in control of his wolf.”
“Yeah, ya think?” Jacque accidentally said aloud.
Lucas snarled and his eyes narrowed. “Are you able to speak through each other’s thoughts? Are you speaking to him now?” he asked her.
“Umm, maybe and not your business,” she answered.
Lucas lunged at her, grabbing her by the arms. Jacque slammed the wall down in her mind so Fane could not see what Lucas was doing. She knew he would come to her house and raise all kinds of hell, and quite possibly try to kill Lucas.
“Do not play games with me. I am Alpha and you will answer me truthfully, mate,” he growled in her face.
Jacque jerked her arms free and stepped back from him.
“Listen carefully, Lucas Steele, because I will only say this once. I am NOT your mate, I will never be your mate, and if you ever put your hands on me again I will cut them off along with other body parts you might want to use one day. Got it?” Jacque told him with as much force as she could put behind her words.
“That’s a shame, too, because you’re kind of cute. But it happens to the best of them,” Jen said as she sauntered into the living room with Sally right behind her.
“And the worst of them,” Sally finished for her.
Both girls stood on either side of Jacque with their arms crossed, an obvious wall of solidarity against Lucas.
Lilly walked into the living room and took in the scene. She looked at Jacque and saw the red marks that were now appearing on her arms from where Lucas had grabbed her. Lily's mouth tightened in anger.
“I think it’s time for you to go now, Mr. Steele,” Lilly told him with forced politeness.
Lucas turned his gaze on Lilly, who took an involuntary step back. He drew in a deep breath, obviously trying to compose himself. Then he looked at Jacque. “I have challenged Fane for the bonding ceremony. If I win, you will be mine. Nothing and no one will keep you from me.” And with that he turned to walk out the front door.
All four of them followed him out to watch him go, and when they got out the door they saw Fane jump from his second story window and take two bounding steps and land right in front of Lucas.
“Oh [email protected]#T! Jen hollered
“I second that,” Sally said
“I third it,” Jacque said, eyes so wide they threatened to pop out of her head.