“You do think the oddest things. You know that, right?” Fane asked her.

  “Let’s stay on track, wolf boy. Bite me where exactly? Since this has to be done in private, I’m a little leery of the answer,” she told him.

  “Relax, Luna, I’m not going to bite you anywhere you might one day like,” Fane said.

  Jacque knew he was just trying to get a reaction out of her, and much to her chagrin, it worked like a charm.

  “You just stop that thought right there. There will be no discussing of the future likes and dislikes of our maybe-one-day physical relationship, got it?” Jacque told him with finality.

  “I will humor you for now,” Fane told her with a grin. “Moving along, love, I will bite you on your neck. Rest assured, Luna, I am a werewolf, but at least I’m not a vampire. My bite will not last so long as to drain you of your blood, only as long as it takes for enough blood to flow, so I can swallow some and leave my mark on you.”

  Jacque was quiet for a moment. She took a deep breath, let it out slowly. What do you mean leave your mark on me? I get that when you bite me you will get blood in your mouth and yadda, yadda, but how are you going to leave a mark on me?” Jacque asked.

  “I’m not sure how I leave a mark on you. I think it’s just a part of the whole supernatural aspect of bonding. The mark I leave is the visual symbol that you are mated,” he explained. “The final warning to other males that you have been bonded is smell.”

  “I’m going to smell? Please tell me I’m not going to stink, ’cause I don’t do stinky, okay?” Jacque implored him.

  “No Luna, you are not going to stink. To other Canis lupus, you will smell like me because you will have taken my blood, and I will smell like you when I have taken your blood. Once we have consummated our mating, the smells will intensify greatly,” Fane explained.

  “You just had to throw that last curveball in there, didn’t you? Well, don’t get your hopes up ’cause I’m not going to swing at it,” Jacque told him. “This whole biting thing is done in private. Why?” she asked.

  “Would you like me to bite you on the neck in front of your mom?” Fane asked.

  “Point to you. You’re right. There is no way that mouth of yours is coming near my neck in front of anyone—not my mom and especially not your parents,” Jacque said.

  Oh crap. I have to meet his parents. She felt panicky at the thought yet she didn’t know why. Jacque hadn’t been nervous when she met Trent’s parents. She heard Fane growl as he caught the thought of Trent passing through her mind.

  “Oh, shut up already, you over-possessive, royal Romanian pain in the proverbial backside. It’s not like I’m thinking about him biting my neck,” Jacque said sarcastically. Once again, she just couldn’t help it. She became a sarcastic witch when she was nervous.

  Fane stood up and sat down next to her on the bed. He leaned closer to her and swept her hair away, revealing the markings on her shoulders and neck. Fane traced the marks with his fingers and let out a low growl. Jacque shivered at his touch and found she couldn’t quite keep her breathing even. She felt like she might pass out at any moment. What came next almost sealed her fate.

  Fane leaned even closer and whispered in her ear. “I would hope you were not thinking of him biting your neck. I assure you that once I do, you will never need to think of another again.” And then he gently placed his lips on her neck. Jacque didn’t even try to suppress the small moan that came out of her tightly closed lips. But Fane could not leave well enough alone. After he kissed her neck, he playfully nipped her neck with his teeth while pulling his lips away.

  Jacque jumped and turned to look at him breathlessly, putting her hands up as if to ward him off. She told him, “I, um…” She shook her head and rubbed her face with both hands as she struggled to get her thoughts and words to cooperate with her mouth. “I understand now why that part is done in private. Thank you for demonstrating.”

  Fane grinned at her wickedly. “I could demonstrate again. It is proven that people are most likely to remember things when done three times.”

  “Nice try, Don Juan, but it’s people remembering things they are told three times, not things they do,” she countered.

  “We could test out the theory to see if it applies to actions as well. I’m all for scientific study,” Fane teased.

  “Well you’re out of luck because I suck at science and therefore do not enjoy it,” she said matter-of-factly.

