Just One Drop (30 page)

Decebel scrolled through their texts, smiling at her playfulness. It wasn't enough, but it would get him through the night.

Jennifer curled into a ball in the bed that she'd told Decebel was too big to be in by herself. All day she had kept herself busy. Now here, in the dark, she could feel the hole that was widening with every moment away from Decebel.

She had been thrilled when Vasile had told her she could text him. She smiled to herself, remembering his texts. Decebel had a sweet, romantic side. And bloody hell if it wasn't the sexiest thing ever. She closed her eyes and thought of him. His handsome face, dark hair, amber eyes.... She fell asleep to the memories of her mate's deep, soothing voice and strong body holding her.

Chapter 24

Cynthia yawned as she sat at the table with her pack, eating breakfast. She'd been out searching until two in the morning. She had phased when she went out looking for it, knowing her wolf could move much faster. Finally, over ten miles away from the estate, she found the Nepeta, a.k.a. catnip. She was still working on perfecting it in liquid form – the hardest part was that it needed to be potent enough, but also dissolved so the plant's little particles weren't visible. People tend to get suspicious when there's stuff floating in their drinks.

Cynthia caught Jen's eye across the table and nodded, a subtle motion for her to follow her out of the room.

Cynthia was waiting in the hall when the five girls came out, Costin at their heels.
Y
eah, this doesn't look suspicious,
she thought.

"Whatchya got, doc?" Jen asked.

"I found the Nepeta ten miles out. I've been working on it all morning, and the only thing I'm not sure about is its potency while making it undetectable in the drink."

"Finalized, illustrated, and edited." Jen gave him a sharp nod. "Alright. Moving along, people. Doc, we need test subjects for your mojo."

"That would be the most accurate way to determine if it's effective," Cynthia agreed.

Jen smiled sweetly at Costin.

Costin watched the gleam in Jen's eyes as she smiled at him. Realizing what she was thinking, he put his hands up. "No way, Jen. Come on, you can't ask me to do that. I can't protect you guys if I can't phase. No. I'm putting my foot down."

Jen didn't argue, realizing that no amount of flirting, groveling, pushing, or bribing was going to work on Costin. She watched each member of their group, all trying to think of a wolf to test this concoction on.

"Oh, for crying out loud. Let's get this party started, ladies
and
hot werewolf. Happy?" Jen asked.

Damion looked up from his table to see the blonde American and the two female Romanian wolves coming towards him. "This day is looking up boys."

The other four turned in their seats to watch as the girls walked confidently to their table.

They stopped a foot away and looked each of them over.

"I hear you boys are the ones who put that wicked cool video together." Jen smirked as she folded her arms across her chest – not by accident.

Damion leaned back in his seat and folded his arms. He unabashedly eyed Jen, starting at her feet, going all the way to the top of her blonde head.

Jen leaned forward, resting her hand on the table so she could whisper closely, "The kind that rhymes with lip stroker." She winked and then stood as she watched Damion's brain deduce what she had just told him. "If you wanna play be in the gym tomorrow night at ten o'clock. It's our little secret, if you get my drift."

Damion watched as she walked away with a very appealing swing in her hips. He heard several of his pack mates give low whistles.

"So are we in?" Adrian asked his Beta.

"Like I would ever pass up playing strip poker with some fine women." Damion rolled his eyes. "Yes, we're in," he reiterated when Vilim and Josif looked at him blankly.

"You four keep your traps shut," Damion warned. "I don't want any other males catching whiff of this. Those she-wolves are ours."

"That went well," Jen said enthusiastically. She felt her phone vibrate and pulled it from the back pocket of her snug jeans.

Decebel txt: morning beautiful

Jen knew the grin that stretched across her face probably looked ridiculous, but she didn't care. Decebel thought she was beautiful, and was thinking about her. The only thing that could make it sweeter was if he were to tell her himself.

Jen txt: morning yourself

"You think they'll show up?" Crina's voice brought Jen back to the present.

"Honey, their eyes were roaming all over us. They'll be there." She looked at her phone as she said, "Let's head to Cynthia's office and see how things are going."

Decebel had texted her again.

Decebel txt: what r u do n 2day?

Jen knew that Decebel didn't want her participating in any more of the activities that were planned, but Vasile couldn't justify her not being there. She had to answer this carefully – if she couldn't be honest she would just redirect his attention.

Jen txt: basket weaving

They reached Cynthia's office and opened the door without knocking. Costin, Jacque and Sally were already there, sitting and staring at the doctor.

Costin rolled his eyes and looked at Jen. "It's been fifteen minutes and so far she can't phase." He spoke in a regular volume.

"How much did you drink, doc?" Jen asked.

"I put about one third of a cup in eight ounces of liquid. So far I just feel stuck. Like my skin is just stuck. I don't really know how to describe it."

Jen grinned.
S
mart wolf
.

Jen ignored the last text. She didn't want to flat out lie to him. He would just worry and probably tear something up. She leaned back against the wall and slid to the floor. Closing her eyes, she prepared to wait with the others to see how long it took until Cynthia could phase. Her phone vibrated several more times. She didn't look at the texts, but she knew would they'd probably be in all caps.

Bad Jen,
she thought to herself.

Jacque walked into the dining room and straight into Fane's arms.

"That's better,"
Fane murmured in her mind.

"I missed you, too.”
She snuggled into his chest and let out a deep breath. Dealing with all the drama of Jen's scheme and Cynthia's magic potion was wearing her out. Although, they were all a little less stressed on discovering it took Cynthia over three hours to phase after drinking her catnip concoction. At least they knew that part of the plan would work.