Just One Drop (33 page)

Jen had grinned at Crina and Marianna and made them laugh when she broke Kenny Rogers' “The Gambler.” Marianna had asked, "Do you Americans have a song for everything?"

Her response had been, "You should see our reality TV."

Crina placed her bet.

And so it begins,
Jen thought.

They made it to the bottom of the staircase on the east side of the mansion. The Serbian pack's rooms were nearby.

"Okay.” Costin pointed. "I'll come up with you and make sure the rooms are empty. Then Cynthia and I will go wait beneath the windows for you to start chucking out the goods."

Costin tried the doorknob of the first room that he knew to be Damion and Adrian's. It opened smoothly into a dark interior. He grinned. "Good to go, ladies." He motioned them inside. "I'll check the other two and be on my way. You two hurry, alright?"

Sally and Jacque nodded as they began moving into the dark room.

Jacque made a beeline for the closet while Sally started stripping the beds.

"I really think we should be wearing gloves for this." Sally cringed as she pulled the sheets off and rolled them into a tight ball.

"Hey, leave one of those sheets unrolled. We can put all the clothes in a pile on the sheet and throw it out all together," Jacque hollered from the closet.

"Good call."

Jacque came out of the closet, arms full of clothes."Let's do this."

Sally laughed. She went to the window and pushed it open. Then she nudged the screen out and it fell three stories below, where Cynthia and Costin stood.

Costin waved and motioned for her to start throwing stuff down. Sally grinned and gave a thumbs up. She grabbed the first set of bedding and tossed it out. She looked down and saw Cynthia gather it up and put it in a wheelbarrow.

From there on out they worked like a well-oiled machine. Jacque ran around grabbing anything that could possibly cover a body part, Sally threw it out the window, and Costin and Cynthia stowed it in the wheelbarrow.

Five minutes later, they moved onto the next room.

Sally started pulling the sheets off the beds again as Jacque busted out a whispered version of “Heartless.” Sally joined in as they worked.

On the third and final room, Sally leaned out the window as she dropped the final article of clothing. "How's the bonfire looking?" she whispered as loud as she could.

"Just keep telling yourself that, sweetie. Maybe when Jen becomes a nun it will be true." She laughed as she tugged Sally out of the room and down the stairs. They hurried in the direction of the gym.

"I wonder how far they've gotten in the game?" Sally asked.

"It shouldn't take long. Jen said they were playing five card draw. That's a pretty quick game of poker." Jacque quickened her pace as she thought about how Jen might be sitting there, trying to keep naked werewolves occupied.

Sally quietly looked through the window's edge and quickly covered her mouth at what she saw. Marianna and Crina sat – looking rather put out – in their bathing suits. Across from them, four disgruntled males sat with nothing but socks on. They had taken the pillows and laid them across their laps. Jen didn't look much happier as she pulled her shirt over her head. Although, she still had her pants on.

Jacque jerked her phone out and texted Costin to get his butt here and help go door to door to announce the party. Sally and Jacque took off at a run and nearly collided with said wolf.

They all took off at a run, headed for the stairs. They made it to the second floor and immediately started knocking on doors. As they opened they smiled and pushed fliers into the hands of the occupants.

When they got to the end of the second floor and were on their way to the third, Jacque sent Jen a text, letting her know that the animals were on the move. Male and female wolves were already heading towards the gym. Then she quickly wrote Cynthia a text that said, “baby, light my fire,” and snickered as she hit send.

Jacque and Sally had gone ahead of Costin, trying to get out as many fliers as possible before the inevitable happened.

Costin finally caught up with them and took the rest of the fliers. "You two go on and get out of here. I have a bad feeling."

"The fire – okay, well. You see, what happened – what it is... Shit." He groaned and decided he'd be better off just giving it up. "Jen's burning the clothes, linens, and so on of the unmated Serbia males," Costin finally spit out.

"From, uh, the, um, males." Costin was trying to stall as long as he could, hoping Jen would already be out of the room.

