Piercing Silence (8 page)

He remembered the night that she fell apart
in his arms because she felt unattractive. A smile pulled at his
wolf’s lips as the memory filled him.

“You have been distant
today
,” Fane sent through their bond as he
walked into their bedroom after having spent some time training
with some of the other wolves. He glanced around the room and saw
that Jacque wasn’t there, but he knew she was close. His eyes
landed on the closed bathroom door and he frowned.

“Jacquelyn?” he called as he walked over to
the door and tried turning the knob. It was locked. He let out a
deep growl. “Open the door, love.” It was then that her emotions
hit him rocking him back on his heels. She was hurting. “Luna, open
the door,” he said more urgently. He heard the sniffling of tears
and felt her move closer to the door until he knew she was just on
the other side of it.

“I don’t want you to see me,” she
practically whispered.

“I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell
you, but you are all I want to see. I’m thirsty for the sight of
you. Please, open the door.” Fane held his palm against the door as
he closed his eyes and tried to search her mind for what was
bothering her. Her emotions were a mess―all tangled up in fear,
anxiety, self-doubt, and frustration.

She laughed, but it wasn’t a humorous sound.
It was tinged with a bit of hysteria. “I wanted to surprise you
tonight. Jen talked me into getting something special to wear and,
like the fool I am, I did it.”

Fane’s pulse sped up a little as he imagined
all of the times in the past that his mate had surprised him like
that. He thoroughly enjoyed the sight of her in anything, but
Jacquelyn in lingerie was something that drove him crazy. He let
her feel his passion and excitement. Apparently, that was the wrong
thing to do.

She slammed her hand against the door and
her anger ran over him in a violent wave. “I don’t look like that!”
she snarled at him. He hadn’t realized how he’d been picturing her.
Okay, so he’d just learned a valuable lesson—do not picture his
mate in her pre-pregnant state unless the bond is thoroughly and
completely closed.

“You’re right; you don’t. You are even more
beautiful now,” he said gently as he tried the knob again. He was
going to wind up breaking the damn thing if she didn’t let him in
very soon.

Jacquelyn snorted. “What’s beautiful about
me, Fane? The stretch marks, the dimples, the protruding belly, or,
perhaps, it’s the lovely emotions that seemed to be all over the
damn place that make me such a pleasant person to be around. Tell
me, mate of mine, EXACTLY WHAT IS IT THAT TURNS YOU ON?”

Fane should have stayed calm. He should have
talked her down but she had locked herself away from him. She was
angry, feeling insecure and desperate for him, and yet she wouldn’t
let him near her. So calm is not what he stayed.

“YOU!” His voice echoed through the room at
the same time his palm hit the door rattling it in its frame. “YOU
ARE WHAT TURN ME ON. Don’t you get that? I hide nothing from you,
Jacquelyn. My mind is open to you; don’t you see the way I see
you?” He was pleading with her to trust him, to trust not just his
words but his actions. Maybe he hadn’t paid enough attention to
her; maybe that was why she was feeling so undesirable.

“You can hide things from me,” Jacquelyn
whispered. “You know as well as I do that if there is something we
don’t want the other to know, that it’s possible to keep it locked
away. Just go, Fane. Leave me alone until I can be rational.”

Fane roared. He might has well have been a
lion instead of a wolf. He didn’t turn to look when their bedroom
door flew open and Jen’s voice broke through his own.

“What the hell, Fane?” Jen snapped. “We
thought there was something serious going on.”

“Jennifer Anghelesco, you are a dead woman!”
Jacquelyn yelled through the door.

“What did I do?” Jen huffed. “I just heard
your maniac mate growling like a rabies infested beast and came in
to make sure everyone was okay.”

Fane turned to glare at the Alpha female.
“You told her to buy—” He had to stop because his canines were
growing making it difficult for him to talk. His head swung back
around when he heard the bathroom door open.

Jacquelyn stood there wrapped up in a robe,
tears streaking her face. “You told me to buy that damn lingerie!
That’s why.”