  Fane leaned forward again, and this time Jacque leaned back, but he wasn’t deterred. He just grinned and leaned closer.

  “You mean to tell me, my puțin foc, little fire, you did not enjoy my demonstration? If you did not, then I did not do it correctly, and I would feel obligated to try again.”

  Closing her eyes, Jacque immediately thought of a wall shielding her mind, and then she came up with a plan. Evasion was not working, so it was time to move on to plan B: If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Let me see if I can give him a taste of his own medicine, and just maybe it will throw him off his game so I can retreat. You know what Jen would call you, right? Yeah, yeah, I’m a chicken s** t, so be it.

  Her plan of attack decided, Jacque stopped leaning back and pressed into him. This confused him and made him back up a tad. Encouraged by the little victory, she got a little bolder and scooted her body closer to his. Fane’s brow furrowed, and she could tell he was wondering what was going on. But he did not move. He just sat very still. Jacque decided the angle she was currently in was all wrong for her scheme, so she got up on her knees and scooted around until she was directly behind him, sitting on her knees with her feet behind her. She placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned her face close until her mouth was right beside his left ear.

  Fane shuddered and it made her grin. Take that, you little seducing hound. She let her breath flow over his ear as she told him, “How do you like them apples, wolf boy?”

  Fane leaned forward to get away from her mouth, and she could see the quick rise and fall of his back from breathing quickly. She found herself rather intrigued by his behavior. She could not think of a time that Trent had responded to her like that … oops, she had let her wall down during that thought.

  Fane stood up so abruptly that Jacque fell forward and had to catch herself on her hands to keep from falling on her face. She looked up and saw Fane pacing her room quickly in obvious agitation.

  “Fane, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to hear that. I wasn’t trying to think about the physical part of my relationship with Trent. I was merely comparing your reactions.” Jacque tried to explain, hoping to calm the wolf currently wearing a hole in her carpet from his frantic steps.

  “Jacquelyn, you are not helping,” he told her with a growl. “I realize you do not understand the intensity of my feelings for you, but I cannot change my nature. In the wild, wolves mate for life, and a male wolf will kill any other who tries to take his mate. It is the same with my species. I realize this Trent,” Fane said his name in obvious repugnance “was a part of your life and you can’t change that, and it’s not that I dislike him as a person. It’s just that I am jealous of the obvious affection you felt and still feel, for him. I don’t like the fact that you were intimate with him when that is my right alone.” Fane closed his eyes and took slow deep breaths, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose.

  When he looked up at Jacque, she could see the struggle going on inside him. She could tell he wanted to both give her space and give in to his desire to hold on to her tightly.

  Jacque got up off the bed and walked to him. This time she was not trying to beat him at his own game. She was not trying to seduce him. She only wanted to reassure him. At that moment, she realized she wanted to be his, and she desperately wanted him to be hers and no other’s.

  She put her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest. Fane answered her unspoken thought. “I am only yours, my Luna. I was yours from my first breath, and I will be yours until my last.”

  Jacque closed her eyes as tears ran slowly down her cheeks. She pulled him closer to her as his hands rubbed her back, and he kissed the top of her head. When she pulled back to look up at him, he took his hands from her back and gently held her face. Then he did the sweetest thing Jacque had ever experienced.

  Fane kissed her forehead, he kissed her eyes, he kissed her cheeks and her nose, he kissed her chin, and when she thought she couldn’t wait any longer, he kissed her lips. It was soft and slow and tender. Jacque let out a soft moan that made Fane growl. He increased the pressure of his lips on hers, and the kiss became much more passionate.

  Finally, Fane pulled away and leaned his forehead against hers. To Jacque’s relief, he was just as breathless, and it took a moment to compose himself.

  “I think it’s time for me to say good night, love, or my good intentions of keeping your virtue until we are bonded just might take a backseat to my hormones,” he said and, from the look on his face, it was obvious he desired her.

  Jacque smiled at him. She didn’t want to be separated from him for even a minute, but she knew her mom would never let Fane spend the night, no matter if he was her mate or not.

