Sacrifice of Love (The Grey Wolves #7)(36)

Cynthia shook her head at Jen with a small smile while the others let out quiet chuckles that didn’t quite meet their eyes. None of their laughter did, not anymore.
They had no idea how many days or weeks had past. It was so hard to tell time in the dark forest where there was no sunlight. There was no changing of the daylight to indicate how early or late it was. Their watches and phones were useless. They had just stopped working the minute they had entered the fae realm, or rather, the dark forest. So they sat; sometimes they stood, or walked around, or slept. They talked about nothing and everything. Jen continued to use humor as a coping mechanism, though there were nearly as many tears as there were jokes. They had begun to grow very hungry and very thirsty, and just when the pain of it was beginning to grow unbearable, food would appear. The first time it happened, they had all nearly peed themselves at the sudden appearance, but after sniffing it and taking tiny bites, they decided it was safe and they had gorged themselves. There had been bread, fruit, turkey sandwiches, and water to drink. Cynthia had insisted that Jen eat and drink her fill first, and everyone had agreed. After a small amount of protest, she finally gave in. They attempted to judge the passage of time by the appearance of the food, but it was no use; its appearance was sporadic at best.
“Holy crap, I’m nearly as bored as I am in pain,” Jen grumbled as she laid on her back, staring up into the dark sky. They had given up any games and resorted to just sitting.
“Do you think Reyaz is ever going to show his face?” Jacque asked no one in particular.
“Eventually,” Alina answered. “He is meticulous and seems to steer towards the whole idea of his prey growing complacent. I think he enjoys the shock value.”
“While I appreciate your evaluation of our captor. I’m just going to go with he’s an asshat with brother issues,” Sally said.
Jen laughed gave Sally a thumbs up. “Captivity agrees with you Sally. You get snarkier by the day, or hour, or whatever the amount of time has passed.”
“My inner Jen seems to be triggered by being dropped into spooky, evil places where we’re fed like animals and forced to dig holes to pee in.”
“We aren’t going to be here forever,” Lilly said confidently. She had been attempting to be as positive as possible and she was as relentless as her plight. “You know your mates are going crazy trying to find you, and I have a feeling that nothing stands a chance against them when it comes to getting their mates back.”
“As awesome as they are, mom, they are still human,” Jacque paused. “Well, sort of, but you get my drift.”
“How are you finding your accommodations?” A masculine voice said from inside the darkness. They all scrambled to their feet as they watched Reyaz materialize from the forest. “I know it’s a tad rustic, but then you are wolves, well most of you, so I figured it wouldn’t bother you.”
Alina stepped forward and her body radiated anger and protectiveness for the women with her. “What do you want with us?” she asked pointedly.
“Come now Alpha. You are intelligent. Surely you have figured out that I didn’t really want anything with the wolves. My brother’s lovely human mate has always been my target. But you all just continued to get in my way. I don’t like it when people interfere with my plans.”“Are you going to kill us?” Cynthia asked him.
His brow rose in surprise at how calmly she asked about their demise. “Are you so eager to die?”
“Are you really that stupid?” Jen growled. “Oh wait, you have to be because you took the mates of some of the most powerful werewolves in history away from them. In what delusion of yours could you possibly think that would end well for you? Even if we die, our mates will rip you apart and then use your bones as tooth picks.”
Reyaz took a step closer towards the clearing where the girls were trapped. “You’re the pregnant one.” It wasn’t a question. “I could potentially have an interest in keeping you alive, or at least until your child is born. Can you imagine how horrific it would be for your mate to know that I was raising your child as my own? Training it in my ways and teaching it my magic?”
Jen wasn’t the only one who let out a snarl this time as several of the she-wolves lunged forward. “You will never get your hands on my child.”
“Relax, mate to Decebel. You don’t need to stress yourself out just yet. You have time to fret over it before the child is born. I think you have about a month and a half.”
