Lilly grunted.

  “Okay, maybe we would like to see who the guy is,” said Jacque, “but we do also genuinely want to help you. I don’t think you can carry all this over on your own.”

  “Well, I was going to ask you to help me anyway, and I thought you and the girls would be interested in meeting the new young man, especially since you and Trent have split up.”

  “Do not go there, Mom.” Jacque’s shoulders tensed at the mention of her ex. “This has nothing to do with him. It’s only natural to want to meet a new neighbor, especially since he’s not from our country,” Jacque told her, not sure who she was really trying to convince.

  “Okay, okay, you don’t have to be defensive. I will be ready just as soon as those rolls are done warming. I’m going to call the Henrys now to make sure they are okay with us coming over in about ten minutes.”

  Jacque grabbed the rolls and shoved them in the oven. Lilly was stepping out of the room to call the Henrys when Jacque caught the briefest hint of worry coming off her mom in subtle waves. It had been a while since she had picked anything up from her mom, so it made the girl take a step back. Lilly was a single parent who ran her own business. It wasn’t like there was a shortage of things to worry about. But still, Jacque got the feeling this worry had nothing to do with her mother’s normal concerns. This was something else. Jacque rolled her eyes in frustration because, seriously, what was the point of feeling someone’s emotions if you didn’t know their cause? Irritated and confused, Jacque headed back upstairs.

  She forced herself to set the thought aside. It was time to inform her two partners in crime the plan had been set in motion. She paused in mid-step. Man, she felt ridiculous as she thought about how it sounded to have a plan to meet a guy. And not to meet him like “Hey, what’s up?”, but meet him like “Hey, are you a weirdo or something?” What was her world coming to? Oh well, it could be worse. She could be hearing voices… Oh, wait, she was. Well, crap.

  Sally was finished with her shower and doing her hair when Jacque reached her bedroom. The beautiful brunette could be very efficient when she needed to be, and she wasn’t one to be overly fussy about her looks. That was a perk when one could be pretty even with a paper bag over her head. Her long coffee-colored hair was striking against her naturally tan skin, and her big brown eyes gave her an easy pouty look. She honestly didn’t look like a ‘Sally’, but whatever. I didn’t pick her name.

  Jen was still in the shower, and when Jacque went to the bathroom door, she could hear Martina McBride’s “Independence Day.” Jen was belting it out proudly, albeit out of tune, and in classic Jen style, she was adding her own words because she could never remember the actual lyrics of a song. Jacque banged on the door and hollered, “Yeah, yeah, you’re strong, free, and independent. We get it. Hurry up! We’re rolling out ten minutes ago.” Jen just sang louder. Jacque rolled her eyes and went back to her room.

  “If she’s planning on blow-drying that blonde mess on her head then we’re leaving her here,” Jacque told Sally, who was putting on her shoes.

  “Well, I’m ready when you are, Sherlock. Let’s go check hottie out,” Sally said with a wink.

  “How lucky I am to have you, my dear Watson,” Jacque said smiling.

  A few minutes later, Jen stepped into Jacque’s room fully clothed, hair up in a French twist.

  “What’s taking you two so long? I’ve been ready for two minutes,” Jen said with an exaggerated sigh.

  “Oh, a whole two minutes? How dare we make you wait. Please don’t have us flogged, your majesty,” Jacque retorted.

  “It’s about time you realized who is queen in this outfit.” Jen smirked.

  “Girls, I’m ready if you all are,” Jacque’s mom yelled.

  Well, here we go, off to Never-never Land. Jacque felt at that moment she was jumping into a rabbit hole complete with a Cheshire Cat and Mad Hatter at her side. Just what was she getting herself into?

  “I think I am officially going to be sick,” Jacque said with a slight moan.

  “Take slow, deep breaths. If at any time you feel as though you’re going to pass out, please lean to the left so you don’t fall on me,” Jen said.

  “Then she would fall on me,” Sally pointed out.

  Jen shrugged. “You’re built from sturdy stuff. You’d be fine.”

  “Well, your butt is big enough that you would just bounce,” Sally snipped back.