Fane was moving for the door but she was
faster and slammed it right in his face turning the lock back in
place.

“Did you criticize her in her pregnant
state?” Jen asked him accusingly. “Because I will castrate you if
you did. I mean, Fane, I know you wolves can be dense but surely
even you have enough sense not to say something negative about your
mate, especially when she’s carrying around your child in her
body.”

Fane heard Decebel join his mate and he was
so very glad that he’d shown up. “Decebel, please remove your mate
from my presence.”

“WHAT!” Jen stomped her foot. “I am not
going until I know my best friend is alright!”

“Jennifer, you should know better than to
interfere with a male and his mate,” Decebel told her quietly. “He
won’t hurt her. You know all he wants is to make her happy. Now
let’s go before he loses what little control he has.”

“You had better make this right, Fane Lupei.
I don’t give a hot poker in hell if it’s your fault or not. You put
a smile back on my Jacque’s face or so help me…” Jen’s words
trailed off as Fane heard the door close.

He stood in the middle of the room
attempting to hold his wolf back. His beast was snarling at him,
urging him to get to her. She’d told them to leave but there was no
way he or his wolf would do as she commanded. Fane turned back to
look at the thin piece of wood that stood sentry between him and
the woman he loved. Never had a door looked so offensive as in that
moment.

He walked purposefully over to it and no
longer willing to grant her the privacy she apparently wanted, he
turned the knob until the lock broke. Fane pushed the door open
slowly and stepped into the bathroom. He found her on the floor
next to the large tub, the robe still wrapped around her and her
forehead leaning on the cold porcelain edge.

When he started to walk toward her,
Jacquelyn held up her hand and shook her head at him. “Please
don’t. Just let me be.” Her voice shook with her tears.

Fane ignored her plea and reached down to
pick her up. When she started to push him away his wolf decided to
make an appearance and Fane knew his eyes would be glowing a fierce
blue. “Mate,” his beast snarled, “do not. You might hurt
yourself.”

Jacquelyn looked up at him then, meeting his
gaze. “You wouldn’t understand; you’re just a wolf.”

His wolf leaned closer to her, pressing his
nose against her neck and breathing in her scent―a scent that
brought him comfort and peace and also drove him insane. “I may be
just a wolf, female, but I am your wolf and you are mine. Do not
ever ask us to leave you when you need us most.”

Fane carried her into their room and forced
his wolf to let the man have control once more. He sat with his
mate in his lap and brushed the hair away from her face.
“Jacquelyn, look at me,” he commanded gently.

She didn’t.

“Look at me,” Fane repeated slower.

Finally she let out a resigned sigh and
raised her head so that her green eyes met his.

“Don’t ever ask me to leave you when you are
so upset.” She started to say something but he placed a finger over
her lips. “Hear me. Every instinct I have is to protect, love, and
cherish you. For you to ask me to walk away while you are in pain,
be it emotional or physical, is cruel.”

“Not to mention futile,” she muttered
quickly earning her a nip on the neck from him.

“I am sorry that you feel inadequate, Luna.
You are anything but. I will tell you with my words so that you can
hear me. But know this mate, before this night is over I will show
you so that you have no doubt just how attractive I find you.”

She shook her head at him but again he
ignored her.

“I have found you desirable from the moment
I laid eyes on you. The attraction has only grown in intensity the
longer we have been together. My need for you grows with every
touch, every taste, and every time you give yourself to me. I
thought I would need you less once the need had been satisfied but
the opposite is true. I only need and want you more. And now, my
beautiful Luna, you carry my child inside of you.” His hand slipped
between the opening of the robe and pressed gently against her
rounded stomach. “Your face radiates the joy that I feel. Whether
you believe it or not, I have loved every change that has happened
to your incredible body.” Fane tugged down the shoulder of the robe
and nipped her again when she started to argue. “No,” he scolded.
“You don’t get to tell me how I feel or how I see you. I see every
stretch mark as a beauty mark that tells the story of how you
created a precious life. Everything that you see as negative, I see
as evidence of just how incredible you are. I love every single
inch of you and there is nothing, especially not carrying my child,
that could change that.”

