Jen shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, no reason."
Jacque's head slowly turned to look at Jen. "What do you have up your sleeve?"
"I'm just trying to calculate how much time it would take me to undress, phase, and go hide in the woods." Jen leaned in close to Jacque, whispering her words.
"Are you blocking your thoughts from him?" Jacque whispered back.
Jen nodded. "I'm giving him the impression that I'm pouting and that's why I'm blocking them."
"Do you honestly believe he doesn't think you are plotting some escape plan?" Jacque looked back to where Decebel, Vasile, Fane, Gavril, and Sorin had gathered around the young wolf, who was adamantly shaking his head. Jacque called on her newly-found wolf skills and used the hyper-sensitive hearing.
"I don't know why I touched her. I honestly wasn't challenging Costin. I didn't even know she was mated!" Jacque heard the guy tell them.
"She isn't mated yet," Decebel explained. "That is why Costin reacted so strongly. You could challenge him for her. Let me strongly advise against that." Decebel's voice was gruff but not harsh.
"Alpha," the young wolf looked up at Decebel, "I honestly don't know why I touched her. I was walking by and glanced at her and then I was touching her."
Jacque watched Decebel turn to Vasile and then Gavril, "Do you think this has anything to with her being a healer? Are wolves drawn to healers? And, if so, could the fact that she and her mate have the mate signs but aren't bonded essentially paint a target on her back?"
"How would this make her a target?" Jacque heard Sorin ask. She smiled to herself and mentally thanked him for taking the words out of her mouth.
Decebel answered, "As long as Sally isn't bonded to Costin he can be challenged for her. If there is any dissension in my pack that I haven't weeded out, they could use Sally as a way to attempt to kill one of our dominants, not to mention take one of our healers. Unbonded mates are a disaster. The males are unpredictable and violent."
"They have the mate signs, why not have them do the bond as quickly as possible?" Gavril offered.
"Have you discussed with Costin his place in your pack?" Vasile asked Decebel.
"Yes." Decebel nodded.
Jacque perked up at this information. This was news to her.
"Wolf-man, you holding out on me?" she sent Fane the thought through their bond.
Fane had become so accustomed to having Jacque in his thoughts that he never indicated in any outward way that she was talking to him.
"I just found out today and was commanded by our Alpha to keep it between the ones you see standing here."
"That sucks," Jacque whined and turned back to fill Jen in. She tried to slap her hand over her mouth before the "hell fire," slipped out but her arm was not quick enough. She whipped her head around in time to see Decebel's eyes snap over at the sound of her voice. He looked at her and then at the empty seat next to her and chills ran across her skin as Decebel's eyes began to glow and a very wicked grin spread across his face.
Jacque shuddered. She knew that look. That was the look of a wolf getting ready to hunt.
"Do you think you should stall Decebel and let Jen get a little more of a head start on him?" Jacque asked Fane.
This time she saw him visibly shaking his head as he answered, "When are you females going to get it through your heads that you don't get in the way of a male and his mate? Especially an Alpha."
"Scared?" Jacque taunted.
Fane slowly turned and looked at her from across the room. Jacque could see the blue glow in his eyes.
"What is with all the glowing eyes tonight?"
"You know why our eyes glow," Fane responded. "You've challenged me, love. That is why my eyes are glowing."
"Challenged you? When?" Jacque's voice squeaked out.
"I must now prove to you that I am not scared of the Serbian Alpha."
Jacque's chair crashed to the floor as she stood up abruptly.