  Jacque let out a huff. “Um, guys, remember me? I’m the one who is hearing voices and is about to hurl.”

  Both girls stopped their bickering to look at her. Neither seemed as concerned as Jacque felt they should be.

  Jen shrugged. “Screw it. If you pass out, I’ll just push you so you face-plant. Then neither of us will have to worry about ending up underneath your bushy red hair.”

  “Man, you are just a ball of warm fuzzies, aren’t you?” Jacque asked, glaring at Jen.

  “I’m just saying.” Jen laughed. “It’s important to be prepared for these situations.”

  Jacque took several deep breaths and then stood up straight. She held her arms out and turned in a quick circle, feeling very much like a rotisserie chicken. “How do I look? Is this shirt a little much?”

  “No, I think it’s perfect. It makes a statement, like ‘Hey, I’m not scared of your little mind gibberish,’” Sally said.

  “But I am scared of his mind gibberish, if it is really his mind gibberish and not something else entirely.”

  “Oh, come on, pull yourself together, man. He’s just a guy, okay? Nothing more and nothing less,” Jen said as she took Jacque’s shoulders in her hands and gave her a none-too-gentle shake. Jacque’s teeth jarred together, causing a slight buzzing in her head. Great, she could just add that to her list of growing discomforts.

  There was a problem with Jen’s logic. Jacque didn’t believe mystery guy was just a guy, no, he was more, much more, she just didn’t know what yet. As they began to descend the stairs, a thought touched her mind, one that was not her own. “Good morning, my Luna.” The deep voice resonated with her soul and, despite her confusion, brought her a measure of comfort. Not strange at all.

  She stumbled a few steps on the stairs. Jen reached out to steady her. “Are you okay?” she whispered, her playful demeanor forgotten.

  “I just heard the voice again,” Jacque said shakily.

  “What did it say?” Sally asked.

  “Good morning, my loona,” Jacque answered. “I keep waiting for the Twilight Zone music to start playing in the background,” she said. Then with a childish whine that Jacque wasn’t proud of she said, “I can’t believe I thought it was a good idea to go over there.”

  Sally pursed her lips as she nodded. “Mm-hm.” She hummed. “We do tend to do desperate and out-of-character things when stress wraps us in its ugly grasp.”

  Jen looked away from Jacque and narrowed her gaze on Sally. “Who the hell are you? Dr. Phil?”

  Sally simply shrugged.

  Jacque’s mom was standing at the bottom of the stairs watching them closely. She had that look that Jacque knew all too well. The woman knew something was up. Jacque could feel her mother’s emotions very strongly. Lilly was concerned.

  “Are you girls coming?” her mom asked, but her eyes were on Jacque.

  “Lead the way, Ms. Pierce,” Jen said as she finished descending the stairs.

  Each of the girls carried a dish. Jacque’s mom had even made sweet tea. After all, what’s a Southern meal without sweet tea?

  As they stepped out of the house and onto the walkway, the sun shone brightly down on them, and at 10:00 a.m. it was already blisteringly hot. Although the grass in some of the lawns was still healthy and green, Jacque’s lawn was brown and dead. Of course, that could be because her mom mowed it way too short last time in hopes she could go longer than a week between yard work, which inadvertently killed the grass. Oh, well. It’s not like they were going out for a prettiest lawn competition. Goodness knows both she and her mother would rather pull their toenails out than work in the yard in the ridiculous south Texas heat.

  As they crossed the street, Jacque saw the curtains parting in the right, second-story window. Briefly, she saw the handsome face looking back at her. She glanced away to get the attention of Sally and Jen, and then she looked back to point him out, but the curtains had closed.

  “Maybe he’s just shy,” Jen suggested as Jacque stared up at the now-empty window. “He probably has that sexy, mysterious vibe going on.”

  “You got all that because he walked away from the window?” Sally asked.

  Jen shrugged. “What can I say? I’m freaking awesome.”

  Jacque laughed. Leave it to her friends to keep her mind from dwelling obsessively on the mysterious boy who might or might not be able to speak to her through her thoughts. Yep, my life isn’t weird at all.

