Decebel’s brow drew into a sharpv. “What?”
“You left out feminine products in your list of provisions,” she said.
Though his eyes were still glowing, his lips turned up in a small smile. “Exactly. And while you are organizing all of that, you will be keeping our pup safe, fed, and healthy. And on top of allthat, you’ll also have to take care of our pup, you will be checking on your best friends, making sure they haven’t forgotten their feminine products.Andwhile you’re checking on your best friends, you will be constantly checking on me through our bond, making sure that your mate comes back to you.”
“Damn.” Jen breathed out. “I’m awesome.”
He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m not knocking my gender, but a man wasn’t designed to think that way. I see a threat to my mate, pup, or pack and nothing else matters but neutralizing that threat. There’s no multitasking or thoughts of provisions. There is only me and my wolf with our teeth and our claws out for blood. But you, my beautiful female, you can do all of it. You can fight your foe while taking care of the pack. You can taste blood between your teeth and still remember to feed our daughter. You can stand side by side with your friends, ready for battle, and still consider that after the battle the injured will need care, the pack will need food to keep up their strength, and the females will apparently need their … feminine products. So, yes, you are awesome.”
“Is it horrible that all I can think right now is, ‘Bloody hell, I want to have your babies’?” Jen asked, completely in awe of Decebel’s words. His ability to make her feel as though she was the most precious thing in the world to him left her feeling lightheaded.
Decebel pressed his lips to hers and then, after a brief, hard kiss, he pulled back just enough to speak. “I love you. My wolf adores you. And in our eyes, there is nothing you can’t do. Don’t doubt us again.” The last was an order, and it came from his wolf. Jen felt the beast through their bond and his desire to nip her hide because she had doubted their motivations for leaving her behind.
“I love you, B,” Jen said as she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face to his chest, breathing in his scent and praying it wouldn’t be the last time he would hold her in this life.
Fane’s eyeshad not left his mate’s from the moment Decebel had begun speaking. He was pouring his own emotions through their bond, needing Jacque to understand he agreed with Decebel and his wolf felt the same way.
“You’re not weak,”Fane said through their bond, hearing her doubts.“Everything he has said to her, every single word, I feel the same way about you, Jacquelyn.”
She stepped closer to him, and Fane turned so his back was to the room and she was blocked from view. “I feel you, wolf-man. I know how you feel about me, and I am amazed by it. But that doesn’t make it easy to let you go without me.” Her words were soft as tears slipped from her eyes and down her cheeks.
Fane leaned down until his forehead was pressed to hers. Her body was rigid as he wrapped his arms around her smaller frame. Jacquelyn trembled, and it drove him crazy to know he was the one causing her fear. Was there a part of him that was glad she would be on the other side of the globe when the battle finally began? Absolutely. But it wasn’t because he didn’t think she wasn’t capable of helping. It was an instinct as strong as breathing and eating. He needed her and their son to be safe and protected. But what Decebel had said was just as true, regardless of the fact that they wanted their females safe. The pack needed them to care for the young. The future of their pack could lie in the hands of the females caring for it.
“I love you,” he whispered. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Our son is the second-best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I am fighting for the future I want to have with you both.”
“Then I will be here making sure you have something to keep fighting for,” Jacque said with a small smile.
Fane could feel her fear in the bond, but she wasn’t angry.
“I love you back,” she said as she pressed her lips to his.
Costin was trying notto shake as he looked at his mate. He knew the other males didn’t like being separated from their mates, but for him, it was much more than a simple dislike. He wasn’t sure if he was capable of leaving Sally behind, so very far away from him. Costin still struggled when she wasn’t by his side, even in the mansion. He did a good job of keeping his fears under tight control, but hearing Vasile’s announcement, despite having already heard the plan, caused the reality to hit Costin like a speeding freight train right in the chest, knocking the wind right out of him. He didn’t want Sally to be worried about him, so he’d been trying to deal with his emotions on his own. That ship had apparently sailed because their bond was wide open, and the floodgates in his mind gushed with all the fears and insecurities with which he’d been wrestling.
He felt Sally shift to face him. “Open your eyes and look at me, Costin.”
His eyes snapped open. He hadn’t realized he’d closed them.
“Talk to me,” she said gently.
Costin couldn’t help but run his eyes across the room, taking in all their pack members. This wasn’t exactly the place he wanted to deal with this.
Jen was his saving grace. “It’s getting late and we can’t do anything more here. Why don’t we call it a night, and tomorrow the she-wolves and awesome healer chicks will begin to make an evac plan? Is that alright, Vasile?”
Vasile looked at Costin as he nodded. “I think that’s a good plan.” Then Vasile turned to the three fae. “We will see you at the summit?”
Riven nodded. “And between now and then, we will conduct our own investigation on the Order. We shall share our findings at the summit.” Without saying anything further, they flashed from the room.
“Alright then. Good work, team,” Jen said, clapping her hands. She may have said more but Costin didn’t hear it. His attention was completely focused on his mate.
“Let’s get Titus in bed and then we’ll talk, alright?” she asked him.
To be honest, she could ask him to walk through fire for her and he’d build the fire himself and light that sucker up.
A small smile tilted on her lips as they made their way to Rachel and Gavril’s suite to get Titus. “I don’t think I need anything quite as dramatic as you building your own burning inferno.”
Costin wrapped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her tightly into his side. “Keep me posted if you change your mind.”
Chapter Seventeen
