Blood Rites (3 page)

As soon as he had
heard about the Alpha Vasile being there, he had sent Logan to find
out what had caused him to travel so far from home. Dillon had been
in shock when Logan called to tell him that Lilly had a daughter,
and that she was seventeen years old. It had been seventeen years
since Dillon had last laid eyes on Lilly Pierce. Seventeen years
since he had found his mate and packed his bags only leaving Lilly
a note to say goodbye. It was the coward's way out, but he hadn’t
known how he could face her knowing he was going to rip out both
their hearts. He had told Lilly that the day might come when he
would have no choice but to leave. That hadn’t make it any easier.
The irrevocable proof though, was in the pictures. Lilly’s daughter
was the spitting image of himself. Dillon was not a large man,
standing at 5’11”, 190lbs. He was broad across the shoulders, as
most Canis Lupis are, which was only enhanced by his narrow waist
and the snug fitting tee shirts he often favored.

With auburn hair that
had subtle waves in it and the same piercing green eyes as the girl
in the photos, he could no more deny her than he could deny his
reflection in the mirror. His face was more angular than the
girl's, who Logan had said was named Jacquelyn, whose face was
softer and rounder. He did see traces of Lilly here and there.
Jacque had her mother’s mischievous smile, and though her eye color
matched his, they held the humor in them he so often had seen in
Lilly. Like her mother she was as striking as she was beautiful. He
thought momentarily on the fact that Lilly had named their daughter
after Dillon’s grandmother. Though Lilly had never met his
grandmother, he had talked of her often, sharing with Lilly what an
impact she had in raising him. He couldn’t take credit for his
quick wit and often wicked tongue that was all Grandma
Jacquelyn.

“Your daughter is to
be bonded to Vasile’s son,” Logan told him, snapping him out of his
brief jaunt down memory lane. The dry indifference in his Beta’s
voice did not reveal if he cared one way or the other. Dillon
turned to look at him, wanting to confirm that his body language
matched his words. Logan was as serious and severe looking as ever.
At 6’1”, 250lbs of muscle, Logan was an intimidating being. He too
was broad across the chest, had a narrow waist, and it was apparent
in his snug black fatigues he had muscular legs. His dark brown
hair he wore longer than most of Dillon’s wolves, nearly touching
his shoulders, but much of the time he had it pulled back. He had
high cheek bones, a slightly crooked nose from being broken many
times in his long life, and Dillon had heard more than one woman
say Logan's lips were made for sin, whatever that meant.

“She is still a
minor, how could Vasile even consider allowing them to mate?”
Dillon thought out loud.

“Fane, the Alpha’s
son, had to compete in a challenge against another Alpha who was
trying to claim Jacque. Perhaps it is Vasile’s way of keeping his
son from having to fight others from claiming your daughter,” Logan
offered

Dillon thought about
this. It would make sense, for if Fane was indeed Jacque’s true
mate then he would walk through hell itself to keep another from
claiming her.

“I will admit it is
impressive that Fane, being as young as he is, was able to defeat
such a strong Alpha,” Dillon acknowledged

“He did have the
benefit of his Alpha’s counsel, surely that had an impact on his
victory,” Logan responded in his usual indifferent tone.

Still the idea of his
little girl mated at 17 rubbed his fur the wrong way. Although he
didn’t really have a right to say what she could or could not do,
she didn’t even know who he was. Maybe, he decided, the best thing
to do for now is to watch from a distance.

“Logan, I want you to
go back to Coldspring and keep an eye on my daughter. Don’t let
yourself be known, just observe from a distance and report back to
me. I will let you know if and when I will be coming myself. For
now I will wait,” Dillon told his Beta

“It will be done as
you have said, Alpha,” Logan responded in the formal address

Dillon excused Logan
to depart, leaving him alone in his study with his thoughts. He had
been keeping these thoughts blocked from his mate. He didn’t know
how she would respond to the news that he had a daughter with
another female. No, for now he would keep this secret just a little
longer.