  Fane woke up and, without thinking, sought out Jacquelyn’s mind. It was second nature for him, even though he had just met her. Well, he hadn’t really met her, more like found her.

  He spoke to her mind effortlessly, the link between them growing stronger. “Good morning, my Luna.” Her panic and confusion nearly knocked the breath out of him. He bolted up, pressing his hand to his chest where his heart was beating out a rapid-fire rhythm Fane knew matched Jacquelyn’s. His wolf was not happy with him at that moment. It didn’t like to be the cause of their mate’s fear. It’s going to get worse before it gets better, Fane told the beast inside him.

  He picked up Jacque’s conversation with her friends as she explained she had heard his voice, or rather a voice she wasn’t completely convinced was his. And she wanted to know what Luna meant. He also caught a passing thought that the girls were on their way over to the Henry's house … now.

  Fane looked at himself in the mirror and quickly decided a shower was in order, if nothing else, just to help calm his nerves. He hopped in and was out in a record five minutes. He stood in front of the bathroom mirror brushing his teeth. Then he noticed something different on his chest and shoulder. Fane’s eyes widened at the markings that ran along his skin.

  Like every male Canis lupus, Fane had markings that looked like tattoos which appeared of their own accord once he entered puberty. These markings revealed where in the pack order a wolf belonged. The more elaborate the marking, the higher a wolf was in rank. The tattoos varied in size, shape, and placement on the side of the body. His were on his right side, which indicated he was a dominant. The design started on his right shoulder blade and came over the top of his shoulder before descending onto his bicep and across the right side of his chest. The fact that the markings came around to the front of his body, and weren’t confined to his back, indicated he was an Alpha. Only Alphas boasted markings on the front and back of their bodies so that, no matter what direction they were facing, all could see the markings. The marks were dark black with curves and points at the ends of the lines. Now the markings had climbed up the right side of his neck. They looked like flames, only black in color. He honestly didn’t know what it meant, as he had never heard of the markings spreading. Fane decided he would have to call his father later today to find out what was going on. Meanwhile, Fane hoped the Henrys hadn’t paid much attention to his neck the previous evening. It might be a bit hard to explain the sudden appearance of dark tattoos. He’d just have to claim they’d been there all along and hope they wouldn’t press the issue.

  Fane moved on and quickly ran a razor across his face and threw on some aftershave. He walked over to his suitcase to pick out some clothes. He hadn’t bothered to unpack anything last night because he had been so tired. There wasn’t a whole lot of variety in his wardrobe—black, grey, and dark blue shirts mostly. He decided on a dark grey short-sleeved T-shirt and his Lucky brand jeans. He wore biker boots and a wallet with a chain attached to it. Motorcycles were a little bit of an obsession for him, and he owned a Honda. He tried to ride as much as he could, even during the winter months. Of course, he was completely covered in leather when he did ride because it helped keep out the cold. He found himself hoping that Jacque would like to ride with him, and then his mind wandered to the idea of her on a motorcycle. Hot didn’t begin to describe how he felt about her on his bike. He let out a low growl and pushed the thought aside. He’d never felt desire like that for a female and knew it might be a problem if he didn’t learn to control it, very quickly.

  Fane had wanted to bring his motorcycle with him, but his parents told him they would buy him a used bike once he arrived. He was planning on talking to Mr. Henry about that later today, and Fane hoped his host would be willing to take him to a motorcycle dealership to let him pick one out. His parents had given him a credit card with a decent limit, enough to purchase a pretty nice bike. Royalty occasionally had its perks.

  His wolf perked up at the sound of footsteps in the street. He walked over to the window and parted the curtains. On the street below, he saw three teenage girls walking with a woman that must be Jacquelyn’s mother. The similarities in their features were a dead giveaway. His gaze shifted to the only one who mattered, and she looked up straight into his face.

  She is beautiful. Now that he could get a good look at her, he saw she had wild, unruly, auburn curls, freckles dusting her fair skin, and thin lips. She was on the short side and slender. Jacque wore faded, holey jeans and a green shirt that said “I’m not stubborn. My way is just better.” So, his Luna had attitude. Of course, she would. A meek woman could not be Alpha to female Greys. The pack would tear a timid Alpha female apart. She turned to talk to her friends. He stepped away from the window to head downstairs. He was tired of only seeing her from a distance. Fane wanted her close to him, where she belonged.

