Prince of Wolves By: Quinn Loftis

Published by Quinn Loftis at Smashwords

© 2011 Quinn Loftis

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher

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Table of Contents:

Chapter1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 1

Jacque Pierce sat in the window seat in her bedroom, watching her neighbors' house across the street. I'm not really being nosy, she thought to herself. Just curious.

“Yeah,” she snorted. Only if you call curious having your eyes glued to your neighbors' house like a hound on the hunt. Oh, well. I can call a spade 'a spade' tomorrow morning, she told her conscience.

The Henrys were having a foreign exchange student stay with them this year. They didn’t have any children of their own and Jacque didn’t know if that was by choice or because they weren’t able to have children. Either way, Jacque was here to get the nitty-gritty on the situation and report to her best friends afterward.

So here she sat, scoping out the neighbors house with her lights turned off and blinds cracked just enough to see. To top off her James Bond experience, she even had binoculars! Now if she only had the nifty background music to go along her shenanigans.

She'd been sitting in her window for an hour and was just about to give up when a black stretch limo pulled to the curb. Now isn’t this strange? she thought. A foreign exchange student arriving in a limo? She put the binoculars to her face and adjusted them to get a better look, settling them over the passenger door to see who would emerge. She knew this was a little much, but honestly, in a town of 700 there just wasn’t a whole lot of excitement and Jacque would take it where she could get it.

The driver got out of the limo to open the back door, but it was already opening, and the boy who stepped out of that limo had to be the most beautiful guy she'd ever seen. And that was only his profile. Wow, I mean wow, was all Jacque could think. Jacque couldn’t even imagine what his entire face must have looked like. He was tall, probably six foot one or so, and his hair was jet black. It was longer on top and she could tell that he had bangs that fell across his face. They swept to the left, partially covering that eye. He had broad shoulders and, from what she could see of his profile, high cheek bones, a straight nose, and full lips. She realized her mouth had dropped open and she was all but drooling over this guy. She shut it and watched as he and his driver conversed. It all seemed very formal until the driver hugged the boy with obvious deep affection. He must be more than just his driver, Jacque thought.

Suddenly, the boy turned as if he had heard what she was thinking and looked straight at her window, straight at her. Jacque froze, unable to look away from the mesmerizing blue eyes that held her. All her thoughts seemed to fade into the distance and she thought she heard the words: “At last, my Jacquelyn.”

Jacque shook her head, trying to clear the haze that had filled it. After she came to her senses from the intense stare, she recapped in her mind what his face had looked like. She was right about the cheekbones, nose, and lips. What she wasn’t prepared for was that his crystal blue eyes now seemed to glow in the moon light; the hair that fell across his forehead and over his eye only added to his mysteriousness. Overall he had a very masculine, very beautiful face.

The shirt he was wearing was black and, thanks to her handy dandy binoculars, she was able to see that it fit tightly and showed off a muscular chest and flat stomach. He had a black leather biker jacket on, but past that she couldn’t see because the car was in the way. She imagined his legs were every bit as nice as the rest of him.

When she looked back at the street, the mysterious guy was walking into the Henrys' house. As she saw the door close she heard the voice again.

“Soon.”

Jacque sat there for a few minutes, trying to get her brain to work again. Everything seemed so hazy. After blinking what felt like a thousand times, she pulled herself together, picked up the phone, and dialed Jen’s number.

Three rings later Jen answered. “What’s the word?”

Jacque took a slow breath and said “I think you better come over.”

“I’m there, chick. See ya in 5,” Jen answered and hung up.

Jacque grinned to herself. It was great to have a friend you could always depend on to be there when you needed her.

Jacque picked up the phone again and called Sally, who answered after only one ring. She had obviously been diligently manning the phone, waiting for Jacque to call with details on the latest small town drama.

“Jen is on her way over,” Jacque said. “I need you to come too. We need to talk.”

“Okay,” Sally simply said and hung up.

Fifteen minutes later, the three friends were gathered on Jacque’s bedroom floor, hot chocolate in hand, because how can you have a girl powwow without hot chocolate?

“So fill it and spill it,” Jen said.

“Okay,” Jacque said, taking a deep breath. “So I’m sitting in my window seat, shades cracked, lights off, binoculars in hand…”

“Binoculars? Really, you honestly were using binoculars?” Sally interrupted.

“Well, you said you wanted details, so I was giving you details,” Jacque defended.

“Oooh, did you have the Mission Impossible sound track playing in the background? Cuz that would have been spy-tastic,” Jen said enthusiastically.

“Actually,” Jacque said distractedly, “I was thinking more James Bond-ish. You know, with the whole stakeout thing…”

“No, huh-uh. That would be more like Dog the Bounty Hunter type stuff. But you couldn’t be Beth, ‘cause you’re not stacked enough on top. You would have to be baby Lisa…” Jen rattled on.

“You are so, so not comparing me to Dog the Bounty Hunter’s daughter right now. And why are we talking about this anyway, because it is sooooo NOT the point!” Jacque growled in frustration.

“Spy analogies aside, I was sitting there about an hour and then a black stretch limo pulled up in front of the Henrys' house.”

“A limo? What foreign exchange student shows up in a limo?” Jen asked.

“I know, right? That’s what I was thinking,” Jacque stated. “I assure you the limo was of no consequence once the person inside stepped out. Ladies, I saw the most gorgeous guy to ever grace my line of sight.”

“When you say gorgeous,” Jen started, “are we talking Brad Pitt boyish good looks, or Johnny Depp make ya want to slap somebody?”

“No, we’re talking Brad and Johnny need to bow down and recognize,” Jacque answered. “But, aside from him being dropped off in a limo and aside from the fact that he was a walking Calvin Klein ad, it began to get strange at this point in our story, boys and girls,” Jacque said in a spooky voice.

“Like it wasn’t strange already?” Sally asked.

“Well...okay, strange-er. Just as he was about to walk up the path, he suddenly turned and looked straight at me, as if he could sense I was watching him! Like, he looked right in my eyes. I literally couldn’t move. It was like I was mesmerized by him or something. And then we entered the world of 'what the hell.' As he was staring at me, I heard a voice in my head and it said 'at last, my Jacquelyn.' Then, as he turned to go in the house, I heard the voice again. It said, 'soon'.”

