Prince of Wolves (The Grey Wolves #1)(32)

Sally and Jen were lying on Jacque’s floor, going through her CDs when she heard her mother yell her name.
“The stuff is going to hit the proverbial fan,” Sally said.
“If I’m not back in ten minutes, come looking for my body please.” Jacque was only half joking. Lilly could have a pretty hot temper when she got upset or was pushed in a direction she was not really ready to go.
Jacque made her way to the dining room where she found Fane and her mom seated at the table.
“So what’s up?” Jacque asked her mom innocently.
“Fane has just informed me that he plans to stay here until after the challenge. I wanted to know what you thought about that,” Lilly told her.
Jacque was a little surprised by her mom’s words and it took her a moment to formulate an answer.
“You...what...I…” Jacque tried to spit it out, but it just wasn’t happening.
“Jacque, are you okay?” her mom asked her.
“I’m just a little confused. I thought you would be mad that he wanted to stay here,” Jacque explained.
“I want you safe. I may be a stubborn woman, but I'm not a stupid one. Are you okay with him staying here?”
Jacque glanced at Fane and had to look away when he winked at her. She wanted to say, 'of course I'm okay with it, duh! Who wouldn’t be ok with a major hottie with a Romanian accent staying at their house?', but she didn’t.“I’m ok with it if you are,” she answered nonchalantly.
“Alright, then. I guess that’s settled,” Lilly said, then turned to Fane, “Lay a paw on my little girl and you will be a three legged Lassie, got it?”
Fane winced and asked, “You both do realize I’m a wolf not a dog, right?”
Lilly shrugged and stood up to give Jacque a hug.
“I’ve got to go to the bookstore and do some work. I’m not sure when I will be home so you'll have to fend for yourselves when it comes to dinner.”
“Lilly, please allow Sorin to accompany you. I do not like the idea of you out alone,” Fane told her
“I'll be fine. No one is going to mess with me in such a public place,” Lilly answered
“Maybe, maybe not. All the same, I want Sorin to go with you.” Fane’s tone said the discussion was over. It was really weird to hear a seventeen year old guy talk with such authority, yet it seemed so natural coming from Fane.
Sorin appeared in the entryway to the dining room. He turned his head slightly away from Fane, exposing his neck, and waited for Fane to tell him what he wanted.
“Sorin, please accompany Lilly while she works. I don’t want her out alone with everything that is going on. I wouldn’t put it past Lucas to do something stupid like snatch Lilly in order to get Jacquelyn to cooperate,” Fane told him.
Jacque hadn’t even considered something like that. Man, her life had turned into a movie, she could probably sell it to HBO and make a fortune. She would have to consider that once all this was done.
“HBO? What is that?” Fane asked her.
“You really are just as nosy as Jen, aren’t you?” Jacque asked him back
Fane turned to look at her and shrugged his shoulders, continuing to wait for her answer. Jacque let out a breath and rolled her eyes.
“Oh, good grief. It’s a television station. I’m thinking I could make a killing selling my story to them for a mini-series or something.”
Lilly just laughed and shook her head as she walked out of the dining room with Sorin on her heels.
Jacque and Fane were left in the dining room staring at each other. After a few moments, Jacque began to feel self conscious and turned to go back up to her room.
“Hey, where are you going?” Fane asked as he reached for her arm.
“I was going to go back up to my room to see what the girls are doing. Why? Where are you going?”
“I guess I need to come up with something to tell the Henrys as to why I am going to be staying over here all the time,” Fane told her.
“You could tell them the truth. You never know, they may take it really well.” 
“I’m not sure what else I can tell them. Nothing else makes sense,” Fane explained.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Jacque asked him.
Fane looked surprised by the question. “You would do that for me?”
“Well, I do have some conditions, of course,” Jacque teased.
“Really, and what might those be?” Fane asked her flirtatiously.
“I want Jen and Sally at the bonding ceremony thingy,” Jacque blurted out.
“Is that all?” Fane asked, surprised.
“Give me time. I’ll think of more, but for now that will do.”
“Done,” Fane answered.
“Let me run up and tell Jen and Sally that we're going over there.”
