“Jacquelyn, Jen, and Sally, I would like you to meet my father, Vasil Lupei, and my mother, Alina Lupei.” Fane turned to three other new additions to the room, one of them being the wolf he had disciplined. “And this is Boian, Skender, and Dorian. They are upper members of the Pack.” He looked at his father. “În cazul în care este Decebel (where is Decebel)?”
“Urmărind pe ambalaj (watching over the Pack),” Vasile told him.
“What is 'desebell'?” Jacque thought to Fane.
“He is our Beta, our second in command,” Fane replied.
After nodding her understanding, Jacquelyn stood up, attempting to straighten out her shirt. She started to fix her hair, but she knew it was lost cause so she just let it be. She walked over to stand in front of Fane’s parents and tried hard not to look as messy as she felt.
“I’m Jacquelyn, Fane’s, um, well his, you know...” Jacquelyn tried to spit it out but it just wouldn’t leave her lips.
“My mate,” Fane finished for her.
“Yeah, what he said,” she agreed. “It’s so nice to meet you. I’m sorry you’re seeing me all sleep-ified and stuff.”
“She cleans up real nice,” Jen threw out there.
“Thanks for that, Jen,” Jacquelyn retorted.
Fane walked over to her and put his arm around her waist. She was beautiful to him. Hair all a mess, sleepy eyes – she was adorable.
“Tata, mama, nu-i asomarea (Isn’t she stunning)?” Fane asked his parents
“Intr-adevar ea este (Truly she is),” Alina answered.
“Would you care to share what exactly ya’ll are talking about?” Jacquelyn asked Fane through her thoughts
“I told them you were stunning and they agreed,” Fane answered.
Alina stepped forward and pushed Fane away from Jacquelyn, taking her into an embrace. “Jacquelyn, it is so wonderful to meet you. I am so thankful Fane has found you.”
“Thank you,” Jacquelyn said simply.
Then it was Vasile’s turn. He embraced her as well, but when he spoke to her it was in Romanian, “Ai mei sint fiii cealalta jumatate, el putina lumina, de o moarte sau viata te vor fi protejate de haita (You are my son's other half, his little light, by his death or life you will be protected by the Pack).”
After he said this, every wolf in the room responded, “Asa cum veti se, Alfa, ea va fi adoptata (As you will it, Alpha, it will be done).”
“What exactly just happened? ‘Cause we all know there was some sort of pack voodoo going on,” Jen said, looking at Fane.
It was Fane’s father who spoke instead.
“That is something Fane can discuss with you later. Right now we have more pressing matters. Jacquelyn, I hate to ask this of you, but I need you to get your mother.”
“No need, I’m here. Believe it or not it’s kind of hard to sleep with a pack of wolves in your living room. I’m Lilly Pierce, Jacque’s mother,” Lilly said as she strolled into the living room.
Alina walked right up to her and hugged her just as she had Jacquelyn.
“I’m Alina, Fane’s mother, and this is my mate, Vasile,” she told Lilly.
“It’s very nice to meet you both. Please make yourselves at home while you're here. Although, I’m not sure how we are going to accommodate all of you,” Lilly told them.
“Oh, I talked with the Henrys and they were more than happy to have whoever stay at their home,” Fane explained.
“So, what’s this pressing business that needs to be discussed?” Lilly asked Vasile.
Jacquelyn turned to sit on the couch and started to pull Fane with her, but he did not move, nor did he let her hand go. She looked back at him in question and saw that he was staring at the other wolves in the room.
“Are you just going to stand there through this whole conversation? If so, then you’re on your own ‘cause I’m tired, I’m cranky, and I want to sit down…now, Fane,” Jacquelyn told him, glaring daggers at him.
Fane was not going to sit down until the other wolves submitted first. They were being stubborn because there were females in the room and they wanted to look all big and bad. He knew his father was not going to intervene because he wanted to see if Fane could submit other dominates. Only one way to find out. I’ve had enough of this, Fane thought. He turned so that his body was facing each of them directly, and he looked at each wolf. First Borian, then Dorian, and last Skender, until they each dropped their eyes. Then he spoke in the voice that they could not disobey.
“Stai (sit).” All three sat immediately, eyes still lowered.
Fane turned and bared his neck to his father, then pulled Jacquelyn over to sit on the couch.
“You are going to explain that later, right?” Jacquelyn whispered.
“Do I have a choice, Luna?” Fane asked.
“Point to you,” she told him.
Alina and Lilly both sat on the loveseat while Jen and Sally sat on the floor in front of the couch. Sorin was in his usual spot, the ugly chair, and the three wolves were all sitting on the floor around Sorin’s feet. They did not look happy. Vasile stood at the front of the room, looking out at everyone.
Jen looked over at Jacquelyn and whispered, “You know this really calls for some hot chocolate, right?”
Jacquelyn nodded in agreement as Sally stood up, saying, “I’m on it.”
“The challenge is to be tomorrow,” Vasile announced. “I will be calling Lucas Steele in a few hours to discuss the details. One thing that I would like to have set is the location of the challenge. I do not want it in his territory. It needs to be a remote location where there will be no chance bystanders will happen upon it. Do any of you know such a place?”
Jen and Jacquelyn spoke at the same time. “Field of dreams.”
Jen reached up and fist bumped with Jacquelyn. “Good call, Sherlock,” she said.
“All in a day's work, Watson,” Jacquelyn responded.
“What’s the 'field of dreams'?” Fane asked.
“It’s just an empty field out in the boondocks.” Jacquelyn answered.
“Ok, so why is it called the field of dreams?” he asked again.
“Jacque’s just embarrassed to say,” Jen told him. “It’s called the field of dreams because it’s where all the couples go on Friday nights and, ya know, hope their dreams come true, so to speak.”