  The prince had never been nervous around girls, but he was now. Fane had not dated all that much. No one seemed to catch his eye, and it was discouraged for the males of his race to waste time with females that were not their true mates. The few girls he had dated, in an attempt to find his true mate, had never produced even a quarter of the attraction he felt for Jacquelyn.

  Fane, feeling unsettled and wobbly like a fawn taking its first steps, wished he had gotten up earlier and called his father to talk to him about this whole mate thing. The prince had learned a little growing up, but he still felt very unprepared. Especially since his mate was a human and knew nothing of his world.

  As Fane reached the bottom of the stairs, the doorbell rang. Mrs. Henry came around the corner. She saw him and smiled warmly.

  “Good morning, Fane. Did you sleep well?” she asked.

  "Bună dimineaţa," Fane said gracefully. “I slept very well, thank you.”

  “I take it that Bună dimineaţa means good morning?” Mrs. Henry asked.

  “That was a very good pronunciation, and yes,” Fane agreed.

  “Oh, I guess I better get the door,” she said as the doorbell rang again.

  Fane felt his stomach tighten in anticipation. What was he going to say to her? He had a feeling starting the conversation with “Hi, I’m Fane and you are my mate” might not go over too well.

  So, he would settle with a simple “Hello, I’m Fane.” Yes, he thought that was a very normal thing to say, and normalcy was what he wanted, right? Right.

  The four ladies were standing at the threshold of the door as Mrs. Henry greeted them.

  “Lilly, how sweet of you to come over to meet our guest,” Mrs. Henry announced sweetly. Fane was pretty sure the woman didn’t have a rude bone in her body.

  “We come bearing a home-cooked Southern meal for the newcomer,” Lilly responded.

  “Come in. Let me introduce you to Fane. He is from Rom—well, here, I’ll let him tell you. He can speak for himself, after all,” Mrs. Henry said as they filed into the entryway.

  “Sara, why don’t we set this food in the kitchen and then sit in the living room to make our introductions, if that suits you okay?” Lilly asked.

  “Oh, of course. You all can’t stand here in the front door holding all that food. You would think I’ve never had company before. Come on, girls, let’s set it on the counter in the kitchen,”

  “Sara.” So that was Mrs. Henry’s first name. He hadn’t thought to ask when he met them last night, though it might have been on his paperwork for the exchange program and he just hadn’t paid attention.

  When the food was deposited on the counter in the kitchen, they filed into the living room, each taking a seat. Lilly sat on the rocking chair by the fireplace, while the three girls sat on the couch to the left of the rocking chair. Mrs. Henry and Fane both sat on the loveseat across from the couch.

  Fane realized the five ladies were all silently looking directly at him. Jacquelyn’s gaze lingered on the markings on his neck. His wolf liked that she noticed, even though she had no idea they might have something to do with her. Once again, he found himself wanting to strut around in front of her like a proud peacock. Good grief. He growled inwardly.

  He cleared his throat and started speaking. “Good morning, doamnelor. My name is Fane Lupei. I am from Romania, I am seventeen, and I will be a senior this year.” Fane looked at each of the women, pausing briefly on Jacquelyn. “Should I say more?” he asked.

  Lilly looked at him quizzically and asked, “What does dome-na-ler mean exactly?”

  Fane tried not to grin too much at her poor pronunciation. Romanian, after all, was a very difficult language to learn.

  “It means ladies. I was saying ‘Good morning, ladies.’ I have a bad habit of mixing my native language with English. I beg your pardon,” Fane said to Lilly.

  “I don’t mind. It’s actually pretty neat to hear you speak Romanian. It’s not a language one hears very often, if ever,” Lilly assured him.

  “And by pretty neat she means it was hot.” The blonde girl sitting next to Jacquelyn spoke up. Fane nearly laughed when his redheaded mate stomped on her friend’s toe.

  There was an awkward pause for a moment, and then the blonde-haired friend spoke up again. “So, why Coldspring, Texas?”