Jacque stared expectantly at her two best friends, waiting for them to tell her she’d finally jumped off the deep end. But they just sat there, staring back at her.

“Well?” Jacque asked.

Finally, Jen stirred. Taking a deep breath in, she looked down at her empty hot chocolate mug and said, “We’re gonna need more hot chocolate.”

“Agreed,” Sally and Jacque replied at the same time.

Once Jen had returned with three fresh mugs of hot chocolate and Oreo cookies, she said, “So, let me see if I’m catching what you’re throwing. Hottie exchange student drives up in a limo, steps out, rocks your world, looks into your eyes, and speaks to you in your head? Am I getting the gist of it here?”

Jacque nodded her head, sheepishly looking at the floor. “I mean, I guess it was his voice in my head. It could've been a long lost dead relative who decided to speak to me the moment that hottie looked into my eyes.”

Jen and Sally both gave Jacque their “get a larger spoon if your going to shovel it in that big” look.

“What?” Jacque asked. “I’m just saying,” she said, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. Flopping back onto the floor, she groaned loudly and covered her eyes with the back of her hand. “Am I going crazy, ya’ll?”

“No, sweetie. You've been gone a long time now, we just didn’t want you to know that we knew,” Sally said with humor.

“Seriously, I know it sounds crazy. But I promise I heard a voice – a beautiful, deep, masculine voice in my head, and it knew my name! That is crazy, jacked up, 'put her in a straight jacket', totally insane!” Jacque looked at them both with fear in her eyes. She truly did wonder if she had finally cracked.

There was after all, people in her family of questionable sanity, her mother being one of them. Jacque loved her mom and they had a good relationship, but she wasn’t always in touch with reality. Jacque’s father wasn’t in the picture and never had been. He had bailed as soon as he found out her mom was pregnant. Thankfully, she had two best friends who kept her feet firmly on the ground, which was why she was so fervently seeking their thoughts on this matter.

Sally finally spoke up. “I don’t think you're crazy, Jac. Really, you’re not. There has to be some sort of explanation. We’ll figure it out, we always do.”

“Yeah,” Jen added. “It’s two weeks 'til school starts. From now until then we are on scout detail.”

Sally nodded her agreement.

The three were quiet for a few minutes, each pondering ways to “run into” the new exchange student without seeming too obvious. Jen was lying on the floor, looking up at the ceiling fan when she said, “We need to find a way to introduce ourselves to him so that we can each get a good look and see if Sally or I hear a voice in our head.”

“My mom was planning on taking over a good ol' Southern meal for him since he isn’t from here. We could ask if we could go over with her. Or would that be too lame?” Jacque asked.

“No, I think that’s perfect,” Jen stated.

By midnight they had come up with a somewhat weak game plan, the whole of it revolving around going with Jacque’s mom to give the new exchange student some fried chicken, taters, and corn on the cob. Seriously, how lame can you get? Jacque thought as she lay on her bedroom floor. Jen and Sally had fallen asleep on the other side of her room each with a blanket wrapped around them.

Jacque sat up and looked around her room. This was a place she felt safe and comfortable: the twin-size bed with the new green bed spread her mom had bought her for her birthday, the stained-glass lamp with absolutely no theme whatsoever that sat on her small wood desk. She, Sally, and Jen had carved various things on the desk's surface. She looked at her dresser mirror, which had pictures lining both sides, mostly of Jen, Sally and her in various places and poses.

A few hours ago I was just another seventeen year old getting ready to start her senior year. I was so normal, she thought.

She had three homecoming mums hanging on the wall next to her bed, and on the other side was the window seat she had occupied tonight, where her life had changed in a way she wasn’t sure of yet. Jacque lay back down on her back and watched her ceiling fan go around in a circle, the motor lulling her to sleep. Her last thought as she drifted off was of a full moon, whatever that meant.

Chapter 2

As his limo pulled up to the house where Fane would stay, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Not necessarily in a bad way, he just felt unsettled, restless, and tense.

Well, it could've been because he was more than a thousand miles away from home. He knew absolutely no one, it was his senior year in high school, and he was going to be spending it in a country he had never been to before.

“Yes I imagine that might make a person tense,” Fane said to himself. He looked at the house and noticed it was quite large – two stories with a wrap-around porch. It actually looked like a house you might see out in the country, not in a suburb. The yard was nicely manicured with short green grass. There was a tall, full tree to the right of the walkway with a quaint bench underneath. On the porch there were two rocking chairs and a porch swing, and between the chairs was a little table with a potted plant. Overall, it was a charming home. A home in which a person would feel comfortable – a normal home.

Fane hoped this was the case because 'normal' was not usually a part of his vocabulary. He was, after all, from a family of werewolves. Specifically Grey wolves (Canis lupus). Not only that, he just happened to be the son of the Pack's current Alpha. His name, Fane Lupei, literally meant “Crown Wolf.” How fitting for the Prince of the Romanian Greys.

What could possibly be normal about your family being able to change into wolves, or being a prince of those wolves yourself? Nothing in that scenario could ever be normal.

You made this choice, Fane told himself. Now you have to live with it. So get out of the car.

Fane wasn’t really sure why he had even decided to apply to the foreign exchange program. He just knew he'd felt a pull, like a moth to a flame, to come to the United States. And not to just any city in the United States, but to Coldspring, Texas. Why he'd thought it was a good idea to leave his home in Romania, which had the largest number of Greys in the world, he didn’t know.

There were other places that Canis lupus held as territories, like Ireland, the Balkans, and Poland – even Italy and Spain had some Grey wolves. One would think that a Grey would go to another territory where other Greys were. The problem was that wolves were extremely territorial, especially among males, and unless a wolf wanted a fight, you didn’t wander into another’s territory. Fortunately, there weren’t any Canis lupus in the small town of Coldspring, so Fane was free to come and claim his own territory, which was completely in his nature to do.

Okay, no more stalling, Fane thought. He looked up at Sorin, his driver and friend, and said, “I guess this is it. Mulţumesc (thank you), my friend, for coming all this way to drop me off. I appreciate it.”

