“She is not your mate,” the other man spoke coolly, not even acknowledging Sally.

Costin lunged forward, at the same time pushing Sally gently out of the way.

“SHE IS MINE.” Costin’s eyes glowed and Sally saw that his hands now had claws extending from them.

She looked at Drake and mouthed, “Do something.”

Drake moved quietly behind the man whose attention was locked on Costin. Drake wrapped an arm around the man’s neck, putting him in a choke hold. Costin started to jump over the bar but stopped when Sally placed a hand on his arm.

“Please don’t,” she told him gently.

“He challenged me, Sally,” Costin snarled.

Sally’s spine stiffened. “I don’t give a damn. I need you with me, not beating the crap out of some idiot. Please let Drake deal with it and take me back to our room. I’m done. I’ve had all I can handle tonight. I need you.”

Costin’s glowing eyes started to fade and he began to regain control. He nodded and pulled her close to him.

“Get him out of here, Drake,” Costin ordered.

“I’m sorry, Sally. I’m sorry,” he told her as he ran his hand down her hair.

“It’s fine, Costin. But I’m ready to go. I want to know if Decebel has found out anything about Jacque and the others.”

Costin found the owner, Andon, and told him that they were leaving.

Costin pulled Sally down the hall until they stood before the door of the room they were sharing. He lifted his nose in the air and took a deep breath. A mischievous grin spread across his face.

“What are you smiling about?” Sally asked him. Costin shook his head, but continued to grin.

“Maybe we should go talk to Decebel before we go into our room,” he suggested. Sally just shrugged and followed him to Decebel and Jen’s room. He knocked on the door and the door swung open before the second knock.

“What are you two doing here?” Jen asked accusingly.

Sally frowned. “Well, it’s nice to see you too.”

Jen smoothed her facial expression and smiled. “Sorry, didn’t mean to snap at you. Is there something you need?”

“What is wrong with you, Jen?” Sally asked through clenched teeth. “We’re coming to find out if everything is okay with Jacque and the others. Haven’t you guys been trying to get in touch with them?”

Decebel stepped around the door and his face looked grave. Jen elbowed him in the gut and suddenly a smiled formed on his lips. Although the smile looked painful, it was there nonetheless.

“I am waiting to hear back from them. We will let you know as soon as we hear something,” Decebel told them. Sally thought it sounded rehearsed.

Jen gave Costin a pointed look. “Okay, well, I bet you guysare tired so you might want to call it a night.”

Costin chuckled under his breath.

“What is going on?” he heard Sally say in his mind as she continued to glare Jen down.

“Nothing, beautiful. I think maybe we interrupted something.” Costin saw Sally blush from the corner of his eye. He winked at Jen and then pulled Sally along behind him.

“Come on, Sally love, let’s let Jen and Dec get back to their evening.”

Sally muttered for Jen and Decebel to have a good night.

“You guys have a great night!” Jen hollered from the doorway.

Costin walked briskly away from their Alpha and his mate.

Chapter 17

“How I love thee, let me count the ways…love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.” ~ Costin

Costin opened the door to their room and Sally’s breath rushed out of her as she walked inside. She turned in a circle as she looked all around at the candlelit room. Her mouth dropped open when she saw a long black gown lying on the bed. She saw a stack of towels and a large basin of water that had steam rising from it. She finally made it all the way around until she was facing Costin again. He was smiling and his eyes were glowing.

“Did you plan this?” she asked him.

Costin shook his head.

“I only knew something was up when I got to our door. I could smell Jen and Cynthia and the candles. That’s why I said we should go see Jen and Decebel first.”

Sally stood, silently watching him. She was trying to process exactly what Jen was trying to accomplish by orchestrating this. Her breath caught.

“Am I supposed to sleep with you?” she spit out.

Costin started laughing and when he saw that she wasn’t laughing he stopped and stepped closer to her.

“No, Sally mine. We aren’t going to make love tonight. What we are going to do is perform the blood rites.”

Sally’s mouth dropped open and then snapped shut. She opened it again to say something, but closed it once more.

“Are you all right?” Costin asked.

She nodded but still didn’t speak.

“Sally, look at me.” Costin placed his fingers under her chin and raised her head to look up at him.

“Do you understand why this needs to be done?”

She nodded again.

“If I could wait -” he started and seemed to get flustered. “I know you would probably have the ceremony first and maybe even a wedding like your friends had and I’m so sorry it’s not special. I want it to be special for you because I understand this is a big deal and -”