Aphid’s eyes shifted to the she-wolf. “We do not mean any Canis lupus harm.” His voice was firm though not unkind. “But it is our job to know.”

  Crina pursed her lips. “Wolves like to keep the location of their den’s secret.”

  “Then we probably shouldn’t live in big-ass mansions,” Jen suggested.

  Jacque didn’t miss the slight upturn of Aphid’s lips. It was hard not to laugh at the crap that came out of her friend’s mouth.

  Saffron looked at his soldiers. “If you require assistance after receiving your mission, let me know.”

  Once again, the pair nodded in unison, and then they were gone.

  Fane pointed to the maps on the tables. “Our pack will hunt vampires tonight. We were just going over the locations,” he told Saffron. “Let me fill you in, then we can all get some lunch. We won’t be leaving until dusk.”

  “And that’s my cue.” Jen pulled out of Decebel’s arms and turned to look up at him. “Time for me to go give Titus some real lessons about becoming a Canis lupus, considering Gavril sucks at it.”

  “And that”—Sally pointed at Jen—”is my cue, because I need to see Gavril’s reaction when Jen informs him of her opinion.”

  Crina grinned. “I suddenly have the urge to hang out with the pups.”

  Adam frowned. “You never hang out with the pups.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t give me that look. I’m simply going for the entertainment.”

  Adam frowned at his mate as he watched her follow Jen and Sally from the room.

  The door closed behind the three females, and Jacque raised her eyebrows. “What was that about?”

  Adam continued to frown at the door. “Crina thinks she doesn’t want kids.”

  “Seriously?” Jacque’s voice rose in confusion. Knowing how rare it was for Canis lupus to get pregnant and then how precarious it was for them to carry to full term, Jacque assumed they would all want children. She never considered any of their kind, especially the women, wouldn’t desire to have pups.

  Adam’s gaze turned to hers. “Crina doesn’t think it’s fair to bring a child into this world. She doesn’t judge anyone who has,” he quickly added. “But she decided long before she met me that children weren’t in her future.”

  “How do you feel about that?” Concern laced Fane’s voice.

  Adam’s lips turned up in his trademark smirk. “Not entirely thrilled. But I can be quite convincing when I want to be. I’ll wear her down.”

  Rumbles of agreement rolled across the room.

  Jacque just shook her head. Nothing seemed to deter the fae male, and she admired his persistence.

  “Quit admiring Adam and focus on me.” Fane’s voice tenderly stroked across her mind.

  She nudged him with her shoulder. “Insecure much?”

  He snorted. “You’re utterly smitten with me, Luna. There’s nothing for me to be insecure about. That doesn’t mean I like you admiring other males.”

  She couldn’t argue with him, even if it did annoy her that he was right. Jacque was smitten with him, and she knew that nothing would ever change that. There was no other male for her. Not just because Fane was her true mate, but because she chose him. And she would keep choosing him, no matter how difficult it got.

  He turned his head slightly, so his bright blue eyes met hers. “And I will always choose you.”

  She grinned. “I know.”

  “Minx,” he grumbled and then focused back on the matter at hand, addressing Saffron again.

  Jacque decided she’d rather go watch Jen irritate Gavril than hear about the plan for the night. She’d had enough heavy business for a little while. Now she needed the breath of fresh air their young brought … and Jen’s ridiculousness.

  “I’ll see you in a bit.” She pressed a kiss to Fane’s shoulder. He patted her on the butt as if they didn’t have a room full of witnesses. Jacque didn’t bother to slap it away. That would only encourage him to show his claim in a much more aggressive manner. Damn fur butts.

  Chapter

  Five

  “Sometimes in life we have to take a good look at our priorities and admit that they need to be adjusted. We rebel against that adjustment, of course, because change is difficult. But no matter how difficult it might be, change is necessary if we are ever to mature and grow. Not that I’m necessarily in favor of growing and maturing. Honestly, I could do without it most days. And no, I don’t give a rat’s ass if you think that’s immature of me. I literally just told you I could do without it. Focus, people. We’ve got a kid to corrupt, a toddler to terrorize, an almost-toddler to, well, we won’t do anything to him or the infant. I’m not that sadistic.” ~Jen

  Jen swung the door to the nursery open so hard that it hit the wall and bounced back. She held up her hand to stop it from smacking her in the face, then stepped into the room. “I’m here now,” she sang. “Everyone can stop panicking and prepare to actually learn something.”

