“Yeah, I’ll get right on that.”
She shook her head and smiled at the memory. Vasile had always just rolled with her. She couldn’t help but quietly laugh as she remembered when she tried to leave Romania. Vasile had been so accommodating, all the while planning on how to keep her there. He’d never come out and said it, but he’d known that she and Decebel belonged together. “You were a sly one, V, I’ll give you that,” she whispered, trying not to wake her daughter.
Then her thoughts shifted to Alina. How many times had Alina been strong for her, Jacque, and Sally?
From the moment Jen had met her, Alina had taught them and helped them transition into the reality of the supernatural world. She’d never once belittled them or made them feel stupid because of their ignorance. She’d just loved them because that’s what Alina did: she loved. If it hadn’t been for Alina, Jen probably would have run the other direction the moment she realized that Decebel was the one for her. Another conversation filled her mind.
“What does the girl get out of it? I mean, that sounds great for him, but what about the hole in her soul?”
Jen choked back a sob as she remembered Alina walking over to her and raising her chin so that Jen had to look her in the eyes.
“She gets a man who will love her completely and faithfully. She gets a man who will not only save her life but lay down his own to keep her safe. He will provide for her no matter the cost. He will shelter her against all the storms that come their way. He will be the one to bring a smile to her face when no one else can. She gets a friend, a lover, and a mate. The only man in this world who can complete her and give her the other half of her soul.”
Those words had been written on her heart, and she knew one day she would repeat them to her daughter. In fact, she knew that Alina had imparted a lot of wisdom to her that she would teach Thia. “I just wish it could be you, Alina,” she whispered. “You’re the one with the ability to be gentle and firm at the same time. I’m just a damn bull in a china shop with my opinions and outrageous statements.” She sucked in a shuddering breath. “Dammit, Alina. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Jen leaned her head back against the wall, her daughter sleeping blissfully, and let herself weep. Her heart split wide open for the pack’s loss … for her loss.
* * *
Sally gaspedat the same time Costin’s arm tightened around her. She was seized by a knife-like pain. She knew through the bond that Costin felt the same thing.
Titus’s head slowly turned toward her. She saw the sheen of tears building in his eyes. “Papa Vasile and Grandma Alina are with the angel now.”
He was so intuitive and keen, which was a blessing but also a curse.
Sally opened her arms to him, and he crawled over from where he’d been sitting and climbed up into her lap. She wrapped both arms around him and pulled him tightly against her, as if somehow she could shelter him from the pain of this loss.
Costin buried his face in Sally’s hair, and she felt the wet drops of his tears on her neck. There were no words that could be said at that moment to offer comfort. A massive chasm had been torn open inside of them where the alpha pair had once been. Life would never be the same again. Their world, in the blink of an eye, had been completely turned upside down. The ground had dropped out from beneath them, and she couldn’t catch her breath.
Vasile was a bold male who led with a steadfastness that often left Sally in awe. She remembered the night she’d questioned his decision not to tell them about the vampires killing children. She’d seen the weight of that responsibility, but he had not crumbled beneath it. Instead, he’d done what an alpha does. He’d respectfully reminded her of why he had to make the hard choices.
“And what you feel is best is always right?” Sally asked.
“No, I am not always right. But that doesn’t change the fact that decisions must be made. This is not a democracy. A wolf pack would not survive if it were. This is a dictatorship. I am alpha. I am the strongest, and those I care about will submit—period. I make decisions that I think are best for everyone. I listened to wise counsel, but ultimately the choice is mine, and the consequences are mine as well. I realize that it is still difficult for you girls to understand. In theCanis lupusworld, there has to be one leader and many followers. Otherwise, there would be utter chaos. The health of the pack is paramount. You may not like it, but you will accept it.”
“I get it,” Sally said. “But it doesn’t make it any easier.”
“I never claimed it would be easy,” Vasile said calmly. “Vent to your mate. Drink hot chocolate with your females, and think of all the ways you’d like to injure me because of your irritation. Ultimately, though, just like the males in the pack, you must obey.”
Sally let the memory fade, but she realized she finally understood what Vasile had been telling her that night. He’d known it would be hard for the girls to accept their place in the pack, but he loved them, all of them, and he’d proven that over and over by making the hard choices and dealing with their consequences. He was a man of worth, and he’d been an amazing alpha.
And Alina was the other half of his soul who had complimented his strengths and weaknesses perfectly. Two people who had come to mean the world to Sally. Just gone. From one breath to the next. It almost made her want to hold her own breath because breathing seemed to make it worse. It was unfair that she continued to draw breath, and yet they were gone. Even as she thought this, her heart broke all over again as she realized the pain Fane must be enduring.
“Fane,” she whispered. No matter the pain that the pack was feeling, it wouldn’t hold a candle to the pain he was going through, and he didn't even have his mate and son to help comfort him.
She hurt for Jacque because she was stuck in one of these damn rooms, holding her son and feeling the loss of her in-laws as well as the pain of her mate. How much more could they take?
A moment later, she felt another searing spasm in her chest, but this time it wasn’t an emptiness that was left behind, but rather, a connection. The pack cord that had connected her to Vasile and Alina was no longer severed. It was now attached to another tether, braided together and pulsing with power.
Costin chuckled gruffly. “And so the prince takes the crown.”
“Fane is alpha?” she asked, hearing the surprise in her voice. “But Decebel was beta.”
“Fane is Vasile’s heir. It is as it should be,” Costin answered.
“Can he do it?” Sally’s lips tightened as she continued. “He’s been knocked down so much, even before this blow.”
“It isn’t the number of times we’re knocked down that matters, Sally mine,” Costin said gently. “It is the number of times we get back up. The fact that the pack bonds have attached to Fane, distinguishing him as alpha, is a testament that he is already beginning to rise despite this blow.”
