“Well then where do we strike first?” Jen asked. She heard Decebel growl beside her and she leaned into him, allowing her nearness to comfort him. He didn’t want her going, but he knew arguing with her was futile. Where her man went, she went.
“The smallest coven the pixies were able to find is in the city of Little Rock, in the state of Arkansas. It’s a smaller city but has a large enough population and such a high crime rate that they can still operate inconspicuously.”
Jen looked over at her friends and smiled. “Looks like we’re going back to the South ladies. Good food and tons of trucks—with yummy cowboy drivers.”
Sally and Jacque laughed.
“Would you like for me to change my attire?” she heard Decebel’s voice in her mind. “Perhaps, I could wear one of those ridiculous hats and a pair of boots.”
Jen pictured her mate in a cowboy hat and boots. “Babe, you’d look hot in anything, especially just boots and a hat.”
Her grinned widened when she felt his hand on her back, but as it moved lower the grin faded and she began to feel a different emotion. “Behave,” she whispered.
“You started it, minx,” he growled back.
His hand stopped low on her hip and Jen let out a relieved sigh. His touch affected her in ways that were best kept behind closed doors.
“A good Southern meal sounds amazing.” Jacque smiled wistfully.
“Any meal sounds good to you,” Sally pointed out.
Jacque looked at the brunette and growled.
Jen couldn’t help the burst of laughter that jumped out of her. “Did you just growl at one of your best friends? Damn girl, pregnancy doesn’t agree with you, or your butt.”
“If I hear one more wisecrack about how wide my butt has gotten, so help me Jen, I will do things to you in your sleep that will make most of your pranks look like child’s play.”
Jen smirked. “Kinky much? I didn’t realize Fane was into sharing you.”
Vasile let out a loud sigh, drawing Jen and the others’ attention. “I’ve forgotten what it’s like when the three of you get in a room together. It’s exhausting.”
“All the more reason to get this party started,” Jen told him. “When do we leave?”
“We won’t be dividing up like we’ve done in the past,” Vasile explained, ignoring her question. “Fighting vampires will require our combined efforts. Some of you might have some experience with them but most of you do not.” Vasile glanced at Costin and then Drake—Decebel’s third. “We will leave at first light. And our first priority will be to locate where they are nesting.”
“Nesting?” Sally asked with a furrowed brow. “You make it sound like they’re a flock of birds.”
“It’s what they call their home. A group of vampires is called a coven, and where they congregate is called a nest,” he explained.
“We aren’t going to find a bunch of slimy eggs hanging from the ceiling right?” Jen asked.
Jacque rolled her eyes. “You watch way too many movies.”
“Dude, with the past year and a half that we’ve had, can you really blame me for asking?”
“Point,” Jacque conceded.
“Don’t worry about packing clothes. Only pack weapons. The fae will assist us with changes in attire when we need it. Any questions?” Vasile asked as he looked around the room. When no one spoke up, he offered, “Comments?”
Just as Jen spoke, she heard Jacque mutter. “Did you really have to ask that?”
“Maybe we should get a group picture,” she suggested. “We can hang it on the wall and title it, The Fellowship Rides Again.”
Jacque grinned mischievously. “When you say ride, is it going to be anything like the time Decebel woke you up and informed you—”
“I’m not above growling at a pregnant female,” Decebel interrupted.
If Decebel noticed the subtle way Fane maneuvered his giggling mate slightly behind his body, he didn’t acknowledge it. Though Fane was chuckling himself, he was as protective of Jacque as Decebel was of Jen.
Jen glanced around the room as she bit back her own laughter and noticed that the others, even Alina, were trying to do the same.
“Get some rest. Meet back here at 0500,” he said with a dismissive wave. The group filed out of the room, all except for Cypher and Jacque who stepped to the side and started talking. Jen knew her redheaded friend was asking about her mom. Jen was actually surprised that Lilly wasn’t there. She imagined Cypher was every bit as protective as the wolves, maybe he’d tied her up or something. She laughed to herself, picturing a spitting mad Lilly tied to a tree. She hoped for the sake of Cypher’s man parts that he didn’t tie her up.
“What’s funny?” Decebel asked as he led her from the room.
“Just picturing Cypher tying up Lilly,” she told him.
Decebel pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do I want to ask why you are thinking about such things?”
“Probably not,” she teased as she nudged him with her shoulder. “Let’s get home so we can spend some time with our girl before we have to leave.” Jen couldn’t keep the worry from her voice.
“You don’t have to go. You could stay with her,” he told her gently.
“I know. But I also know where I’m needed and I know she’s safe here. I trust our female pack mates to care for her. I go where you go. If I was worried about her safety, then I wouldn’t leave her. But, then again, you wouldn’t either. We agreed from the start of this” —she motioned between them— “that we were a team. We stick together no matter what, yeah?”
He pulled her to a stop and turned her to face him. Cupping her face he whispered, “Yeah.” Then he pressed his lips to hers.
“Besides, how long could you really last without getting to kiss me like that?” she asked when he pulled back.
“Not very long,” he admitted without shame.
