Decebel cleared his throat, causing Jen's head to snap back up to his face. He looked smug, which only served to tick Jen off more.

"What do you want, Decebel?" she asked, and was pleased that her voice sounded so steady when she felt anything but.

Decebel continued to stare at Jennifer, emotions swirling inside him that he couldn't seem to get a grasp on.

"I -" he started, but seemed to be confused about what to say. "You can't go around dancing on bars and downing vodka like it's water."

Jen stood up, arms stiff by her side. "Says who? You? Well, here's a news flash: you aren't my dad, you aren't my brother, and YOU AREN'T MY KEEPER." Jen's voice got louder as her anger flared.

"I'M YOUR M- " Decebel roared, pushing himself from the wall. But he caught himself before he finished his sentence, nearly biting his tongue in the process. His breathing had increased, he was shocked at the words that nearly flew from his lips.

He didn't understand where it had come from but it felt true, right. These thoughts sped through his mind in a matter of seconds. He continued to glare at her and spoke again, no longer yelling, but his words were firm. They were law. "I'm your Beta, and as such, you do take orders from me and you will follow them." Decebel cocked his head to the side, suddenly remembering something. "And where in the world did you learn Romanian?"

Jen grinned at that. "The internet is a wonderful place to learn new things, Beta. It would be a great place for you to learn a thing or two."

Decebel took a step towards her. "I have a feeling I'm quite a bit ahead of you in the education department of most areas." His eyes sparkled wickedly.

"Oh, my furry little friend, you would be surprised at what I know," Jen said, matching his suggestive tone word for word, syllable for syllable.

Decebel narrowed his eyes at her. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Jen shrugged as she turned her back on him, having learned from their lessons on pack etiquette it was a huge slap in the face to a dominant wolf. She heard Decebel growl and take a step towards her. My Beta, my ass, she thought as she continued to ignore the wolf stalking her.

She could feel his nearness and knew that if she took one step back she would bump against his body. A delicious thought, but she cut that off abruptly as she reminded herself that he was on her shit list at the moment, and he possibly had found himself a permanent reservation on it.

"Whether you believe it or not," Decebel's mouth was close enough to her ear that she felt the warm air from his breath cross her skin and it caused a shiver, "it's for your safety that I set such rules."

"You aren't my Alpha. Vasile knew where we were going and he had no problem with it." Jen's voice was low but no less potent than his.

"That may be, but once your behavior puts your safety in jeopardy I have every right to order it to cease immediately."

Jen could feel her blood begin to heat, her face flushed. "My behavior?" she gritted through her clenched teeth. "I'm not a kid, Decebel. I don't need your orders."

"You are a member of this pack. You will follow orders whether you like it or not, for the safety of the pack as well as yourself. You need to get used to it, Jennifer." Decebel placed his hands on her shoulders and gently turned her around. Placing two fingers under her chin, he raised her face to look up at him.

Decebel clenched his jaw and briefly closed his eyes as he saw the unshed tears in her eyes.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, Jennifer."

"Don't flatter yourself, Beta. I'm not tearing up 'cause I’m hurt. I'm pissed." Jennifer didn’t take her eyes from Decebel's as she fumed, "You could really use a lesson in people skills. Add those to your puppy classes and learning to knock and not barge in, and that should keep you busy enough that you won't have time to worry about my extracurricular activities."

Decebel's lips turned up in a slight grin and once more his eyes twinkled wickedly. Jen did not like the thought that was obviously skimming his brain.

"Since you are so hell bent on me learning manners, perhaps you should be my teacher." Decebel took a step back and continued to watch her with a mischievous grin.

Jen couldn't help her own small smile in response to him. So sue her, he was adorable when he smiled like that. "In your dreams, Beta."

"Perhaps," he said softly. As he turned to leave, Jen heard him say under his breath, "Goodness knows I can't get other dreams about you out of my head."

Jen flushed at his words but thought surely she had heard him wrong. He turned back to her before he pulled the door closed. "I hope you enjoyed your little escapade tonight, Jennifer, because on future occurrences I will accompany you." His words were unbending. "In fact, if you leave the mansion for any reason I will be your escort." Decebel winked at her, shutting the door just before a hairbrush flew across the room and smashed against it loudly. Jen's loud words followed the noise.

"The only place you'll be escorting me is to the vet so you can have the foot I'm going to shove up your behind removed!"

Chapter 8

"I love you too mom," Jacque spoke into her cell phone as she snuggled into Fane's embrace. "Things are good here. The tutor keeps us busy and we are learning all sorts of things."

"How is Jen doing?" Lilly asked her.

"She's okay, just a little confused about things. It will all come out in the wash."