“I heard that,” Fane told her as he nipped her neck.

Jacque let out a weary laugh, “We have much to discuss before we get there wolf-man.”

Chapter 1

“I hate reality television. That’s not something I can change. I do, however, wish that in reality, we had life lines. You know, phone a friend, street shout out, hit man hotline. Any of those would work for me.” ~ Jacque

“How did it go with Fane?” Vasile asked Sally as she entered his office with Costin’s hand at the small of her back. Though Sally was technically the Serbian pack’s healer, she knew Fane better than Rachel. Vasile felt it would be better for a friendly face to confront his son.

“It wasn’t pretty,” Sally answered. She leaned back against Costin when he let out a low growl. “Relax bartender, he was no threat to me,” she told him gently.

“That isn’t the point,” Costin responded curtly. Sally glanced over her shoulder at her mate and gave him a pointed look. Costin did not appear intimidated.

Vasile stood-up from his desk and let out a slow, deep breath.

“You mated males are aging me before my time.” Vasile met Costin’s eyes briefly and then returned to Sally. “What is wrong with him?”

“You know the darkness that rules inside of the males before they are mated. It almost enslaves them. We mates bring that darkness to heel, freeing the wolf to be what he needs to be for his mate and pack. But Fane is making the choice to keep his mate’s light from him. He is allowing the darkness free reign inside of him because of the rage that is building,” Sally explained.

Vasile began to pace slowly around the office, his eyes on the floor as he considered her words.

“Am I going to have to step in?” he asked.

Sally shook her head. “I don’t think so. I saw Jacque running to their room only minutes after I had left. I think he realizes what he has been doing to both of them.”

“Healer,” Vasile stopped directly in front of Sally and held her gaze. He heard something in her voice, something she wasn’t telling him. “Be straight with me. Will I need to step in?” he asked her again more slowly this time.

Sally bit the inside of her lip as she considered the Alpha’s question. She knew what she had seen inside of Fane, knew the extent of the darkness, but she didn’t want to give up on him just yet, even if it did mean that her mate might have to take on the Prince of the Romanian Greys.

“Not right now,” she finally answered as honestly as she could. “But I think at some point he is going to need to talk to Costin.”

Vasile frowned at her while Costin continued to let out low rumbles from his chest unable to completely leash his wolf.

“Why Costin?” Vasile asked.

Sally felt her face begin to heat with the flood ofembarrassment at having to discuss such intimate details with Vasile, whether false or not, especially with her mate right at her back.

“When Jacque was under Desdemona’s spell, one of the things she experienced was being intimate with another male,” Sally explained hesitantly and hoped that Vasile would not ask for details.

“What do you mean?”

She groaned inwardly. Of course he would ask. Why on earth would he make this easy for me?

“Answer him, Sally mine.” She heard Costin’s voice in her mind and the irritation and anger behind it. She didn’t think he was angry with her, not exactly anyways.

“Okay,” she began, “as a male, one of your biggest fears is not being able to save your mate from something horrible like torture or rape, right?”

Vasile nodded as he watched the healer closely.

“Other than having her taken unwillingly, in various ways, how else would you fear her being taken?” Sally’s jaw tensed as she waited for realization to hit Vasile. She saw the moment he understood as his eyes widened. “Every man, be he wolf or human, fears his woman turning to another man willingly.” Vasile’s eyes jumped back to Costin.

“Under the curse, Jacque allowed you to have her,” he said as he watched Costin’s eyes begin to glow. Costin was holding onto his temper by a thread. He couldn’t stand the idea of Sally thinking he had been with Fane’s mate, even though he hadn’t. He also didn’t like the idea of Fane thinking that Costin would ever consider looking at Jacque, even though Fane knew it wasn’t real. It hadn’t really happened. But Fane was young, and with youth came insecurities.

“Fane saw what happened through Jacque’s eyes—he saw her enjoy being with another male. That is very hard for any male. Of course Jacque was sick with disgust and despair once the curse was lifted. She wants to be touched by another male like she wants to be boiled alive in acid.” Sally was trying to be as frank as possible because she could feel her mate growing more and more furious. “For now Costin and Fane need to steer clear of one another, at least until Fane can come to terms with his emotions. If you interfere right now, he will feel like you are protecting Jacque from him. That would make him feel like you were going to take her, and we all know how well Fane handles his mate being taken from him.”

Vasile waited several heartbeats before he finally nodded.

“Alright,” he whispered softly, “you protect your wolves.”

“As is my right, Alpha,” Sally reminded him.

“Yes, yes it is. But it is my right to discipline them when needed. Do not wait to tell me until it’s too late, Sally. Do not wait until your mate is in a fight for something that never happened.”