Logan was sitting
outside of Lilly Pierce’s house when she pulled out of the
driveway. He had barely made it back into town to see them off to
Jacque’s bonding ceremony. Luckily, he had put his plan in motion
before he had reported back to his Alpha. It had been so easy to
get information out of the Coldspring pack, considering there were
none more dominant then him. Then he just did a little
eavesdropping outside Jacque’s window to get all the information he
needed on her schedule and timeline for the bonding ceremony. He
hated to be insubordinate, he usually prided himself on his
faithful obedience to his Alpha, but in this situation he didn’t
think his Alpha was taking the appropriate action to protect his
pup. Logan had decided it was his duty to step in since he wasn’t
emotionally vested in Jacque. He felt he was able to look at the
situation more objectively. That was what he kept telling himself,
anyway. The truth was Jacque Pierce was unique. She was special,
and too new to this world to decide that the first wolf she met was
her mate. It was his job as her dad’s Beta to protect her and to
show her that there was more than one wolf in the den. Again, that
was what he kept telling himself. Shaking off those thoughts, he
pulled out into the street to follow Lilly’s vehicle. He knew the
direction she would be heading because he had insured her route.
All it took was a little money and he had been able to convince one
of her employees to help implement his plan. Humans were so easy to
sway without any sense of loyalty, they had no problem betraying
those who had been kind to them. But that wasn’t his problem, and
it had worked to his advantage. Just as Lilly was turning on the
street that would take her to her book store he turned off and
drove to the spot that he knew they would have to pass once they
continued on to Vasile’s home.

His plan was simple,
the best laid ones always were. All he needed to do to insure that
Dillon would intervene was show that Fane could not protect his
mate. There was nothing more disgraceful than a wolf who could not
protect his own. Insuring that Lilly’s tire would not only blow,
but also cause a minor accident hadn't been all that difficult. He
had placed a military device on the inside of the tire that
simultaneously punctured it and wrapped a cable around the axel,
pulling it once the tire blew, causing the axel to become unstable
and theoretically cause her to lose control of the vehicle. It
wouldn’t be a devastating wreck, but it would be enough. The kink
in the plan was the bonding ceremony. Logan had to make sure his
plan happened before Jacque and Fane were able to complete the
bonding and blood rites. Once the blood rite was completed all bets
were off. The idea of Fane performing Blood Rites with Jacque made
his skin crawl. Fane was just a pup, there was no way he could
adequately provide and protect a mate. If Logan had any say, Fane
would be leaving Coldspring, Texas empty handed.

Chapter 3

Fane
had spent the morning doing
absolutely nothing other than conversing periodically with
Jacquelyn. Verbally sparring with her was one of his favorite
things to do. No one would let him help prepare for the ceremony,
his father saying that Fane needed to take this time to prepare
himself for his Luna, for tonight. In all honesty, Fane was trying
to avoid thinking about it, or at least about one part of it: the
blood rites. He knew that Jacquelyn was nervous about it and he was
as well. He had asked his father what he needed to do and all he
had said was that instinct would take over and the magic of the
mate bond would help. As nervous as he was about performing the
blood rites, his wolf growled low at the thought of their mark on
Jacquelyn’s neck for all Canis Lupus to see. He realized his wolf
was restless, eager to finish the bond. Fane decided he needed to
let the wolf out for a little while, let him run off some of his
energy.

He went out the back
door and stood on the porch of the guest house on the property his
parents were renting. The whole estate was 85 acres of woods, no
prying eyes around. Fane stripped out of his clothes and felt the
change pour over his skin, reshaping him inside and out, and within
moments where a man had stood was now a large black wolf. Although
he was a Grey wolf, his grey undercoat was tipped with black, the
effect making him look nearly solid black unless his fur was rubbed
the wrong way. The wolf shook his whole body as if he were wet and
trying to expel the water from his coat. He put his nose in the air
and, breathing deep, filled his lungs with wild flowers in bloom,
fresh cut grass, and damp earth from a recent rain and finally let
out a long howl. Fane heard a twig snap to his left and his howl
cut off as he snapped his head in the direction of the noise. He
saw a rabbit take off and just like that the chase was on. He took
off like a bullet, eyes glued to the bouncing prey that wove in and
out of bushes, around trees, and over fallen logs. Fane stretched
his legs and lengthened his stride, the wolf reveling in the hunt,
the air flowing through his fur rippling every strand. As Fane
chased after his quarry, he realized that this hunt felt different
than others. He felt whole, the emptiness that was every unmated
male’s constant companion was being filled. Because of that the
wolf was able to focus more thoroughly on the hunt, his thoughts no
longer divided between man and wolf. If he felt this good just from
finding his mate, how good would he feel once the bond was
complete, once their mating was consummated?

