"There's more to it than just possessiveness, Jen." Jacque stood up and started the pacing that Sally had abandoned. "He's treating you like…" Jacque was motioning her hands as if trying to encourage someone to spit out what she couldn't get her mouth to say.

"It's like he thinks, maybe…" Sally began but then aborted her thought.

"Just spit it out already. He thinks and is treating me like what already?"

"Mate," Jacque blurted out so fast it looked like someone had slapped her on the back to make the words come out. "He's treating you like a mate would."

Jen felt like she had been punched in the gut. She tried to take in air but her lungs wouldn't work. She thought she could hear voices but they sounded muffled, as if coming from the other side of a closed door. Her thoughts were jumping from one image to another like one of those flip picture books making the pictures look alive the faster you flipped them, only this wasn’t a book, this was her life. She saw Decebel coming towards her bed when he asked her if she was alright, flip, he was kneeling next to her looking at the skin on her legs, flip, he was standing in the hall of the hospital all but growling at her, flip, he was laying a blanket over her as she lay in the hospital bed shivering. On and on the images came. There was one common denominator in each image: Decebel was nearly snarling at her in all of them. All of a sudden, she felt cold wetness on her face. She gasped, trying to get her bearings, filling her lungs with precious, life-giving oxygen.

"Crap, Sally," Jen sputtered. "There better be a stinking, world-changing reason that you threw water in my face."

"You weren't breathing and you wouldn't respond to us saying your name. I was going to slap you, but Jacque decided a hand mark marring your skin might not be the wisest thing right now," Sally explained nervously.

"I have found a flaw in your reasoning," Jen said, looking for all the world like they had better agree with her. As Jacque handed her a towel to dry her face, she explained her theory. "Any time Decebel is in the room with me he looks at me like he wants to throttle me. Not once has he ever appeared to be interested in me in that way."

"You of all people should know that a look of intense desire can be mistaken for the look of throttling," Jacque said, matter of fact like.

Jen cocked her head to the side, one eyebrow lifting. "Oh really, do tell, Jac. At what point in your long, full of incredible opportunities, mystifying life have you experienced a guy looking at you where you thought, is this desire for me, or for the throttling he just might be thinking about giving me? Really, please tell me so that I could possibly fan the tiny flame of hope that my common sense is desperately trying to douse with the cold reality that Decebel is NOT AND NEVER, INMY 'I'M NOT A FREAKING WEREWOLF' LIFE, WILL BE AN OPTION!" Jen cursed the damning tears that revealed the depth of her emotions regarding the brooding wolf who was a constant shadow in her mind.

"Jen, I'm sorry," Jacque whispered as she sat down on the bed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I didn't know you had feelings for him."

"Of course I have feelings towards him. I feel like he is a pompous, hairy, flea infested butt head." Jen thought if she said it out loud then maybe she could believe it. No such luck.

The room was quiet without Jen's loud voice to fill the empty spaces.

"So, how 'bout this weather we've been having?" Sally said, forever the one trying to smooth things out.

Suddenly Jacque stood up, causing Jen to nearly fall in the floor. "What the crap, Jacque?" Jen spat. Then she looked at Jacque's face and could see something was very wrong.

"I'm going to be sick." Jacque's voice was desperate and pained.

Jen put her hands on Jacque's shoulders and began guiding her towards the bathroom, all the while shouting orders at Sally. "Go get Fane, get some towels and cold washcloths, then get Dr. Steele." Sally headed for the door but it flew open, thankfully before she was close enough to be hit with it. Fane came in a storm of power. He walked past Sally, following the painful sounds of the sickness coming from his mate. Decebel came in behind Fane and stopped beside Sally.

"What's going on?" he asked, his voice as authoritative as ever.

"We were just sitting, talking about," Sally paused, remembering what they had been talking about before Jacque had gotten sick. "Nothing important, and then Jacque stood up and said she was going to be sick. Jen took her into the bathroom and I was coming to get Fane but he was already coming into the room." Decebel just nodded in response. Sally realized then she was supposed to get towels and a wash cloth. She headed out the door of the room and then paused to look back at Decebel. "Can you get in touch with Dr. Steele somehow?"

"Yes."

"A 'man of few words' would be an understatement in describing that wolf," Sally muttered as she continued on her quest for towels.

"What happened?" Fane growled at Jen as he maneuvered himself into the spot she had just occupied. He took over holding Jacquelyn's hair as she retched up anything and everything from her body.

"I don't know what happened. We were just talking and everyone was fine and then bam, Jacque was getting sick." Jen slapped her hands together in emphasis.

"Luna, can you tell me what's wrong?" Fane asked her, his voice full of the anguish he was feeling at seeing her so sick.