“Jen,” Sally said as she reached for her hand.
“Not ready to talk about it,” Jen said quickly and then looked at Lilly. “So your oaf of a man is the reason we’re on this little journey. Fill us in on what he did.” Jen’s statement effectively got the attention off of her and distracted her two best friends from fretting over their feuding mates. Two birds; one stone.
Peri rubbed her hands together as she nodded. “This is going to be so good.”
Lilly frowned. “You already know what happened,” she told the fae.
“Maybe, but the point is, one never tires of hearing about a king running like a scared rabbit while his mate throws things at him and berates him with a sailor’s mouth.”
“Get the popcorn,” Jen called out, “we are in for some wicked entertainment ladies. If their fight started out with that much foreplay, then the finish is bound to leave us all breathless, and maybe even satisfied.”
The group groaned collectively.
“What?” Jen asked innocently.
“Not everyone’s fights end with sex,” Jacque informed her.
“Oh well, then you guys are missing out. I mean seriously. That’s like saying Santa doesn’t need Rudolph and his shiny nose, or that the fourth of July doesn’t need fireworks, or that Harry Potter doesn’t need Ron and that bushy headed girl. I mean, it’s like…,”
“Jen,” Jacque cut her off, “we get it.”
Jen’s head shook vehemently. “Nope, sorry wolf-princess, you can’t possibly get it until you’ve gotten it, if you know what I mean, after having a knock down drag out with your mate. Then and only then, will you get it.”
“Was that clear as mud to anyone else?” Sally asked.
“I think she’s saying we need to have relations with our mates as often as possible, including after fights,” Crina said calmly.
Jen clapped her hands together with a loud yell, “FINALLY! Somebody gets it.”
“How long are you going to let this go on?” Decebel asked Vasile as they watched the two wolves battle it out. Thankfully, the pack had its own private hanger to house the jet, so there was no one to witness the snarling beasts tearing into one another.
“As long as it takes,” Vasile responded. “They won’t kill each other. They know that it would kill the other’s mate as well.” Vasile was calm and unwavering while the males around him growled or cringed in response to the fight before them. Vasile had thought it would be his job to step in and deal with Fane’s struggles, but the moment he saw the two wolves together, he knew what needed to be done. Fane needed to let go of his anger and Costin needed to prove that he was capable of taking Fane on, and that he could still be Fane’s pack mate and still care for him once this was over.
Vasile and Decebel both had to use their power to keep the other males from joining in. All of them were itching for a fight after having just watched their mates fly off to another continent without them. Decebel himself was fighting his own wolf, which longed to tear into any flesh that was available, but he wouldn’t give in to the desire. He didn’t need Vasile knowing what he had planned. He knew the Alpha would not approve.
Fane’s mind was covered in a haze of rage as he lunged at the wolf who had dared to touch his mate. His claws dug into flesh and it satisfied something in him to see the rich, red blood spill forth, matting the grey fur. He jumped back quickly, but not fast enough as he felt Costin’s teeth sink into his side. Even the pain from the assault was like a balm to the internal wounds that had been plaguing him for so long. Over and over they circled each other and over and over they ripped into flesh, but neither of them ever made a mortal wound. This wasn’t about death; it was about righting a wrong, healing the brokenness. Brokenness that had reached so far into Fane that he felt like he would never be whole again. Fane nearly stumbled when he heard a voice in his mind and it didn’t belong to his mate.“You can only heal if you forgive, Fane Lupei, child of mine.”
The smooth voice wrapped around him and stopped his progress immediately. Fane closed his eyes and waited for the Great Luna to speak. When she didn’t, he acknowledged her.
“I’m listening,” he responded.
“Costin is your brother. He has not wronged you in any way. Dark magic has twisted your reality. Reach past the darkness, Fane. Grab hold of the light that your bonded mate gives to you and see the truth in the situation. No amount of blood shed will heal this wound. You have to choose to be healed.”
Fane opened his eyes and saw that Costin was standing across from him, still in his wolf form, staring at him warily. He had stopped his attack as soon as Fane froze and he was waiting for his next move. He noticed that there was no condemnation in Costin’s eyes, no hate or disgust. He simply stared and waited.
