Prince of Wolves (5 page)

Mystery guy was standing at the bottom of the stairs. He was wearing a dark grey t-shirt, jeans, motorcycle boots, and the wallet in his back pocket was attached with a metal chain. The guy could make a plastic bag look sexy.

The look on his face was one of curiosity and what she thought might be nervousness. That surprised her because at first glance he did not appear to be the nervous type.

Mrs. Henry told them all to bring the food into the kitchen and then everyone was to go to the living room to be introduced to their guest.

Once seated in the Henrys' living room, they all listened to Fane introduce himself.
Finally, something to call him other than mystery guy and hottie
, Jacque thought.

Jen asked why he had chosen this little town and when he didn’t understand the question the first time, she asked him again and spoke down like he was a child. This earned Jen an elbow in the ribs, courtesy of Jacque. After all, was it really any of their business why he came? But Jen just shrugged her off and waited for Fane to answer. He appeared confused and cocked his head in an odd way, kind of like she had seen dogs do.
Oh, that’s so gracious of me, comparing the Romanian to a dog
. Jacque wished someone would just put her out of her misery.

Sally mentioned that Fane's English was very good and he explained that he'd been taught English right along with Romanian all his life.

Lilly finally stepped in and suggested each girl introduce herself, so they could get going and let Fane and the Henrys get settled.

Lilly’s mom was the first one to speak. She told Fane her name and occupation, and instructed him that he was to call her Lilly.

Then her friends were next.
He’s gonna think we are absolutely crazy
, Jacque thought.

When Jen stepped forward to introduce herself, she held out her hand to shake Fane's. To everyone’s surprise, instead of shaking it, he kissed it.

Jacque was completely dumbfounded when she felt herself having an extremely irrational wave of jealousy flow through her. In that moment she wanted to wrench Jen’s hand from Fane’s and growl at her. Growl!
Are you freaking kidding me?
Jacque thought.

She noticed that Sally had to push Jen down to the couch because she was slightly dazed from the encounter. This did nothing to calm Jacques raging emotions.

Jacque had to brace herself, as Fane was now lifting Sally’s hand to his lips. She couldn’t understand why she was feeling like this. It was totally obvious that his greeting was completely non-romantic – which, by the way, shouldn’t matter to her anyway – and yet she did not want him to touch another female.
Okay
, Jacque thought,
it’s official. I have dived headfirst off the deep end.

Out of nowhere, she felt a sharp pain. Yelping, she turned to look at Jen – who had just pinched her. She realized then that Fane was looking at her expectantly and she had just been sitting there like an idiot in her own little bubble.

Jacque stood up but made no move to give him her hand. She introduced herself, sounding so eloquent when she couldn’t spit out what she was trying to say. She was getting ready to sit down when Fane reached out and grabbed her hand. She was a little startled, but that quickly faded into something else entirely when he bowed over her hand and pressed his lips firmly against it. Jacque could swear she heard him take a deep breath through his nose and growl low in his throat.
That was really weird
, she thought. But once again, for her things couldn’t simply be weird, they had to be downright insane.

As Fane repeated what he had told Jen and Sally, Jacque also heard the voice in her mind.

“
I am so honored to finally meet you, my Luna. We have much to learn about each other.”

Jacque blinked a few times, trying to clear her thoughts.
What on earth could it possibly mean by “finally meet”?
she thought.
Did this voice know it was waiting for me?
It was time to go home, Jacque decided. She needed to talk to Sally and Jen about Fane, she needed to decide whether or not to confide in her mother, and she needed to have a good, cleansing panic attack. Not necessarily in that order.

Jacque pulled her hand from Fane’s grasp and he didn’t try to keep her from doing so. She turned to look at her mom, raised her eyebrows and asked, “Are you ready? I’m good to go. Sally, Jen, ya’ll ready to go?”

Jen and Sally both nodded at the same time, quickly catching Jacque’s mood.

