by Quinn Loftis
She felt more tears slide down her cheeks and drop onto his face as he looked up at her. Decebel stood and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in as tightly as he could without hurting her.
“Baby,” he whispered against her hair. He breathed in her scent and could taste her on his tongue and he longed for the nights of shared laughter, whispers, and love. “I’m so sorry I’ve hurt you. But you have to believe me, I love you, I love our baby, and I’m not abandoning you.”
Jen shuddered as she felt his breath against her neck and his hands run up her back, firm and confident in his touch. She loved that about him. He saw what he wanted and he just took it. He had wanted her, and he had taken her and she had gone willingly with a big fat grin on her face. That felt like ages ago, but it hadn’t even been a year. She never thought she would need anyone, not the way she needed Decebel. As he held her, asking her to trust him, even though he wouldn’t tell her what he was keeping from her, she knew she would. She would give Decebel anything he asked for, even if it broke her heart to do so.
“Promise me you will be alright,” she told him as she pulled back far enough to be able to look up into his amber eyes, “promise me that you will come for me and your child. Promise me that,” her words were cut off with a choke as she tried to keep from falling apart.
“Shh, Jennifer,” he told her gently. He kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her chin, and then her lips. Decebel’s hand slipped up into Jennifer’s hair on either side of her face, holding her still as he took her mouth in his. He kissed her deeply imprinting his taste in her mind, his love in her heart, and, as usual, she gave as good as she got. He nipped at her lips and smiled when she moaned and pressed her swollen body against his. He continued to kiss her but let one of his hands slid down until it rested on her stomach. She gasped as she pulled back from the kiss and pressed her forehead to his. Her eyes met his as she covered his hand with her own.
“I love you,” her whisper reached into the dark places that were beginning to form as their bond began to weaken. He pushed the thought from his mind and focused on the woman in his arms―his woman.
“Sometimes I love you seems inadequate for what I feel for you,” he whispered back.
“Please tell me to stay,” Jennifer pleaded with him and it brought a fresh wave of anguish.
“I want you to baby, more than you know. But you need to go. You will be safe there.”
Decebel’s wolf snarled at him. We make her safe, he told the man. We protect her; she is ours. He couldn’t argue with his wolf because all of those things were true, but the man knew that sometimes protecting meant letting go of the one needing protection, no matter how badly you want to hold on.
Jen waited, but he didn’t say anything more. She pulled him tighter against her, trying to memorize the feel of his body.
“I’ll go,” she told him finally, “but I’m still pissed at you.”
A small smile curved the side of his lips and she reached up to kiss him.
“It is noted that you are still pissed,” he told her in between kisses.
Their kiss grew more and more intense as words seemed incapable of describing the love and need that had been growing in both of them. Jen grabbed on to him like he was a life raft in a turbulent storm. Her hands roamed over him and he didn’t stop her the way he had so many times before.
“I’m sorry baby. I’m so sorry,” he murmured over and over and his own hands caressed and loved her as he had not allowed himself to do in so long.
He knew he should just kiss her, help her pack, and then walk her out to go, but he couldn’t. This might be the last time he would be with his mate, the last time to kiss her, touch her, and love her, and so he would take what was his, what he had denied himself and her for too long.
“I love you Jennifer,” he told her as he laid her on their bed and covered her body with his own.
“Show me,” she was breathless as the words left her mouth.
“I plan to,” he whispered against her ear. His wolf howled triumphantly and Decebel was powerless to stop himself as he sunk his teeth into his mark on her neck that branded her as his.
“Yours,” she agreed.
“Mine.”
“I understand why you want to go.” Fane was standing with his back against the wall and his arms were folded across his chest. He just barely kept the growl out of his voice, but he couldn’t stop his eyes from glowing. He was angry - angry with Cypher for sending Lilly away, angry at Jacquelyn for deciding to go without speaking with him first, angry at his father for agreeing to it, and angry at himself because he couldn’t do a damn thing about any of it.
“If you understand, then what is the problem?” Jacque asked as she threw her clothes haphazardly in her suitcase not bothering to check what was in her hands.
“The problem is I’m not going to be there to keep you safe.”
Jacque stopped what she was doing and looked over at her mate. “Have I not proven that I’m capable of protecting myself?”
“That’s not the point,” Fane snapped, “You’re my mate. You belong by my side.”
Jacque groaned and threw her head back. “Are you kidding me? Look, I understand that you males have this weird complex that makes you all possessive and whatnot, but this is my mom, Fane. She’s hurting and I’m not going to stand back while she goes back to the states after the man she loves has sent her away.”
“It’s for her own good. He’s just trying to keep her safe.” Fane pushed off of the wall and walked towards his mate. “It’s not like he doesn’t love her.”
“And you think that makes it less painful?” Jacque slammed her suitcase closed and zipped it shut with much more force than was needed. Poor suitcase, she thought, it’s not your fault all the males on this blasted continent are clueless buttheads.
“I can hear you, you know?”
