Once they were settled in bed, Wadim wrapped an arm around Zara’s middle and pulled her back against his chest, tucking her in tightly against him. “It’s late and you’re exhausted. Sleep and tomorrow we will see the healers so we can thank them.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“I can’t help but feel like we’re running away from the fight while our mates run to it. And while it goes against everything inside of me to go in the opposite direction of Decebel, I know our job is equally as important as those on the front lines.” ~Jen
“Talk to me, Jennifer.”Decebel’s voice reverberated in Jen’s mind. She tightened down her end of the bond so she could still feel Dec, but he couldn’t keep bugging her to tell him what she didn’t even understand herself. It had been three days since she’d killed the she-wolf, Stephanie. It had also been three days since she’d had a decent night’s sleep. Jen had been trying to wrap her head around her tumultuous emotions, but the girl was struggling. She and the rest of the pack were preparing, both at the Serbia mansion and Romania mansion, to head to the refuge, but Jen’s mind had been far from her daily tasks.
“Iswearif orcs jump out at us while we’re headed to the Deep Den, I will go all Legolas on them,” Jacque said as she, Sally, and Jen sat in the large kitchen of the Romania pack mansion. They were making a list of the remaining tasks that needed to be done before they migrated, for lack of a better term, and assigning various pack members to handle the jobs.
“Are we seriously calling it the Deep Den?” Sally asked.
“What about the Deep Keep?” Jacque said, waggling her eyebrows at them.
Jen forced herself to focus on the conversation and tapped her chin with a long fingernail. “The Deep Keep, hmmm. It has a nice ring to it. We’re headed to the Deep Keep, the DK.” She smiled at her redheaded best friend. “And you thought it didn’t need to have the word ‘deep’ in it.”
Jacque shrugged. “Whatevs. Don’t expect me to say you’re right because I won’t. Now, who is going to be responsible for food and water?”
“Jen, can the Serbian members gather their own provisions?” Alina asked.
Jen pulled out her phone and began typing a text message. “Yep, I’m on it. I’ll have Teodora, or Teo for short, Katarina, and Petra handle it. Teo and Kat both have mates who can help as well.”
Alina nodded. “Okay, good. I will get Adelina, Carmen, and Zara to—”
“Not Zara,” Sally said quickly. “Sorry, Alina, not trying to tell you what to do. But Zara’s had a rough few nights since Jen took out Stephanie. She’s doing better now. Rachel and I have kept an eye on her, but I think she needs to be near Wadim.”
Alina frowned. “I saw him carry her out of the main room. I should have gone and checked on her, but I thought…” Alina was talking more to herself than to Jen and the others. “I thought she just…”
Jen reached out a hand and placed it on Alina’s. “It’s okay, Luna,” Jen said gently. “You don’t have to take care of everyone.”
Alina’s eyes grew wet as she met Jen’s. “She’s lost so much,” Alina whispered.
Jen nodded. “She has. But now she has Wadim and she has us. She’s going to be fine. And she knows you care about her so don’t go thinking she’s feeling neglected either.”
“And really, she hasn’t wanted to talk about it with anyone,” Sally said, sounding apologetic.
Alina. “I just worry about her. I worry about all of you.”
“Wadim is good for her,” Jen said. “The Great Luna chose well when putting those two together. He’s not going to let her implode on herself. As for the rest of us”—Jen winked at their Alpha female, wanting to take the forlorn look out of Alina’s eyes—“we’ve obviously proven we’re like cockroaches.”
Jacque frowned. “We’re gross? Seriously, that’s what you’re comparing us to?”
“No. I mean, yes, I’m comparing us to cockroaches, but not because we’re gross. It’s because we’re hard to kill. Like cockroaches? Get it?” Jen smacked her forehead. “I swear, Red, sometimes you ruin some of the best comparisons because I have to explain them.”
“If you have to explain it, then it obviously wasn’t that great,” Jacque countered.
“I wouldn’t have to explain it—” Jen started, honestly feeling a little more like herself than she had in days, but was interrupted by Sally.
“OOOrrrr,” Sally said really loudly, “Or we could just tell each other how amazing we think we all are and that we love one another dearly.”
Jen and Jacque stared at Sally.
“What?” Sally asked.
“This is not Dr. Phil,” Jen said finally. Her voice was sharp. She hated when someone interrupted her witty banter. She needed something familiar to pull her out of the deep rut into which she’d fallen. And what was more familiar than arguing with her girls? “We are preparing for war, Watson. This is not time for coddling and fingernail painting.”
“Since when do coddling and fingernail painting go together?” Sally asked.
“Valid question,” Jacque said, nodding.
