that she wouldn’t submit to him, no matter how pissed he was about his mate.
“Wadim, please,” Zara said from behind Jacque. “I’m talked out.”
After several more tense minutes, Wadim finally nodded. “Later then,” he said, and it sounded very much like a command.
Fane watched as Wadim left. “What was that about?”
“You were in my head, wolf-man. You know as much as I know.” Jacque shrugged and then opened the next box of ornaments.
“Zara,” Fane said, looking at the she-wolf. “Is everything okay?”
Jacque turned to look at her.
Zara glanced down at the ornament in her hand. She turned it this way and that, catching the lights on the glitter covered glass. “It will be,” she answered vaguely.
Fane brushed his lips against Jacque’s forehead and then left. Jacque turned to see that Zara was climbing up the ladder so she could reach the higher part of the tree. “I’ll talk to you guys about it,” Zara said without looking down, “but we might as well wait for girls’ night because I don’t want to repeat myself.”
Jacque glanced at Bethany, who simply shrugged.
Looked like girls’ night was going to be more of a relationship intervention. Jacque smiled to herself. Wasn’t that what girls’ night always turned into?
Chapter 6
“On the sixth day of Christmas my werewolf gave to me six packs of Oreos, five satisfied smiles, four hours of hotness, three growling males, two cursing pups, and a furball in a fir tree.
Yes, there was hot chocolate, and it might have been spiked, but there were more than six of them, so it didn’t fit in the verse. I’m trying to make it work, people. Just keep singing and smiling, singing and smiling.” ~Jen
Unfortunately, girls’ night didn’t take place until five nights later. Everyone had been working their butts off, and no one had the energy to do more than mumble and wave as they headed for their suites at the end of the day. Zara also noticed that none of the males seemed inclined to even give their mates a chance to bring up the girls’ night. The men kept suggesting that everyone needed a good night’s sleep to be able to accomplish all of Jen’s assigned tasks on time. As each day passed, Zara became more convinced that Jacque’s idea of letting the fae decorate the mansion with a snap of the fingers was by far the best thing to do.
Finally, perhaps because the whole thing was her idea, and she loved a girls’ night more than anyone, Jen let everyone quit work at five in the afternoon instead of midnight. After that, despite growlings, rumblings, and downright whining from the males, the girls’ night was a go.
Zara walked into the library, and her heart immediately felt lighter when she heard “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” playing lightly in the background. Several girls sat around on the couches and floor, holding cups of hot chocolate and eggnog, talking and laughing. She stood for several moments, taking in the scene. Considering Zara barely remembered the last time she’d celebrated Christmas, she was almost overwhelmed. She bit her lip and tried to get her emotions under control. She’d been on a roller coaster of them the past six days, and she was ready to get off the damn ride.
Somehow, she’d managed to keep herself from blurting out all of her frustrations in the middle of the day, mainly because Jen was a demanding commander and had decided if she played Christmas music loudly while they were decorating then they wouldn’t be able to stop and speak to each other. It had worked. Yelling over Bing Crosby got old quickly.
“You going to stand there and admire our fine asses all night, or are you going to get your own fine ass in here and drink up?” Jen lay on the floor on her stomach, her legs kicked up behind her, swinging gently. She was holding a mug of hot chocolate in one hand and two Oreos in the other. It was the most relaxed Zara had seen her in a week and a half.
“Pipe down, bossy woman.” Zara walked into the room and took an offered cup from Jacque.
Bethany patted an empty seat beside her on the couch. She had her feet propped up on the coffee table, and Elle was sitting on the floor next to them. She touched Bethany’s foot, and the toenails suddenly turned green. “What about this?” Elle asked.
Zara grinned. Elle was painting Bethany’s toenails—fae style.
“Can you do them alternating