“Did you just call him a beast? What’s with the animal analogies, Jen?”

  Jen clucked her tongue at her. “Seriously, you didn’t get an animalistic vibe from him? Jacque, he looked at you like he wanted to hunt you down and feast on your body, and not in a masticating way either. I’m talking pure, carnal—”

  Jacque interrupted her before she could finish. “Okay, okay I get it. And no, I didn’t get that vibe from him.”

  “Fine, be in denial if you must. We’ll move on to the bad news. I won’t be back over to your house until 9:00 at the earliest. My mom and dad are in one of their ‘We’re a family. We need to eat at the table together, blah, blah blah’ moods. So naturally, being the sweet, little thing I am, I didn’t argue with them for twenty minutes or slam my door and tell them how 1950’s they were being. Nope, not me. I smiled sweetly.”

  “Jen, you don’t do anything sweetly. How did you manage a smile?”

  “Oh, shut up. The good news is I get to come over, even after the little fit I didn’t throw,” Jen said with smug satisfaction in her voice.

  “Try to keep your mouth shut between now and then so you don’t have to call me later to inform me you’ve been put in lock up,” Jacque told her.

  “Okay, okay, geez. Who spit in your pizza?” Jen asked.

  “I’ll give you the full details tonight, but suffice it to say at least one piece made its way into the puzzle.” Jacque thought about her words for a moment and then remembered a question Fane asked her when he was ‘talking’ to her. He had asked where she got her odd way of speaking. Did she speak oddly?

  “Hey, Jen, do you think I speak oddly?” Jacque asked her.

  There was silence for a moment from the other end of the line. Jacque assumed either Jen was thinking or she had found something more interesting to pay attention to. She was just about to ask again when Jen answered, “You do realize who you are asking, right? ’Cause I just say things like stomp a mudhole in you and walk it dry and you totally get my drift. So, I’m just saying, I might not be the best judge of any oddities you have.”

  “True dat,” Jacque responded.

  “I’ll see you tonight. Try not to do anything too crazy without me. You know how I like to watch,” Jen said, cackling at her own humor as she hung up.

  Jacque shook her head, laughing to herself about her friend’s sick, twisted sense of humor. She didn’t bother to turn her music back on. She just listened to the sounds around her. For the most part, the only noises she heard were the occasional bird or a barking dog. Other than that, it was a quiet summer day. She knew if she opened her eyes, she’d be able to see the heat waves in the sweltering Texas air. Summers in the South could be brutal. As she felt beads of sweat run down her collarbone she thought of the times she and her mom had fried eggs on the sidewalk, and that’s not something you could do just anywhere.

  Jacque rolled over onto her stomach and closed her eyes. As the warmth from the air and ground seeped into her, she grew drowsy and slipped into a dreamless sleep.

  It was 12:30. Sara had been gone an hour, and Fane still hadn’t heard Brian anywhere. There was an eight-hour time difference between Coldspring and Romania, so it was 8:30 p.m. back home. He decided to call his dad while he had some privacy. Fane had serious questions that should be answered before he had to start explaining things to Jacquelyn and before she started asking questions of her own.

  He dialed his father’s cell phone number. “Da?” Vasile said as he answered the phone. This was always the way he answered, with a simple “Yes”, no “Hello” or “This is…”, just “Yes.” Something so small, but it made him homesick.

  “Tată, Father,” Fane answered.

  “Fane? Cum te simţi?” his father asked him.

  “English please, father. I’m trying to get in a better habit of not switching back and forth in conversation. I am good. How is Mamă? How is the pack?” Fane asked.

  “Your mother is good, other than missing her pup. The pack is good,” his father responded.

  As the future Alpha, Fane had been taught to care for the needs of the pack before his own. So, in keeping with his training and in anticipation of his future duties, Fane made it a habit to inquire about his packmates as a matter of course.

  “Good,” Fane said. “I’m calling because I need to ask you some questions about the mate bond.”

