Blood Rites (30 page)

Jacque could feel Fane's rage emanating through their
bond and she tried to reassure herself it wasn't directed at
her.

"There is nothing that could keep me from wanting
you. Nothing you could do or not do would stop me from being with
you. You are mine, Jacquelyn. Mine no matter what."
Jacque felt
the tears run down her cheeks. She felt Fane's lips on her own as
he sent her the thought of him kissing her, holding her.

"I miss you, wolf-man,"
she whispered.

"I'm coming for you. We know where you are."

"What! Where? Where am I? When will you be
here?"
Jacque couldn't believe what she was hearing. He'd found
her. She knew he would, never doubted he would, but to hear it
brought a relief she had never known.

"You are in Missouri in the Ozark mountains. We
don't know your exact location but we arrived in Springfield a
couple of hours ago and are on our way to Ozark now. If I have to
search every cabin in the Ozarks I will find you."

"I know you will. I'll be waiting."

"Don't provoke him, Jacquelyn. You survive, do you
understand? That's your job, to survive."
Jacque could feel the
intensity behind his words and knew what Fane was asking of her. To
do whatever it took to stay alive. No matter what Logan wanted,
Fane just wanted me alive.

"You just worry about getting here, let me worry
about me. I need you, Fane. Be with me now, talk to me, and tell me
how my mom is, and Jen and Sally."

Fane told her everything she wanted to know. He told
her about how strong her mom was and how Jen was driving Decebel
crazy. He told her how Sally had actually stood up to him about
going with him to see Dillon's wolves. When he ran out of things to
tell her about her friends he began to tell her about the history
of the Grey wolves.

"Where did they come from?"
she asked him.

"The legend is we were created by the goddess who
lives in the moon. She is the great Luna. The wolves in Romania
were growing extinct due to hunters killing for their pelts. In
order to help save the species she combined the human spirit with
the wolf spirit, creating the werewolf. She gave the human the
power and strength of the wolf and the wolf the intelligence of the
human. Since then the wolves have thrived."

Jacque thought about the legend and wondered if it
were true. She figured anything was possible since werewolves even
existed. That thought ignited another.
"Fane, are there other
things besides werewolves?"

"Do you really want to know the answer to that,
Luna?"

"At this point, wolf-man. the things that go bump
in the night are the least of my worries."
Jacque couldn't help
but think that it was her own species that she needed to fear.

"Then yes, my love, there are other things besides
werewolves. But I think right now you need to get some sleep. I
will be there soon."

"Stay with me."
Jacque yawned then flinched
when she felt pain ripple through her body.

"Always, Luna. You are still hurting."
It
wasn't a question.

"Just hurry, wolf-man."

Chapter 32

Fane
felt Jacquelyn slip off into a fitful
sleep. He could feel the pain consuming her body and it was driving
him mad. More than that was the thought of what Logan had done to
his love. Fane was going to rip Logan's fangs from his mouth and
then make him swallow them for piercing Jacquelyn's precious flesh.
They had just arrived in Ozark, Missouri and Fane was keeping tabs
on Jacquelyn's dreams. It was then that he caught glimpses of her
memory of Logan, his arm pressed against her mouth, his teeth
sinking into her back. Fane let out a howl in the vehicle that had
everybody covering their ears.

"Pull over!" Decebel shouted to Vasile.

Vasile looked in his rearview mirror and saw that
Fane was on the verge of phasing. He pulled over, and just as the
vehicle came to a stop Fane was out the door and phasing in
mid-air. Decebel was out right behind him. One minute a man, the
next a huge, dark grey wolf with white paws.

Jen's breath caught at the sight of Decebel in his
wolf form. It was the first time she had ever seen him. He was
magnificent. She grinned at his white paws. She had new material.
The wolf had socks. That was too rich!

