“Fane and Jacque,”she immediately cried, even though he knew her own heart was breaking because she absolutely adored the alpha pair. But her first thought was for her best friend and the son who’d just lost his parents. No matter how callous Jen might come across, her love was fierce for those she claimed.
“Fane is here beside me,”Decebel reassured her. He let her see Jacque’s mate through his eyes. Fane was resting on his knees, bent at the waist until his forehead rested against the floor and his hands fisted on either side of his head. His shoulders were shaking, his breath ragged, but he appeared to be holding himself together.
“And you?”Jen asked him gently. Decebel could feel the tears in her voice.
“I wish you and Thia were here so I could hold you.”He didn’t let the tears that he could feel gathering in his eyes fall. No matter the pain he was feeling over the loss, it was a hundred times worse for Fane. Decebel needed to be strong for the younger male.
“We’ll be back together soon.”Something in her voice made him pause, as if she knew something he didn’t.
“Jennifer,”he warned,“do not put yourself at risk.”He didn’t bother to say not to put Thia at risk because he didn’t want to be mentally kicked in the balls. His mate would never, ever put their daughter at risk.
“The Order has taken our children captive, and now they’ve killed our alphas, which means they hurt you and hurt my best friends. Nobody hurts you. Nobody hurts my girls. Nobody hurts our pack and gets to live. Once Thia is safe, I don’t care if I have to steal a damn tank and massive amounts of guns from some shady Mexican cartel. I will bring the Order to the damn ground and then shove them through it into hell where they belong.”
Decebel almost smiled. Almost. But the pain of their loss—the pack's loss—was just too much, even for his mate’s wrath, which generally bordered on psychopathic. His attention was immediately drawn back to her when he heard her gasp. A second later, he knew why. He felt the cord that had been attached to Vasile and Alina snap back into place, but now, they were attached to Fane and Jacque, the new alpha pair of the Romania wolves. This time, Decebel’s lips did smile. “Good choice, Vasile,” he whispered.
“You were beta,”Jen said, having no doubt heard his thoughts.
“But Fane is Vasile’s heir, and he’s of age to lead. If that was Vasile’s will, then upon his death, it would naturally pass onto Fane, not Vasile’s beta, no matter who it was,”Decebel explained.
“You’re not upset?”
“No,”he said truthfully.“I would never begrudge Fane his rightful place in our pack. I have no doubt he will be every bit the leader his father was, or surpass him. And if he will have me as his beta, I will proudly serve under him as I did with Vasile.”
“I can feel their pain,”Jen said, sounding confused.“I never felt Alina and Vasile’s emotions.”
Decebel considered her revelation for a moment and then said, though he wasn’t completely sure of his answer,“You had a bond with Jacque long before now. It’s a soul bond, even if you didn’t realize it. The supernatural part of you two joined. You have it with Sally, too. It makes sense as to why you guys seem to feel so deeply for each other. Your bond now with her being the alpha female, on top of the friendship bond, might mean that everything is magnified for you.”
Jen seemed to be rolling the information around in her mind. While he listened to her thoughts through their bond, he could feel her own pain growing because she was feeling Jacque’s pain, and it was amplifying her own.
“It’s awful, Dec. What Fane is going through, it’s absolutely devastating,”she whispered.
“We will get them through it,”he assured her.“That’s what pack does.”
“Are you going to be okay?”
“I’ll be better when I have you and Thia back. I’m holding it together because I have no other choice. Being away from you two is killing me. Now with Vasile and Alina, it’s a punch to the gut.”
“By an elephant,”she added.
“Yes. But this won’t defeat us.”
“I love you, B,”Jen said. He could feel the passion and force behind her words.
“I love you, baby. Always.”
* * *
Holding a sleepingThia in her arms, Jen slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor of the room where they’d been confined. She could feel her mate’s pain, though he kept it locked down tight. Her own control wasn’t quite so good. Tears fell down her cheeks. Their bond was open, but she’d muted it because she wanted Decebel to focus on ensuring Fane didn’t lose his shit. He sort of had a history of doing that.
She pressed her face into Thia’s small neck and took a deep breath. Usually, the scent of her daughter was enough to help Jen get her emotions under control, but it didn’t work this time. This time, the pain was just too much. The shock of losing the heart of their pack wasn’t going to go away.
“How can we do this without you?” Jen asked the empty room, though she was speaking to Alina. The alpha female had become a surrogate mother to her. Jen had never had that great of a relationship with her own mom. Her mom wasn’t a bad mother. She was just different from Jen. She didn’t understand the way Jen thought. But Alina seemed together, just like she got Jacque and Sally. She just took them into the pack and they were hers, no hesitation or reservations.
Jen shuddered as memories of the alpha pair filled her mind. How many times had Vasile put up with her bad puns and ridiculous monologues, only to smile and shake his head? That man had the patience of a saint. She remembered back to The Gathering when Vasile had tried to prepare them for what to expect.
“Okay, so the moral of the story is to find a mate, don’t panic, and try to avoid any male pissing contests … literally,” she’d said.
“That sounds about right,” Vasile nodded. “I think you should just go about the rest of your day as usual. Try not to worry about The Gathering.”