Fane lunged one final
time, pushing his long body to its limit with his hind legs and
landed jaws first on top of his prey, breaking its back instantly.
The wolf enjoyed the spoils of the hunt and once he had his fill he
found a sunny spot, the grass warm from the rays and laid down,
rolling to his side. Feeling the warm air ruffle his fur, Fane’s
mind reached out for Jacquelyn’s without intending to. It was like
his soul needed to feel its other half and if he went too long
without that contact, he became bereft and restless. He didn’t say
anything to her; he just sort of slipped into her thoughts,
enjoying being with her even if he couldn’t physically touch her.
Once his wolf was content that their mate was safe he got up, shook
off the grass and dirt, and began the run back to the guest house.
He would need a shower after his run and he still had his vows to
write. He was really struggling with what to say to Jacquelyn, he
knew what he felt, but he just couldn’t find adequate words to tell
her.

After a shower and
sitting and staring at a blank piece of paper, trying in vain to
put his emotions into words, Fane decided to take a break. As he
was lying on the bed all he could think about was a certain fiery
red head and that tonight she would be all his. He had really been
hoping that Jacque would be willing to incorporate the human
wedding vows into the bonding ceremony, but she wasn’t ready for
that. He had explained that their bonding was permanent, unlike a
human marriage, but the idea of being married at 17 seemed to make
her nervous, so he would wait. Fane was quickly learning that
waiting really sucked.

“
Wolf-man, we are heading your way, hope you’re ready for
this.”
Fane heard Jacque’s
voice in his mind. He grinned at her playfulness, which was one of
the things his wolf really liked about her: she played, something
that even wolves in the wild did as a part of the mating
dance.

“
I
have been ready for you since I laid I eyes on you. Be safe, I will
see you shortly,”
he told her
as he imagined himself caressing her soft face. He sent her that
feeling as well and felt her shiver in response. That made him
smile even bigger.

Looking at the time
on his phone, 12:15, Fane got up, deciding it was time to get
dressed just as he heard a knock at the front door.

“It’s open,” he said
loudly.

Fane’s mother Alina
came through the doorway. “I brought you the vows you are to say
during the ceremony, and I was wanting to ask you if you had gotten
Jacque an offering yet.”

“I actually got her
two things. The first is an autographed book she told me she loved
as a child but no longer owned a copy of. I hope that it shows her
that I listen when she speaks and the things that she feels are
important to her are important to me as well. The second I think I
should show you.” Fane walked out of the living room and went back
to the bedroom, returning with a small black box.

“Fane, is that what I
think it is?” Alina asked.

“
I know that
she isn’t ready to go through the human ritual of marriage. I have
tried to explain to her that bonding is more permanent than
marriage, but still she wants to wait. Through the bonding ceremony
she will have my mark, my scent, and that will tell all
Canis Lupus
that she is mated, but human males
will not recognize this. They will, however, recognize an
engagement ring,” Fane explained.

Alina was shaking her
head when she said, “Barbarians, all of you. Possessive, bossy,
over-reacting wolves.” Fane knew she was teasing because she was
beaming from ear to ear. “Well, let me look at it.”

Fane opened the
black box to show his mother the ring he had chosen to put on the
finger of the one woman who would complete his soul. The ring was a
wide platinum band and engraved all the way around the band in
Romanian were the words '
finalizarea, absolut, chiar,
intreg' (complete, absolute, unmovable, whole),
and in the center was a very rare red diamond in a
marquee cut.