Prince of Wolves

Finally, when nobody had said anything for several minutes, Lilly stood up and suggested everyone pile into the kitchen and help make breakfast.

“Might as well. Don’t want the wolves to get hungry,” Jen said, laughing.

“You crack yourself up, don’t you?” Jacque asked.

“Quite often, actually,” Jen responded.

After everyone had eaten breakfast, Fane asked Lilly if he could speak with her. Before her mom could drag her into it, Jacque grabbed her two friends and headed up to her room.

“What was all that about?” Sally was confused.

“Fane is going to tell, not ask, my mother that he is staying in our home.”

“Does he know your mom will chew him up and spit him out, werewolf or not?” Jen asked.

“I told him I would take no part in it, but he said my safety came before him trying to appease her, and that he wouldn't trust anyone else to keep me safe,” Jacque explained.

“Well, maybe he’s itching for a good fight after not being able to beat the crap out of that psycho wolf today,” Sally said.

“Yeah, that or he’s just delusional that being a prince or Alpha or whatever is going to have some bearing on what Lilly will allow. HA! Yeah right,” Jen said with a smirk.

Jacque felt a little nervous and was beginning to wonder if she should have stayed with Fane to at least help smooth things over. Naw, she thought, he’s a big boy, he can take care of himself.

“I heard that, Luna,” she heard Fane tell her.

Jacque couldn’t suppress a giggle. She was always caught off guard when he responded to one of her thoughts, especially when she wasn’t thinking it to him. She didn’t like to think about the fact that she had access to his thoughts, it just felt weird to think about intruding.

“Intrude away, love. I have nothing to hide from you.”

“Yeah, wolf-man, that’s what worries me.” She sent him the thought and heard him chuckle in response.

Sally and Jen were lying on Jacque’s floor, going through her CDs when she heard her mother yell her name.

“The stuff is going to hit the proverbial fan,” Sally said.

“If I’m not back in ten minutes, come looking for my body please.” Jacque was only half joking. Lilly could have a pretty hot temper when she got upset or was pushed in a direction she was not really ready to go.

Jacque made her way to the dining room where she found Fane and her mom seated at the table.

“So what’s up?” Jacque asked her mom innocently.

“Fane has just informed me that he plans to stay here until after the challenge. I wanted to know what you thought about that,” Lilly told her.

Jacque was a little surprised by her mom’s words and it took her a moment to formulate an answer.

“You...what...I…” Jacque tried to spit it out, but it just wasn’t happening.

“Jacque, are you okay?” her mom asked her.

“I’m just a little confused. I thought you would be mad that he wanted to stay here,” Jacque explained.

“I want you safe. I may be a stubborn woman, but I'm not a stupid one. Are you okay with him staying here?”

Jacque glanced at Fane and had to look away when he winked at her. She wanted to say, 'of course I'm okay with it, duh! Who wouldn’t be ok with a major hottie with a Romanian accent staying at their house?', but she didn’t.

“I’m ok with it if you are,” she answered nonchalantly.

“Alright, then. I guess that’s settled,” Lilly said, then turned to Fane, “Lay a paw on my little girl and you will be a three legged Lassie, got it?”

Fane winced and asked, “You both do realize I’m a wolf not a dog, right?”

Lilly shrugged and stood up to give Jacque a hug.

“I’ve got to go to the bookstore and do some work. I’m not sure when I will be home so you'll have to fend for yourselves when it comes to dinner.”

“Lilly, please allow Sorin to accompany you. I do not like the idea of you out alone,” Fane told her

“I'll be fine. No one is going to mess with me in such a public place,” Lilly answered

“Maybe, maybe not. All the same, I want Sorin to go with you.” Fane’s tone said the discussion was over. It was really weird to hear a seventeen year old guy talk with such authority, yet it seemed so natural coming from Fane.

Sorin appeared in the entryway to the dining room. He turned his head slightly away from Fane, exposing his neck, and waited for Fane to tell him what he wanted.

“Sorin, please accompany Lilly while she works. I don’t want her out alone with everything that is going on. I wouldn’t put it past Lucas to do something stupid like snatch Lilly in order to get Jacquelyn to cooperate,” Fane told him.

Jacque hadn’t even considered something like that. Man, her life had turned into a movie, she could probably sell it to HBO and make a fortune. She would have to consider that once all this was done.

“HBO? What is that?” Fane asked her.

“You really are just as nosy as Jen, aren’t you?” Jacque asked him back

Fane turned to look at her and shrugged his shoulders, continuing to wait for her answer. Jacque let out a breath and rolled her eyes.

“Oh, good grief. It’s a television station. I’m thinking I could make a killing selling my story to them for a mini-series or something.”

Lilly just laughed and shook her head as she walked out of the dining room with Sorin on her heels.

Jacque and Fane were left in the dining room staring at each other. After a few moments, Jacque began to feel self conscious and turned to go back up to her room.

“Hey, where are you going?” Fane asked as he reached for her arm.

“I was going to go back up to my room to see what the girls are doing. Why? Where are you going?”

“I guess I need to come up with something to tell the Henrys as to why I am going to be staying over here all the time,” Fane told her.

“You could tell them the truth. You never know, they may take it really well.”

“I’m not sure what else I can tell them. Nothing else makes sense,” Fane explained.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Jacque asked him.

Fane looked surprised by the question. “You would do that for me?”

“Well, I do have some conditions, of course,” Jacque teased.