Jacque raised her eyes to look at Fane. “Yes, I’m well aware of the fact that you frequently listen in when you are not invited.”
She jerked the suitcase from the bed and set it on the floor, pulling up the handle so that she could roll it behind her. She made another pass through the bathroom, but then decided that whatever she’d forgotten her mom would have at her house. If not, then Walmart was a hop, skip, and a jump away.
Fane watched in brooding silence as his mate flitted around the room. He couldn’t make her stay. He had argued all the things he could think to argue and it just wasn’t enough. As she headed towards their bedroom door, dragging the suitcase behind her, she looked back over her shoulder.
“Walk me out?” she asked him in a voice that was much softer than the one she had been using with him. It was the voice she used when she wanted something, the voice he could rarely deny.
He growled but walked to her and took the suitcase from her.
“I’m not happy about this Jacquelyn,” he told her as his blue eyes bore into hers.
“Noted.”
“Do you care?”
She huffed, “You know I do.”
“But you’re still going?”
“Yes.”
He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, surprisingly gentle considering the scowl plastered on his face. He grabbed her then and pulled her from their room, suitcase in one hand, Jacque in the other. There was nothing more to say. Now he just had to hope that he could hold it together until they were together again.
Sally was extremely surprised at Costin’s volatile response to her decision to go to the States with Lilly and the others. Of all the male wolves, Costin was the most relaxed and easygoing. But his relaxed nature was gone as he paced around their room, having just hastily shoved on a pair of pants, which was necessitated by his rage induced run.
She stood silently next to her packed things and waited for him to speak. She had packed everything while he was gone and now had an hour to spare, or argue with her unreasonable mate, whatever the case may be.
“I’m not unreasonable,” he snarled. “My
mate wants to fly across the globe without me. I’m sorry if I find that a little upsetting.”
“Costin,” Sally’s voice was gentle but firm, “come here please.”
She waited patiently as he made a couple more laps across the room and then finally walked over to her. She looked up into his hazel eyes and saw turmoil dancing frantically in them. She reached up and brushed the hair that perpetually fell across his forehead to the side. His eyes closed and a low rumble emitted from his chest at the contact.
“I love you, and I need you to let me do this,” she told him as she stepped closer to him. She moved until she was pressed against him and his scent swirled around her. She opened her mind and their bond as wide as she could so that he could see this wasn’t easy for her. She didn’t want to be away from him. Surely he had to know that leaving him was not the ideal choice, but it was the only choice there was.
“No,” he whispered as their foreheads touched, “you could choose to stay.”
“Lilly needs Jacque, and Jacque needs Jen and me. That is the way it works with family, Costin. You know this. Don’t ask me to choose between you and my friends because you know that I will choose you. How can I not choose you, the other half of my soul? But you know it would kill me to do so.”
He squeezed his eye closed tight. She was right. If he asked her, then she would stay and it would destroy her if anything happened to her friends and she hadn’t been there. But then if something happened to her while she was gone, it would destroy him. Where was the compromise in that? How is a man to send his mate off without protection and be okay with it? He let out a slow breath and then reached up with one of his hands, gripping the back of her neck. His other hand rested on her hip and tugged her closer. He tilted her head back and looked down into her eyes before he pressed his lips to hers.
It wasn’t a gentle kiss. Costin was feeling anything but gentle and he couldn’t even feign it. He kissed her deeply, attempting to drown in her taste and hoping that when they came up for air all of it would just be a bad dream. Sally responded passionately as she always did when he touched her. She leaned into him and reached up, wrapping both arms around his neck. The small noises she made drove him crazy and he was beginning to think kissing her was a bad idea because it was only reminding him of what he wouldn’t be able to have the entire time she was gone.
“It won’t be that long,” she told him as they continued to kiss.
“How do you know?” he asked as he nipped her lip roughly.
She pulled back and looked up at him. Her cheeks were flushed and her breathing was rapid. She was beautiful.
“Because if you think it’s going to be easy for me to be away from you then you have been sniffing too many of the herbs I’ve been working with. I don’t want to be away from you any longer than I absolutely have to be.”
His hands slid to her back and then began sliding lower.
“Could I convince you to stay? Show you what you will be missing?”
Sally nearly groaned as she watched the playfulness return to her mate. It was this flirty, teasing manner that drove her wild and he knew it. He wielded it ruthlessly against her and she nearly always caved.
“Believe me. I know what I will be missing.”
Costin smacked her backside, something he seemed fond of doing, and growled at her.
“As long as you know, then you should know I will be reminding you frequently.” He tapped her head indicating their mental bond.
She felt her skin heat as blood rushed to her cheeks.
He chuckled. “I see you’re remembering just how good I am at using our bond to drive you crazy.”
Sally stepped back from his hold and narrowed her eyes at him, though there was a note of playfulness in her tone. “You just remember that payback’s a bitch, dimple boy.”
Costin grumbled as he wrapped an arm around her. “Name calling, Sally mine? Do you really think now is the time to start that. You know that I like it when you play rough.”
