Cynthia’s head lowered at the power rolling off of Decebel.
“Do you think that was the wisest move?” Cynthia murmured to a seething Jen.
Jen snorted. “What’s he going to do? Spank me?”
“What did he do to make you this angry, Jen?” Cynthia kept her voice low and tried to remain calm, so as not to encourage Jen’s wolf to surface.
“He used his position on me. On me,” she growled.
Cynthia’s mouth dropped open as her eyes widened. It took all her strength not to look at Decebel even though she could feel his eyes on them.
“He used an Alpha command on you?” Cynthia’s voice was full of skepticism.
Jen nodded once.
“What was the command?”
Jen’s eyes roved over the room as she answered. “He told me not to stand.” Her voice quivered, a momentary show of vulnerability, but then it was gone. She steeled her eyes and regained her indifferent expression.
“He’s just trying to keep you safe, Jen,” Cynthia implored.
“He doesn’t trust me,” Jen told her.
“Jen, you know how the males are. Possessive doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of how they feel toward their mates. All he can see right now is a room full of males. He doesn’t know any of them; he can’t begin to control the possible outcomes. The only thing he can control is you. He can keep himself from worrying about you if you can’t get yourself into trouble.”
Jen snorted. “So he’s assuming that I’m going to get in trouble?”
“Do you blame him?” Cynthia raised a knowing brow at her.
Jen huffed. “Fine, I tend to get myself into some interesting situations, but I always get myself out of them. He could have talked to me, explained that, instead of treating me like a child.”
“I agree, but maybe seeing it from his point of view will help prevent World War Three.”
Jen grinned at Cynthia. “Doc, you don’t know my mate if you think he'd want me to prevent a wicked fight. That’s his idea of foreplay.”
Cynthia closed her eyes, shaking her head. “That was way more information than I needed, Jen. Just saying.”
Jen laughed at the still shocked look on her friend’s face.
She soon felt Decebel trying to push through the wall she had erected in her mind. She refused him entrance and grinned to herself when she heard him huff like a spoiled child behind her.
~
Sorin sat on the far left side of the bar, his back against the wall. Costin handed him a ginger ale, which he took, never taking his eyes off of the room. He saw Drake in the far left corner of the room, conversing cordially with a male from the Bulgarian pack. Sorin had been relieved when Andon had declared this bar neutral ground. Even still, Decebel had notified Victor, the Bulgarian Alpha, of their presence. He had been very amiable about them being in his territory and so far things were moving smoothly. The girls were all behaving themselves, and none of the males had gone – using Jen’s words – into irrationally possessive, incredibly ass-hole-ish mode.
She really does have a way with words, Sorin thought to himself.
So far things were uneventful, just the way he liked it. He should have known it was too good to last.
The door to the bar opened and Peri walked in. Her eyes searched across the room, landing briefly on Drake and then on Sorin. Sorin’s head cocked to the side at the look she had in her eyes. She moved slowly from the entrance, allowing the person behind her to enter. Sorin’s swore his heart stopped beating as he watched Elle, the pink-haired, silver-eyed Fae walk in. He felt his wolf push, for the first time in a long time, fighting the man for dominance.
Sorin took a deep breath, inhaling through his nose and the scent hit made his wolf fight harder. He stood abruptly and – using his wolf’s speed – was in front of her in a flash. Elle stood frozen, her eyes wide.
Sorin took a step closer, his dark eyes beginning to glow as he uttered a single word.
“Mate.”
Elle’s breath caught in her throat as she felt the intensity of Sorin’s emotions wash over her. Everything and everyone in the room faded into nothingness and it was as if only she and Sorin were there. The uttered word hung between them. He seemed to be waiting on her – waiting for what, she didn’t know.