  Titus sat on the floor looking at a book that appeared to have too few pictures and way too many words for a boy of his age. “No one is panicking, Aunt Jen.”

  “Well, you should be Tibideaux. Anytime I’m not around, you should be on the verge of panic. You should be running around like Chicken Little yelling, ‘The sky is falling!’ But when I’m here, you can relax. And why are you reading a book like that? Three-year-olds should read Dr. Seuss.”

  “I’m five, Aunt Jen.”

  Bloody hell, I can’t even keep up with the ages of the freaking pack pups. And Jacque trusts me to train them? Good choice, Red.

  Sally walked past Jen and headed straight for her son. Her stomach was still small enough that she could lower herself to the floor with ease. She crossed her legs and leaned over to press a quick kiss to the top of his head. “Don’t mind, Aunt Jen. She’s feeling a little snippy today.”

  “When isn’t Jen a little snippy?” Bethany, Drake’s mate, stood at a changing table with Hope, who was half-naked in the process of getting her rear end powdered.

  “Don’t think I won’t kick your ass just because you’ve got a baby.” Jen pointed at her. “No bun in the oven means fair game.”

  “Bring it,” Bethany challenged. Then she ruined the impressive snip by turning and babbling a string of baby talk to Hope.

  “Momma.” Thia’s voice came from behind a sofa. “Come play hell.”

  Jen walked over until she could see around the couch. Her daughter sat amidst a pile of dismembered dolls. The girl picked up a headless, limbless torso and tossed it to the side where several other abandoned torsos lay. To Jen’s surprise, a growl rumbled up in her daughter’s chest as the girl picked up a discarded head. She fisted the doll by the hair and held it up in the air. Jen nearly jumped when Thia let out a loud howl that wasn’t human.

  “Okay, it takes a lot to disturb me.” Jen’s eyes widened as she continued to watch her daughter organize the plastic body parts. Legs, arms, torsos, and heads each had their own separate piles. “But Little Miss Lecter is definitely doing it. Not to mention, Dec is going to blow a gasket. Whose kid is that?”

  Rachel walked out of the bathroom, surveyed the scene, and released a deep sigh. “Oh dear. I probably should have mentioned this recent development.”

  A single brow rose on Jen’s face, and she crossed her arms in front of her. “What recent development? That my kid is dismembering dolls and reenacting my less-than-civilized actions? Is that something you think you might have mentioned?” Jen nodded her head vigorously. “Yes! Yes, I think that’s a tidbit you might have shared with me IMMEDIATELY!”

  Rachel walked over to where Thia sat and gracefully lowered herself until she sat next to Jen’s daughter. She raised her eyes to Jen. “I didn’t want to worry you.”

  Sally’s head appeared over the back of the couch. “Did you say dismembering dolls?” Her voice was shaky, and Jen couldn’t tell if it was because of shock or suppressed laughter.

  “I’m pretty sure pregnancy doesn’t make you lose your hearing, Watson,” Jen snapped. “Try and keep up.”

  “Don’t get pissy with me just because your daughter has a fascination with executing and mutilating dolls.” Sally huffed. “Titus, I think you dodged a bullet with that one.”

  “As if.” Jen glanced over at Bethany, who now held Hope in her arms. “For all you know, Hope is going to turn out to be a nutjob that makes my mini-me look sane. Maybe she will skip the dismembering doll phase and go straight to animals. Maybe Tapioca wakes up one day strapped to the bed with a gag in his mouth and wood blocks between his feet. Meanwhile, she’s standing over him with a sledgehammer.”

  Bethany smirked. “I’ve already started showing her how to tie the knots.”

  Crina walked around until she could see Thia. The she-wolf’s eyes went wide. She whistled as she took in the neatly aligned body parts. The little girl, for her part, seemed oblivious to her mother’s shock, or any of the others’ discomfort, for that matter. Thia hummed happily as she dropped the head and picked up a different one. “Jacque has mentioned several times that our pack needs counseling. I think we need to extend that therapy to the children … or at least one of the children.”