“Think nothing of it, my Prince. It is always an honor to serve you.”

“Oh, come now. Don’t go getting all formal on me. Here in Coldspring, I’m just a high school student, not a prince,” Fane said.

Fane knew this was hard for his friend, though Sorin’s title was actually “Guard to the Prince” and had been since Fane was a child. Sorin had actually wanted to stay in the U.S. with Fane, but Fane had insisted Sorin go home and let him be on his own for a while. Because there were no other Greys in this area, it wasn’t likely that he was going to get into a battle.

Sorin got out of the car to open Fane’s door, but Fane was unfolding his tall form before Sorin could even get around the front of the car. Fane stood six foot two inches tall, which was a good five inches taller than Sorin, so once out of the car he had to look just a little lower to meet his long-time friend in the eye. Sorin bowed only slightly, a show of respect and love for the Prince, and then broke formality and hugged him. Wolves took great comfort in touch; it was as much in their nature as breathing and even in human form they tended to touch more than humans. Fane patted Sorin on the back and stepped away.

Out of nowhere, Fane caught a passing thought in his mind that caused his wolf to perk up.

“He must be more than just his driver.”

Fane turned his head to look toward the thought’s origin, and locked eyes with a girl in a window of the two-story house across the street.

The belief by humans that men “changed” into werewolves was false. Fane was able to do what the Canis lupus called “phasing”. The wolf and the man were one, there was no changing from one to the other. A change would mean that once a man was in wolf form he was no longer a man, but fully wolf, and when in human form that he was fully human. This was not the case. A Canis lupus was always aware of his wolf, as was the wolf always aware of the man. They usually existed together harmoniously. When Fane was in his wolf form, he could still think and reason as if he were in his human form. When he was in his human form, he could call on his wolf to phase only the parts he needed to use instead of phasing his entire being.

He phased just enough to let his wolf eyes do the looking. Although the Grey wolf’s eyesight wasn’t as good as its hearing, its night vision was the best of all the breeds of wolves. He found himself looking into eyes the color of emeralds.

It registered in Fane’s brain at that moment that he had “heard” her thoughts. There was only one person in the world that a Grey could hear thoughts from – his mate. His wolf growled possessively, and he took several deep breaths to keep from phasing. He discovered for the first time was what it was like to not be in harmony with his wolf. The wolf wanted out, he wanted to go to his mate, his other half. Fane knew it was a better idea not ti phase into his wolf and go pining at her window like a lovesick pup. He couldn’t get her scent, so her window must have been closed. A wolf’s mate also carried a certain scent that only he would recognize.

Reflexively, he sent her a thought as he picked her name out of her mind. “At last, my Jacquelyn.” It was so natural to claim what was his, and she was without a doubt his, whether she knew it yet or not.

Judging from the look on her face, she had heard him, and for a minute he thought she just might pass out from shock. Further confirming that she was his mate, he could feel her distress and confusion. But he knew she would be fine, she was strong. She had to be because she was the mate of an Alpha and she was to be his Luna. She was so named because she, like the moon, had a pull over many things – she had power that other female Greys did not.

Fane turned and, ignoring his wolf's instincts to go to her, walked up to the house, so breaking the gaze that had locked them together. As he knocked on the door, he couldn’t help himself and sent her another thought, one to assure her this encounter wasn’t their last.

“Soon,” he thought, and once again felt her confusion.

The Henrys were the family he would be living with for the next year – the “host” family was what they were called in the exchange program. This was the first time he had ever seen them and he was surprised at how young they were. They both looked to be in their early thirties. Mr. Henry was a little shorter than Fane and had sandy brown hair and brown eyes. He was thin, like a runner, and had a friendly face. Mrs. Henry was much shorter, with dark brown hair and pale brown eyes. She was average in size, neither heavy nor thin, and had a short, cute nose and rose-colored cheeks.

“Welcome to our home, Fane,” Mrs. Henry said, reaching out to hug him.

Fane was a little surprised, as he knew Americans to be stand-offish when it came to touching. But he found comfort in the touch and sank into that feeling.

Mr. Henry held out his hand and Fane responded by shaking it. “We are very glad to have you here with us,” Mr. Henry said.

“Thank you for allowing me to stay in your home. I appreciate your generosity greatly,” Fane said sincerely.

“You must be tired from your long trip. Why don’t we show you your room and let you get settled for the night. If you're hungry, I can show you the kitchen and you're welcome to help yourself to anything you find. We can visit more tomorrow and get better acquainted once you have rested,” said Mrs. Henry kindly.

Fane followed them both upstairs and they went down a long hall, passing several doors. “We'll give you the full tour tomorrow,” Mr. Henry told Fane.

That was fine with Fane. He was very tired, but his brain was going ninety to nothing thinking about what he had just discovered. The wolf inside was restless knowing that his mate, who he possibly could've had to wait an eternity for, was just across the street.

Finally at the end of the hall, at the last door on the left, Mrs. Henry stepped aside and said, “Here is your room. We took the liberty of decorating it a bit, but you are welcome to change it anyway you like. So we'll leave you to it. Sleep tight.”

“Mulţumesc,” he stated formally. The Henrys looked at him quizzically. “Oh, that means ‘thank you’ in Romanian. Sometimes I forget and start speaking my native language, forgive me.”

“Oh, no. That’s great, Fane,” Mrs. Henry said. “I would love to learn your language and culture. Please feel free to use it anytime you want.”

“Well then, mulţumesc and noapte bună – which means good night,” Fane told them.

With that, the Henrys turned and walked away, leaving Fane to explore his new territory.

He walked into his room and immediately felt at home. They had inadvertently decorated his room in winter tones with wolves as the dominate theme. How fitting, Fane thought. The walls were painted a white that glistened like snow and one had a mural of a winter forest; in the distance there was a wolf on a snowy hill, his head tilted to the sky in a lonely howl. The bed was a full-size with a thick blue comforter and lots of pillows.