  “Okay.” Fane heard a note of suspicious intrigue in his father’s voice.

  “Does the mate have to be a Canis lupus, or can she be human? What does it mean when you suddenly have more markings on you than before? What if your mate doesn’t know anything about your world and won’t accept you?” He’d meant to ask the questions one at a time, but they’d suddenly tumbled out on their own accord like rocks cascading down a jagged cliff.

  “You’re seventeen, you’ve been in America for less than twenty-four hours, and you think you’ve found your mate?” Vasile asked. Fane heard his mother gasp in the background and begin speaking quickly in their native tongue. “Calm down, love. Let me find out,”

  “I know how it sounds,” Fane told him. “But the signs are unmistakable, and my wolf seems to know with absolute certainty, even though I am unsure of what’s going on. The beast is almost clawing its way out to get to her.”

  “I find when a situation arises that knocks us off balance, it’s best to start at the beginning,” Vasile said calmly.

  Fane told him about how he had heard Jacque’s thoughts the night he arrived at the Henrys’. He told his dad about being able to “feel” her emotions and how her scent had called to him in a way nothing had before. He told him Jacquelyn had spoken to his mind as well, and that she figured out he was who she heard and that she was not having some sort of psychosis. Fane didn’t go into the intimate details of his attraction for her. He was sure it would be understood, without saying, that he desired Jacquelyn in a way he’d never felt toward another.

  After Fane finished there was silence from the other end of the phone. For a second, he thought they might have been disconnected. But then his father spoke.

  “A mate cannot be fully human. There must be Canis lupus blood somewhere in her line. It can be generations back, but it has to be there for her life to be bound to yours. There is only one exception to this, but their kind has not existed for a very long time. It is more likely your female has wolf blood. You know how long we live, and when you become bonded, she will take on part of your longevity only if she already has lupine in her blood.” His father paused, then continued, “As for the markings, I hadn’t discussed this with you yet because I didn’t think you would find your mate before you graduated from high school. It’s very, very rare. I see that I was remiss in my duties as your Alpha and father. I should have explained all aspects of true mates and bonding. I was over a century old when I found your mother. The markings of a male Canis lupus only change when he finds a mate. They are a signal to all other wolves you have found that other half of your soul, the light of a female wolf that quiets the darkness that grows in all male Canis lupus. It is very important for you, as the next Alpha of our pack, to be mated. Few unmated Alphas last long in the position.”

  “Even though I haven’t bonded with her? Don’t you have to perform the Blood Rites before you can be mate bonded? I mean, the markings changed after seeing her through a window,” said Fane.

  “Calmeaze-te, peace, son,” Fane’s father told him. “This is something to rejoice over, not fret. We will figure out the details. You have a year to woo her and help her understand our world before you must come back to Romania. It will be hard for your wolf not to mark her and claim her, but you are not just an animal. You are a man as well and can control your beast. You must control your beast,” he reiterated.

  Fane breathed a little easier. It was true there was no rush for him to bond with Jacquelyn. Okay, other than the fact his instincts were screaming profanities at him to claim her, protect her, and have her. She was, after all, his true mate. He had a right— Fane stopped that thought before he could finish it. That came from his wolf forcing his will. The beast only understood the instincts of their nature. He did not understand the human etiquette of courtship and falling in love. I already care for her, his wolf told him. Do you care if she loves us? Fane challenged. His wolf growled at him. She will learn to love us after we bond and she is under our protection. For the wolf that is what most of it came down to—his strong need to keep what was his safe. No, it would not be easy to hold off his wolf, especially since she was right across the street where he could see her, smell her, and hear her. The one thing he had in his favor was that wolves are very patient hunters. I will watch, and I will wait, his wolf whispered. Okay, so now my wolf sounds like a creepy stalker.

  Fane was brought out of his thoughts when his father asked, “Did you happen to notice any marks on her body?”

  “Marks on her, like the marks I have?” Fane asked.