Lilly looked at her daughter suspiciously, but merely nodded and turned to Mrs. Henry. “Thank you, Sara, for having us over. It was really nice to see you. Fane, it was great to meet you. Don’t make yourself a stranger. You’re welcome over at our house anytime.”

Fane bowed slightly, placing his hand over his heart. “As we say in my country when parting, pînă la următor timp Mai art.hot. Moon lumină al tău patetic. It means: until next time, may the moon light your path.”

Jen looked at Fane and in her outspoken way asked, “Is that kinda like an Irish proverb? Only, ya know, like a Romanian proverb instead?”

Sally giggled, Jacque looked mortified, and Fane simply smiled. “Yes, something like that.”

Jacque pushed Jen and Sally towards the door, trying very hard not to look and see if Fane was watching her. She knew somehow that he was.
So, what the heck? Might as well watch him back
, she told herself. She tentatively looked over her shoulder and, sure enough, Fane was staring at her. He had a slight smile on his face and his eyes were squinted together ever so slightly, giving her the impression that he knew something she did not. That thought made her shudder and push Jen and Sally harder out the door.

“
We’re going, Jacque. Good grief,” she heard Jen grunt.

“
Well, go a little quicker please!” Jacque whispered through tight lips.

The girls walked briskly down the walkway and across the street, not even bothering to see if Jacque’s mom was behind them. All Jacque could think was that she needed to put some space between her and that hottie. Okay, so she still couldn’t stop calling him hottie.
Well, it's true, so go jump in a lake already
, she told herself.

Once inside the house the three girls double timed it up the stairs and into Jacque’s bedroom. Sally shut the door firmly and turned to pin Jacque with her best “you better spill it now” stare. Jen had pulled up some carpet and was staring just as sternly.

Jacque took some slow, deep breaths.
I seem to be doing this a lot lately
, she thought.

“
First impressions?” Jacque finally prompted.

“
Oh, I don’t know, maybe something like, OH MY, stutter, drool, FREAKING, pant, deep breathing, GOSH!” Jen spat.

Sally nodded fervently. “Yeah, what she said, but more panting and deep breathing on my end.”

“
What about you?” Jen asked. “You didn’t seem as mesmerized as us. Why is that?”

“
Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I was, ya know, a little distracted by THE VOICE IN MY HEAD!” Jacque realized she was yelling. “I’m sorry, ya’ll. I shouldn’t take my stress out on you. I’m just – just – I don’t know. Freaking out, I guess.”

“
Have you tried talking back to the voice? You know, like answering it through your thoughts?” Sally asked tentatively.

Jacque shook her head. “I feel like if I do, then I am just solidifying the fact that I’m losing it.”

“
You’re NOT losing it. Something is definitely up with this Fane guy. No one, and I mean no one, can look that good and make you want to curl up and purr when he talks to you. Something’s fishy and it’s not your mom’s fried chicken,” Jen told her.

Jacque turned to her window and opened the blinds. She looked across the street at the Henrys' house and wondered what to do about Fane Lu-whatever his last name was.

She heard her two best friends walk up beside her. With all three gazing out the window, they put their arms around her.

“
I know I’ve said it before, and I will keep saying it until it sinks into that unruly, curly head of yours, but it will be alright. You are not alone in this, okay?” Sally said with love.

“
Yeah, chick. You got us, no matter what,” Jen agreed. “Besides, we’re too nosy to not stick around.”

Sally pulled a strand of Jen’s hair as a scolding. “Ow! Crap, I’m just saying!” Jen scowled.

Jacque turned away from the window and wiped away the tears she hadn’t even realized were there. Then she hugged her friends.

“
Okay, I know you guys need to go home and assure your parents that you’re still alive and haven’t been abducted or anything. But do ya’ll think you can come back later?”

Both girls nodded.

“
I will have to do some laundry and pick up my room to pacify my mom, you know how it is, but then I can come back over and stay the night again if your mom is cool with it,” Jen said.