“Good. Remember that when we are on our little quest and I do something to piss you off,” she said and then took off at a run, avoiding the hand that reached out to smack her rear. Her laughter carried down the hall as she heard his feet hitting the ground as he pursued her. She knew he needed this. He needed the closeness, the touching and playing, to take his mind off of the danger that they would be facing. Well, that and he just liked to chase her. She’d never admit to him that she loved being chased by him.
“Like I didn’t know,” she heard his growling voice in her head.
Jen picked up the pace as she pushed open the front doors and nearly plowed into Peri. The fae grabbed her arm and, looking past Jen, gave Decebel a wave before flashing them both away.
“You’ve got amazing timing,” Jen said breathlessly as they appeared in the Serbia pack mansion.
Peri shrugged. “It’s one of my many talents. Now, I suppose I should go back and get your mate?”
Jen shook her head. “Naw, let’s make him work for it.”
Peri laughed and waved to her before she flashed.
“You coming home, B?” she asked through their bond.
“Maybe,” he huffed.
She laughed. “Don’t be a sore loser.” She flashed him a few images from her mind. And loved the low rumble that he sent to her.
“Wait for me in the foyer,” he ordered and the urgency in his voice made her grin widen.
“Maybe, or maybe I’ll be playing with little Thia and you will just have to wait.” Jen knew it was cruel, but then she never professed to being sweet. She sent him a few more images that she knew would drive him insane and then closed the bond just enough that they could still feel each other, but that she wouldn’t be able to hear his growling. She practically patted herself on the back as she headed in the direction of Thia’s room.
She knew Decebel wouldn’t let her get away with teasing him, but his payback would be well worth it.
“I don’t want to argue about this,” Fane said as he and Jacquelyn entered their suite.
“Good,” she answered him. “Then don’t argue.”
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Fane growled. He knew that the argument was unavoidable. His mate was so stubborn that he was pretty sure her face was next to the definition in the dictionary.
“We need to discuss it,” Fane told her, attempting to keep the anger from his voice. He knew his own anger would only spur hers on.
“There’s nothing to discuss. You aren’t leaving me here,” Jacquelyn informed him.
“It’s not like I want to leave you. I want to protect you and our unborn child,” he said, practically snarling the last part. He couldn’t help it. The idea of his mate and child in danger made him crazy.
“Do not pull the unborn child card on me,” Jacquelyn snapped back. “I know that I’m pregnant. I don’t need you to remind me as if I don’t give a crap about the safety of our child.”
“Of course, I don’t think that. I just don’t understand why you would want to put both of your lives in danger. What if something happens to you and you lose our baby? I don’t want you to have to go through something like that.” Fane hated to bring up something so horrible, but he desperately needed her to see why it was so important that she not go.
“Then you should stay here as well,” she countered.
Fane was surprised by her response. He hadn’t been expecting her to suggest something like that. And he was a little insulted that she would think he needed protecting. “You don’t believe I am capable of defeating our enemy? You find me to be weak?”
Her eyes widened and he saw the minute she realized she’d hurt him, but anger quickly replaced the emotion. “No, you idiot!”
“Luna, we agreed not to call each other names when we fight,” he reminded her and instantly realized it had been the wrong thing to say.
“Then don’t act like a dense…a… well…a,” she sputtered over her words and finally blurted out, “sheep!”
Fane frowned at her. “A dense?” He paused. “Sheep?”
“Yes,” Jacquelyn said a little more confidently. “A dense sheep because sheep are the dumbest animals on the freaking planet and you are obviously a distant cousin.”
He wasn’t sure if he should laugh or be offended. A dense sheep, well that was a new one.
“I know you can take care of yourself. I don’t doubt for a second that you are capable. But if I have to stay behind because you can’t stand the idea of us” —she made a motion to her protruding belly— “in danger, then you can’t go either. Do you know what it will be like to sit here while the father of my child is fighting vampires? That makes me every bit as crazy as it makes you. I don’t understand why you dumb males think you’re the only ones with strong emotions when it comes to the idea of their mate being in danger.”
There she went with the name calling again. Fane hoped some of it was the hormones from her pregnancy making her a tad more volatile.
“I do know that you don’t like me being in danger. But I just figured you’d be more understanding that you being pregnant makes the situation different from when you are not pregnant. You won’t be able to fight, Jacquelyn.”
“You’ll protect me.”
Her matter-of-fact answer and the look of complete trust in her eyes caused all of the other things she’d said to vanish. It moved him in unbelievable ways to know that she had that much faith in his abilities.
“And it is my privilege to protect you. But what if we get overwhelmed? Vampires are fast and strong and vicious. If they got their hands on you…I know that we would die together, but not before I had to watch them tear into your throat. Please don’t put me in that position.” He was pleading with her and it didn’t make him feel any less like a man because he would do anything to protect his mate, even if that meant begging.
Fane waited for her answer as his heart beat painfully in his chest. She was standing across the room from him and he desperately wanted to wrap her in his arms, but he knew his touch would not be welcome in that moment. So he would attempt to be patient with her—though when it came to being able to touch Jacquelyn, patience was not one of his strong suits.