  “Indeed, but you might not have seen them. The female Canis lupus markings are not meant to be seen by any other than her mate. So, they show up different places. They are not a declaration to the world like those of the males. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they will be on an intimate part of her body. However, they will appear on a place easily covered by clothing. The markings will match your new ones like a puzzle piece even though they might not be in the same location. The marks are simply another confirmation she is your mate. They are also another way for your wolf to stake his claim. But they are for your eyes only. The female mating marks are an extremely personal gift from our Creator, the Great Luna, to her wolves. Every time your mate sees them it is a reminder to her she isn’t alone. She will never be alone again, but always loved, protected, and cherished. Each time you see them it is a reminder that you have been blessed to have the other half of your soul returned to you. The marks represent the completion she brings to you. She is a gift to be treasured beyond all others.”

  Fane heard the passion in his father’s voice. It was one he’d heard many times throughout his life as Vasile talked about Fane’s mother.

  Something stirred inside Fane as his father explained the markings. He had to admit he liked the idea of Jacquelyn bearing markings that matched his own. He liked that there would be a visual claiming on her skin that showed they belonged to each other. Fane felt a low growl in his throat as he realized his dislike at the idea of another male seeing Jacquelyn’s markings, even if they were on her arm or leg, they were meant for him only.

  “Fane, are you alright?” he heard his father ask him.

  “I’m just a little … I don’t know what. I mean, I’m seventeen, and the thought of another wolf seeing markings on a girl I barely know infuriates me. I’m not even out of high school,” Fane said as his jaw clenched and unclenched. There was a growing tightness in his chest as all his father explained bounced around inside Fane’s head like loose screws that had yet to be put in their place.

  “I know you are only seventeen, son of mine, but you have to remember when your wolf finds his mate, he is no longer a juvenile. He becomes a full-fledged adult overnight. Your wolf expects you to step up and be ready to be the Alpha you are meant to be because you are to protect her at all costs. Yes, you are only seventeen, but you are not a mere human. You are Canis lupus, you are prince to your pack, and you are Alpha,” Fane’s father told him.

  Fane took several deep breaths to calm and compose himself. It wasn’t like him to get so upset over something he couldn’t change. His emotions seemed a little on edge today, and he could only imagine it had everything to do with the sassy redhead across the street. She threw him off balance, and he was sure it was something she would continue to do for the rest of their long lives. Oddly enough, he looked forward to it.

  “One more thing,” Fane said. “I know mates cannot go long periods without sharing their thoughts or being near one another without feeling discomfort from the separation. I’ve been restless since I met Jacque but it hasn’t been like torture or anything. Why would that be?”

  “You won’t begin to feel some effects of being mated until after the bond is completed through the Blood Rites, so until then neither one of you should have any problem being apart. Consummation will make the connection stronger and being apart more difficult, though it might be different for the female. If she isn’t fully Canis lupus, then she might respond differently to the bond.”

  “I wouldn’t say that I won’t have any problem being apart,” Fane mumbled.

  Fane’s dad continued without acknowledging his comment. “There is a reason this has happened to you so young. She is part human which means she can’t phase and is weaker for that, so maybe she will need your protection in some way. Keep your eyes and ears open. Nothing happens by chance. There is purpose in everything.”

  “What could possibly be a threat to her in this little, insignificant town?” Fane asked.

  “Lesser words have preceded many a war, Fane,” his father answered. “All will be well. Get to know her, be her friend. Keep your wolf in check and call me to keep me updated or ask more questions. Te iubesc, miul meu. I love you.” And with that, Fane’s father and Alpha hung up.

  “Be her friend,” Fane scoffed. “How am I supposed to be her friend when what I really want to do to her goes way beyond the realm of friendship?” His voice was guttural with his wolf as his need for her threatened to suffocate him.

  Fane sat there for a while longer going over in his head the things his father had told him. Jacquelyn had to have Canis lupus in her bloodline somewhere, and it was either very distant or perhaps came from a relative she did not know … or didn’t know was Canis lupus.

