He knew he needed to calm down, but when Fane glanced over and saw the red marks on Jacquelyn’s arms, his wolf won. He phased in the blink of an eye, and had Sorin not lunged in front of him, Fane would have torn out Lucas Steele’s throat.

  Instead, Fane collided with Sorin and fell backward, grunting as he hit the ground. In an instant, he was back on all four feet, head low, eyes narrowed, and teeth bared. He took slow, calculating steps and placed himself in between Lucas and his mate. Jacquelyn stepped back when Fane approached and it hurt to know she was afraid of him in his wolf form.

  He continued to move forward, pushing Lucas farther away, and prepared to lunge again when he heard Sorin yell, “Nu-l atinge, prinț! Do not touch him, Prince!”

  Fane stopped in his tracks. He did not move closer, but he continued to growl and glare at Lucas.

  “As Fane has said, you violated the challenge rules by causing harm to Fane’s mate. Therefore, it is Fane’s right to stay with her while we await the arrival of his Alpha and the time of the challenge,” Sorin informed the wolf.

  “Who the hell are you?” Lucas snarled.

  “I am the prince’s bodyguard. It is my right to be here as a witness to the proceedings.”

  Lucas narrowed his eyes. Had Fane been thinking rationally, he would have understood Lucas was searching his mind for a loophole. Apparently, he found none. “Regardless, I did not harm the female!” Lucas spat.

  “Hey, fleabag, the female has a name!” Jen yelled.

  “Jen, now is not the time, hon. Keep your trap closed,” Sally said through pursed lips.

  “Oh, right, sorry. I just get so carried away. I’m good. Carry on.”

  Sally and Jacquelyn rolled their eyes.

  Lucas must have decided during that little interlude he needed to be more diplomatic because when he spoke the second time it was quite a bit nicer.

  “I did not mean to cause Jacquelyn harm. I do not think red marks on her arm constitute a so-called violated challenge,” he told Sorin.

  “What you think does not factor into what simply is. It is time for you to take your pack and leave. Our Alpha is on the way. You will be notified immediately when he arrives.”

  Lucas and his men didn’t move. It looked as if he was about to say more when Sorin stepped toward him and spoke again. This time his voice was calm and low. “I will regard any further refusal to leave as a direct challenge to the authority of Vasile Lupei, Alpha of the Romanian Grey Wolves? Do you really want to pit your rogue pack against the Romanians? We will descend upon you in a fury that you feeble whelps can’t begin to comprehend.”

  Lucas’s jaw clenched and unclenched as he stared at Sorin. Fane’s mouth slavered as he looked up at the man. Fane was ready to attack. He would take Lucas first, then the one to his right. Fane knew Sorin would understand to take the two on the left. They’d spent enough hours training together back home to understand perfectly each other’s battle techniques.

  Fane could tell Lucas was fighting with everything he had not to bare his neck to Sorin. The bodyguard’s words had been an outright challenge to the rogue Alpha’s authority. Lucas would now submit or attack. Fane didn’t care which. The cur had touched his mate. He was already a dead man walking. The other three wolves tilted their heads in spite of themselves. Slowly, without speaking, Lucas backed away and got into his car. The other wolves followed suit. The car peeled away in a squeal of tires.

  “Cu respect, prințul meu, vă rog să veniți, With respect my prince, please come.”

  Fane gave the retreating vehicle one more snarl for good measure then trotted over to where Jacquelyn stood. He put his head against her thigh and nudged her backward.

  “You gotta be kidding me. You’re even bossy when you are in your wolf form,” Jacquelyn told him rolling her eyes. He nudged her again a little harder. Finally relenting, she turned to go back toward the house.

  “Come on girls, show’s over … for now, anyway,” she told them.

  Once in the house, everyone filed into the living room which was quickly becoming the meeting room. Jacquelyn knelt in front of Fane and ran a finger down the center of his muzzle. Fane closed his eyes, and a low hum came out of his throat.

  “You were great out there, you know?” she whispered to him.

