“Kick them in the balls for me too.”
“As you wish.”
“Princess Bride.” She laughed and pressed a kiss to his neck. “I love you, Dec.”
“As you wish, Jennifer.”
Her smile widened as she whispered the movie lines. “She realized what he was really saying was ‘I love you’.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Goodbyes are never good. I don’t understand who started calling bye a goodbye. Goodbyes are really more like ‘I don’t want to leave you, and this sucks so many rotten eggs’ bye.” ~Jacque
Fane didn’t knowhow he was going to let his mate and his son leave him. Tomorrow morning, very early, all those who weren’t going to fight were evacuating the mansions and departing for the Deep Keep, as his mate kept calling it. And even though he knew they would be safer there than anywhere else, he still couldn’t stand the idea of being separated from them. If something happened, there would be no way for him to get to them to help.
“Quit worrying,” Jacquelyn said as she walked over to where he sat, holding a sleeping Slate. “Here.” She leaned down and started to take their son. “Let me put him to bed. You’ve been holding him for two hours.”
Fane watched as she took their now nearly six-month-old son and carried him to his room.Stay. His wolf growled in his mind.The Alpha needs us to fight,Fane reminded his beast.Mate and pup are more important.Fane wasn’t surprised his wolf wanted to choose their mate and cub over the Alpha’s command. Hewassurprised the wolf didn’t think fighting the battle was the best way to keep them safe because they could eliminate the danger. Fane felt his wolf shaking his head.Danger is far from here.Fane nearly growled himself as he responded to the wolf.We must eliminate the danger before it comes here. The alpha needs his strongest fighters.
“You okay, wolf-man?” Jacque’s voice broke off the internal standoff he was having with his wolf.
“Yes,” Fane said as he stood from the chair and reached for her. “My wolf is struggling with letting you two go tomorrow,” he admitted. “I’m having to explain to him why we can’t just ignore the danger even though it is thousands of miles away.”
Jacquelyn wrapped her arm around him and pressed her lips to his chest. “I don’t like the idea of being separated from you either, but the Order has to be dealt with, especially if they have Alston and who knows how many other fae in their pocket. They can flash, which means the danger isn’t thousands of miles away. It’s only as far away as it takes a twisted high fae to flash.”
Fane leaned his face down so he could press it against her auburn locks. He took a deep breath, breathing in her scent and letting it settle him. “You’re right, Luna, but that makes it even harder to let you leave. Knowing Alston could show up while I’m in the U.S.”
“He doesn’t know where the stronghold is. Your dad said only a few knew where it was, and they were all wolves,” she reminded him. “And we will have Cyn and probably a couple other fae warriors with us. Jen is demanding Peri provide at least enough fae to take a child if we need to evacuate the pups for any reason.”
Fane felt his wolf growing more agitated and knew his eyes were glowing. “If our pup goes, you go with him.” Fane’s wolf growled at their mate.
Jacque lifted her head and narrowed her eyes on him. “Do not get bossy with me, wolf. I will always do what is best for our child.”
Fane tried to swallow back the words his wolf was forcing out of him, but the beast was too upset. “I want what’s best for both of you. If our pup goes then he needs his mother with him. He isn’t weaned yet. How would he eat without you?” The wolf challenged. Jacque started to push away from him, but he held on tighter.
She closed her eyes briefly and when she reopened them and looked at him, Fane saw that hers were now glowing also.Great, they’d managed to tick off Jacquelyn’s wolf. Fane didn’t want to fight the night before they each had to go their separate ways. He needed peace while they were apart, not discord. He forced his wolf back down and regained control.
Fane cupped his mate’s face and met her glowing eyes. “I’m sorry, Luna. We’re just scared, both man and wolf. We’re scared of something happening to you and our pup. He meant no insult. Please, Jacquelyn,” Fane said gently. “Let’s not fight.”
The she-wolf growled at him as she said, “Lean closer, mate.”
Fane lowered his head and grinned. He knew exactly what was about to happened. That didn’t stop him from issuing a few profanities when Jacquelyn’s sharp wolf teeth nipped the side of his neck hard enough to draw blood. When he leaned back and opened his eyes, he was staring into his mate’s, non-glowing, green ones.
“You’re wolf made my wolf more than a little P.O.-ed,” she said with a grin.
“You find this funny?” Fane asked.
She lifted her hand and separated her forefinger from her thumb. “Just a tad.”
Fane shook his head as he bent down and threw her over his shoulder. She squealed so he smacked her rear and murmured, “Hush, you’ll wake Slate.”
“Where are you taking me?” She whisper-yelled.
“Your wolf drew blood so now I need a shower. I think it’s only fair that you help me tend the wound and comfort me.”
“And this has to be done with us naked why?” she asked, sounding like she was trying to keep from laughing and failing.
“It is a widely known fact that wound tending and comfort are always more effective when done without clothes,” Fane said in his best nature-documentary voice.