Thirty minutes later, Fane and Jacque were sitting in the Henrys' living room across from Sara and Brian. Both looked a little shell-shocked by what Fane had just told them. Fane wasn’t talking now, he was just letting it sink in.
“Sara, Brian,” Jacque spoke gently, “are you okay?”
Sara looked at Jacque as if she just realized she was in the room.
“Are you okay?” Sara turned the question on Jacque. “I mean, you’re his mate, right? Are you okay with that?”
“I’m great with it. I mean, I’m still a little shocked and it does seem very surreal but other than that, I’m rosy,” Jacque told her.
Brian still hadn't said anything and Jacque was beginning to wonder if he was going to be able to process this without freaking out. Then he surprised her by saying, “I knew there was something different, something special about you, Fane. I’m not saying I understand all of this, but I trust you, and I want Jacque and Lilly safe from whatever's going on. We believe you and support you.”
“I truly appreciate your trust. I am going to try to limit my time here because I don’t want to give Lucas a reason to use you against us. Please stay alert for anything odd or out of place,” Fane told them.
“We can take care of ourselves, you just worry about what it is you need to take care of. You said your father is coming to help?” Brian asked.
“Yes, my father is coming and so is my mother, but they will only be here to keep the challenge fair. My father is a very, very strong Alpha and there are few who would dare to challenge or defy him.”
Jacque stood up, went over to Sara and hugged her, then Brian. “Thank you guys for being so awesome,” she told them.
“Yes, I have to agree with Jacquelyn. You both are very awesome,” Fane said, shaking Brian’s hand and hugging Sara as well.
The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent with Fane, Jacque, Jen, and Sally all hanging out in Jacque’s room. Occasionally they would talk about the whole challenge thing, but mostly they just quizzed Fane on all things Romanian. They asked him what different words were in Romanian. Jen wanted to know how to curse in Romanian, go figure. He told them about the folklore of werewolves and vampires. Jacque steered the conversation quickly away from that because she didn’t really want to know if vampires were real. She was just coming to terms with werewolves, and there was no need to overwhelm her already wavering sanity.
Fane was a good sport, even when Jen tried to ask about Fane’s personal dating experiences and the like. He just winked at her and politely said, “A prince doesn’t kiss and tell, love.”
Of course, the wink nearly made Jen hyperventilate, so it was only fair for Jacque to slap Fane on the arm for nearly making her friend pass out because he was so freaking hot.
“I don’t understand why you’re hitting me, Luna. She is the one who asked about my previous experience with girls,” Fane defended.“I’m hitting you because you flirted with her and nearly killed her. Do you even realize how drool-worthy you are?” Jacque asked him.
Fane cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “Drool-worthy? What does this mean?”
“What it means, Romeo, is that when you walk into a room every chick there forgets she is with the guy standing right next to her and wishes she was with you,” Sally piped in.
“Exactly. Well put, Watson,” Jacque told Sally.
“That’s what I’m here for, Sherlock,” she responded.
Jacque looked over at Jen to see if she had recovered from her swooning. Jen was lying on her stomach, propped up on her elbows, staring dreamily at Fane. Sally followed Jacquelyn’s line of sight, then slapped Jen on the butt.
“OW!” Jen yelped. “What the hell, chicka?” She glared at Sally.
“I was thinking maybe we should go see what we can round up for dinner,” Sally said, looking at her phone to check the time. “It’s already five fifteen, and you know how you get if you go too long without eating, Jen.”
“Yeah, yeah. Just call it what it is. You want to give Simba and Nala here a little privacy. It’s all good,” Jen said as she followed Sally out of earshot.
Jacque shouted, “He’s a wolf, you nymphomaniac freak, not a lion.”
She heard Sally and Jen laugh as they descended the stairs.
Chapter 24
Fane looked over at Jacquelyn, who was on her bed, still grinning over the Lion King reference Jen had made. Fane was so thankful that she had friends with such great sense of humor. Laughing could get you through a lot.
“How are you doing, Luna?” Fane asked her.
Jacque looked at him and smiled sweetly. “I’m doing. How are you?”