“Men don’t—” Jen started but stopped when Decebel held up his finger at her.

“You have told me many times in very creative ways that males do have a time of the month.” He made quotations with his right hand as he said the words.

“Whoa, it’s an upset. That was totally from right field, folks. What will she do now? How will Jen pull through to take the win?” Zara said dramatically. Titus giggled next to her and Jen bit her lip to keep from smiling.

Her mate had backed her into a corner and had made her eat her own words. That was not going to fly. “Since we all know” —she turned and looked at Titus— “well all of us except Thia and Timmy—”

“Mrs. Jen.” Titus shook his head. “It’s Titus. My name is Titus.”

“That’s what I said, Thia and Titus.” She rolled her eyes. “Any who, we all know that you did not in fact get the dot at the end of a sentence. So let’s just get real here. Let’s set aside our frustrations and prejudices and let’s get to the heart of the matter.”

Zara quickly chimed in when Jen paused. “What is she doing, folks? What. Is. She. Doing? I do believe our Mrs. Jen has an ace up her sleeve. Let’s watch and learn from a pro.”

“You obviously didn’t want me to be late, correct?” Jen asked but didn’t give him time to answer. “In fact, you were so concerned that I not be late that you listed exactly what I was not to spend my time doing because those were the things that often made me late.” She tapped her chin as she stared at her mate whose grip on the steering wheel was tightening. “You made this big deal about me not being late and then you were late yourself.”

“I think we got that, counselor,” Dec huffed.

Jen grinned. “And” —she held up a finger as she made her point— “being late yourself after such a fuss, you are the one disgruntled. Now, as your mate, and mother of your child” —she glanced back at the peanut gallery and winked— “I have grown to know you quite well. So well, in fact, that I know that if you were late for a legitimate reason, you would be frustrated and apologetic. You would not be acting snarky at the rest of us.”

“And look at her go,” Zara quickly threw in.

“Therefore, I deduce that your lateness could only have been caused by something illegitimate. Something so illegitimate, in fact, that you would feel much shame if the true reason for your lateness came to light. Now…I must work through the things that I know about you that might possibly cause you great shame. Granted, that’s not much to work with, because you rarely are ashamed. But alas, I will do my best. Let’s see.” Jen steepled her fingers in front of her chin and cocked up an eyebrow as she thought. “I know that there was some shame when that doghouse fell on you—I mean fell apart,” she corrected, barely holding in her laugh as his eyes narrowed.

“Things are really heating up, people, really heating up,” Zara once again continued her commentary.

“But you used about eight hundred pounds of nails on the second dog house, so I’m pretty sure you weren’t late because it fell on you again. I mean, fell over again. And then there was that time when I stepped into the bathroom and—”

“FOR THE LOVE OF PEACE, I WAS LATE BECAUSE I FELL ASLEEP!” Decebel roared.

Jen shot a fist in the air. “YES! Yes, yes, yes!”

“And the champion still reigns. Ladies and gentlemen, that is how you do it!” Zara said as Titus cheered.

Jen couldn’t stop laughing as her mate pouted in the driver’s seat.

“I’m not pouting,” he growled, picking up her thoughts through the bond.

“Jen, that was a thing of beauty,” Zara called from the back.

Jen turned and eyed Zara and then smiled. “Awesome commentary,” she told her as she reached back and gave the girl a high five. “You’re going to grow up to be kick ass.”

Zara laughed. “We’re the same age, Jen.”

Oh yeah, we are the same age, Jen thought, that’s weird. “Yeah, but with the mating and the baby making and then the child bearing, I’ve got like seven plus years of experience on you.”

“What is this, a video game?” Decebel snorted.

“I’ll give you that,” Zara nodded. “Titus, you see that older lady up there?” He nodded. “I want to be just like her when I grow up,” Zara finished.

“Older lady? Not cool, Z, not cool.” Jen called back. “Tito, who do you want to be like when you grow up?”

“Ugh, it’s Titus, Mrs. Jen. And I want to be like my daddy.”

The vehicle went quiet at the boy’s declaration. Jen’s heart hurt for Sally and her mate. She prayed that Titus would get to grow up with Costin as his father because he would grow into one heck of a man if that’s who he wanted to emulate.

They finally pulled into the drive of the Romania pack mansion and though there was still a little tension from Titus’s words, Jen felt some happiness over the fun that they’d had with Zara and the little boy.

Decebel was the first one out of the vehicle, and Jen was pushing her door open when she heard her mate’s growl. It wasn’t his I’m irritated with you growl; it was his I’m going to rip someone’s head off growl.

“Dec?” Jen said as she swiveled back in her seat to look across at him. He was as still as stone, the only movement the almost imperceptible rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. She realized he was scenting the air.

“Take them in and get Vasile,” he practically snarled. “Now.”

Jen scrambled out of the seat and got Thia out of the car seat. She motioned for Zara and Titus to hurry and she ushered them inside, looking back over her shoulders once to see her mate taking off his shirt. “Well, crap,” she muttered.

Jen took them straight to Vasile’s office and handed Thia off to Rachel who was already waiting for her. She pushed through the group to the front of Vasile’s desk. “Decebel needs you now. He’s out front.”

Vasile was up and over the desk before she finished. Jen turned to follow and saw Jacque standing, looking confused. “Give my future son-in-law to Alina and get your butt in gear,” Jen yelled. Fane, move it!” She hurried after the Romania Alpha. She had a bad, bad feeling about this.