the room, searching for Jacquelyn. His breath came out in raspy pants, and his mind automatically focused on one thing: his female. He needed her. Fane needed his mate. Then he heard her voice.
“Fane, I’m here. I’m here,” she repeated over and over, and he could feel her arms around him. Though he knew the feeling was simply a sensation coming through their bond, it was the only thing holding him in place, keeping his wolf from losing complete control. She grounded him. He was the lightning, and she was the rod that pulled him to her so that everything around him stayed safe.
“Don’t let go.” He could hear the shakiness of his own voice. “Just don’t let go.”
“Never,” she whispered into his mind.
He could feel her own pain because she loved Vasile and Alina as if they were her parents, too. Fane should be comforting her, but he felt as though his entire body had cracks all through it, like glass that had been dropped but hadn’t shattered completely. He was sure if he took his focus off of Jacquelyn’s voice, scent, touch, and taste for even an instant that he would come apart, but unlike the shattering of the glass, it would be as if a bomb had been placed inside of the cracked glass. When it exploded, the shards would cut into anyone near him.
“It’s okay to let me be strong for you,” his mate said. “We’re in this together, Fane. We’re a team. What one goes through, the other does as well. We can take turns being strong for one another.”
“First, I lost you and Slate,” he said, his voice rough with emotion, “and now I’ve lost my parents. My alphas. How much can a man lose before he loses himself?”
“I will never let that happen,” she said fiercely. “You are mine, and I don’t let go of those who belong to me. I won’t let go of Vasile and Alina.” Her voice faltered for a moment, but when she continued, it was filled with the incredible strength he knew she was capable of. “I will hold on to them in the memories I have of them, and the memories of everyone their lives touched. I will hold on to them through the child they created who grew into the man I love. I will hold on to them by telling our son all about the incredible legacy his grandparents left for him. I will hold on to them because they aren’t gone, Fane. They’re here in every fiber of this pack that they led with love, respect, and sacrifice.”
She was right, his incredible mate. She’d been through hell and back since meeting him, and yet she still amazed him with her ability to find the good in every situation. “Where do I go from here?” He didn’t know if he was asking her or himself. He didn’t have time to wait for an answer because there was another jolt of pain inside of him, and then the cord that had held him to his alpha’s was suddenly there again, only it wasn’t attached to his parents. It was thicker and had strands flowing from him in every direction. He followed the path of one of the cords and could feel the power in it. He recognized the magic as Decebel’s. One branched off of that one and went to Jen, and then an even smaller one flowed to Thia. Then he followed another and knew instantly that it was Costin and Sally, with Titus attached to her. Next was Sorin, and attached to his cord was Elle. There were countless bonds all leading to the main one, tethered in his soul, right next to his bond with his true mate.
“Fane?” Jacquelyn said softly. “I feel our bond, but I also feel a whole hell of a lot more than just ours.” She paused and he felt realization hit her. “I think you just got your answer about where you go from here. Prince of the Romania wolves. Your father has passed his crown to you. You’re the new alpha.”
Decebel knew before he’d collapsed what had happened. He knew the second he felt the connection to Vasile and Alina vanish. His friend, a father figure, and alpha was gone, along with his remarkable mate. He’d only recently agreed to return to the beta position and unite the Romania and Serbia packs. But even when he’d been alpha of his own pack, he’d always looked to Vasile