  “No one asked you.” Jen gritted her teeth, feeling hot anger swell in her chest. On the one hand, she wanted to lash out at those around her, to scream and rage and make them feel the pain that boiled up inside her at the most random of times. On the other hand, she wanted to suppress these feelings of anger, to stop herself from lashing out and hurting those she cared for.

  “Tapioca isn’t even a name,” Titus spoke up. Like Thia, he didn’t seem the least bit concerned by all the plastic dismemberment. “I think you should start using the internet to find actual names, Aunt Jen.”

  “I’ve already told you that it doesn’t have to be an actual name to be a name.” Jen rolled her eyes as she breathed through the turbulent emotions. “Celebrities give their children stupid names that aren’t real names all the time. Like Orange or Siri or Alpha-Exa-12-BR9er-something or other. And I can call you anything I want because it brings me joy and annoys the hell out of your mother.”

  Sally shook her head. “None of that is accurate.”

  “Hell!” Thia shouted and tossed another head.

  Jen sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose “Decebel is going to flip his lid.”

  “You already said that,” Crina pointed out.

  “It bears repeating.”

  “Can I be there when you tell him?” Bethany sat down in one of the rocking chairs and laid Hope across her thighs. Bethany held the girl’s tiny fists in her hands and wiggled them back and forth, again babbling at her in baby talk.

  “No, you may not.” And just like that, the bitch inside Jen rose to the surface like a pissed-off draheim ready to fry anyone in her path. What the hell was wrong with her? It was a dumb question. She knew what was wrong, but she wanted to move past the emotions that plagued her like a rash that wouldn’t go away. She wanted to be done with the mourning that held her prisoner to the ebb and flow of her feelings. “Don’t you have more important things to do? Like maybe put a boob in that kid’s mouth and give it some nourishment. And while you’re at it, quit with the annoying baby talk. If you keep talking to her like that, she’ll never learn English. Or she’ll wind up sounding like a cartoon duck.”

  Bethany stuck her chin in the air. “At least she will know how to say another word besides hell.”

  Jen was pretty sure that her head might just spin around like one of those demons in a horror movie if she let her anger grow anymore. She had to get her shit locked down. “She also says ‘Mama’ and ‘Dada,’ and soon she will learn ‘Bite me, Aunt Bethany.’”

  Sally sucked in a breath. “Bethany… I know you’re feeling good about yourself after bringing this wonderful little bundle of joy into the world. And I think it’s great that you’re not shaking in your boots in the face of this blonde-headed psychopath. But let me tell you from experience, poking the resident crazy she-wolf isn’t necessarily a brave thing to do—”

  “Suicidal,” Crina cut in. “It’s a suicidal thing to do.”

  “How about we all just take a deep breath?” Rachel’s calm, even voice helped Jen leash her wolf.

  Jen looked at Bethany. “I apologize that I’m being more hostile than usual.” She shifted from foot to foot. Her stomach seemed to be perpetually twisted into a knot. It’d been that way since— Nope, not going there. Can’t go there, not if I’m going to pull it together. “I’m just…”

  Bethany’s eyes softened, and her lips turned up in a small smile. “You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met, Jen. You’ll get through this. And no amount of bitchiness is going to push any of us away.”

  Jen heard the door to the nursery open but didn’t turn to see who’d entered.

  “I just heard bitchiness and Jen’s name used in the same paragraph.” Jacque’s voice filled the quiet that had settled after Bethany spoke. “Sounds like everything in here is par for the course.”

  “If you consider Thia dismembering dolls as par for the course,” Sally snapped her fingers, “then yes. Everything here is perfectly normal.”

  Jen cut her eyes over to Sally. “Snitch,” she muttered. Her brunette friend appeared completely engrossed in the book Titus was reading, but Jen didn’t miss the smirk on Sally’s face.

  Jacque walked farther into the room. Jen saw Jacque glance over at one of the cribs at Slate snoozing away, oblivious to the drama unfolding. Jen thought the dude was seriously missing out. Even at his young age, Jen had noticed the way he watched everyone. There was a keen intelligence in his eyes that reminded her of Vasile. Slate, no doubt, would have found the current exchange quite interesting.