  “Sorin is staying here to help give you and your mom protection. If at any point you feel unsafe, call to me. I realize your mom is not completely comfortable about you and I being mated, but I need you to understand your safety comes first, and I will not leave you unprotected just to acquiesce to your mom. Do you understand this?” Fane asked her earnestly.

  Jacque knew her mom would want her safe even if that meant Fane being at their house every day, and that idea suited her just fine.

  “Are you always this bossy?” Jacque asked him, ignoring his question.

  “When it comes to your safety, yes. I retain the right to be bossy,” Fane told her. He hugged her close one more time and then let her go. Jacque immediately felt lonely without his touch. It shocked her because she felt close to tears over him leaving. Good grief, Jacque. Get a grip. He’s just going across the street.”

  “That is part of the bond, love. It is hard for mates to be apart for very long and for them not to share their thoughts. A mate’s soul is not complete without the other, and mates need that closeness—they crave it,” he explained to her.

  “What am I supposed to do while we are apart? I mean, goodness, Fane, you haven’t left yet, and I’m sad over the mere idea of you gone,” she told him desperately.

  Fane placed his hand on her neck, on the very spot his lips had been earlier. “I will come to you the instant you ask for me. If I have to sleep on the floor right outside your door, I will do it if that’s what you need.”

  Then Fane said the one thing Jacque did not expect to hear.

  “I love you, my Luna. I was made to love you, to protect, and provide for you. Never hesitate to tell me or ask me for what you need.”

  Jacque stood up on her toes and kissed Fane firmly on the lips. She pulled away quickly and said, “You better go now before I beg you to stay.” She turned him toward her bedroom door and pushed him out.

  She didn’t want to watch him walk away from her, as silly as that might be. Instead of using words, she sent him a picture from her mind. It was of him holding her close. She was tilting her head to the side like wolves do to show submission, and like a female would do for her mate to fulfill the Blood Rites. She had no idea where the thought came from. Maybe it was her subconscious letting him know she would submit to the Blood Rites ceremony. That’s news to me.

  In her mind, she heard Fane growl in response to the thought, but all he said was, “Soon, my love, very, very soon.”

  Jacque shivered at his words. “Oh goody,” she responded sarcastically.

  Hey, what else would he expect from her? Sarcasm was her specialty.

  Jacque went over to her window and sat in the seat, staring out at the street. She was waiting for Fane to leave her house, so she could watch him walk back to the Henrys’. Yep, she had it bad. She saw Sorin step out and then Fane after him. Sorin hugged Fane again. Man, they are a touchy bunch, aren’t they? Then they talked for a few minutes. When they finally parted, Sorin positioned himself directly in front of Fane, put his hand over his heart, bowed slightly, and turned his head to expose his neck. The only response from Fane to acknowledge Sorin’s obvious submission was a curt nod. Then Sorin turned and walked back into Jacque’s house.

  Before Fane turned away to walk back to the Henrys’ house he looked up at her window. At first, Jacque wanted to duck away, embarrassed at being caught watching him … again. Then she figured what the hey. How often did she get to hanker after hot Romanians?

  “I would hope you don’t hanker after any other … Romanian, hot, or otherwise. Luna, what does that even mean?” Fane sent her his thoughts.

  “You’re really going to have to invest in a good dictionary and thesaurus. You know that, right?”

  She watched as he blew her a kiss, and she couldn’t help thinking how much she would have rather her lips been on the receiving end of that kiss instead of his hand. Her neck tingled at the thought of his lips, and she was telling herself to get a grip when she realized she had missed something earlier. Jacque jerked her window up and leaned out.

  “Fane, you conveniently forgot to tell me how I take your blood,” Jacque told him.

  “I didn’t forget. I thought that would be obvious, love,” Fane replied. “You get to bite me back.” Fane winked at her, grinned, then turned to walk back to the Henrys’.

  “If you don’t want to bite him, I will.”

