Jen flinched at his last reminder. She’d been trying to avoid thinking about Cynthia simply because she was already emotionally exhausted. Adding the pain of another loss to her lack of sleep and jacked-up hormones was not healthy for anyone.
“I’m aware of the day, B,” she said, trying hard not to growl and to keep her voice soft so as not to wake Thia. “But unless you want me to shrivel up and die, you can’t put me in a cage.”
“Don’t be dramatic.” He growled.
“Why not? It’s what I’m good at. You’re good at being butt heady, and you do it all the time.”
“Butt heady is not a word.”
“Not the point.”
Decebel sighed. “Just give me a week to reassure myself and my wolf that you are really here and not going anywhere.”
“Two days,” she countered.
Decebel narrowed his eyes at her. “It’s already been two days.”
“Exactly.”
“Jennifer.”
“Decebel.”
He glared at her and Jen glared right back. She was not going to back down. She understood his wolf felt protective and needed the reassurance of her presence, but that didn’t mean he could expect her to become a prisoner in her own home.
She began backing toward the door, moving slowly as she kept her eyes on him. Jen wouldn’t put it past Decebel to sit there and have a bloody staring match just to keep her in the suite.Fur butt.
When she finally made it to the door and her hand was on the knob, Decebel began to growl. It was low and guttural, and his eyes were beginning to glow as his wolf attempted to pull rank. Under normal circumstances, Jen wouldn’t have sweated having a confrontation like this with Decebel. But under normal circumstances she would have been able to turn tail and run. Today, two days after having a baby, there would be no running—maybe a fast hobble, at best. She was still very sore. Not to mention, running in a nursing bra seemed like a good way to get a black eye or knock herself out. Wouldn’t that be hilarious to share with her besties?Boob KO. That should be a thing, Jen decided.
“You think about the strangest things, mate.”Decebel’s voice filled her mind, making her jump.
Jen shrugged. “If you don’t like my thoughts, then butt out.”
After several more minutes of simply staring at each other, Decebel took a step back, and his eyes slowly went back to their normal, non-glowing state. “You drive me insane,” he said through clenched teeth, “and yet I wouldn’t have you any other way. Go.” He waved her off. “Go. Get us food and then come right back to me. That is my compromise. No detours, no leaving the mansion, no flirting, no solving other pack members’ problems, no dancing on tables, no stripping. Oh, and no flashing, either. Get food. Come back.”
Jen wanted to roll her eyes, but she refrained. Surprisingly, her mate was being somewhat reasonable. Well, reasonable for a mated, male Canis lupus with a brand-new pup. But Decebel was trying, and that was all she could ask.
“Thank you,” she said pushing her love and gratitude through the bond. “I’ll hurry.” Jen opened the door and was out in the hall in the blink of an eye, not wanting to give her mate time to change his mind.
Once she was out of the room, Jen nearly started skipping. She took a deep breath and let it out, just enjoying being in a different space than the suite where she’d been stuck for the past two days. Not that she didn’t love their space, but Jen wasn’t an idle person. Baby or not, she needed a change in scenery every day. And if she was being really honest and ignoring her guilt, she could admit she needed a breather from both her overbearing mate and her boob chewing—albeit adorable—daughter.
Jen felt better now that she’d been able to nurse Thia with less pain. The task of being a mother seemed a little less daunting. Maybe she was past most of the hormonal stuff and things would be smooth sailing from this point forward.
* * *
Post-Partum Day Three.
It wasfour in the afternoon, and Jen was wearing a hole in the carpet where she paced back and forth in the hall just in front of their suite. She had the door open so she could keep an eye on Thia, who was currently full and napping. Decebel had been gone since eight that morning and, by around 9:30 a.m., Jen had begun to feel trapped. She’d become increasingly paranoid and agitated as the day moved on, and she was trying very hard to convince herself she was fine. Because she was. Fine. She was totally fine.
“I’m fine.” She shrugged. “I’m totally, completely, absolutely, effing fine.”
She glanced at the clock and saw that the minute hand had literally not moved since the last time she’d looked at it. “Really? Not even a minute?” She grumbled under her breath. As if it was the clock’s fault that time wasn’t moving faster, and Dec wasn’t arriving home any quicker. “Where the flipping frog crap are you, B?” Jen could the feel growl of her wolf coming through in her voice. Her wolf was as worked up as Jen was, and it was because she couldn’t get herself under control. She wanted to contact him through the bond and ask him where he was, but she refrained. That would make her look like one of those nutjob chicks who have to know where their man is every second of the day. She wasn’t a nutjob chick. Crazy-as-hell new mom? Yes. Nut-job? No.
The sad thing was, it was her fault he was gone. Vasile had called and asked if Dec could help with some pack issues. She didn’t know what they were, and she hadn’t asked. Decebel originally refused the Romanian pack Alpha’s request, but Jen had practically forced him out the door. It had taken an hour to finally convince him to go, and he’d been in her mind all day, so much so, that she finally shut down the bond until they could only feel one another but not communicate. This way, they’d still know each other was safe but wouldn’t distract one another. Jen couldn’t handle the worry that Dec had been projecting onto her. Oh, how wrong, wrong, wrong she’d been. She wasn’t completely ready to admit it yet, but she was starting to realize it wouldn’t take much for her to lose her grip on the ledge called sanity she’d been clinging to.
So, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth she went, all the while clenching and unclenching her fists, unsure of whether she would throw her arms around Dec when he got back or punch him in his handsome face.
“Hey, you okay?” Sally’s voice interrupted her perfectly spaced steps.
