Prince of Wolves

Despite his leg, Fane still looked fierce, and quick as lightening he lunged forward and literally had half of Lucas’ face in his mouth. Fane made a ripping motion as if he was tearing meat from a bone and jerked his head to the side. Jacque saw fur and flesh sling out of Fane’s mouth and heard Lucas howl in pain. Lucas was shaking his head violently and desperately trying to keep an eye on Fane as he tried to recover from the attack. As they circled again, Jacque saw that Fane had nearly ripped Lucas’ right eye out. There was blood all over his face and there was no way he could see from that eye. Fane had just evened the playing field.

Okay, wolf-man, let's finish this, Jacque thought to herself. But when she saw Lucas take a running leap and land on Fane’s back, she knew it was far from over. Lucas didn’t stay on his back. Instead she saw him bite into Fane, tear, and jump back. Lucas did this over and over and with in a matter of minutes Fane was bleeding all over, his fur was matted. Blood was all over the ground. Jacque was shaking from the effort it was taking not to scream, not to beg someone to stop this. Tears streamed down her face, her lips trembled behind her hand. This can't be happening. She squeezed her eyes tight and then opened them.

She saw Lucas lunge again and bite into Fane’s right side. Fane stumbled and snapped as Lucas jumped back, but only got air. Blood poured from the bite in his side and she watched Fane fall on his front paws. That was all she could stand.

“STOP! STOP THIS!” Jacque began to yell as she fought against the grip the other wolves had on her.

“Jacque, be still,” she heard Alina say.

Jacque swung around and glared. “I WILL NOT BE STILL, DAMMIT! LOOK AT WHAT HE IS DOING TO YOUR SON. DO YOU NOT SEE?”

Jacque had tears pouring out of her eyes. She didn’t care, she was broken inside, and she couldn’t stand it any longer.

She saw Fane struggle, but finally get up. The two wolves continued to circle. Fane got a couple of good bites in and now Lucas' fur was coated in blood as well. Both wolves stopped and were very still, just staring at each other. Jacque was still crying and fighting the grip that Vasile’s wolves had on her. But just as quickly as the stillness had come, it was gone. Lucas moved in low, this time grabbing Fane under his muzzle on his throat. As he grabbed him, he slid and pulled Fane up and over him so that Fane landed on his side. There was a tremendous thud, a low growl, and a high whine.

Everyone was still, almost like someone had pushed the pause button on a movie. Then someone hit play. Fane lay still beneath Lucas’ jaws. Lucas’ wolves had all begun to growl and howl. Alina stood next to Jacque, still as a statue. No tears streaked her face yet. Then Jacque lost it. She screamed and cried and pulled against the wolves.

“FANE GET UP! GET UP NOW! DON’T YOU DARE LEAVE ME, DON’T YOU DARE.” Jacque shook with her sobs. The wolves holding her got distracted for a moment and it was her window. She tore lose from their grip, running as hard as she could. She plowed into Lucas, pushing with all her might. “GET OFF HIM, LUCAS. GET OFF OF MY MATE OR SO HELP ME I WILL RIP YOUR THROAT OUT WITH MY BARE HANDS!” Jacque yelled and pushed to no avail; Lucas did not budge. Jacque was vaguely aware of someone wrapping an iron-strong arm around her waist and jerking her back. Jacque frantically grabbed at anything she could get her hands on. She got a grip on Lucas’ fur and pulled against whoever was trying to pull her away. Instead of being able to hold on, Jacque just ripped out handfuls of hair from Lucas, and under different circumstances she would have found it gratifying. However, at the moment, all Jacque could see was Fane. Fane on his side, blood pooling around him. Fane not moving. Fane under the other wolf, whose teeth were still sunk into his neck.

“PLEASE,” Jacque sobbed. “VASILE GET HIM OFF OF FANE. GOD, HOW CAN YOU LET HIM DIE. I’M BEGGING YOU, PLEASE DON’T LET HIM DIE.”

“Get her out of here,” Vasile turned and growled at the wolves holding Jacque. When they didn’t move he snarled, “NOW! GET HER OUT OF HERE NOW!”

“NO! I WON’T LEAVE HIM. FANE PLEASE. PLEASE GET UP.” As the wolves began to drag Jacque away, which they literally had to do her because of her struggles, her pleading got softer but lost none of the desperation.

“Fane, I love you. Do you hear me? I love you. I don’t want a life without you. Please, love. Don’t leave me.” Jacque’s tears stained her face and shirt. It was no use. Jacque was not strong enough to fight the wolves. She gave up struggling and instead turned inward to her pain. She began to cry so hard that she started throwing up, and when she had nothing left in her stomach, she simply retched up air over and over. The wolves must have gotten close to where Jen and Sally were parked because in between sobs and retching, she heard Jen’s voice.

“JACQUE!” Jen shouted as she came plowing towards her. “Get the hell off her. you mangy mutts!” Jen began yelling at the wolves all around her. In turn the wolves growled. “Oh, hell no. You did not just growl at me. I will castrate you while you sleep and then hang them on your car antenna, so BACK THE HELL UP!”

The wolves must have decided that Jen was crazy enough to act on her words. They backed up, hands in the air in surrender.

“We will not leave her, but we will let you take her into your care,” Dorian told them.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Now what happened, where is Fane?” Sally asked.

The wolves all bowed their heads and their shoulders slumped in defeat. It was Dorian again who spoke. “He has fallen.”

With those words, Jacque once again felt overwhelming dread pour over her. She jumped up and turned back towards the circle and began to run. The wolves were there in a flash, once again holding her around the waist, only this time Dorian turned Jacque towards him and held her. It made her think of how Fane had held her just like that when she'd been crying in fear and it only made her cry harder. Jacque began to pound her fist on Dorian’s chest as the pain seeped out of her into the night air.

“This cannot be happening, it just can’t be.” Her body shook and that made Dorian hold her tighter. He spoke to her softly in Romanian and once again she thought of Fane. She couldn’t take it, her brain was not able to control her emotions, and so it finally just shut down. Jacque blacked out. The last thing in her mind was Fane’s voice. It said, “soon.” She didn’t know if it was her imagination or if it was really him. Whatever it was, she clung to it as the darkness took her.