“Okay, that sounds good. I’ll let my mom know that ya’ll will be back. I know she won’t care.”

Jacque walked them downstairs to the front door and watched as they each walked to their cars. She stood in the doorway, watching them drive off until she couldn’t see their cars any longer. She slowly turned and went back into the house, shutting the door behind her.

She stood in the entryway, looking at nothing. Her mind was running amok again and Jacque was trying to decipher the thoughts. It was no use. She was tired, emotional, and beginning to realize that ever since she had walked out of the Henrys' house and away from Fane, it was taking all she had not to turn around and run – not walk, but run like a cat with a fire cracker tied to its tail – back to him. What the hell was up with that?

Jacque’s head snapped up when she heard her mom hollering from upstairs. “Jacque? I need to go to the store for a little while. I’ve got some new inventory I need to take care of, and since I was able to hire some other staff I can finally get caught up.” Her mom came to the top of the stairs and looked down at her. Tilting her head, she asked, “Are you okay, sweetie? You look a little frayed around the edges.”

“Naw, I’m good. Just a little tired. I didn’t sleep too well last night,” Jacque fibbed. Then she thought of how she had been feeling her mom’s emotions so strongly and decided to say something. “What about you mom? You okay?”

“I’m fine. Just got a lot on my mind, that’s all. Nothing to worry about. Why don’t you lie down for a little bit? Are you gonna be okay while I’m gone? Need me to get you anything while I’m out?” her mom asked.

“No. I’ll be fine, mom. Thanks though. Oh yeah, I did want to check and see if you were okay with Sally and Jen spending the night again tonight?”

“No, I don’t have a problem with that if their parents are okay with it. Ya’ll can order pizza if I’m not home by dinner,” she answered.

Jacque hugged her mom and told her goodbye before heading up to her room. She shut the door, turned off the lights, and put her Evanescence CD on. The music was oddly calming to her. Then she laid down on her bed and closed her eyes.

Chapter 6

Fane watched as Jacquelyn hurried back to her house. He wanted to growl at her eagerness to get away from him, but he reminded himself it was only because she was scared, not because she didn’t want to accept him as her mate. After all, she didn’t even know him, let alone know what a mate was.

Mrs. Henry called him from in the kitchen and he went to see what she wanted.

“Lilly made you a traditional Southern meal. Are you ready for lunch yet? It’s only 11:30, but I thought you might be hungry since you didn’t get a chance to have breakfast.”

“Actually, I am hungry and it all smells really good.” Fane’s wolf perked up at the smell of the chicken and his stomach growled. He hadn’t realized that he was so hungry.

“The plates are in the cabinet to theleft of the stove, and the silverware is in the drawer to the right of the sink,” Mrs. Henry pointed out. “Eat all you want. Oh and she made sweet tea as well. It’s in the fridge. The glasses are in the cabinet next to the plates.”

“Thank you,” Fane said simply.

“I’m off to the grocery store; I didn’t get a chance to go yesterday. Is there anything in particular that you like?” she asked.

“I’m not picky and I like to try new things, so whatever you usually buy will be fine with me. I can give you some money as well, since you will be feeding another mouth,” Fane answered.

“There is no way I’m taking any of your money, Fane, so you can just get that notion out of your head. You are our guest, and we are more than pleased to feed you,” she said firmly but not unkindly.

“MulÅ£umesc, Mrs. Henry. I am most grateful,” Fane responded.

“You’re welcome. Oh, I keep meaning to tell you, no more Mrs. Henry. Call me Sara and you can call Mr. Henry Brian. Okay, well, I'll see you later. My cell phone number is on the front of the fridge, so put it in your phone in case you need me. See you later,” she said with a wave.

Fane walked over to the fridge and there on the front was a pink sticky note with both Sara and Brian’s cell phone numbers. He took his phone out of his pocket and put both numbers in his contacts.

He found himself thinking it was kind of odd that he would never need Jacquelyn’s cell phone number, because he would always have a direct line to her designated just for him, and she to him as well. He wasn’t sure if that was a little unsettling because it meant if and when Jacquelyn realized it, she had access to his thoughts…all his thoughts. There was a way to put up what you might call a wall in your mind if you needed a break from your mate, but it was difficult for mates to be cut off from each other for any length of time. Not that he knew from experience, that was just what his father had told him about the mate bond.

Even though Jacquelyn had yet to respond to him when he spoke through her thoughts, he wasn’t feeling any ill effects from her lack of reciprocation. Once again, he was going to need to talk to his father about this.

He prepared himself a plate and a glass of sweet tea (and really, it should have been called sugar with some tea in it), and decided to eat up in his room since Sara was gone and he hadn’t seen Brian this morning.

He sat at the desk right next to the window that faced Jacquelyn’s house and pulled the blinds up so he could look out. Taking a bite of chicken, he thought about her for the millionth time since he'd set eyes on her. He thought about her unruly hair, her green eyes, her – what he now knew to be soft – skin dusted with freckles, and most of all her scent. Cotton candy and fresh snow, what an odd thing to smell like, but he supposed it had something to do with who she was, sweet and pure – and he had a feeling she could be as cold as the Romanian snow if the situation called for it.