What can I say? she thought to herself. I get sarcastic when I’m freaked out.
“Well, that’s a crappy deal. Here you have a dad who can turn into this cool wolf thingy and you can’t even get a sexy, bushy tail,” Jen said as she and Sally walked into the living room.
Jacque stood up, the relief very obvious on her face.
“What are you two doing here?” she asked them.
“I asked them to stay and listen in. I knew you would tell them anyway and figured you would need some support from people you didn’t feel like were hiding things from you,” Lilly told her.
“So you guys heard everything?” Jacque asked tentatively.
“Every page-turning word. I wanted to pop some popcorn. I figured there might be some tense moments and you know I eat when I’m tense, but goody two shoes here wouldn’t let me,” Jen said irritably.
Sally patted Jen’s hand in mock sympathy. “We know, sweetie. But see, since it was Jacque finding out it was her dad who gets hairy, not yours, I didn’t really care if you were tense.”
Jen took Sally’s hand off hers and bit into it hard enough to leave teeth marks.
“Hey! What the hell, chick?” Sally exclaimed.
“See, don’t you wish you'd given me the popcorn?” Jen retorted.
Jacque started laughing, she just couldn’t help herself. She was so grateful to have Sally and Jen giving her something normal to grasp onto.
Jacque turned and looked at her mom. “So my father left because he found his true mate, or whatever?”
“Yes, and I want you to know I don’t blame him. I knew that it would eventually happen,” Lilly answered.
“Did he ever know about me?” Jacque asked, not really sure if she wanted to know the answer because if he did, and he had never bothered to come meet her, it was really going to hurt.
“No honey, he didn’t know. After he left I had no way to contact him. If he'd known he would have wanted to be a part of your life. He is a good man, Jacque. Only problem was he wasn’t really a man. Just my luck, huh?” Lilly said with a sad smile.
Jacque thought for a moment and something Fane had said earlier came to mind – he had called her his mate!
She slowly turned to look at him and saw that his head was down, shoulders slumped as if he were deflated. It broke her heart to see him look so broken. Jacque walked over to him and got down on her knees in front of him. He still did not move. Jacque took her finger and placed it under his chin and raised his head so she could see his face. The look she saw brought tears to her eyes. She didn’t talk out loud, she felt like this was private, just between them, and for the next few moments there was no one in Jacque’s world but Fane.
“What’s wrong, Fane?” she asked him.
“You know what you are to me, yes?”
Jacque whispered her answer out loud. “Mate.”
Fane nodded his head. “Yes, meu inimă. You are my mate, the other half of my soul, and the thought of you not wanting me is more than I can bear,” Fane told her honestly.
“No pressure, huh?” Jacque said, trying to lighten the mood.
“I would never ask you to do something you do not want to, Luna, but I will not lie and say that I won’t follow you around like a sick puppy,” Fane said with a smile, though the tears were not quite gone yet.
“I just need time to sort through all this. I’m not saying I don’t want you, I mean, now that I’ve met you the idea of life without you makes it hard to breathe,” Jacque revealed.
Fane took her hands in his and said, “Time is the one thing I can’t give you, love.”
Chapter 18
Fane held the hands of his mate and hated to have to tell her that he couldn’t give her the one thing she wanted, but there was no time. He needed to complete the bond through the blood rites, especially since there was another Canis lupus attempting to claim her. Once the bond was complete, no other male could dispute whose mate she was.
Fane pulled Jacquelyn up off the floor and returned her to the seat next to him. He continued to hold one of her hands, taking comfort from the touch.
“I’m not trying to rush you, Jacquelyn. Under different circumstances I would give you all the time you need, but you are not safe un-bonded,” Fane explained to her.