He planned for them to eat and relax, to give Vasile and his mate one more good meal before they left this life. Then he would personally hand each couple a glass of his oldest and most expensive wine. The poison would begin flooding Vasile's system within half an hour of consumption, and all hell would break loose.
"I can't believe that wuss bellyached when I nicked him with the tip of my sword," Jen growled as she and the other TFFs climbed the stairs to convene in her room. They'd finished dinner a couple of hours ago and had been sitting around, shooting the breeze when Jacque glanced at her phone and noticed it was only forty five minutes until Jen, Crina, and Marianna were supposed to meet the males in the gym.
"Jen, you slit his wrist. That's a little more than a nick," Sally pointed out.
"It healed in under a minute. I could understand his moaning if I had cut his hand off, but seriously."
Crina and Marianna laughed at Jen as they all piled into her room.
Jen immediately turned and pointed at Jacque and Sally. "Okay, you two are to meet Costin and Cynthia in," she glanced at her phone, "twenty minutes in Cynthia's office." She turned to Crina and Marianna. "I think we should wear bathing suits under our clothes. That way, if the top layer does come off, we aren't showing off our undies."
"Okay, we'll go and change and meet you back here in fifteen minutes," Crina told her as she and Marianna left. Jen gave them a nod, heading for her closet.
"Okay, Jen. We're out," Jacque hollered as she and Sally headed for the door.
"Wait, hold up." Jen stuck her head out from around the closet door. "What did you tell wolf-man you were doing this evening?"
"That I was spending quality time with Sally. Which isn't really a lie."
Jen smiled, but it was sad. "I'm sorry you've had to keep this from him."
Jacque shrugged. "I take comfort in knowing Decebel is going to beat your ass when it's all said and done."
Sally laughed.
"Thanks for that, Jac," Jen grumbled.
"Just keeping it real." Jacque waved as she and Sally left.
Jen stood in her closet, contemplating just how angry the Beta was going to be. "Won't be pretty, that's for sure," she muttered as she continued to search for her clothes.
Twenty minutes later, Jen, Crina, and Marianna sat in the middle of the gym with a deck of cards, glasses they had stolen at dinnertime, and some vodka Costin had somewhat shadily acquired. They had laid pillows from their beds around in a circle to lounge on, and Jen had set up her iPhone to play club music. Crina managed to figure out how to turn on only half the lights so it wasn't so bright, but a soft glow fell over the floor.
"Okay, now we just need the -" Before Crina could finish her sentence, the gym door opened and in walked four wolves.
"Where's the fifth man?" Jen asked with a wink.
"Alpha had business for him to take care of, so you ladies will have to make do with the four of us," Damion answered.
"I'm sure we'll manage somehow," Crina flirted.
Jen indicated where they should sit and Marianna passed out the shots.
"Okay, let's start this night out right." Jen lifted her glass filled with just enough vodka to throw back. "Here's to a night to remember!"
Everyone raised their glasses and clinks filled the room as they tapped them together and drank.
Jen watched the four wolves to see if there was any indication that they'd realized their drinks were laced. She grinned when they held their glasses out for another. Crina poured the shots as Jen began shuffling the deck.
"Okay, so you boys know how to play poker?"
"We looked up the specifics on the internet," Adrian informed her.
Jen looked at Crina and Marianna out of the corner of her eye. "Excellent," is what came from her lips, but she was thinking, Like taking candy from a baby.
She dealt out the cards. "We're going to keep it simple and play five card draw. Now, just like in a regular game, you can chose to fold, you can bluff, and you can call. Since we aren't playing for money, the easiest way to determine how the clothes come off are based on the bets. For example, if you bet a dollar that would equal a sock. If you were to bet five dollars that would be a shirt, so on and so forth. Make sense?"
"So the higher the bet the more intimate the apparel that is removed?" Damion asked.
"Exactly." Jen smiled.
"You've really put some thought into this, haven't you?" Josif asked.
"We Westerners take our poker very seriously, regardless of the method of pay." She set down the cards left in the deck and picked up her own. Everyone followed suit and looked at their hands.
"Okay. So, starting with the player to my left – Crina, place your bets." Jen looked at her expectantly.
Earlier, Jen had told them to only stay in the game when the bet was under five bucks, and fold any other time. She didn't like to brag, but she knew poker. She'd have these guys in their skivvies in no time. She would make the big bets to bait them, and regardless of the fact that they were wolves, they were men and she was just a little ol' girl. They wouldn't want to fold – it would make them appear unconfident and weak.
Jen had grinned at Crina and Marianna and made them laugh when she broke Kenny Rogers' “The Gambler.” Marianna had asked, "Do you Americans have a song for everything?"
Her response had been, "You should see our reality TV."
Crina placed her bet.
And so it begins, Jen thought.
"Okay, let's go." Costin rubbed his hands together nervously.
"You okay Costin?" Sally asked. "You seem a little jumpy."
Costin looked at her and grinned. "Ask me after I survive this with my manhood intact."
Sally blushed and quickly followed Jacque.
They made it to the bottom of the staircase on the east side of the mansion. The Serbian pack's rooms were nearby.
"Okay.” Costin pointed. "I'll come up with you and make sure the rooms are empty. Then Cynthia and I will go wait beneath the windows for you to start chucking out the goods."
Jacque nodded.
Sally cringed. "I think I'm going to be sick."
Jacque grabbed her by the shoulders. "Hold it together, Sal. We got this, okay?"