  Fane opened his eyes, and they just stared at each other for a minute. Then Fane licked Jacquelyn smack on the face. “EWWWW! You have GOT to stop kissing me in public. It’s getting out of hand,” Jacquelyn told him, wiping her face. Fane simply looked at her with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth in a goofy grin.

  “Fane, I think we need you back in your human form, please,” Sorin told him respectfully. “Let me get you some clothes.” Sorin walked down the hall and reappeared a few seconds later with a pair of jeans and a shirt and handed them to Jacquelyn.

  “Uh, what am I supposed to do with these?” she asked Sorin.

  “What do you think, my puțin foc, little fire. Bring them.” Fane said in her mind.

  “Wait, hold on,” Jen said holding her hands up, “this is obviously a job for a woman who appreciates a fine-looking specimen like wolfman.”

  Jen tried to take the clothes from Jacque, who stepped back and held the clothing out of Jen’s reach.

  Fane took a few steps up the stairs and looked back to Jacque. Coming?

  Jacquelyn huffed out a breath and headed up the stairs after him. Fane heard Jen and Sally let out catcalls. He giggled inwardly at how red his Luna’s face was.

  “There are doors up there that close perfectly. No admiring of naked werewolves in this household. I don’t care whose mate you are, young lady,” Lilly called after Jacque.

  “You go in first,” said Jacque when they reached her bedroom door. He padded in and she threw the clothes in after him. Then she quickly shut the door, waiting out in the hall.

  “Sure you don’t want to join?” he asked through their bond.

  “Quite,” she replied.

  “How long does this take anyway?” she asked, waiting on the other side of the door.

  “How long does what take?”

  “You know, the whole changing back into a human thing?”

  “I’ve already told you, I don’t change. I phase. It’s much different. But it only takes seconds.”

  Fane heard her knock very gently on the bedroom door.

  “Come on in.”

  He couldn’t help but chuckle as she gasped at him, exactly the response Fane had wanted as he stood there with a blanket wrapped around his waist. Jacque stammered and stuttered and began to retreat. She squealed as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him.

  “Sorry, love, didn’t mean to pull you quite that hard,” he told her with a sly grin.

  “Uh-huh, sure you didn’t,” Jacquelyn said as she twisted her wrist to get free from his grasp. Fane let go easily but did not step away from her. He was still grinning as she backed up a few paces.

  “What are you doing? Don’t you think you need…” Jacquelyn stopped mid-sentence when her eyes wandered over Fane’s torso. Fane realized she was looking at his markings, and it made his wolf happy that she noticed them.

  “What do you think?” he asked her, noticing the reservations flee from her eyes.

  She walked around him, circling him like a predator seeking out its prey. Her eyes narrowed as she followed the lines of the marks. A couple of times her hand reached out like she wanted to trace the marks, and it took all of Fane’s control not to lean into her hand. Like the wolf, he craved her touch.

  “They’re beautiful. I didn’t realize the marks would cover so much of you, but you said they come around to your chest because you’re Alpha, right?” Jacquelyn asked, still completely mesmerized by the marks.

  “That is correct. I have more marks than others.” Fane reached out and ran a finger across Jacquelyn’s neck as he said this. She slapped his hand away. “No touching while you’re standing in nothing but a blanket,” she told him, trying to sound firm but not able to wipe the smile off her face.

  When she finally stopped and just stared at him, he couldn’t help but tease her. “Have you looked your fill, or do you need a few more minutes? I’d be happy to let you study them if you’d like,” Fane told her with a wink.

  “Yeah, I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

  “Well, if you are not going to take advantage of me while I am so vulnerable, I suppose I should get dressed,” Fane told her grinning.

  Surprisingly, she didn’t respond or turn to leave. Fane decided to shock her into action. He started to unwrap his blanket. “Of course, if you want to watch me dress, you are welcome to, seeing as how you are my mate. You could even help if you’d like.”

  That worked. Jacquelyn turned bright red then abruptly spun around to face the door. Fane dressed quickly and tried to keep his mind out of hers, although he was very curious about what she was thinking.