Sally elbowed him in the side as they left their room, and though she appreciated the playfulness he was showing her, she could still feel the underlying anger that he had chosen to bury. She could feel his wolf fighting with the man for dominance. She tried to take a deep breath and not worry about how and when that anger might come bursting free and whether or not she would be there to help him regain control.
Chapter 7
“How does a man protect his heart from a lust for power, greed, and self-indulgence? How does a man remain humble and able to recognize that the world is not his to create and command? I truly believe that the only way to protect myself from becoming one such as this is to give sacrificially of myself, my love, my time, and my possessions. If I am not doing these things, then how am I any different from the tyrant we now pursue? How can I say I am on the side of good, if evil reigns within?” ~Vasile
“You don’t have to do this,” Lilly told her daughter as they walked towards the chartered jet owned by the Romanian pack.
“Life is not about things we do or do not have to do; it’s about doing what we should do, about doing the right thing. There’s no reason for you to go home by yourself, especially after everything we’ve all been through.” Jacque didn’t break stride as she walked beside Lilly. She knew that her mom would try to talk her out of going, but that wasn’t an option and she wanted her to know that.
“Thank you.” Lilly reached over and squeezed Jacque’s hand and fought back tears that had been on the verge of falling since she had arrived at the Romanian mansion. It didn’t feel right to break down in front of her daughter. She was the mom, the mature grownup, and so she pushed away the hurt and disappointment and plastered on her things are fine face.
The mates of each of the females were the only ones allowed to accompany them to the airport and so Vasile, Decebel, Fane, Costin, Sorin, and Adam each stood with their mates while Peri and Cynthia stood off a little to the side, giving the pairs some space.
Jacque had no intention of dragging out the goodbye with her mate. They had said all they needed to and if she stayed too long he would just start his assault of reasons on why she should not be going without him.
“I love you,” she told him as she stood on her tiptoes and took his face in her hands. She gave him a firm kiss on his lips and when she pulled back she saw that his eyes glowed wolf blue. She got the distinct feeling that if she did not get her butt on the plane now he just might throw her over his shoulder and run.
“Be safe,” his words were a growl, but the hand that reached out and caressed her face was as gentle as if he were handling a delicate treasure. “You are priceless to me,” he told her softly.
Jacque took another step back and met her mate’s eyes one last time before turning and hurrying towards the jet. She didn’t look back for fear that she would run back into his arms and tell him to take her home. She needed to be strong for her mom. She needed Fane to know she was capable of taking care of herself and more than anything, she needed Fane to pull himself together. Having her with him didn’t seem to help. Maybe with her out of the picture, he would be able to figure out what he needed to do to move past the anger and hurt that was consuming him.
“I can’t talk you out of this, can I?” Costin asked Sally.
She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face to his chest. His scent wrapped around her and though she didn’t have the sense of smell that the wolves did, she still knew his scent and would know it anywhere. She never knew that the way someone smelled could stir such emotion and longing. She wished that she could bottle it and take it with her so she could have it when she needed his nearness.
“No,” she whispered softly knowing he would be able to hear her.
He let out an exhausted sigh and she hated that she was causing him such distress.
“I’ll be fine,” she told him as she pulled back and looked up at his all-too-handsome face. “I love you.”
He gave her one of his heart stopping gri
ns, dimples and all, and she felt her pulse quicken. She wondered if that grin would still cause such a reaction in her twenty or even fifty years from now. As she stared into his hazel eyes where mischief danced, she knew it would.
“I love you too, Sally mine.” He wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her to him pressing his firm lips to her soft ones. He kissed her deeply, devouring the feel and taste of her. It was more than a kiss. It was a claiming. His heart was hers, just as her heart was his. He pushed every ounce of need, want, and love for her into that kiss and Sally felt it deep in her soul.
When he finally let her up for air, he gave her one last kiss on her forehead then gently pushed her in the direction of the plane.
“Go now before I chain you to my side.”
Sally took him at his word and turned and walked briskly to the plane, following the same path Jacque had just taken.
Jen watched as Crina said her goodbyes to Adam and Elle to Sorin. Neither of the males looked any happier than her mate did. The difference was that their tortured looks were because they didn’t want their mates to leave. Decebel’s tortured look, however, was for a reason unknown to her, which thoroughly pissed her off.
“Please try and stay out of trouble.” His voice pulled her eyes from the other two couples and she turned to face him.
“I don’t think many men like to see a pregnant chick strip, no matter how beautiful she is, so I don’t think you need to worry about that―for now.” Jen was trying her best to keep the snarkiness out of her voice. No matter how upset she was with her mate she didn’t want to leave on a bad note.
“Stripping is not your only talent when it comes to trouble, mate.” His eyes were narrowed at her but she heard the playfulness in his tone and that small thing loosened something inside her, if only for a minute.
“Don’t you just take comfort in knowing that you have a very long life to try and keep me out of trouble?” she teased back. And just like that, his guard was back up and it was like the past two hours hadn’t happened.