“Translate please.”
“I said, what have I ever done to deserve you,”Fane answered.
“I’m noth—”
“You’re everything. And as wonderful a woman as my mother was, you are every bit as wonderful. You will be an amazing alpha female.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because my mother told me,”he said gently but firmly through their bond.“She said she knew the first time she saw you stand up to me that you would be a strong alpha female. She said that she knew you could lead because you didn’t see others as less than yourself. My mother loved you, Jacquelyn, and she would not have told me those things if she did not believe them completely.”
“How are you okay right now?”Jacque didn’t want to focus on the things he’d just told her because she knew she’d only sob harder if she truly considered the previous alpha female’s words.
“I’m not okay. Like you, beloved, I feel as though I’m dying. But if I let go and lose it, I’ll wind up hurting someone, and that would not bring any honor to my parents. At the moment, I’m just going to focus on how we can get you all out of the Order’s hands. When I have you and Slate back, then we will deal with our loss.”His tone was resolved, as if he’d just decided that he wasn’t going to lay down and die, and for that, she admired him. Because she was seriously having a lay-down-and-die moment.
Jacque felt his arms come around her. Though it was only the sensation from their bond, it still felt so good.
“Just let me hold you, even if it’s like this. Let’s just be here together, you, me, and Slate for a moment,”Fane said.
Jacque allowed herself to sink into the feeling of her mate. She held Slate close and began to hum the lullaby, and Fane hummed along with her. She had no idea how they were going to get through their loss. But for now, she was going to do as her mate asked and just be with him. Everything else could wait for a little while. It’s not like she had anywhere to go anyway.
“Soon, Luna,”Fane whispered.“Soon, you and my pup will be back where you belong.”
Chapter 16
“A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing…”
~ Human Bible, the Word of the Creator of humankind.
Dalton stood outside the Colorado pack mansion with his mate at his side. It seemed like it had been forever since he’d been here, and the place almost didn’t feel like home anymore. But it was. Since Lee had died, Dalton was now the beta of his pack. And he knew with everything that was happening, he had to step up and be there for Dillon, just as his alpha had been there for him. He could feel some tension through the pack bonds. It had been so long since he’d really focused on his pack it was odd to feel their presence again so strongly. Mostly, he felt Dillion’s power because the alpha was tied directly to his wolves, and now that Dalton was beta, his connection to Dillon had become stronger. Something was definitely wrong, but he couldn’t just go barreling into the house, heedless of the consequences, to find out. He had to consider that his mate was about to walk into a new, unfamiliar pack, and she was still dealing with the emotional consequences of Volcan’s mind games. She wasn’t fragile. He would never mistake her for that, but she was at a crossroads. She was going to have to decide if she were going to climb the mountain that would lead out of the valley of darkness she’d been walking through or stay in the pit where she was.
“You don’t have to be nervous,” he said to Jewel. He could feel her anxiety coming through the bond loud and clear.
“Did you know that the body's response to anxiety is called ‘fight or flight’? Your body releases a surge of neurochemicals to provide the physical resources to fight for one’s own life or flee to safety.” She rubbed her palms up and down her thighs as though they were sweaty.
Dalton reached over and took one of her hands and laced their fingers together. “So what’s your response to your anxiety? Are you about to fight our pack, or are you heading for the hills?”
She looked up at him, a small smile on her lips. “As if I could fight a den of wolves.”
He shrugged. “Your magic is unique, and you’re a healer. No one in any pack worth their hide would ever hurt a healer, so you could probably kick their butts without breaking a sweat.”
She laughed, and he felt her relax a little. “Why areyouso tense?” she asked. Now that she wasn’t so focused on her own fear, she could obviously feel him through the bond.
“Something’s wrong,” he told her. “And it’s serious. I can sense Dillon’s stress.”
She started walking forward and pulled him along. “Then we need to get in there.”
Dalton frowned. “What happened to fight or flight?”
“Fight won out. Who knows what’s going on? There may indeed be a fight ahead of us. And this is a new neuro-response. It’s called ‘when our pack needs help, we get our butts in gear and help,’” she said, her voice full of determination.Thiswas the Jewel who had faced down an evil fae hell-bent on turning her into a vile witch, who had tortured her and put her through pure hell for months. Jewel had come out intact, whole on the other side. Bruised and battered, but whole.
When they reached the front door, Dalton pushed it open without knocking. He could hear tension-filled voices and growls. He followed the noise until he was in the large den of the pack home.
The first thing he noticed was Dillon. He had both hands braced on the back of the large couch, and his head was bowed. Dalton could tell by the alpha’s tense body that his leader was holding it together by a thread. When he looked around the room, Dalton saw Aidan, now third of their pack since Phillip had died, and the man appeared resigned, his jaw tight and his arms folded across his chest. The third gave a head nod to Dalton but didn’t say anything. Dalton continued to survey the den. He saw Fane, the Romania alpha’s son. The young man was kneeling on the floor, and Decebel, the Romania pack beta, knelt next to him, his arm across Fane’s shoulders. Decebel held the younger male tightly against his body and spoke in a low tone in their native language. Something was seriously wrong.
“Alpha,” Dalton said.
Dillon’s head snapped up. His eyes were glowing brightly with his wolf, and Dalton felt the need to bow his head under the weight of his alpha’s dominance. He lowered his eyes as he continued to speak. “Adam brought us back. Volcan has been dealt with. Cyn showed up in Peri and Lucian’s home and explained that the Romania pack Keep has been attacked by the Order. Because of that, they felt it was time we all returned to our packs.”
