Prince of Wolves (9 page)

Chapter 10

Fane and Brian
were getting into the car when he felt Jacquelyn’s alarm and heard her scream at him
, “Fane, what the hell is on my back!”

For a brief moment he got a picture in her mind of her back, but he quickly shut her out, not wanting to intrude on her privacy. He decided then not to answer her, even though it broke his heart to leave her in a state of confusion and fear, but he felt like some things were better said face to face. Especially if you’re going to be telling someone that they have Canis lupus markings on their body because they've found their werewolf mate they didn’t know even existed. You know, the standard ‘hey, let’s get to know each other bit.’

He flinched a bit when she screamed and Brian asked if he was okay.

“
Yeah, I’m good. Just had some ringing in my ears for a minute,” Fane lied.

“
So do you know where you want to go?” Brian asked.

“
Just stop at the first dealership you see that has motorcycles. I’m not picky and I’m good at fixing them up, so it’s okay if it needs a little work,” Fane explained.

As they drove past Jacquelyn’s house, he found himself looking at it, fighting the urge to slip into her mind and see how she was. It felt weird when she had called out to him; it was the first time she had done so with out him prompting her first. It pleased his wolf that she was turning to him for help, he was her protector after all. He quickly reminded the preening animal inside that she didn’t exactly have anywhere else to go. That got a growl out of him that he quickly disguised as a cough.

Brian, as requested, pulled into the first dealership he saw that had motorcycles out front. As Fane got out of the car, his eyes fell instantly on a solid black Honda shadow with chrome pipes and wide wheels. It was used but still looked to be in good shape.

Fane liked his bikes to be simple. Nothing flashy or fancy. He just wanted to ride, not show off.

A salesman came walking out into the heat and went immediately to Brian, the adult, and Brian pointed him in Fane’s direction.

“
Can I help you?” the salesman asked and in that same instant took a breath. Fane was positive he heard a low growl as the salesman abruptly stepped back, turning his head ever so slightly so that his neck was exposed to Fane.

Fane looked at him, briefly confused, and then it hit him. The thought nearly sent him to the ground: Canis lupus.

Brian, thankfully, had begun to wander around the car lot and was not paying attention, so Fane stepped toward the salesman, “Steve,” his name tag said, and sniffed. Sure enough, he was a Grey.

Instinctively, Fane growled as his wolf perked up at the presence of another male Grey in an area Fane had deemed his territory. After all, he was not aware of any Greys in Coldspring.

The Grey named Steve asked, “Who are you? Why are you in the Alpha’s territory?”

Alpha
, Fane thought.
What Alpha is he talking about?
Fane didn’t want to divulge too much to this Grey, in case he and his Alpha were a threat.

“
I wasn’t aware there were any Greys in this area,” Fane stated vaguely.

“
Who are you that you think you deserve to know what Greys are where? You’re just a pup, and with a human at that,” he spat at Fane.

Fane’s wolf pushed to come out and he let him just a little. Power poured over him and the Grey felt it instantly, nearly bowing involuntarily as his wolf realized he was not more dominate than the “pup” he had so hastily named.

“
I don’t have to dignify you with an answer, but just so you know what you have provoked, I will oblige you. I am the Prince of the Romanian Canis lupus. I am next in line to be Alpha and I submit to no one but
my
Alpha.” Putting as much push in his words as he dared without unleashing the full power of his line, he asked, “Who is your Alpha and how long has there been a pack of Greys in Coldspring?”

The Grey whined just a little but answered, “I have heard of your father. It is said he makes all Alphas bow just by his presence.”

“
Answer my question, Steve. Now.” Fane glared.

“
My Alpha is Lucas Steele. I have been a member of this pack for three years. I don’t know how long it has been active. Why are you here? You’re a teenager from another country. What could you possibly be doing in Coldspring, Texas?” Steve asked, bewildered.

“
My business is not yours. Setting aside this interesting turn of events for a moment, please, I would like to purchase that black Honda Shadow. How much?” Fane asked.

“
Don’t you want to test drive it?” Steve asked.

“
No. How much?” Fane asked again.

“
$2,500. There is no warranty left on it. It has five thousand miles, the tires are new, never been in an accident,” Steve rattled off like a recording.

Fane pulled out his credit card and handed it to him. As Steve walked off with his parents’ credit card Fane realized he had just made a big mistake. Steve now had his father’s full name. He imagined this might be a moment when his fiery little Luna would say something along the lines of, “Go directly to jail, do not pass go and do not collect $200.” Yes, she would definitely say something like that.

Brian wandered back over to Fane but Fane didn’t realize it until Brian said something. “So you find something to buy?”

“
Yeah, actually. I’m going to purchase that black Honda Shadow. It looks to be in pretty good shape. Do you think you could take me to wherever it is that I get the license and whatever else I need in order to finalize the sale?” Fane asked.

“
That’s not a problem. Let me know when you are ready,” Brian responded.

“
Ok. Mulţumesc, Brian. I really appreciate your help,” Fane told him.

“
You’re welcome,” Brian said with a smile.

Fane turned to see Steve coming across the lot toward him. He had some paperwork in one hand and Fane’s credit card in the other. He handed Fane the credit card first once he reached them.

“
Could you step inside for a moment to sign these papers?” Steve asked Fane.

Fane simply nodded and started to follow Steve in the direction of the building. They stepped inside and just a few steps to the right was a table. Steve sat down, Fane did not. He simply leaned down and signed the places Steve had marked. Once everything was signed, Steve stood back up and handed Fane the keys. Before Fane turned to leave, Steve said, “I have a message from my Alpha.”

Fane turned back and looked Steve in the eyes. The less dominate Grey instantly dropped his gaze but continued. “He says don’t unpack.” With that Steve turned and walked away.

