“Ok. Mulţumesc, Brian. I really appreciate your help,” Fane told him.

“You’re welcome,” Brian said with a smile.

Fane turned to see Steve coming across the lot toward him. He had some paperwork in one hand and Fane’s credit card in the other. He handed Fane the credit card first once he reached them.

“Could you step inside for a moment to sign these papers?” Steve asked Fane.

Fane simply nodded and started to follow Steve in the direction of the building. They stepped inside and just a few steps to the right was a table. Steve sat down, Fane did not. He simply leaned down and signed the places Steve had marked. Once everything was signed, Steve stood back up and handed Fane the keys. Before Fane turned to leave, Steve said, “I have a message from my Alpha.”

Fane turned back and looked Steve in the eyes. The less dominate Grey instantly dropped his gaze but continued. “He says don’t unpack.” With that Steve turned and walked away.

Fane pushed the door open and walked back out to where Brian stood.

“Okay, Brian, I’m ready if you are.” Fane was trying very hard to contain his anger. His wolf was not happy. There were other wolves in a territory he had claimed based on the information that there were no other Greys here. On top of that, his mate was in the same area, un-bonded. He would say things couldn’t get worse, but that would be a huge mistake when it came to talking about Canis lupus.

As Fane pulled into the driveway to the Henrys' house, he was pleased at how well the motorcycle ran. Brian had insisted they go straight to a motorcycle shop and buy a helmet since they didn’t have one at the dealership. He opted for a full face helmet with a dark visor and bought a clear visor to change out for when he was riding at night. It feels so good to be on a bike again, Fane thought to himself. He parked behind Brian’s car and locked his helmet and the helmet he had impulsively bought Jacquelyn on the side of his bike.

As he was walking to the front door, he saw Lilly pulling into her driveway across the street. He hadn’t realized she left.

As she was getting out of her Volkswagen convertible, she turned and saw Fane and waved.

“Fane! Hey, I wanted to invite you over for dinner tonight,” she hollered across the lawn. “The girls are having pizza. You are welcome to come if you don’t mind hanging out with a group of teenage girls,” she said with a wink.

Fane was a little surprised at the invitation but he was not about to miss an opportunity to spend time with Jacquelyn.

“I would be honored. Mulţumesc,” Fane responded.

“Great. We'll order the pizza around five. Oh, and tell Brian and Sara they are invited as well. We’ll make a night of it and play some games,” Lilly said enthusiastically.

Fane couldn’t really put his finger on it, but Lilly seemed a bit edgy. Maybe he was imagining it, but something was definitely off with her. She waved and turned to go into her house as he did the same.

Sara was sitting on the couch reading a book when he entered and he told her they were invited to Lilly’s for pizza and games.

“Oh, that sounds great,” Sara said excitedly. “I'll make some brownies to take. Do you like brownies?”

“Yes, I do actually. I’m going to excuse myself and go call my parents to say hello, if that's okay,” Fane told her.

“Of course that’s fine. You don’t have to ask us, you are practically a grown man. As long as you aren’t selling drugs or going to all night raves and orgies, you do what you want. We trust you until you give us reason not to,” Sara said casually.

“Mulţumesc,” was all he said in response and then he turned to go upstairs to call his father and tell him what he had discovered today. He was also going to have to explain how he lost his temper and revealed his title, and gave the Grey his credit card with his Alpha’s name on it. Honestly, he’d been in Coldspring one day and he’d found his mate, met another Grey, found out about a pack that wasn’t supposed to even be here, and been threatened. Needless to say, it hadn’t been boring.

He dialed his father’s number for the second time that day. His father answered on the first ring,

“Colega ta este in pericol, (your mate is in danger),” were the first words Fane heard his father say.

Chapter 11

“You did what?” Jacque interrupted as Lilly Pierce was telling her and Sally that she had invited Fane and the Henrys over for pizza.

“Hi, Sally,” Jacque’s mother said, ignoring her outburst, “You’re staying for dinner, right?”

“If that’s okay with you.” Sally answered sweetly.

“The more the merrier. We’re going to play games, too. It’ll be fun! Jen is coming too, isn’t she?” Lilly asked.

“Yes, mother. Now could you please tell me why you are so interested in Fane?” Jacque asked.

“Could you tell me what you have against him? Why do you have such an aversion to getting to know him?” her mom responded.

Jacque just didn’t get it. Maybe her mom thought that because she and Trent had split up, pushing another guy on her would help her move on. Yes, it had been kind of hard on Jacque, they did date for almost two years. But hadn’t her mom noticed that she pretty much had moved on? It’d been like two months since she’d even seen Trent and she barely thought about him. In fact, in the past twenty four hours she hadn’t thought about him at all. She decided to let it slide for now, she knew a losing battle when she saw one.

Jacque looked at Sally and motioned for her to go upstairs, “We’ll be upstairs, mom. Jen probably won’t be here until later. She said she would have to eat with her parents, but hopefully she'll make if for the game portion of the evening,” Jacque said in mock excitement.

“Keep up the attitude, Jacquelyn, and see where it gets you,” Lilly said sternly.

Lilly very rarely got cross with Jacque so that was when she knew it was best to double-time it up the stairs before her big mouth got her working in the bookstore every Friday and Saturday night for her entire senior year.

Once in Jacque’s room, Sally sat cross-legged on the floor looking through Jacque’s CD collection. She picked out Jacque’s favorite Evanescence CD and put it in the stereo. Once the music was playing loud enough to keep prying ears ay bay, she looked at Jacque and said, “So, let’s hear it. What happened when Jen and I left today?”