To the left of the bedroom door was another door. Fane opened it, and walked into a huge closet with built-in drawers all along one wall. The back wall had a clothing bar across the top. Along the right side of the closet were various sizes of shelves from floor to ceiling. All in all, it was quite a sight – there was even a built-in shoe rack along the bottom of the closet all the way around the perimeter.

Fane stepped out of the closet and turned right to go into the other door and walked into a spacious bathroom with a glassed-in shower and separate bathtub. There was a long marble counter top with a deep bowl sink. The mirror that hung above the sink was antique-looking with a large curved pewter frame. The floor was stone tiled, and the light fixtures on the wall were old-world style lanterns. The hanging light fixture featured electric candles in a metal circular frame. It was becoming more and more obvious that the Henrys were quite wealthy.

After checking out all of his new territory – even in his human form Fane couldn’t help seeing things as his territory or not – he decided to take a shower and wash off the smell of crowded airports and unfamiliar people. He took his time enjoying the hot water and finally decided he was ready to go to bed.

His final thought of the night was of Jacque's emerald eyes. He couldn’t see the color of her hair because he had never gotten past her eyes. The shock of who and what she was had distracted him. Still, those emerald eyes led him to sleep.

Chapter 3

The morning sunlight shone into Jacque’s room as she yawned noisily and stretched her limbs. She glanced over to where Sally and Jen had fallen asleep and saw they were snoozing soundly. I’ll let them sleep while I get a shower, she thought. She still had things she needed to process from her encounter with hottie from across the street.

“Thanks, Jen,” she muttered under her breath. Now she couldn’t think of him as the foreign exchange student because Jen had so eloquently named him the “hottie.”

Jacque would have to watch herself and make sure not to introduce herself by saying, “Hi, it’s nice to meet you, hottie.” Yeah, that wouldn’t be embarrassing at all.

She gathered up some clean clothes, and as she stared in her closet she realized it was taking quite a long time to pick an outfit to wear to meet the hottie – grrr...the exchange student. Jac, she thought, say it to yourself. Ex-ch-an-ge student.

Finally she chose a pair of jeans that had holes in various places along the legs. Of course, they weren’t there through any fault of hers; they were $125 jeans made to be ripped up…go figure. She picked a baby doll tee that said “I’m not stubborn, my way is just better.” Better to let him know up front that I'm sarcastic, Jacque thought.

She headed to the bathroom to take a hot shower, hoping it would help settle her nerves. She didn’t really understand why she was so nervous about meeting the exchange student – way to go, Jac, you didn’t call him the hottie – but she was very nervous. It could be, she thought, because he might have spoken to me in my head.

“I’m mean, what the heck,” she muttered.

Jacque took her time in the shower, finally getting out when the water started to get cold. She dried off with a towel and got dressed, then took her time fixing her hair. She couldn’t decide if she should wear it up or down. “Good grief,” she told herself, “you never have this much trouble getting ready.” She just couldn’t shake the feeling that something major had happened last night when she'd locked eyes with that handsome stranger.

Settling on wearing her hair up – it was summer in south Texas, after all, which basically meant frying eggs-on-the-side-walk hot – she headed back to her room to see if Sally and Jen had decided to join the living.

Sure enough, they were both sitting in the floor. Each had bed-head and looked a little dazed.

“You’re up bright and early…and dressed,” said Jen, sounding surprised.

“Well, I woke up with just a few things on my mind and knew it would be impossible to go back to sleep. Also, I need to go talk to my mom about us going over with her to greet the hot...I mean exchange student. Thanks to you, Jen, I will probably introduce myself to him by calling him hottie.”

“Well if you do, I will be sure to do you the honor of laughing my ass off.” Jen said graciously.

“Oh, thanks sooo much,” Jacque retorted.

“Okay, kids. Let's play nice. We have plans to make, so let’s not waste time competing over who can be the snottiest sista,” Sally said in her best motherly voice.

“Okay, okay. Why don’t ya’ll take turns getting a shower. I will go talk to my mom about when she plans to head over to the Henrys'.”

“Sounds good,” Sally answered.

“Go team,” Jen said with fake enthusiasm.

Jen could often be just as sarcastic as Jacque, which at times caused them to be the best of friends and the worst.

Jacque headed downstairs to find her mom already in the kitchen, cooking up a storm. Lilly Pierce was not your average woman. She had a sketchy background growing up in a foster home, not knowing who her real parents were. She often had these “feelings” about things that were going to happen, and the scary thing was she was usually right. Jacque and her mom never really talked about it, though Jacque was beginning to show signs of a similar nature. Only Jacque didn’t know things, she could feel things – like others' emotions. It was very subtle at times. She might be in a room with her mom and, without Lilly ever saying anything, Jacque would know without a doubt her mother was sad or worried or confused. She didn’t know how she knew it, she just did. It wasn’t reliable, though, because she could go days without feeling another’s emotions. Jacque didn’t want to know things, or feel things; she just wanted to be normal.

As Jacque looked around the kitchen, she saw there was a pan of fried chicken on the stove and corn in a pot of boiling water. Her mom was steadily mixing a bowl of mashed potatoes, adding milk and butter as she saw fit.

“Hey, mom. How goes the southern meal making?” Jacque asked.

“I’m almost done, I just need to put some rolls in the oven. Would you mind getting them and putting them on a pan? They aren’t homemade, just those Hawaiian rolls, but they’re really good.”

“Yeah, I can do that.” Jacque bent down to grab a pan. “So, Sally, Jen and I were wondering if you needed help carrying all this over to the Henrys',” she said, trying to sound casual. Her mom looked at her questioningly and Jacque figured she hadn’t even come close to casual.

“Are you really wanting to help or is this just a perfect opportunity to meet the new exchange student? It is a guy, right?” Lily asked.

“Yes, he is a guy, and maybe we would like to see who he is. But we do also really want to help you. I don’t think you can carry all this over on your own,” Jacque answered.

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

“Do not go there, Mom! This has nothing to do with him. It’s only natural to want to meet someone new, and especially since he’s not from our country,” Jacque stated firmly.

“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're okay with us coming over in ten minutes.”

Jacque put the rolls on the pan in straight rows. As her mom was stepping out of the room to call the Henrys, she caught the briefest hint of worry coming off of her. It had been a while since she had picked anything up from her mom so it kind of made her take a step back. I wonder what she's worried about?