She and Sally gasped as Fane turned on Decebel and
snapped his huge teeth at him. Decebel dodged out of the way just
in time. The two wolves circled each other, snapping and lunging
but neither making contact. Then there was a third wolf and when he
stepped forward and howled the other two hit the ground, heads low
and baring their necks. He snarled at them both and then suddenly
there were three very naked men standing on the side of the road.
Sally squeaked and turned away. Jen had to pry her eyes off of the
beautiful muscles that were Decebel.

"Coast's clear," they heard Alina say. "They went
into the woods."

"Well, that was invigorating." Jen grinned.

Sally rolled her eyes. "You would think seeing three
naked men was invigorating."

"There were three? Cuz, sista, I only saw one." Jen
closed her eyes and again saw Decebel's bare back. The wolf
markings across his tan skin were breathtaking.

"Fane!" Vasile growled. "What has gotten into you?
And Decebel, what the hell were you thinking engaging him while he
was like that?"

Fane snarled. "You don't know what he's done to her,
what he's going to do if I don’t get to her."

"What has he done?" Vasile asked gently.

"I won't disgrace my mate that way. She is mine."
Fane turned to Decebel. "My apologies, Beta. I know you were just
protecting the females."

"I can't imagine what you must be going through,
Fane. No apology necessary," Decebel told him, averting his eyes
out of respect.

"Father, I will speak to the Springfield Alpha. I
want to know where that cabin is and I want to know now."

"Fane, we will find her," Vasile started but Fane cut
him off.

"HE'S GOING TO BURN THE SKIN OFF HER BACK!"

Decebel growled low and Vasile snarled. After Alina
had taken the three wolves clothes, Vasile had his phone out and
was waiting on Tyler, the Springfield Alpha, to answer. He picked
up on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Tyler, it's Vasile. We need to know where that cabin
is now." Vasile continued before the other wolf could interrupt.
"He's planning on removing her mating marks. Do you want to be
responsible for that?"

There was no response for several seconds. "Fine,
here are the coordinates."

"Got it, let's go." He then phoned Sorin with the
coordinates and designated a place to meet a couple of miles
downwind from the cabin at midnight.

They all climbed back into the car and drove to find
a motel in Ozark to make plans.

Vasile pulled into the parking lot of the nicest
hotel they could find. It wasn't the Hilton, but they weren't
planning on spending a lot of time there anyways so Vasile wasn't
going to be picky. He and Alina went into the lobby to check into a
room. Jen could smell the anger coming off of Fane. Wait, smell
anger? What the, that isn't possible. Why would she even think
that? She felt a large, warm hand on her shoulder and felt warm
breath by her ear. "You okay?" Decebel asked her.

Jen turned her head slowly to look at Decebel. It was
the first time she had spoken to him since the little scene on the
side of the road. "Um, yeah, I'm good. Just mentally preparing for
the whole black ops situation."

"Black ops?" Decebel said questioningly.

"She has this weird obsession with military lingo and
missions. Just nod your head and move on," Sally told him
dryly.

Decebel made an 'ahh' movement with his mouth and
then grinned at Jen, who blushed and quickly turned away.

Vasile and Alina climbed back into the car and drove
around to the side of the building where the room was. They all
unloaded and headed to the designated room.

Vasile, Fane and Decebel spent an hour planning and
getting the location of the cabin marked on a map. Once they had
the details worked out Vasile addressed everyone.

"The ladies are going to wait in the car in the woods
where you drop us off. We're going in our wolf forms and will meet
up with Sorin, Skender and Boain. Sorin is calling Dillon and
telling him to bring his first four and will meet us two miles from
the cabin."

"How will you get Jacque back to us if you are in
your wolf forms?" Sally asked.

"I'm hoping that Dr. Steele will be in her human form
and she can help get Jacque back. Sorin, Skender, and myself will
escort them while Fane finishes off Logan." Vasile looked at
Decebel. "It is to be Fane who kills him, it is his right."

"Understood," Decebel responded.

Lilly sat with Alina at the small table. Neither
woman spoke but sat in companionable silence as they each thought
about the path their children would take tonight.

