Blood Rites (25 page)

Logan went back into the living area and picked
Cynthia back up. He carried her to the library and set her in one
of the cedar chairs. Then he went and picked Jacque up off her
gurney and placed her in one of the chairs that was more the size
of a love seat. As he began to leave the room, he heard Cynthia
moan and turned to see she was waking up. She moaned and tried to
move her arms, her eyes snapped open as she realized they were
stuck behind her. Looking around wildly, trying to get her
bearings, her eyes landed on Logan.

"What have you done, Logan?"

"I couldn't have you telling Jacque where we were if
you suddenly decided you couldn't go through with the choice you
had made. So I decided it would be best not to go to your cabin. I
regret having to cuff you, but until I can put a lock on the
outside of this door you will have to say that way."

"You know, I could just shift and be out of these in
a second," she challenged him, trying to hold his stare.

Logan growled and stepped towards her, his eyes
glowing. Cynthia had to drop her gaze. Crap, he was more dominant
than her. Of course he would be, he was a freaking Beta.

"You can try to change, but know this: there is only
one reason I am not an Alpha of a pack. Can you guess what that
is?"

Cynthia realized what he was telling her was that his
power was strong enough to prevent her change. He would have to be
Alpha material in order to do that. The only thing that would make
him weaker than other Alphas of course, she thought, looking over
at Jacque... "You don't have a mate," she answered.

"That will be remedied soon enough," Logan growled,
his eyes still glowing.

Logan turned to leave the room, telling her not to
move. Regardless of what he had said she tried to change, but Logan
had been telling the truth. The power he had flowing through the
house prevented her change.

Logan returned, carrying three more sets of
handcuffs. He walked over to her and he grabbed one of her ankles
and applied the cuff, then with the other end he cuffed the rail of
the cedar chair. Cynthia glared at him as he watched him secure
Jacque in the same fashion.

As Logan stepped away, he heard Jacque moan. He
looked back at her and saw that her eyes were fluttering and she
was trying to move. He stood frozen, waiting, but he didn't have to
wait long as Jacque's eyes opened. She looked at him then tried to
look around, her eyes finding Cynthia.

"Dr. Steele?" Her voice was hoarse and full of
unasked questions. Jacque turned her head back to him. "Logan?" She
groaned and tried to pull her legs up towards her chest but wasn't
able since one was cuffed to the chair rail. When it seemed that
the pain had passed she looked down at her foot, and then tried to
pull her arms around, realizing she was handcuffed.

"Would someone like to explain to me why I'm
handcuffed and not in the hospital?" Jacque asked, looking back and
forth between Dr. Steele and Logan.

"You've been kidnapped, Jacque. Logan wants to make
you his mate," Cynthia answered matter of fact like, and with much
more truth that Jacque expected.

Once again, pain wracked Jacque's body and she closed
her eyes, trying to shut it out. When she could breathe again she
looked at Dr. Steele. "What's wrong with me?"

Cynthia explained to her the same thing she had to
Logan in the plane, but stopped before she told her how she could
be healed.

"Okay, doc. You can't possibly think that I don't
know that you must know how to fix this. Why else would Logan bring
you along?"

It was Logan who answered. "You need wolf blood. You
will get it from me."

"Excellent," Jacque said sarcastically even as she
reached for Fane with her mind.

"Fane!"
She couldn't contain the fear that
poured into the bond between them. She was in pain, she might die
if she didn't get werewolf blood, and some crazy wolf had once
again decided she should be his. Said wolf wanted her to take his
blood and, yeah, scared was an understatement at this point.

Jacque felt arms wrap around her and a hand caress
her face. “
Jacquelyn."
The desperate ache she heard in his
voice was enough to bring tears to her eyes.

Chapter 28

Sally
and Jen listened as Vasile told
everyone what had happened with the Coldspring pack. When the
wolves had returned from their meeting, eyes glowing and the power
rolling off of each of them sucking the air from the room, it gave
away that they had bad news.

"Now that we know who has her, how can we figure out
where Logan took her?" Alina asked her mate.

"I've been thinking about that and the only thing I
can think to do at this point would be to question Dillon's
wolves." Vasile turned to look at the Alpha. "How do you feel about
that?"

Dillon nodded his head in agreement. "I was thinking
the same thing. I don't know if Logan would have confided in any of
my pack, but the only way to know for sure is to question them." He
turned to his wolves. "Lee, Phillip, Dalton, and Aidan, you will be
first."

Vasile stood and turned to Lilly. "If you don't mind,
I would prefer all of the women wait in the kitchen."

Before Lilly could object, Jen grabbed her hand.
"Come on, Ms. P. Let the fur balls do their thing. I'm sure they
will gladly fill us in once they have beaten the truth out of these
four."

"Jennifer," Decebel growled.

"Save it, wolf," Jen growled back, holding her hand
up in indication she didn't want to hear what he had to say, "you
and I will dance later."

Lilly let Jen pull her into the kitchen while Sally
and Alina followed. Sally went straight for the fridge and pulled
out a Coke. Turning to Jen, who had hopped up on the counter, she
tossed her one, knowing she would be expecting it. Then Sally
grabbed her own and went and stood next to Jen, leaning back
against the counter. Alina stood opposite the girls with Lilly next
to her.

"Alina, why would Logan take Jacque?" Lilly asked the
female Alpha.

Alina stared at the floor for a few moments before
answering, "I can think of two reasons. One, he thinks he is
helping Dillon by being the one to make the decision to take Jacque
so that Dillon doesn't have to."

"If that's the reason he's dumber than he looked,"
Jen said in between drinks.

"The second would be the one I feel is probably the
reason, he wants a mate. I'm not sure how old Logan is, but from
the power I could sense on him he's old enough to be feeling the
effects of not having a mate," Alina explained.