She headed back upstairs to see if the girls were done getting ready and to let them know the plan was in motion. Man, she felt ridiculous as she thought about how it sounded to have a “plan” to meet a guy, and not 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. Could be worse. She could be hearing voices...oh wait, she was. Well, crap.

Sally was done with her shower and doing her hair when she got upstairs. Sally could be very efficient when she needed to be, and she wasn’t one to be overly fussy about her looks. Of course, that could've been because she would be pretty even with a paper bag over her head. Her long coffee-colored hair was striking against her mocha-colored skin. She honestly didn’t look like a Sally. Whatever, Jacque thought. I didn’t pick her name.

Jen was still in the shower and Jacque could hear her singing Martina McBride’s “Independence Day.” She was belting it out proudly and tunelessly.

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 blond mess on her head then we’re leaving her here,” Jacque told Sally, looking over to see her shoving her feet into 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.

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

“What’s taking you guys so long? I’ve been ready for two minutes,” Jen said with fake exasperation.

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

“It’s about time you realized who the queen is in this outfit,” Jen said, grinning.

“Girls, I’m ready if you all are!” they heard Jacque’s mom yell.

Well, here we go, Jacque thought. She felt in that moment that she was walking into the lion's den. Just what had she gotten herself into?

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

“Take slow deep breaths. If you pass out while we’re over there, I once again tell you I will laugh my ass off,” Jen said.

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

“I’m just saying,” Jen laughed.

Turning in a circle with arms out and palms turned up, Jacque said “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 encouraged.

“But I am scared of his mind gibberish. If it is really his mind gibberish and not something else entirely,” Jacque said, sounding forlorn.

“Oh, come on. Pull yourself together, man. He’s just a guy, okay? Nothing more and nothing less,” Jen stated with utter confidence.

The only thing was that 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,” Jacque heard.

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

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

“What did it say?” Sally asked.

“'Good morning, my loona',” Jacque answered. “What the stink does that mean?” I can’t believe I thought it was a good idea to go over there, she thought.

Jacque’s mom was standing at the bottom of the stairs, watching them closely. She had that look that Jacque knew all too well – her mom knew something was up. She could feel her emotions strongly and, according to them, Lily Pierce was very concerned.

“Are you girls coming?” her mom asked.

“Lead the way, Ms. Pierce,” Jen said.

Each of the girls carried a dish of food; 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. It was ten am and it was already blistering hot.

Although the grass on some of the lawns was still healthy and green, Jacque’s lawn was brown and dead. Of course, that could've been because her mom mowed it way too short last time in hopes she could go longer than a week between mowing. She'd inadvertently killed the grass in the process. Oh well, Jacque thought, it’s not like we're going for first place in the prettiest lawn competition. Goodness knows both she and her mother would rather pull their toenails out than work in the yard in that ridiculous southern Texas heat.

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

“He was standing in the window, ya’ll. I promise I did not imagine it.” Jacque sounded a little desperate.

“We believe you, Jac. Stop doubting that,” Sally said with conviction.

She's right, Jacque thought. They were her best friends and they would stick by her no matter what.

Chapter 4

Fane woke up and, without thinking, sought out Jacquelyn’s mind. It felt like second nature to him even though he'd just met her. Well, more like found her.

He spoke into her mind effortlessly, “Good morning, my Luna,” and instantly felt her panic and confusion.

He listened to Jacque tell her friends that 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 the passing thought that she was on her way over here…now.

Fane looked at himself in the mirror and quickly decided a shower was in order – and something more presentable than pajama pants with no shirt.

He quickly jumped in the shower and was out in a record five minutes. He was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, brushing his teeth, when he noticed something different on his chest and shoulder.

Fane, like every male Canis lupus, had markings that looked like tattoos. They appeared of their own accord once puberty hit. These markings revealed where in the pack order a wolf belonged, and the more elaborate the marking, the higher the rank. The tattoos varied in size, shape, and on what side of the body they were on. The marks were dark black, with curves and points at the ends of the lines. Fane’s were on his right side, which indicated he was a dominant. It started on his right shoulder blade and came over the top of his shoulder, going down onto his bicep and across the right side of his chest. The fact that it came around to the front of his body indicated he was an Alpha. Only Alphas had markings on the front and back of their bodies. That way, no matter what direction he was facing, all could see his markings and know the identity of the pack's leader.

Sometime between the night before and that morning, the markings had climbed up the right side of his neck – they looked like black flames.

Fane honestly didn’t know what it meant. He had never heard of the markings spreading. He decided he would have to call his father later today to find out what it meant. Meanwhile, he hoped the Henrys didn’t notice that the markings weren’t there last night, which might've been a little difficult to explain.

Deciding there was nothing to be done about it at the moment, he moved on and quickly ran a razor across his face and threw on some aftershave.

Fane walked over to his suitcase to pick out some clothes. He hadn’t bothered to unpack anything last night because he'd been so tired. There weren’t a whole lot of variations to his wardrobe: black, grey, and dark blue shirts mostly. He had a lot of long sleeved shirts because of the cold in Romania. He'd had to buy short sleeved shirts to prepare to come to the U.S.

He decided on a dark grey short sleeve t-shirt and his Lucky brand jeans. He pulled on his biker boots and grabbed his wallet, which had a chain attached to it.

Although motorcycles weren’t very popular in Romania – because of the temperature – Fane loved them and owned a Honda. He tried to ride as much as he could and, of course, was completely covered in leather when he did ride to stay warm.

He'd wanted to bring his motorcycle with him, but his parents had offered to buy him a used bike once he got here. He was planning on talking to Mr. Henry about that later today, to see if he would be willing to take Fane to a motorcycle dealership to pick one out. His parents had given him a credit card with a decent limit on it. It should get him a pretty nice bike.

Just when he was ready to go downstairs, his wolf perked up at the sound of footsteps in the street. He walked over to the window and parted the curtains. What luck, he thought to himself. His window was directly in front of Jacquelyn’s house.

He looked down at the street and saw three teenage girls walking with who must've been Jacquelyn’s mother.