"They're playing strip poker." Costin took several steps back as his Beta fought for control of his wolf. "If it makes you feel better, Jen is winning. I think." In hindsight, he decided that maybe that last part wasn't really helpful.

Decebel reached out and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pushed him forward. "Take me to her."

Jen heard her phone let out a little beep. She laid her current hand of cards face down on the floor in front of her, and started to stretch, lifting her arms above her head.

"Boys, I need a break for just a sec. How about another shot?"

The wolves across from her had their eyes glued to her frame as she arched and stretched. They all nodded in unison but didn't speak. Jen smirked at Crina, who simply chuckled as she poured another round of shots.

While Jen continued to stretch, she leaned towards Marianna. She got close to her ear and whispered, "The cavalry is on the way."

Marianna gave a slight nod of her head and smiled at the males as they tipped their shots back.

Jen glanced down at her half-clad body.
M
an, that was close,
she thought.

As the gym door clanged open and her ears were met with ominous silence, she knew she had spoken too soon.

Decebel and Costin arrived at the gym door and Decebel had a sense of deja vu.

"If my mate is on the other side of that door..." He muttered the unfinished threat.

Several wolves had gathered and were looking in through the window. There was a murmur across the crowd of, "Are they naked?" along with giggles and laughter.

The Beta snarled and the crowd parted like the red sea. Decebel slowly stepped forward, and when he got to the window, he had to dig his claws into the palms of his hands to keep from phasing at what he saw. All the wolves around him fell to their knees as his power poured over them.

He turned back to the crowd. "Everyone return to their rooms. Now." His calm tone did not hide the rage inside him. Without a word, the wolves rose and left quickly.

Decebel looked down at Costin, who was still on his knees.

"Stand," he told him gruffly. "You knew she was going to do this? You knew how I would feel about it and you let her do it anyway?" His eyes were glowing and he was fighting with each breath to keep his wolf from striking out at the pup before him.

"I take full responsibility," Costin told him firmly.

"I will deal with you when I'm done with her." Decebel dismissed him.

He roughly pulled the gym door open and walked in. The scent of fear hit his nose as the four naked males turned and met his glowing eyes.

"Aww-kward," Jennifer sang as she watched Decebel storm in. She stood up, leaving the circle of naked males and half-naked females.

Decebel looked at Jennifer long enough to see that she was wearing tiny pieces of fabric that barely covered her essentials. Then he had to look away. He shook and fought for control, but nearly lost it when he noticed that his female pack mates weren't wearing much more. By the time his eyes landed on the males again, he was sure there was a puddle of blood on the floor from his claws digging into his hands.

Decebel was seeing red at this point.

"Phase to your wolves!" he snarled at them.

He waited and when nothing happened, he took large menacing steps forward. "You dare defy me as you sit naked in a room with
my
mate?"

"Please make sure these males get back to their rooms safely. As soon as Crina and Marianna are clothed, take them to their rooms as well."

Crina and Marianna had their clothes on before he finished speaking.

Decebel turned back Damion. "If you lay a hand on my pack mate, I will rip you limb from limb. I hope that this experience has taught you not to mess with our females."

Jen smirked but quickly wiped it clean when Decebel glared at her.

"You have my word we won't retaliate," Damion growled out.

Decebel nodded once and motioned to Costin to take the group out. He let out a slow breath. When Jen started to speak, he held up a hand to stop her.

Chapter 28

Decebel opened the door to Jennifer's room and motioned for her to enter. He hadn't spoken since the gym. He didn't trust himself. Not to mention, his wolf was making him bite his tongue because, although he was angry, he wouldn't allow Decebel to hurt Jennifer with his words.

Once inside, she walked over to the bed and slumped down. Her shoulders rolled over in defeat. He hated seeing her that way, but couldn't rid himself of the image of her barely dressed in front of those naked males.

"The hell it is!" She growled back. "It
my
virtue, Decebel. The key word is MY! I'm not going to sit back like some little obedient mate when someone takes a shot at me. Or you, for that matter."

Decebel snarled.

Jennifer stood up and walked towards him, but he turned away. He was too angry for her touch. His back did not deter her.