  Their alpha female stepped up beside Jen and leaned forward to see over the couch. Rachel sat with Thia, helping her organize the limbs. And using the limbs to teach Thia the alphabet.

  “Bloody hell,” Jen muttered at the same time Thia said, “L. L is for leg.”

  Jacque laughed but tried to cover it as a cough when Jen shot her a glare. “What?” Jacque held her hands up in a placating gesture. “You can’t deny that”—she pointed at Thia and Rachel—“is freaking hilarious.”

  “It’s a bloody riot.” Jen walked around the couch and took a seat next to the healer, who picked up another leg.

  “Foot.” Rachel pointed at the appendage. “F is for foot.”

  Jen sighed and then reached behind her until her hand wrapped around fake strands of hair. She plucked the doll head up and then brought it around to hold in front of Thia. “Head.” She looked her daughter in the eyes. “H is for head.”

  When Jacque sat down beside her and eyeballed her, Jen rolled her eyes. “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”

  “Thia,” Titus said loud enough that they could hear him over the couch, “what is T for?”

  Thia grinned, snatched the leg from Rachel, and patted her little hand at the end of the foot. “Toes!” She beamed up at Jen.

  “She’s a smart one, Aunt Jen,” Titus told her. “Anything I tell her, she remembers.” He paused and then said, “Thia, who is Momma?”

  Her daughter dropped the leg and clapped her hands. “Jill, Jamie, Joy,” she called out one J name after another.

  Jacque threw her head back and laughed, and the others joined in so that Jen got the effect in surround sound. Lovely.

  “Touché.” She had no choice but to give the boy his props on this one. “Titus, maybe there’s hope for you yet.” The perpetual tightness that squeezed her heart eased a bit as her wolf soaked up the support of their pack. Even the teasing and playing helped, at least for now.

  The door opened again, and Gavril entered. “Hey, love.” Rachel’s eyes went soft, the way they always did when her mate was around.

  Jen stretched up so she could see Gavril. “Hey, G-Man.” She waved a doll head at him.

  Gavril’s brow rose as he looked at Rachel. “Did you tell her, or did she find out on her own?”

  Jen glanced back at the healer, who looked a tad sheepish with her pursed lips and rosy, red cheeks. Rachel looked at the ceiling when she spoke. “I sort of…”

  “Had my kid tell me to come play ‘hell’ with her,” Jen pursed her lips. “And I thought hell was a bit of an odd name for a game. Did I think the game consisted of my sweet little angel learning her alphabet with dismembered doll limbs? No, no, I did not.”

  Gavril lifted a large shoulder in a shrug. “Could be worse. She could be torturing animals and playing the drums with their bones.”

  “Wow,” Crina blinked slowly “Just when I didn’t think things could get any darker than a two-year-old with a dismembering fetish.”

  “Counseling,” Jacque muttered. “We need some serious counseling.”

  Jen dropped the head and leaned over to kiss Thia. “Stick to the dolls, okay, mini-me?”

  Thia banged two arms together and grinned, looking a little too much like the Joker from Batman.

  Jen pushed herself to her feet and took a deep breath. “All right, Timbuktu.” She pointed at Titus. “You and me. We’re going to spar, and then I’m going to teach you how to really hunt.”

  Gavril crossed his arms in front of his broad chest. “I’ve got it covered, Jen.”

  She waved him off. “There’s nothing wrong with giving the kid some different perspectives. You’re old enough to know that.”

  “He is old enough to know most anything,” Crina muttered. “He’s probably old enough to know which trees Noah cut down to build the Ark.”

  Bethany grimaced. “Please don’t remind me how old my mate is. I can’t even think about it or I get a mental image of what he’s supposed to look like at his age. Not sexy. Not sexy at all.”

  Sally grinned. “Not into silver foxes?”

  Bethany shook her head. “He wouldn’t be a silver fox. He’d be dried-up parchment. It would be like stroking an old corn husk.”

  Crina choked at the same time that Jen threw her head back, howling with laughter. Tears welled up in the blonde’s eyes, and her abdomen shook with the strength of it. “I did not need that mental image, but thank you for giving it to me, anyway.”