His gaze shifted to the only one who mattered and she looked straight up into his face.

She is beautiful, Fane thought. Now that he could get a good look at her, he saw that she had wild, unruly, auburn curls. Freckles dusted her fair skin. She was on the short side, thin, but not skinny. She was wearing faded, holey jeans and a green shirt that said, “I’m not stubborn, my way is just better.”

So his Luna had attitude. Well, of course she would. It wasn’t like a meek woman could be Alpha to female Greys – they would tear a timid Alpha apart. Jacque turned to talk to her friends. While she was turned, he stepped away from the window to head downstairs.

Fane had to admit he was a little nervous about meeting her. He had never been nervous with girls. Then again, he hadn’t really dated much. No one ever seemed to catch his eye so he'd figured, why waste his time? The few girls he had dated never produced even a quarter of the attraction he felt for Jacquelyn.

He wished now that he'd gotten up earlier and called his father to talk to him about this whole mate thing. He had learned a little growing up, but he still felt very unprepared to handle it. Especially since she was human and knew nothing of his world.

As Fane came to the bottom of the stairs, the doorbell rang. He heard Mrs. Henry coming from the right side of the house. As she came around the corner, she saw that he was there and smiled at him warmly.

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

"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, it means good morning,” Fane explained.

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

As Mrs. Henry opened the door, Fane felt his stomach tighten in anticipation. What am I going to say to her? he wondered. Well, naturally he couldn’t very well declare her his mate in front of all these humans – they would think he was mad.

So he settled with a simple, “Hello my name is Fane.” Yes, he thought. That's a very normal thing to say. And normalcy was what he wanted, after all.

The four ladies were standing at the threshold of the door.

“Lilly, how sweet it is of you to come over to meet our guest!” Mrs. Henry announced kindly.

“We come bearing a homemade southern meal for the newcomer,” Lilly responded.

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

“Sara, why don’t we set this food in the kitchen? Then we can sit in the living room to make our introductions. That suit you okay?” Lilly asked.

“Oh, of course, 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, and let’s set it on the counter in the kitchen,” Mrs. Henry said, sounding a little flustered with herself.

Sara, Fane thought. So that's Mrs. Henry’s first name. He hadn’t even thought to ask when he'd met them last night.

Once the food was left in the kitchen, they all met in the living room. Lilly sat on the rocking chair by the fireplace, while the three girls sat on the couch next to the rocking chair. Mrs. Henry and Fane both sat on the love seat across from the couch. There was a wooden coffee table in between the couch and love seat that had various magazines and some coasters sitting on it.

Fane realized that while he'd been cataloging the room, the five ladies had all been looking at him expectantly. He noticed Jacquelyn’s gaze linger on the markings on his neck. His wolf liked that she noticed even though she didn’t know what they meant.

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

Lilly looked at him quizzically. “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 speak.

“It means 'ladies'. I was saying good morning. I have a bad habit of mixing my native language with my 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.

There was an awkward pause for a moment, and then the blond-haired friend of Jacquelyn’s looked at him poignantly and asked “So why Coldspring, Texas?”

Fane cocked his head to the side, just like he would do in his wolf form. “Scuzaţi-mă (excuse me)?” he asked. “I do not understand the question.”

“Why did you choose to come to our little blink-of-an-eye town?” Jen asked, speaking slowly, as if to a child.

Jacquelyn elbowed her, which made Fane smile.

“Oh, I see. Well, honestly, I’m not sure. When I applied for the exchange program they sent me several candidates for my host family. I read about them and something about the Henrys felt right. I don’t know if I explained it right, but that is only how I know to say it,” Fane answered.

“Your English is very good,” Jacquelyn’s other friend, the brunette, stated.

“Da (yes), my parents have always spoken both Romanian and English to me. They thought it would be foolish to think I would only need to know Romanian language and culture,” Fane explained to her.

“So you have studied American culture as well?” Mrs. Henry asked.

“Da. American culture is quite different from mine. What I have been taught by teachers has not always stood true in real life.”

“Okay,” Lilly said firmly. “Enough of the Spanish inquisition. Girls, let’s briefly introduce ourselves and be on our way so Fane can get settled in.”

Lilly simply introduced herself from where she sat. “Fane, my name is Lilly Pierce and I’m Jacque’s mom. I own a bookstore on the square downtown to which you are most welcome anytime to study or chat. Please call me Lilly, as I am not my mother. She was Ms. Pierce. I am so glad to know you.”

“Meu doamnă, acesta este un onoruri,” Fane said, bowing ever so slightly.

“In your language I said,' my lady, it is an honor',” Fane translated.

Jen stood up and held out her hand. “I’m Jennifer Adams, a.k.a. Jen. I am also seventeen and a senior. Glad to know ya,” she said as he took her hand.

To her surprise, he did not shake it. He simply brought her hand to his lips, just barely laying them on the top of it.

Fane looked up at Jen after lightly kissing her hand and said, “Sa o placere sa te cunosc.”

Jen looked slightly dazed and confused.

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” Fane translated.

Sally stood up, gently pushing the hazy-looking Jen back down to the couch and then held out her hand.

“I’m Sally Morgan, seventeen, senior, and it’s nice to meet you,” she said with natural cheer.

Again, Fane took her hand and lifted it to his lips, placing a feather soft kiss on the top of it. Then he repeated what he'd said to Jen. “Sa o placere sa te cunosc.”

Sally sat down next to Jen and, when Jacquelyn made no move to stand up, Jen reached over and pinched the back of her arm.

“Oww!” Jacque yelped.

She glared at her friend but finally caught on to what Sally was silently telling her.

Standing up to introduce herself, Jacque began to speak, and for a moment her mouth wouldn’t spit out what her brain was telling her to say. “Oh, um, I, um...” Good grief, Jacque thought to herself, spit it out already. “I’m Jacque, seventeen, and a senior as well. Lilly is my mom.” She made no move to give Fane her hand.

The surprise on her face was obvious when he reached out and took her hand anyway. Fane bowed over as he brought it to his lips, and this time they lingered there.