“I didn’t realize how vain I am,” Jacque
said quietly. “But when compared to you, with your perfect werewolf
body and chiseled features, I just feel like a big blob.”

Fane stood up and placed her feet on the
floor. She started to protest but he was having none of it. “Shh,”
he soothed as he untied the robe she’d been hiding under. “Look at
me, Jacquelyn. Look at my face and nowhere else.” His hands shook
as he pushed the robe from her shoulders. “You are even more
beautiful than the first time I removed a robe from you.” His voice
was soft, but he knew she could hear the awe that filled him as he
took her in.

Fane took her small face in his hands and
brushed his thumb across her lips. He had tasted them at least a
hundred times and yet he was still starved for them, for her. When
he raised his eyes to meet hers, he used their bond to convey an
image to her of how he saw her.

“No,” Jacquelyn whispered as she attempted
to shake her head.

“Yes,” Fane argued before pressing his lips
to hers. As his hands slid down her neck and then shoulders and
finally rested on her hips, he pulled her tighter against him,
bunching the sheer fabric in his fists. There was no doubt that the
lingerie was beautiful, but now that he’d seen it, it was only a
hindrance to the package beneath. And like the precious gift that
she was, Fane unwrapped her, slowly―piece by piece―making sure that
she could feel through their bond just what she did to him. Over
and over he kissed, touched, and loved her body reverently.

Sometime later, back in their bed, he
pressed his lips to her bare belly and kissed her gently. The growl
that rumbled out of him was straight from his wolf. “Mine.” Fane’s
grip on her hips tightened as he pressed his face against her
flesh. Her warmth, her scent, and her taste surrounded him and he
was drunk on her.

“Yes, we are yours,” Jacquelyn agreed.

Fane's eyes crawled up her body to stare
into her eyes. “Don’t ever doubt me again,” he whispered before
leaning down and kissing her on the neck where his mark was.

Fane shook himself as the memory faded away
leaving him feeling empty. He needed to find her now. He needed to
know that she was alright and that their baby was alright. Fane
threw his head back and let out a deep, mournful howl, pouring all
of his fear into it. He longed to hear her answer him, but as the
sound died away, he was left with a silence that pierced him to his
soul.

“
Peace, wolf,.”
The voice in his mind did not belong to his mate,
but it had him coming to a sudden stop anyway.

“
I will not let any harm
come to her,”
the Great Luna assured
him.

“
Where is she?”
Fane tried very hard not to growl.

“
She is where she needs to
be at this moment.”

And just as quickly as her presence had
come, she was gone. Fane knew it was futile, but he did it anyway.
Desperation making him willing to try anything, he reached through
their bond but found that it was still locked up tight.

“
Please let me in,
Jacquelyn.”
He was at a complete loss as
to what to do. His wolf needed action and so once again he headed
deeper into the mountain unwilling to give up looking for her until
she was with him, where she belonged.

Chapter 9

J
acque’s gut clenched as she and the Great Luna appeared
before the doors of the Romanian pack mansion. Part of her wanted
to fling the door open and run inside because she was so desperate
for the sight of her mate. The other part of her was too scared to
move. What if, in that alternate reality, he’d found someone
else?

“What if I can’t handle what I see?” Jacque
asked the goddess.

“You do not have a choice,” she answered.
“There are times in life when it is necessary to see the whole
truth to fully understand the weight of a decision before it is
made. Such a time is this.” The Great Luna waved toward the doors
and they opened.

Jacque hesitated briefly
before finally following the goddess inside. Everything looked the
same, yet she knew immediately that it was different somehow. The
air felt heavy, weighted down with despair and darkness. They
continued walking further into the mansion and Jacque recognized
the door to the study. The Great Luna motioned for her to enter the
room.
What was she going to say? ‘No thank
you, I think I’ll pass? Not likely,
Jacque
thought as she walked into Vasile’s study, a room she’d been in
many, many times, and yet it had never been filled with such
darkness.