Jen’s mouth dropped open but it was Cynthia who spoke. “That’s not possible; she isn’t eight months pregnant yet.”
A grin spread across the warlock’s face. “Didn’t your fae tell you? Time passes differently in the dark forest. One month in the human realm equals two months here.”
“Bloody hell,” Jen muttered.
“You girls must be getting bored by now. I think a game is in order. So you all might want to start saying your goodbyes. I will be back for one of you soon and the hunt will begin.” Then he was gone.
“He said I have a month and a half left,” Jen started, not bothering to acknowledge that he had left. “Okay, I was five and a half months pregnant when we were taken. So if he’s saying I have a month and a half, that would make me seven and a half months pregnant, which means we’ve been missing for a month in the human realm and two months here.” She glanced down at her stomach and lifted her shirt. She did look bigger, but she didn’t think she had grown that much while they had been there. She looked up at Cynthia. “Is she going to be okay? Do you think she’s developing according to the time here or the time in the human realm?”
Cynthia’s eyes were wide and filled with worry, which did not instill confidence in Jen. Cynthia walked over to Jen and bent down on one knee and pressed her ear to Jen’s abdomen. She strained to listen and then heard it.
“Her heartbeat is strong and solid,” Cynthia told her. 
Sally cleared her throat, bringing everyone’s attention to her. “I could check on her.” She paused, waiting to see if her announcement was going to freak Jen out; she was so unpredictable these days. When she didn’t say anything, but just continued to stare at her, she continued. “I mean I could go in and look at her and see how developed she is. If you want?” she finished quickly.
Alina walked over and put her hand gently on Jen’s shoulder, “This is why having a healer is such a gift, Jennifer. She will not hurt you or the baby. This is what she was created for.”
There was complete silence as they waited for Jen to speak. Jen trusted Sally. It wasn’t a matter of trust that was causing her to hesitate. It was fear. Once Sally did her thing, they would know for sure if the baby was alright. What if she wasn’t? There’s nothing they could to help her. Decebel wasn’t here to hold Jen’s hand, or to wrap his arms around her and tell her he would protect them. But she knew if he were here, he would have already grabbed Sally and forced her on Jen. He would be brave and he would want her to be brave.
“Alright,” she finally agreed softly.
“Here Jen, come lay your head in my lap and I’ll play with your hair like you use to make me do for hours when we watched Buffy.” Jacque sat on the ground and motioned for Jen to follow.
Jen closed her eyes as Jacque’s fingers ran through her hair. She had always loved it when they would take turns fixing each other’s hair and brushing it. She felt the air flutter against her neck as the strands were lifted and then felt the soft brush of the locks against her shoulder and back. Over and over Jacque’s fingers worked their way through the blonde strands.
She felt Sally’s hand press gently to her stomach and warmth began to radiate from it. It began in her abdomen then traveled outward, down her hips and thighs to her feet and toes, and up to her chest, shoulders, neck and head. The warmth made her relax even further, and she felt cradled in the arms of something greater than herself. She thought of Decebel and wished desperately that he could be with her, that he could be the one running his fingers through her hair. She longed so desperately for him and her mind tumbled back to a memory that made the warmth grow stronger.
He had been sitting on their bed and she had just come back from spending time with Jacque and Jen.
He turned to look at her and her heart melted all over again.
“Hey,” she said in an almost shy manner.
“Hey yourself,” he said back. His eyes danced with mischief and she knew he was in one of his playful moods, a mood only she got to see.
“Did you have fun with your friends?”
She nodded. “Yes. Did you have fun beating other wolves up?” she had asked him several times to let her come watch him spar with the others, but he was adamant about not letting her go. She had discovered, through doing a little eavesdropping in his mind, that he didn’t want her to see all the half-dressed guys. He had no clue how beautiful he was; how utterly perfect he was. She had told them that those other guys weren’t even in the same atmosphere as him, that he was on a totally different universe compared to others. He didn’t see it. He didn’t see how she saw him.
“Come here,” she told him.