  He heard the door open downstairs and caught Brian’s scent. Fane decided he needed to get some fresh air, preferably behind the handlebars of a motorcycle. He went in search of Brian to see if he would take him to a dealership to look at some used motorcycles. Fane found his host father whistling an unknown tune in the kitchen while pouring himself some of the sugar with tea in it.

  “Hope you like sugar better than tea because that’s about all you’re going to drink when you take a sip of that,” Fane told him with a smile.

  Brian chuckled. “Yeah, that’s how we do it in the South. It’s not really sweet tea. It’s tea-flavored sugar.”

  Fane laughed with him.

  “I have a favor to ask if you have time.”

  “Shoot,” Brian said.

  “My parents have given me money to buy a motorcycle, but I need a ride to a dealership to look at some. Would you mind taking me?” Fane asked.

  Already nodding his head as he took a drink and swallowed before saying, “Yeah, that’s not a problem. If you’re ready, I don’t have anything pressing, so we can go now.”

  “Okay, let me grab my phone. Give me just a sec,” Fane said as he headed toward the stairs.

  Fane retrieved what he needed from his room, but before leaving he went to the window, curiosity getting the better of him. He pulled the curtains back and looked across the street to Jacquelyn’s house. Fane had to blink several times to get his brain to understand what he was seeing, and then he had to take slow deep breaths to keep his wolf from growling possessively. What the hell is she wearing? The question did nothing to calm him. For there, across the street, was his Luna laying out in the sun in a skimpy bikini. And it wasn’t enough that she was essentially wearing undergarments. Also revealed, besides her lovely body, there at the top of her back stretching out from shoulder to shoulder and up her neck to just below her hairline, were the markings that would fit his perfectly. Her markings were there on display for any male who came by to see, not to mention her mom if she came out. Without thinking, his mind reached for hers.

  “You do realize that they only sold you a quarter of that bathing suit, don’t you?” Fane said, trying to sound casual. What he really wanted to say was “Where the hell are your clothes, female?” He figured that wouldn’t go over too well.

  At first, he didn’t get a response. As he was looking at her, he realized she must have fallen asleep, which was not a good thing because in this heat she’d burn terribly. Fane focused his concentration on her and, using a not-so-subtle push of his power, spoke to her. “Jacquelyn, wake up!”

  Still, she did not move or respond. Fane was deciding whether or not to walk across the street and disturb her when she finally spoke to him.

  OceanofPDF.com

  Chapter

  Five

  Jacquelyn heard Fane’s question. “So, he thinks he’s a funny guy,” she muttered under her breath. Two can play at that game. She’d been asleep, but as soon as Fane had spoken to her, she’d snapped awake. She continued to lie perfectly still, knowing he must be watching her. Jacque didn’t want him to know she had heard him. The second time he spoke to her, she felt a push that made her want to obey him. Did he seriously just command me to wake up? She was surprised when he didn’t respond to that thought.

  She made him wait a full minute before she finally answered.

  “They only sold me twenty-five percent of the bathing suit, but I still think it covers a bit too much,” she retorted as her lips curved up into a wicked smile. He couldn’t see the smile, but it still satisfied something inside of her.

  Jacque heard him growl at her. Growling, really? Was he actually jealous? If so, jealous of what exactly? He didn’t know her from Adam.

  “I have told you before, you are my Luna,” she heard him answer her thought.

  “And I’m telling you now I don’t know what that means, and I’m not your anything!” She growled back.

  “If nothing else, could you at least be mindful of the fact that you are going to burn if you lay out in practically nothing and fall asleep,” Fane retorted, sounding very annoyed.

  What did he mean if nothing else? Was he implying that she was trying to lie out and show off her body to just any Joe Blow that walked by? Jacque sat up and glared up at Fane’s window, and sure enough, he was standing there staring at her. Frustrated with herself for allowing his disapproval to actually bother her, she stood up, and with as much sarcasm as you can put into an action, she curtsied to him then picked up her things and marched back into the house.