  “Okay, love, all done.” He was slipping his shirt over his head as she turned around.

  “You know you’re beautiful, don’t you?” Jacquelyn asked him.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean you, all of you. Your skin is beautiful, you’re all buff and built, and your eyes are incredible. You’re just beautiful,” she explained.

  “Well, nobody has ever told me that, so no, I did not know I was beautiful. Thank you,” he said placing his hand over his heart and bowing his head. “You are exquisite. Did you know that?” he asked her.

  “I wouldn’t say exquisite. I mean, I don’t think I’m a movie star or anything, but I suppose I don’t break the mirror,” she responded.

  “No female I have ever seen holds a candle to you, Luna.”

  They were quiet for a moment. Fane was looking at her face, her beautiful green eyes and endearing freckles. He let his eyes wander down her neck to her shoulders and arms, where the red marks that were quickly becoming bruises caught his eyes. He growled low.

  “Come here please, Jacquelyn,” Fane told her.

  Jacquelyn had stepped back at the sound of the growl.

  “I am not growling at you, meu inimă, my heart. I merely want to look at the marks that mongrel left on you,” he explained.

  “It’s nothing. They don’t even really hurt anymore,” Jacquelyn fibbed.

  “Jacquelyn, love, don’t tell me untruths. I know when you aren’t being honest with me.”

  “Who are you, Santa Claus?” Jacquelyn retorted.

  “Just come here, please. Do I need to come over there?” Fane asked with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

  “Pipe down, I’ll come to you.”

  Jacquelyn walked over to him, and he gently touched each arm where the bruises were. Jacquelyn flinched. Seeing the movement, realizing the pain that mongrel had caused his mate, almost caused Fane to phase all over again. Instead, he took a steadying breath and leaned down and kissed her arms gently over the bruises, wishing he could heal them with his touch. He had failed to protect her, his mate. She had needed him, and Fane had not been there.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I was not there to protect you. I should have been.”

  “Fane”—Jacquelyn reached up and ran her hand down his cheek—“this was not your fault. You were not allowed to be there, and how was anyone to know that psycho fur ball would hurt his so-called mate? You have nothing to apologize for, so just knock it off. Got it?”

  Fane looked into her eyes and could see the sincerity there, no condemnation or anger, and he was so thankful. She was truly amazing, and she was his. Thank the moon she wanted him because he would have hated spending the rest of their lives pining after her.

  “I am grateful you do not condemn me. Nonetheless, you are my mate. I should always be there to protect you, which is why you will not be out of my sight until the challenge. I will trust no one to protect you but me,” Fane told her.

  “I don’t think my mother—”

  He stopped her with a finger to her lips.

  “I will talk to Lilly, but as I said before, I will not put your safety second to her approval.”

  She stepped forward and kissed him. When she leaned back, Fane looked at her quizzically. “What was that for?”

  “Just because I can, and I wanted to,” Jacquelyn told him simply.

  “Oh, well, in that case…” Fane grabbed her around the waist and tossed her on the bed, covering her body with his. Jacquelyn let out a squeak as she hit the bed. He held his weight off her by supporting himself on one forearm. Then he leaned down and nuzzled her neck with his nose. Jacquelyn began to giggle and push at his chest.

  “Stop that, it tickles,” she told him laughing. “I’m not kidding, Fido. You’re going to make me pee on you.”

  Fane pulled his head back to look at her. Her eyes were crinkled with laugh lines.

  “I’m a wolf, not a dog, love, and if I don’t get to pee on you, then you most certainly do not get to pee on me,” Fane teased her.

  He leaned forward and kissed her gently, and then a little harder. By the time he pulled away, they were both trying to catch their breath.

  “I think we better go downstairs now,” Fane told her, still trying to get his breathing under control.

  Jacquelyn reached up and stroked his face, gently pulling him closer. “Or not,” she said just before she began to kiss him again.

  Fane let it go on a moment more before he finally pulled away and stood, dragging her up at the same time.