As he held her hand to his mouth he took in her scent and found to his pleasure she smelled of cotton candy and fresh snow, an odd, but strangely familiar combination. He tried not to growl possessively, but couldn’t quite suppress the urge completely. Fane knew Jacquelyn had heard him because she tensed even more.

He lifted his eyes to hers and just as he had said to Sally and Jen, he told her, “Sa o placere sa te cunosc.

The only difference was as he spoke to her with his mouth he also sent her a message with his thoughts.

“I am so honored to finally meet you, my Luna,” he told her. “We have much to learn about each other.”

Chapter 5

From the moment she had stepped into the Henrys' house, Jacque’s nerves had been rattled over being around the strange exchange student. Not to mention, as soon as she locked eyes with Fane she felt a weird tingling sensation across the top of her shoulders and behind her neck. She reached up and placed her hand on her neck, tilting it a bit as if it were stiff. That was weird, she’d thought.

Mystery guy was standing at the bottom of the stairs. He was wearing a dark grey t-shirt, jeans, motorcycle boots, and the wallet in his back pocket was attached with a metal chain. The guy could make a plastic bag look sexy.

The look on his face was one of curiosity and what she thought might be nervousness. That surprised her because at first glance he did not appear to be the nervous type.

Mrs. Henry told them all to bring the food into the kitchen and then everyone was to go to the living room to be introduced to their guest.

Once seated in the Henrys' living room, they all listened to Fane introduce himself. Finally, something to call him other than mystery guy and hottie, Jacque thought.

Jen asked why he had chosen this little town and when he didn’t understand the question the first time, she asked him again and spoke down like he was a child. This earned Jen an elbow in the ribs, courtesy of Jacque. After all, was it really any of their business why he came? But Jen just shrugged her off and waited for Fane to answer. He appeared confused and cocked his head in an odd way, kind of like she had seen dogs do. Oh, that’s so gracious of me, comparing the Romanian to a dog. Jacque wished someone would just put her out of her misery.

Sally mentioned that Fane's English was very good and he explained that he'd been taught English right along with Romanian all his life.

Lilly finally stepped in and suggested each girl introduce herself, so they could get going and let Fane and the Henrys get settled.

Lilly’s mom was the first one to speak. She told Fane her name and occupation, and instructed him that he was to call her Lilly.

Then her friends were next. He’s gonna think we are absolutely crazy, Jacque thought.

When Jen stepped forward to introduce herself, she held out her hand to shake Fane's. To everyone’s surprise, instead of shaking it, he kissed it.

Jacque was completely dumbfounded when she felt herself having an extremely irrational wave of jealousy flow through her. In that moment she wanted to wrench Jen’s hand from Fane’s and growl at her. Growl! Are you freaking kidding me? Jacque thought.

She noticed that Sally had to push Jen down to the couch because she was slightly dazed from the encounter. This did nothing to calm Jacques raging emotions.

Jacque had to brace herself, as Fane was now lifting Sally’s hand to his lips. She couldn’t understand why she was feeling like this. It was totally obvious that his greeting was completely non-romantic – which, by the way, shouldn’t matter to her anyway – and yet she did not want him to touch another female. Okay, Jacque thought, it’s official. I have dived headfirst off the deep end.

Out of nowhere, she felt a sharp pain. Yelping, she turned to look at Jen – who had just pinched her. She realized then that Fane was looking at her expectantly and she had just been sitting there like an idiot in her own little bubble.

Jacque stood up but made no move to give him her hand. She introduced herself, sounding so eloquent when she couldn’t spit out what she was trying to say. She was getting ready to sit down when Fane reached out and grabbed her hand. She was a little startled, but that quickly faded into something else entirely when he bowed over her hand and pressed his lips firmly against it. Jacque could swear she heard him take a deep breath through his nose and growl low in his throat. That was really weird, she thought. But once again, for her things couldn’t simply be weird, they had to be downright insane.

As Fane repeated what he had told Jen and Sally, Jacque also heard the voice in her mind.

“I am so honored to finally meet you, my Luna. We have much to learn about each other.”

Jacque blinked a few times, trying to clear her thoughts. What on earth could it possibly mean by “finally meet”? she thought. Did this voice know it was waiting for me? It was time to go home, Jacque decided. She needed to talk to Sally and Jen about Fane, she needed to decide whether or not to confide in her mother, and she needed to have a good, cleansing panic attack. Not necessarily in that order.

Jacque pulled her hand from Fane’s grasp and he didn’t try to keep her from doing so. She turned to look at her mom, raised her eyebrows and asked, “Are you ready? I’m good to go. Sally, Jen, ya’ll ready to go?”

Jen and Sally both nodded at the same time, quickly catching Jacque’s mood.

Lilly looked at her daughter suspiciously, but merely nodded and turned to Mrs. Henry. “Thank you, Sara, for having us over. It was really nice to see you. Fane, it was great to meet you. Don’t make yourself a stranger. You’re welcome over at our house anytime.”

Fane bowed slightly, placing his hand over his heart. “As we say in my country when parting, pînă la următor timp Mai art.hot. Moon lumină al tău patetic. It means: until next time, may the moon light your path.”

Jen looked at Fane and in her outspoken way asked, “Is that kinda like an Irish proverb? Only, ya know, like a Romanian proverb instead?”

Sally giggled, Jacque looked mortified, and Fane simply smiled. “Yes, something like that.”

Jacque pushed Jen and Sally towards the door, trying very hard not to look and see if Fane was watching her. She knew somehow that he was. So, what the heck? Might as well watch him back, she told herself. She tentatively looked over her shoulder and, sure enough, Fane was staring at her. He had a slight smile on his face and his eyes were squinted together ever so slightly, giving her the impression that he knew something she did not. That thought made her shudder and push Jen and Sally harder out the door.

“We’re going, Jacque. Good grief,” she heard Jen grunt.

“Well, go a little quicker please!” Jacque whispered through tight lips.

The girls walked briskly down the walkway and across the street, not even bothering to see if Jacque’s mom was behind them. All Jacque could think was that she needed to put some space between her and that hottie. Okay, so she still couldn’t stop calling him hottie. Well, it's true, so go jump in a lake already, she told herself.