Jacque completely understood why Fane didn’t want her going and she might have agreed if it hadn’t been for what Cypher had told her. She didn’t know how to tell Fane what was going on. Apparently Lilly had some sort of vision last night and had insisted that Cypher ensure that Jacque make the trip to America. Whatever the vision was, it must have been terribly serious. Jacque knew that, under normal circumstances, her mother would want her as far away as possible from any fighting. Jacque was still trying to get used to the fact that her mother had begun to develop this seer type magic, but she trusted her regardless of whether she understood why it was happening to her.
Movement from across the room brought her attention back to the matter at hand. She turned to face her mate and met his gaze. The worry that filled his blue eyes was nearly painful to look at. It hurt her heart to know that she was going to cause him even more consternation, but she didn’t know what else to do.
“Listen, Fane,” she finally spoke. “Cypher’s just told me something important.”
“What did he tell you?” Fane asked as he took a step toward her.
“You aren’t going to like it.”
“We don’t keep secrets, Luna,” he reminded her of their vow.
Jacque took a deep breath and let it out before she spoke again. “Mom had a vision.” She paused as her mate let out a string of expletives that had her eye widening. Fane rarely cursed. It was in Romanian, but there was no missing the tone of the words.
“I hate it when you start a sentence that way,” he grumbled as he ran a hand through his dark hair.
For a moment she was sidetracked by the movement and how sensual it appeared as his arm flexed and his shirt rose up, giving her a tempting view of his well sculpted stomach. She frowned at that thought as she looked down at her own, not sculpted, stomach.
“You’re beautiful,” he said reading the disgust on her face. “Do I need to show you just how beautiful you are to me?”
She held up her hand. “Don’t take another step wolf-man. We aren’t done.”
“Very well, what did your mother see?”
“She told Cypher that it was absolutely imperative that I go to the US with the group. She couldn’t tell him exactly what she’d seen because it was too clouded from her conscious mind. But without a doubt she felt that if I didn’t go with you, something terrible was going to happen.”
“Something terrible to you, if you stay?” he asked.
Jacque shrugged. “She couldn’t say whether the terrible thing would happen here. Fane you have to know that I don’t want to hurt you. I understand why you want me to stay here and I want to protect our child just as much as you do, but I trust my mother’s judgement.” She waited to see what he would say. Jacque watched as her mate’s jaw clenched and his hands fisted at his side. Finally after several agonizing heartbeats he looked at her.
This time when he started walking toward her, she didn’t stop him. When he was standing in front of her, Jacque had to tilt her head back to look up at him. At six feet, two inches, he towered over her. But instead of feeling intimidated by his size, she felt sheltered and safe.
Fane reached out a hand and caressed her face gently. “I suppose we don’t have a choice then. I don’t like it. In fact, it terrifies me, but if your mom says that you need to go, then you will go.”
Jacque closed her eyes and let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.
“Just promise me, Jacquelyn, that you will listen to me, and if I tell you to run, or hide, or whatever, that you will do it.”
Jacque couldn’t help but take the opening he’d given her. Jen would be proud. “Uh-huh and just how am I supposed to run with a belly and butt this size? Aaaand where exactly would you expect me to hide my big’ol self?”
Fane frowned at her. “I don’t understand what you and Jen go on about. You are not bigger anywhere but your stomach than you were before you were pregnant and even your
stomach isn’t that big.”
Jacque looked down at her chest and then back up at him. “Dude, these” —she pointed to her breasts— “did not look like this before I got pregnant.”
Fane’s eyes darkened and the look that he gave her could have melted butter. “Not that I didn’t appreciate your beautiful body before you carried our child, but I will not complain in any way about the new, shall we say, developments?”
Jacque smacked his chest. “You’re such a perv.”
“Enjoying my mate’s body is not me being a perv. It’s me exercising my rights.”
Jacques brow rose. “Is that so?”
Fane nodded confidently.
“And what if I revoke your rights?” she challenged, and her wolf loved the way his wolf rose up in response, needing to be the more dominant. It was sexy, though she would never in a million, billion years admit it to him.
Fane leaned down and placed his mouth next to her ear. His warm breath against her skin caused a shiver to run through her body. “I have a feeling I would be able to earn them back.”
The tone in his voice, more than his words, had her knees trembling. Fane wrapped an arm around her waist to help support her. And when she looked up at him, she saw the satisfied smirk on his face and tried to push away. He refused to let her budge even a centimeter.
“Is it such a bad thing to have me love your body, in whatever state it is in?” he asked her, his voice still thick with desire.
Jacque huffed. “No. It’s just how entitled you sounded. It gets on my nerves.”
He smiled at her. “You are just as entitled to me. You have the very same rights in regards to me that I have to you. Does that make it better?”
Jacque pushed back to look him up and down. Her mate’s form was something to behold. “I suppose it helps,” she sniffed stubbornly.
He chuckled. “Stubborn, stubborn, female.” Fane leaned down and pressed a tender kiss to her lips. “I wouldn’t have you any other way, you know?”
She nodded.
“Now,” he said stepping back and looking her up and down the way she’d just done to him. “Let’s get back to the new developments. Are those going to stick around after our child is born?”