Jacquelyn glared at him, obviously wanting to hit him with something. He decided to back up just a little. He continued to stare back at her into those deep green eyes, waiting to see if she would admit to him what he already knew.

Jacquelyn looked down as if something could possibly be of interest to her on the ground. In a voice so soft, he would have missed it if not for his wolf hearing, she said, “No, I don’t want anyone else.”

When she looked up at him there were tears in her eyes and his heart broke.

“Meu inimă, why the tears? I did not mean to hurt you. Please tell me what I can do, you are breaking my heart,” Fane told her with agony.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He stroked her hair gently and whispered to her in his native language words of comfort and reassurance. Finally, after several moments she began to speak. She didn’t pull away from him, which was good because he wasn’t ready to let her go. He had hurt her. His wolf was not happy and needed the touch of his mate.

“I’m sorry. I’m not usually a blubbering idiot, it’s just that I’m so confused. My emotions for you are so freaking intense and I’ve known you all of three days. I mean, this isn’t a movie where we meet and fall madly in a matter of days, Fane. This is my life!”

“I know, I’m sorry I wasn’t more considerate. Please, love, forgive me. I won’t let my jealousy or pride get in the way of taking your feelings into consideration again,” Fane told her in all sincerity.

Before she could pull away, Fane kissed her lightly on the forehead and took a deep breath, enjoying the way she smelled.

She looked at him oddly and said, “I’m not even going to ask why you just sniffed me.”

“Because you smell wonderful.” Fane was completely unashamed that he had been caught.

They were quiet for a few moments before the questions he had been waiting for her to ask finally came.

“So, are you going to fill me in on why we can share thoughts or why I suddenly have markings on my skin that would fit yours like a puzzle?” Jacquelyn asked him.

“So you noticed that the markings matched?” Fane was surprised.

He had to tell his wolf to chill out because he desperately wanted to preen in front of her, proud that she'd noticed his markings. Good grief, Fane thought to himself. This is ridiculous, wanting to prance in front of my mate and show her I'm worthy of her. Act normal, you hairy baboon, or she’s going to run from you screaming.

“They are unusual markings, climbing up your neck like that, so naturally I noticed them.” She tried to sound nonchalant about it.

“Look, Jacquelyn, I want to tell you. You have no idea how badly I want you to know everything. Your mom needs to talk with you first. She needs to tell you what she knows and then when I explain how I fit into it, it will make more sense to you,” Fane explained, imploring her to accept this.

Fane knew, however, that she would never let it go that easily.

“What does my mom have to do with any of this?” she asked him incredulously.

Just as Fane was about to answer her, a car pulled in next to his motorcycle, which was quite a distance away from where they were sitting on a bench. Fane let his wolf out enough to use his eyes, and saw to his displeasure that it was the wolves that had driven past Jacquelyn’s house the night before.

The four Greys began walking toward them and Fane tried to figure out what his best strategy would be. He and his wolf were in agreement that they did not like their mate in danger, but what could he do? If he attempted to fight them, she would be left unprotected. If they tried to make a run for it, the Greys would easily overtake them because she couldn't run faster than the wilves. He could carry her, but Fane had a feeling that would not go over too well with his Luna.

He would just have to wait and see what they wanted.

“Who are these guys? Do you know them?” Her thoughts were clouded with worry.

“I know very little about them. This is another thing we need to talk about, but we must talk to your mother first,” Fane answered.

Fane never took his gaze off the wolves coming towards him and his mate, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Jacquelyn give him a displeased look, obviously not happy with his answer.

As the wolves approached, Fane couldn’t suppress the low warning growl that escaped from his throat. If he had been in wolf form his hackles would have been standing, tail down, stance wide and low, ready for any sudden movement they might try.

The wolf from the dealership, Steve, spoke first. “My Alpha wants to know why you are still here.”

Fane took a step forward, which caused the wolves to back up a step. None of them could help lowering their heads just a little because Fane was more dominant than them all.

“I hate to break it to you, Beta, but your Alpha has no authority to order me out of a town that he has not made known as his territory. There is no record of this pack existing.”

The Grey looked a little confused by this, which meant either his Alpha didn’t know this, or his Alpha didn’t share this information with his pack.

“Regardless, there is only one of you compared to an entire pack. What do you really think you can do against those odds?” he asked Fane.

Fane glared menacingly at the four Greys; they backed up even more. “You tell your Alpha to back off. There are only so many disregards for Pack Laws that I will concede.” Fane looked each wolf in the eyes and they dropped them instantly. Then, in the same voice his father used to make his wolves obey, Fane told them, “Leave, now.”

When a dominant issued a command like that the submissive could only obey, whether they wanted to or not.

Steve fought the order as he walked away. Before he got in his car, he turned to Fane and said, “Just so you know, pup, she has already been claimed. If you don’t stay away, her true mate is going to challenge you, and rest assured he will tear you apart.”

At that Fane snarled furiously. His eyes began to glow and he felt his canines elongate. The Grey whined and scrambled into his car, his tires squealing as he peeled out.

Fane closed his eyes and took slow deep breaths. Calm yourself, Fane thought. No one is going to take her from you. He sort of chanted this to himself over and over until he and his wolf were somewhat in control. Fane turned to face Jacquelyn and saw confusion, but to his relief there was no fear.

“Ok, you can forget trying to get away with not explaining that little episode of the Twilight Zone. I'm not an idiot, so don’t think I didn’t pick up on the whole animal kingdom reference, the way you just nearly went postal on their hides, or the fact that the 'she' they were talking about was me,” Jacquelyn said, arms crossed, brow furrowed in determination.