  “As much as I would love to stay right here with you, love, Jen might come looking for us soon and finally get that show she’s been waiting for,” Fane told her as he winked at her.

  “Ugh. Fine, have it your way, but you’re the first guy I’ve ever heard of that has walked away from a willing female,” Jacquelyn told him.

  Fane pulled her back as she tried to walk past him. “We have plenty of time, meu inimă, my heart, and I don’t want just a willing female. I want my mate, bonded to me, wearing my mark.”

  “Good grief, and here I thought I was picky,” she teased. “Okay, wolfman, if we’re going down, let’s go. Oh, and I won’t be there when you decide to tell my mom you’re staying. I’m going to be conveniently occupied with something that would normally be unimportant but, for some reason and at that exact moment, needs my undivided attention.”

  Fane ran a finger across the marks on her neck, and Jacquelyn shuddered. “Whatever makes you happy, love.”

  Jacquelyn rolled her eyes and took his hand as they went to join the others downstairs.

  OceanofPDF.com

  Chapter

  Twelve

  “Seriously Sorin, how old are you?” Jacque heard Jen asking as she and Fane walked into the living room.

  “Jen, are you being rude?” Jacque asked her nosy friend.

  “Jen rude? Never,” Sally said in mock astonishment.

  Sorin was just grinning good-naturedly. “No, I don’t mind her asking. A hundred and thirty-five.”

  The girls laughed.

  “No, seriously,” said Jen. “How old? Twenty-five, thirty?”

  Sorin just raised his eyebrows.

  “Wait,” said Jen. “Is he serious?”

  Fane nodded. Everyone was silent for a few heartbeats, shocked, even though Fane had told them Canis lupus can live for centuries. Hearing it from the mouth of one that has lived over a century was a little different.

  “SHUT UP,” Jen hollered. “What have you been doing for a hundred and thirty-five years? Don’t you get bored?” she asked him.

  “Jen, it is not essential to your livelihood to know everything about everyone. You know that, don’t you?” Sally asked her.

  “Maybe not, but it does make life more interesting,” Jen told her

  Sorin sat listening to the girls’ banter, and when they were finally quiet, he leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. “I can’t say I have ever gotten bored. Humans are too interesting to ever be bored with them. I have enjoyed my long life and see it as a gift. However, I do envy the males of my species who have found their mates. I have been looking for mine all these years. My wolf grows restless, and if I weren’t so close to Fane and my Alpha, I fear I might have a little pent-up aggression.”

  “What do you mean if you weren’t close to them?” Sally asked him.

  Jacque was sitting down at one end of the couch, and Fane was sitting on the floor in front of her with his back leaned up against her legs. Sorin looked at Fane as if asking for permission to speak.

  Fane spoke instead. “When a wolf lives so many years without his mate he can become volatile and aggressive. The reason the female Canis lupus are so precious is because they balance out the male’s violent nature. They bring peace to the battle constantly raging inside the wolf, especially the dominant ones. An Alpha helps keep the wolves under control. He can command the wolves in ways others, even dominants, cannot.” Fane looked up at Jacque, and the look on his face made her heart ache. She didn’t understand what she did for Fane, but she was grateful it was her and not some other girl.

  “So am I, meu inimă, my heart,” Fane told her through his thoughts.

  Jacque winked at him, loving the way he listened to her, and not even minding that he was being nosy.

  “Not nosy, just attentive,” he told her.

  She slapped his arm, “Yeah, keep telling yourself that if it makes your conscience feel better,” she teased him aloud.

  The whole room turned to look at them, obviously confused by the comment from Jacque that made no sense, as no one else had heard the previous comments.

  “My bad,” she said sheepishly.

  “Must be nice to be able to talk to each other without anyone else listening to your conversation, which, by the way, would so be handy in class,” Jen mused.

  “Anyway,” Fane continued, “that is what Sorin means when he says it helps when he is around me or my father. I am not the Alpha yet, but his wolf recognizes that I am next in line to be Alpha, and so I can control his wolf.”