Fane pushed the door open and walked back out to where Brian stood.

“
Okay, Brian, I’m ready if you are.” Fane was trying very hard to contain his anger. His wolf was not happy. There were other wolves in a territory he had claimed based on the information that there were no other Greys here. On top of that, his mate was in the same area, un-bonded. He would say things couldn’t get worse, but that would be a huge mistake when it came to talking about Canis lupus.

As Fane pulled into the driveway to the Henrys' house, he was pleased at how well the motorcycle ran. Brian had insisted they go straight to a motorcycle shop and buy a helmet since they didn’t have one at the dealership. He opted for a full face helmet with a dark visor and bought a clear visor to change out for when he was riding at night.
It feels so good to be on a bike again
, Fane thought to himself. He parked behind Brian’s car and locked his helmet and the helmet he had impulsively bought Jacquelyn on the side of his bike.

As he was walking to the front door, he saw Lilly pulling into her driveway across the street. He hadn’t realized she left.

As she was getting out of her Volkswagen convertible, she turned and saw Fane and waved.

“
Fane! Hey, I wanted to invite you over for dinner tonight,” she hollered across the lawn. “The girls are having pizza. You are welcome to come if you don’t mind hanging out with a group of teenage girls,” she said with a wink.

Fane was a little surprised at the invitation but he was not about to miss an opportunity to spend time with Jacquelyn.

“
I would be honored. Mulţumesc,” Fane responded.

“
Great. We'll order the pizza around five. Oh, and tell Brian and Sara they are invited as well. We’ll make a night of it and play some games,” Lilly said enthusiastically.

Fane couldn’t really put his finger on it, but Lilly seemed a bit edgy. Maybe he was imagining it, but something was definitely off with her. She waved and turned to go into her house as he did the same.

Sara was sitting on the couch reading a book when he entered and he told her they were invited to Lilly’s for pizza and games.

“
Oh, that sounds great,” Sara said excitedly. “I'll make some brownies to take. Do you like brownies?”

“
Yes, I do actually. I’m going to excuse myself and go call my parents to say hello, if that's okay,” Fane told her.

“
Of course that’s fine. You don’t have to ask us, you are practically a grown man. As long as you aren’t selling drugs or going to all night raves and orgies, you do what you want. We trust you until you give us reason not to,” Sara said casually.

“
Mulţumesc,” was all he said in response and then he turned to go upstairs to call his father and tell him what he had discovered today. He was also going to have to explain how he lost his temper and revealed his title, and gave the Grey his credit card with his Alpha’s name on it. Honestly, he’d been in Coldspring one day and he’d found his mate, met another Grey, found out about a pack that wasn’t supposed to even be here, and been threatened. Needless to say, it hadn’t been boring.

He dialed his father’s number for the second time that day. His father answered on the first ring,

“
Colega ta este in pericol, (your mate is in danger),” were the first words Fane heard his father say.

Chapter 11

“
You did what?”
Jacque interrupted as Lilly Pierce was telling her and Sally that she had invited Fane and the Henrys over for pizza.

“
Hi, Sally,” Jacque’s mother said, ignoring her outburst, “You’re staying for dinner, right?”

“
If that’s okay with you.” Sally answered sweetly.

“
The more the merrier. We’re going to play games, too. It’ll be fun! Jen is coming too, isn’t she?” Lilly asked.

“
Yes, mother. Now could you please tell me why you are so interested in Fane?” Jacque asked.

“
Could you tell me what you have against him? Why do you have such an aversion to getting to know him?” her mom responded.

Jacque just didn’t get it. Maybe her mom thought that because she and Trent had split up, pushing another guy on her would help her move on. Yes, it had been kind of hard on Jacque, they did date for almost two years. But hadn’t her mom noticed that she pretty much had moved on? It’d been like two months since she’d even seen Trent and she barely thought about him. In fact, in the past twenty four hours she hadn’t thought about him at all. She decided to let it slide for now, she knew a losing battle when she saw one.

Jacque looked at Sally and motioned for her to go upstairs, “We’ll be upstairs, mom. Jen probably won’t be here until later. She said she would have to eat with her parents, but hopefully she'll make if for the game portion of the evening,” Jacque said in mock excitement.

“
Keep up the attitude, Jacquelyn, and see where it gets you,” Lilly said sternly.

Lilly very rarely got cross with Jacque so that was when she knew it was best to double-time it up the stairs before her big mouth got her working in the bookstore every Friday and Saturday night for her entire senior year.

Once in Jacque’s room, Sally sat cross-legged on the floor looking through Jacque’s CD collection. She picked out Jacque’s favorite Evanescence CD and put it in the stereo. Once the music was playing loud enough to keep prying ears ay bay, she looked at Jacque and said, “So, let’s hear it. What happened when Jen and I left today?”

Jacque thought about the moment that she'd realized the voice she was hearing was Fane. When he had spoken to her in Romanian she had no more doubt that it was indeed his beautiful voice in her mind.

“
Well, after you guys left I laid down on my bed to just chill, ya know, catch my bearings. As I was laying there the voice in my head came back. He asked me if I was scared and told me that hadn’t been his intention,” Jacque explained.

“
He?” Sally asked. “So it's Fane? The voice is Fane?”

Jacque nodded and added, “I finally confirmed it when he spoke to me in Romanian, and honestly, Sal, if you’re going to hear voices why on earth would you hear one that speaks in Romanian?”

“
Well, duh, because you have a secret fantasy about running away with a gorgeous Romanian noble to his beautiful ice castle.” Sally said, a hint of wistfulness in her voice.

“
Oh, of course. I completely overlooked that very plausible answer,” Jacque said, rolling her eyes.