“I’m tired,” he admitted.
“I know you are. You are not alone. Let go of your anger and let those who care for you, those who love you, help you move past this.” He felt the warmth of an embrace and then she was gone.
Fane phased back into his human form and Costin quickly followed suit. All of the males were still, their breaths barely perceptible as they watched the two males.
“I know that it wasn’t real,” Fane finally spoke, “but even knowing that, I felt something inside of me break when I saw it.”
Costin took a step closer heedless of their nudity. “We all experienced it Fane. Our mates each went through the same thing but with different males.”
“How could you stand it?” Fane asked desperately.
“It hasn’t been easy if that’s what you’re thinking. But I realized that it would do more harm than good to dwell on it. Sally had hurt enough and I wasn’t about to add to her pain.”
Fane flinched at his words, knowing that he had caused his mate so much pain. He was supposed to protect her and instead he had pushed his fear and anger onto her.
Fane bowed his head to Costin and tilted it slightly, bearing his neck. “I ask for your forgiveness, packmate. I have wronged you. I have disrespected you and I have disrespected your mate.”
Costin instinctively let out a low growl at the submission Fane was showing. “There is nothing to forgive, but even if there was, you are forgiven.”
Fane let out a deep breath as he felt some of the darkness recede. The heaviness that had been weighing on his chest eased and he finally felt as though he could get air into his lungs. He turned to his father then and again gave his neck in submission. “Alpha, I apologize for losing control and not seeking out the help I needed.”
Vasile walked up to his son and patted his cheek affectionately. “It is not my forgiveness you should worry about.” Fane nearly fell to his knees as he thought about Jacquelyn. He had hurt her and now she was going back to Coldspring, so far from him. How could he make things right between them when he couldn’t hold her? How would she see the sincerity in his eyes if she wasn’t there with him?
“She will forgive you,” Costin told him as he took the sweats Decebel handed him, which he had retrieved from a storage locker along the wall. Like most of the places the pack visited frequently, it was stocked with spare clothes for just such an emergency. “Maybe not today, or tomorrow, or in ten years, but eventually she will.” All of the males chuckled goodnaturedly and Fane couldn’t help the smile that curved his lips. His mate was hotheaded, but she didn’t hold a grudge. He might have to do some serious groveling, but he would prove to her once again that she was the most precious gift he had ever been given and he would treat her that way again.
Vasile turned to address the group and as soon as he spoke the humor fled from their faces.
“I know that you are all angry with me and Decebel. I know you think we’ve made the wrong decision. Only time will tell. But until then, we are not going to sit and wallow in anger or pity or even the pain that will accompany the separation. Once again, evil has reared its ugly head and we must be the ones to defeat it. For if we do not do it, who will?” He met each of their gazes and one by one they dropped their eyes. “You were created for a greater purpose, not just to love your mate, but to take care of the world we live in so that our mates will have a safe place to live and our children will have a safe place to grow up. So you have until we arrive back at the mansion to wipe the scowls off your faces and I think Jen would say, 'put on your game faces.' Our women will return to us, and when they do, we had better have good news for them or the Great Luna help us all.”
“Do you think the Great Luna could help us against the wrath of your American mates?” Sorin asked with a smirk.
“Knowing our luck, they would probably convince her to join in their cause to kick our posteriors,” Vasile retorted.
“Posteriors?” Costin asked as amusement danced in his eyes.
“My daughter in-law is Jacque.”
“Enough said.”
Chapter 8
“Evil comes in all forms, shapes, and sizes. That is the beauty of it. Because it is dark, you do not see it coming. It remains quiet until it has snuck right up behind you. It is often appealing, so you do not even realize that it is evil until it has caught you in its web and you cannot move. It is the manifestation of the worst parts of us and like calls to like. So as your evil rises to the surface because of wrongs and pain that you can’t let go of, I will find you and latch onto you. Together our evil will devour any good left in each of you.” ~Reyaz