Sally spoke up as well. “Yeah, I can be back around seven tonight. I just need to take care of some chores as well.”

“
Okay, that sounds good. I’ll let my mom know that ya’ll will be back. I know she won’t care.”

Jacque walked them downstairs to the front door and watched as they each walked to their cars. She stood in the doorway, watching them drive off until she couldn’t see their cars any longer. She slowly turned and went back into the house, shutting the door behind her.

She stood in the entryway, looking at nothing. Her mind was running amok again and Jacque was trying to decipher the thoughts. It was no use. She was tired, emotional, and beginning to realize that ever since she had walked out of the Henrys' house and away from Fane, it was taking all she had not to turn around and run – not walk, but run like a cat with a fire cracker tied to its tail – back to him. What the hell was up with that?

Jacque’s head snapped up when she heard her mom hollering from upstairs. “Jacque? I need to go to the store for a little while. I’ve got some new inventory I need to take care of, and since I was able to hire some other staff I can finally get caught up.” Her mom came to the top of the stairs and looked down at her. Tilting her head, she asked, “Are you okay, sweetie? You look a little frayed around the edges.”

“
Naw, I’m good. Just a little tired. I didn’t sleep too well last night,” Jacque fibbed. Then she thought of how she had been feeling her mom’s emotions so strongly and decided to say something. “What about you mom? You okay?”

“
I’m fine. Just got a lot on my mind, that’s all. Nothing to worry about. Why don’t you lie down for a little bit? Are you gonna be okay while I’m gone? Need me to get you anything while I’m out?” her mom asked.

“
No. I’ll be fine, mom. Thanks though. Oh yeah, I did want to check and see if you were okay with Sally and Jen spending the night again tonight?”

“
No, I don’t have a problem with that if their parents are okay with it. Ya’ll can order pizza if I’m not home by dinner,” she answered.

Jacque hugged her mom and told her goodbye before heading up to her room. She shut the door, turned off the lights, and put her Evanescence CD on. The music was oddly calming to her. Then she laid down on her bed and closed her eyes.

Chapter 6

Fane watched
as Jacquelyn hurried back to her house. He wanted to growl at her eagerness to get away from him, but he reminded himself it was only because she was scared, not because she didn’t want to accept him as her mate. After all, she didn’t even know him, let alone know what a mate was.

Mrs. Henry called him from in the kitchen and he went to see what she wanted.

“
Lilly made you a traditional Southern meal. Are you ready for lunch yet? It’s only 11:30, but I thought you might be hungry since you didn’t get a chance to have breakfast.”

“
Actually, I am hungry and it all smells really good.” Fane’s wolf perked up at the smell of the chicken and his stomach growled. He hadn’t realized that he was so hungry.

“
The plates are in the cabinet to the left of the stove, and the silverware is in the drawer to the right of the sink,” Mrs. Henry pointed out. “Eat all you want. Oh and she made sweet tea as well. It’s in the fridge. The glasses are in the cabinet next to the plates.”

“
Thank you,” Fane said simply.

“
I’m off to the grocery store; I didn’t get a chance to go yesterday. Is there anything in particular that you like?” she asked.

“
I’m not picky and I like to try new things, so whatever you usually buy will be fine with me. I can give you some money as well, since you will be feeding another mouth,” Fane answered.

“
There is no way I’m taking any of your money, Fane, so you can just get that notion out of your head. You are our guest, and we are more than pleased to feed you,” she said firmly but not unkindly.

“
Mulţumesc, Mrs. Henry. I am most grateful,” Fane responded.

“
You’re welcome. Oh, I keep meaning to tell you, no more Mrs. Henry. Call me Sara and you can call Mr. Henry Brian. Okay, well, I'll see you later. My cell phone number is on the front of the fridge, so put it in your phone in case you need me. See you later,” she said with a wave.