  Jacque turned to see Sally and Jen standing in her doorway. Sally lifted her right hand, which held a coffee mug. “Hot chocolate?” she asked.

  “You better believe it,” Jacque said.

  Fane smiled to himself as he walked across the street toward his host family’s house. He hadn’t forgotten to tell Jacquelyn she would have to bite him. He had just been waiting for the right moment because he was quickly learning his Luna was unpredictable. He didn’t know if she would be happy about getting revenge for him biting her, or if the idea of having to bite him hard enough to draw blood would be the final shove that pushed her over the edge. To his relief, she didn’t freak out … yet. She simply looked confused, and he figured it would sink in shortly and she would contact him later tonight.

  Halfway up the stairs to his room, he ran into Brian. “How was the date?” Brian asked waggling his eyebrows.

  “It was good. Jacquelyn is a wonderful girl,” Fane answered.

  “You gonna take her out again?”

  “I hope so. I didn’t ask her tonight. You know, didn’t want to come across as obsessive or anything,” Fane told him and chuckled to himself. He knew he was beyond obsessed, but then again, she wasn’t just a girl he liked. She wasn’t just a crush. So honestly, he was being pretty reasonable about the whole situation. Yeah, keep telling yourself that.

  “Oh, you had a phone call while you were out,” Brian told him.

  “A phone call? Was it from my parents?” Fane asked.

  “No, it was from Steven, the salesman from the dealership. He asked that you call him back tonight and that it was very important. I wrote his number down and taped it to your door.”

  “Okay, thank you,” Fane replied absentmindedly as he continued up the stairs past Brian.

  “I’ll see you in the morning,” Brian called to him.

  “Yeah, see you.”

  As Fane walked into his bedroom, he pulled the paper off the door.

  For a moment, he just stared at the piece of paper, not sure if he should call his Alpha first or return Steve’s call. He decided to call Steve first because then he could relay the conversation to his father afterward.

  Fane picked up the phone and dialed the number Brian had written on the paper. He listened to it ring four times before someone finally answered.

  “Hello,” the voice said.

  “I’m calling to speak with Steve, please,” Fane said politely.

  “Hold, please.”

  Fane waited for several minutes before another voice came on the line. He tried not to think about all the scenarios that could play out under the circumstances and, unfortunately, each was no better than the other.

  “Is this the pup from Romania?” a deep voice asked.

  “If by pup you mean the Romanian prince of the Canis lupus, then you are correct,” Fane responded, already wanting to growl. “To whom do I have the displeasure of speaking?” Fane asked.

  “My name is Lucas Steele. I am the Alpha of the Coldspring pack. I’m calling to find out why you are still in my territory when you have not been sanctioned to be here. Not only that, but why are staying across the street from the female I have claimed as my own?” Lucas asked, his voice becoming a growl the longer he spoke.

  Fane’s eyes began to glow, he felt his canines lengthen, and he closed his eyes to gain composure. This mutt had dared to claim Jacquelyn as his, and if he came near his mate, Fane would rip the man’s throat out. Once he was calm and able to speak, Fane responded, “There is no record of your pack. Therefore, I do not have to seek permission to be here. As for the female you are referring to, unless you can prove that she is indeed your mate, then you have no claim on her.”

  Fane heard a low growl on the other end of the phone. He waited for Lucas to respond and for a moment thought the other wolf was no longer there, but then he heard him speak. “Are you trying to say that you can prove she is your mate?” Lucas asked.

  “Da, yes.”

  Lucas then said the very thing Fane had been hoping to avoid. “Then I challenge you for the bonding ceremony.”

  Fane was silent.

  “You know how this works, correct?” Lucas asked. “Regardless, let me refresh your memory. Even if she does carry your marks, she is not bonded to you, and therefore, I have the right to challenge you for the bonding ceremony. If I win, this means you die, then I will take the female as my mate, and she will be bonded with me. If you win, well, the outcome is obvious,” Lucas explained.