Once inside the house the three girls double timed it up the stairs and into Jacque’s bedroom. Sally shut the door firmly and turned to pin Jacque with her best “you better spill it now” stare. Jen had pulled up some carpet and was staring just as sternly.

Jacque took some slow, deep breaths. I seem to be doing this a lot lately, she thought.

“First impressions?” Jacque finally prompted.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe something like, OH MY, stutter, drool, FREAKING, pant, deep breathing, GOSH!” Jen spat.

Sally nodded fervently. “Yeah, what she said, but more panting and deep breathing on my end.”

“What about you?” Jen asked. “You didn’t seem as mesmerized as us. Why is that?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I was, ya know, a little distracted by THE VOICE IN MY HEAD!” Jacque realized she was yelling. “I’m sorry, ya’ll. I shouldn’t take my stress out on you. I’m just – just – I don’t know. Freaking out, I guess.”

“Have you tried talking back to the voice? You know, like answering it through your thoughts?” Sally asked tentatively.

Jacque shook her head. “I feel like if I do, then I am just solidifying the fact that I’m losing it.”

“You’re NOT losing it. Something is definitely up with this Fane guy. No one, and I mean no one, can look that good and make you want to curl up and purr when he talks to you. Something’s fishy and it’s not your mom’s fried chicken,” Jen told her.

Jacque turned to her window and opened the blinds. She looked across the street at the Henrys' house and wondered what to do about Fane Lu-whatever his last name was.

She heard her two best friends walk up beside her. With all three gazing out the window, they put their arms around her.

“I know I’ve said it before, and I will keep saying it until it sinks into that unruly, curly head of yours, but it will be alright. You are not alone in this, okay?” Sally said with love.

“Yeah, chick. You got us, no matter what,” Jen agreed. “Besides, we’re too nosy to not stick around.”

Sally pulled a strand of Jen’s hair as a scolding. “Ow! Crap, I’m just saying!” Jen scowled.

Jacque turned away from the window and wiped away the tears she hadn’t even realized were there. Then she hugged her friends.

“Okay, I know you guys need to go home and assure your parents that you’re still alive and haven’t been abducted or anything. But do ya’ll think you can come back later?”

Both girls nodded.

“I will have to do some laundry and pick up my room to pacify my mom, you know how it is, but then I can come back over and stay the night again if your mom is cool with it,” Jen said.

Sally spoke up as well. “Yeah, I can be back around seven tonight. I just need to take care of some chores as well.”

“Okay, that sounds good. I’ll let my mom know that ya’ll will be back. I know she won’t care.”

Jacque walked them downstairs to the front door and watched as they each walked to their cars. She stood in the doorway, watching them drive off until she couldn’t see their cars any longer. She slowly turned and went back into the house, shutting the door behind her.

She stood in the entryway, looking at nothing. Her mind was running amok again and Jacque was trying to decipher the thoughts. It was no use. She was tired, emotional, and beginning to realize that ever since she had walked out of the Henrys' house and away from Fane, it was taking all she had not to turn around and run – not walk, but run like a cat with a fire cracker tied to its tail – back to him. What the hell was up with that?

Jacque’s head snapped up when she heard her mom hollering from upstairs. “Jacque? I need to go to the store for a little while. I’ve got some new inventory I need to take care of, and since I was able to hire some other staff I can finally get caught up.” Her mom came to the top of the stairs and looked down at her. Tilting her head, she asked, “Are you okay, sweetie? You look a little frayed around the edges.”

“Naw, I’m good. Just a little tired. I didn’t sleep too well last night,” Jacque fibbed. Then she thought of how she had been feeling her mom’s emotions so strongly and decided to say something. “What about you mom? You okay?”

“I’m fine. Just got a lot on my mind, that’s all. Nothing to worry about. Why don’t you lie down for a little bit? Are you gonna be okay while I’m gone? Need me to get you anything while I’m out?” her mom asked.

“No. I’ll be fine, mom. Thanks though. Oh yeah, I did want to check and see if you were okay with Sally and Jen spending the night again tonight?”

“No, I don’t have a problem with that if their parents are okay with it. Ya’ll can order pizza if I’m not home by dinner,” she answered.

Jacque hugged her mom and told her goodbye before heading up to her room. She shut the door, turned off the lights, and put her Evanescence CD on. The music was oddly calming to her. Then she laid down on her bed and closed her eyes.

Chapter 6

Fane watched as Jacquelyn hurried back to her house. He wanted to growl at her eagerness to get away from him, but he reminded himself it was only because she was scared, not because she didn’t want to accept him as her mate. After all, she didn’t even know him, let alone know what a mate was.

Mrs. Henry called him from in the kitchen and he went to see what she wanted.

“Lilly made you a traditional Southern meal. Are you ready for lunch yet? It’s only 11:30, but I thought you might be hungry since you didn’t get a chance to have breakfast.”

“Actually, I am hungry and it all smells really good.” Fane’s wolf perked up at the smell of the chicken and his stomach growled. He hadn’t realized that he was so hungry.

“The plates are in the cabinet to the left of the stove, and the silverware is in the drawer to the right of the sink,” Mrs. Henry pointed out. “Eat all you want. Oh and she made sweet tea as well. It’s in the fridge. The glasses are in the cabinet next to the plates.”

“Thank you,” Fane said simply.

“I’m off to the grocery store; I didn’t get a chance to go yesterday. Is there anything in particular that you like?” she asked.

“I’m not picky and I like to try new things, so whatever you usually buy will be fine with me. I can give you some money as well, since you will be feeding another mouth,” Fane answered.

“There is no way I’m taking any of your money, Fane, so you can just get that notion out of your head. You are our guest, and we are more than pleased to feed you,” she said firmly but not unkindly.

“Mulţumesc, Mrs. Henry. I am most grateful,” Fane responded.

“You’re welcome. Oh, I keep meaning to tell you, no more Mrs. Henry. Call me Sara and you can call Mr. Henry Brian. Okay, well, I'll see you later. My cell phone number is on the front of the fridge, so put it in your phone in case you need me. See you later,” she said with a wave.

Fane walke

Date: 2015-02-03; view: 860