Finally at eleven thirty Vasile stood. "Let's go."
That was all he said and everyone was up and out the door. They
drove in silence to the location on the map that brought them
closest to the cabin. The tension in the vehicle was palpable and
Jen swore if you reached your hand out you would be able to feel it
on your skin. After twenty minutes Vasile pulled the car off the
road and down into the trees that were the edge of the forest. He
pulled the vehicle in as far as he could to hide it from view.
Vasile turned to look at his mate. "I will call to you as soon as
we have her. You need to stay and protect them."

"As you say, Alpha," Alina responded. "You just make
sure you bring my son and his mate back."

"As you say, my Luna." Vasile leaned across the seat
and kissed her gently.

Fane waited outside the vehicle while his father
spoke with his mother. His skin was itching to phase, his wolf
desperate to get out and hunt. He couldn't believe how close he was
to her, he could feel her.

"Luna, we are coming. Be ready."
Fane could
feel her but she didn't respond. Maybe she was still sleeping. He
would let her be for a few minutes more, then he would push. He
needed her to be alert once they attacked.

Jen got out of the car as Decebel did. "Hey, Dec." He
turned around to look at her. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

Decebel's grin was slow, calculated. "It sounds like
you care, Jennifer."

"Of course I care. Jacque needs all of you to protect
her, so don't go get yourself killed. It could leave her
vulnerable." She glared at him.

"That's the only reason you want me to be careful?"
His voice was low, and velvet soft.

Jen had to shake her head to clear the fog. "No,
there's another reason," she whispered back. She crooked her finger
at him, beckoning him forward. He leaned down so she could whisper
in his ear. "You remember Matty, don't you? That handsome nurse who
helped me out? Well, you still don't know if he changed my name."
Jen couldn't help the wicked grin that spread across her face.

"What do you mean if he changed your name?" Decebel
growled and he could tell he wasn't going to like the answer.

Jen's response was to start singing 'Meet Virginia'
as she climbed back in the vehicle. She heard Decebel's growl and
shut and locked the door just as he lunged for her. She looked at
him through the glass and winked.

"Jennifer Adams, what have you gone and done to that
poor wolf now?" Sally whispered to her mischievous friend.

"Just gave him some extra incentive to come back
alive."

Cynthia strained to hear any little noise she could
but there was nothing. No footsteps, no coughing, laughing or
breathing, and no heartbeat. Logan had left them alone. Well, he
was dumber than he looked, she decided. She reached across and
gently but firmly shook Jacque.

"Jacque, wake up, we're getting the heck out of
dodge."

Jacque sat up groggily. "What?"

"Logan and his mini-me aren't here. I heard a vehicle
leave a little bit ago and thought one of them had stayed behind,
but there is no one here. We are getting out of here now."

"How?" Jacque asked.

Suddenly where Cynthia Steele once sat was a medium
sized grey and white wolf. The wolf slipped its foot out of the
cuff and then Cynthia changed back. Now there was a very naked
Cynthia sitting in front of Jacque. "Sorry about the clothes,
hazard of phasing."

"No big thing." Jacque tried to be as nonchalant as
possible.

Jacque watched as Cynthia began to search the room,
she presumed for something to pick the lock on the cuffs. When she
couldn't find anything she came back over and examined the chair it
was cuffed to.

"Okay, I'm going to try and break the frame," she
told her. Jacque looked a little skeptical.

"Hey, werewolf remember?" Cynthia said, slightly
offended.

"My bad," Jacque said, holding her hands up in
surrender.

Cynthia grabbed the chair where the front legs met
with the cross bar of the frame and pulled with everything she had.
At first she didn't think it was going to work but then she felt
the wood give and then crack! The frame snapped.

"Nice," Jacque said, impressed with Cynthia's
strength.

She was able to slide the cuff straight off the
broken end of the cross bar.

Jacque stood up and stretched, unable to believe she
was free…sort of.

Cynthia grabbed her hand. "Come on, we have to get as
far away as possible. Once they are back they will be able to track
us so we need to run in circles and then try and find some water to
hide our scent."

Jacque nodded her head. "Okay, doc. Let's do
this."