“Jen, that was a thing of beauty,” Zara called from the back.
Jen turned and eyed Zara and then smiled. “Awesome commentary,” she told her as she reached back and gave the girl a high five. “You’re going to grow up to be kick ass.”
Zara laughed. “We’re the same age, Jen.”
Oh yeah, we are the same age, Jen thought,that’s weird. “Yeah, but with the mating and the baby making and then the child bearing, I’ve got like seven plus years of experience on you.”
“What is this, a video game?” Decebel snorted.
“I’ll give you that,” Zara nodded. “Titus, you see that older lady up there?” He nodded. “I want to be just like her when I grow up,” Zara finished.
“Older lady? Not cool, Z, not cool.” Jen called back. “Tito, who do you want to be like when you grow up?”
“Ugh, it’s Titus, Mrs. Jen. And I want to be like my daddy.”
The vehicle went quiet at the boy’s declaration. Jen’s heart hurt for Sally and her mate. She prayed that Titus would get to grow up with Costin as his father because he would grow into one heck of a man if that’s who he wanted to emulate.
They finally pulled into the drive of the Romania pack mansion and though there was still a little tension from Titus’s words, Jen felt some happiness over the fun that they’d had with Zara and the little boy.
Decebel was the first one out of the vehicle, and Jen was pushing her door open when she heard her mate’s growl. It wasn’t hisI’m irritated with yougrowl; it was hisI’m going to rip someone’s head offgrowl.
“Dec?” Jen said as she swiveled back in her seat to look across at him. He was as still as stone, the only movement the almost imperceptible rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. She realized he was scenting the air.
“Take them in and get Vasile,” he practically snarled. “Now.”
Jen scrambled out of the seat and got Thia out of the car seat. She motioned for Zara and Titus to hurry and she ushered them inside, looking back over her shoulders once to see her mate taking off his shirt. “Well, crap,” she muttered.
Jen took them straight to Vasile’s office and handed Thia off to Rachel who was already waiting for her. She pushed through the group to the front of Vasile’s desk. “Decebel needs you now. He’s out front.”
Vasile was up and over the desk before she finished. Jen turned to follow and saw Jacque standing, looking confused. “Give my future son-in-law to Alina and get your butt in gear,” Jen yelled. Fane, move it!” She hurried after the Romania Alpha. She had a bad, bad feeling about this.
She heard Jacque and Fane behind her and, by the time they reached the front door, Fane was moving in front of them lunging outside, placing himself between them and whatever was waiting outdoors.
Jen and Jacque watched as the three males lifted their noses into the air and took deep breaths. Jen tried to do the same, but her sense of smell, though better than a human, still wasn’t even close to her mates.
“Do you smell anything?” she whispered to Jacque.
Jacque shook her head. “I got nothing.”
When Decebel finally dropped his nose and turned to look at her, his eyes were bright amber. “Blood,” his wolf rumbled. He’d already stripped to his boxers. The wolf was ready to hunt. Vasile and Fane were also stripping their clothes off and movement to her left caused her to look at Jacque who was already in her bra and underwear. Jen raised a brow at her.
Jacque shrugged. “Childbirth stole my modesty.”
Jen snorted. “You don’t even remember giving birth.” She let out a sigh and started stripping quickly to catch up with the others who were already phasing. When her four feet hit the ground she heard her mate’s howl mixed with Vasile’s. They were making their presence known. They took off at a run toward the forest as the sun continued to slip further from the sky and the moon began to take its place.
Decebel’s heart pounded in time to his paws as he flew across the forest floor. Vasile was right beside him with Fane just a hip’s length behind them. The females were only two steps behind Fane. Decebel hated that Jen had followed him out there when he didn’t know what they were going to find, but he knew telling her to stay behind would have only resulted in an argument which would have wasted valuable time—time that they might not even have.
When they’d been back at his own pack headquarters, Decebel had thought he’d caught the scent of blood, and something else that he couldn’t identify, but the breeze had changed direction and he’d lost it. But as soon as he’d stepped out of the vehicle in Vasile’s driveway, the smell assaulted him—blood, lots of blood, and one other scent that he now recognized—Costin.
“What!”Jen yelled in his mind.“You smell Costin? Why can’t I smell him? Is it his blood? Is he okay?”
“Calm down, Jennifer. I have no idea if he’s okay, but no it is not his blood. It’s animal blood. You should be picking it up—”
“Oh, man, bloody hell, that’s a lot of blood,”she said, interrupting him.
“Stay close,”he commanded her, hoping she would at least humor him.
They veered right, following the smell, weaving in and out of trees and brush. The foliage was growing denser, making it difficult to move quickly. Limbs grabbed at their fur, as if the forest itself was trying to impede them. For a moment, Decebel’s mind slipped back to a time when Mona, the witch they’d killed, had used the forest against them along with its inhabitants. He released the thought. There were no more witches to use the forest against them.