"What is with this mate business? Is it really so big
of a deal that these werewolves are willing to gamble their lives?"
Sally asked Alina.

"To a human it seems unrealistic," Alina answered.
"The idea of a soul mate, what we call a true mate. There are so
many facets to the magic behind our kind. I don't understand it
all, I just know what I've seen to be true. There is a darkness in
the soul of a male wolf. He is designed to be fierce, unrelenting,
protective to an extreme, and unforgiving. If a male does not find
his mate, this darkness begins to take over and gradually he begins
to go mad, unable to control the darkness that was once something
that kept his family, his pack safe. Often males will describe it
as being at war with their wolf." All three women were listening so
intently that they didn't notice the male wolves that had gathered
in the background, listening.

"His mate is the light that keeps that darkness at
bay. She fills the hole that has been growing ever larger in his
soul. When the bond is completed between mates, their very souls
merge, and the male will be able to leash the darker part of his
nature and at last be at peace with his wolf."

There was a pause of silence before anyone spoke.

"What does the girl get out of it? I mean, that
sounds great for him, but what about the hole in her soul?" Jen's
question was nearly a whisper. Alina cocked her head to the side in
a very wolf-like gesture, surprised that such a question had come
from Jen.

Alina walked over to Jen and placed her hand under
her chin and tilted her head so that she was looking right at
Alina's face.

"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, a mate, the only man in
this world who can complete her and give her the other half of her
soul."

Jen wiped the tears away that had begun to fall of
their own accord, not understanding why Alina's words felt like
they were etching themselves on heart. She smiled at Alina. "Is
that all?" she half heartedly joked, trying to shake off the
intense emotions Alina's words had stirred in her. Alina leaned
forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead as she whispered, "In
time, all will be revealed. Do not give up hope, for Jacque or for
yourself."

When Alina had stepped back to her spot against the
opposite counter, it was then that Jen realized the wolves had been
listening to Alina's words. She felt like a hole was being burned
into the back of her head and she knew who was watching her. She
turned slowly and caught Decebel's eyes. They were glowing and
never wavered from hers. After several moments she finally tore her
gaze away, not able to think under his intense stare. As she turned
around, she saw Fane and the look on his face threatened to rip her
apart. She hadn't thought about how his mother's words would affect
him when his mate, the other half of his soul, was in the hands of
another wolf.

Vasile stepped forward and took Alina's hand as he
addressed everyone. "The four wolves Dillon brought with him are
innocent, they know nothing. So our next move is to go to Denver
and speak with the rest of his pack." Vasile turned and looked at
Lilly, his face softened as he stared into the face of a woman who
was holding it together by a thread. "We are going to charter a
jet. I'm not going to try to talk anyone out of going because it
would just waste time."

"Finally a wolf who knows when he's been beat," Jen
said, reverting back to her sarcastic self. Vasile shot her a look
that dared her to say more. Jen wisely decided to be fascinated by
the peeling nail polish on her fingers.

"The biggest hurdle will be Sally and Jen's parents.
Lilly, you and Alina are going to have to go with the girls to let
them know that we will be leaving immediately instead of in a
couple of weeks. Tell them there has been a family emergency and we
need to get back to Romania as quickly as possible." Lilly nodded,
her face taking on a look of determination as she finally had a
task, something to do instead of just waiting. She grabbed the car
keys from the counter and motioned for the girls and Alina to
follow her.

"How do you think your parents are going to take
this, Jen?" Sally asked her voice low.

"Oh, probably about as good as that time we took
tampons and hung them from the trees in front of Principal
Stephens' house."

"That good?" Sally asked sarcastically.

"Remember, it's for Jacque. So do whatever it takes,
Sally. I don't care if you have to pull out every guilt trip card
in your arsenal, we will be getting on that plane to Denver. We
clear?"

"I'm with you," Sally confirmed. For Jacque she would
do whatever it took to make sure she was on that plane.

Fane walked up the stairs to Jacquelyn's bedroom and
shut the door behind him. He took a deep breath, taking her scent
in, letting it flow over him. He felt his wolf push, growling,
looking for their mate in this place where they had whispered words
of love, and shared their dreams for the future. Lying down on her
bed, he buried his face in her pillow and it was there that he
finally fell apart. Only with Jacquelyn could he ever let go. He
remembered the night before the challenge when he had poured out
his fears to her. He had laid his soul bare and she had welcomed
him with open arms. His shoulders shook as the pain and emptiness
threatened to break him. The past hours without being able to touch
her mind, not knowing if she was okay had nearly brought him to his
knees. He had listened to his mother speaking about the importance
of a mate to the male Canis Lupis and now Fane felt like a knife
was being thrust through his heart. The more she had talked the
more it twisted, shredding muscle, arteries, veins that would send
life-giving blood throughout his body. Jacquelyn was his heart and
without her his soul would wither and decay, just like the muscles
and organs without blood. Without Jacquelyn, the darkness he would
unleash would be the likes of which has never been seen.

Fane took a deep breath, trying to bring his emotions
under control. He needed to think clearly and not allow his actions
to be dictated by anger or fear, which would not bring his mate
home safe. He sat up and wiped the evidence of his pain from his
face. He wouldn't show the depth of his emotions to anyone but his
Luna. Only she had the right to his deepest hurts, desires, fears.
Only his Jacquelyn. He stood and walked towards the door and as his
hand grasped the door knob, he heard in his mind a voice he would
have killed to hear again.

"Fane!"
Jacquelyn's fear laced her words. Fane
felt his heart in his throat as his soul reached for its other
half. His wolf growled, snarling to be let loose.

"Jacquelyn."
Though he tried, he couldn't keep
the desperation at finally hearing her, at finally feeling their
bond no longer empty.