Piercing Silence (13 page)

“She wishes to make it so that you had not
met,” they began but as soon as the words hit his ears Fane
couldn’t hear anything else.

Blood filled his ears as the beating of his
heart increased to a speed and intensity that was painful. His mate
was trying to change their fate. He felt as though a knife had been
stabbed repeatedly into his heart and lungs and he couldn’t catch
his breath. He knew Jacquelyn loved him, he could feel the
intensity of that love when their bond was open, but it didn’t take
away the feelings of betrayal and doubt. Whatever twisted reason
she had for wanting to do something so desperate, it wasn’t because
she didn’t want him or love him. Regardless, he was pissed.

“Have you granted her request?” Fane finally
managed to ask the Fates still pulsating before him.

“We have not met with her. We were intrigued
by such a request, but when we approached her, she had been taken
by the Great Luna. We can only assume that the goddess is
attempting to explain the consequences of such a request.”

“At least someone is trying to talk some
sense into her,” Fane growled under his breath.

“Step forward, Fane Lupei, and we will show
you what your mate is seeing so that you too will understand the
ramifications of her wishes.”

“Please, Fates, hear me now. I beg of you.
Do not grant her this,” Fane pleaded. He was prepared to drop to
his knees and grovel if it was necessary. His foolish, foolish
mate, what had she done?

“Come, mortal,” the voices said in
unison.

Fane took a shaky hesitant step toward the
Fates. He was apprehensive about what he would see, but there was
also a sick curiosity like turning your head to stare at a terrible
automobile accident on the highway. Suddenly, he felt a warmth rush
over him as his knees again hit the ground and everything around
him went dark.

Images began to play in his mind as he
watched himself make the decision not to follow his wolf’s
instincts and go to Coldspring. He wanted to roar at himself,
cursing inwardly, at his inability to move or speak as he watched a
nightmare unfold before him: Jacquelyn meeting Lucas Steele, going
on dates with him, kissing him, and looking at him with adoration
in her eyes. Fane did, however, note that there was no love in her
eyes, at least not the love that she looked at him with. He watched
her relationship with Lucas rip apart her friendships and then, to
his surprise, he watched Jen and Sally find relationships with
other wolves in the Coldspring pack. It was all wrong―so very, very
wrong. Surely if this is what she was seeing with the Great Luna
then she was seeing that this was not what was best. How could it
be? When he got glimpses of himself he watched the darkness grow
inside of him as his beast raged against the man. His wolf knew
that their mate was not in Romania and still Fane refused to
listen.

It was his father who finally forced the
issue. As Fane watched that version of his and Jacquelyn’s story
unfold, he saw that their meeting was as set as the sun rise. They
were meant for each other and no matter how she attempted to change
it, they would end up together. Fane realized then that there were
some fates that were unavoidable. The only variable was how
difficult the people involved decided to make the journey. In the
reality that played like a movie in his mind, there was so much
more pain and hurt because of the path they had taken to find one
another. Fane had to endure seeing his mate standing beside another
male, one that believed he had the right to touch her and kiss her
when she in fact belonged with Fane.

He still had to fight for her, but because
Lucas was more attached to her, not to mention Sally and Jen’s
attached wolves, this battle was much bloodier. So many more wolves
lost their lives as Fane watched the two packs tear into each
other.

This was the future that could happen if the
Fates granted his mate’s request. “Not in my bloody lifetime,” Fane
vowed as he continued to live out the battle for his mate. As soon
as the vision faded, Fane slumped forward onto his hands. His
breathing was fast and shallow as if he had actually been in the
fight. His muscles shook with exertion though he hadn’t actually
been doing anything, and sweat ran down his back despite the cold
temperature.

“Are you going to grant her request?” Fane
asked through the shallow gasps. When there was no answer he slowly
raised his head to find he was alone. “Figures,” he muttered.
“Stick around long enough to dig in the knife but don’t bother to
remove it.”

After several more minutes of attempting to
re-gather his senses, Fane sat back on his haunches. He reached up
with both hands and ran his fingers through his hair, pulling just
a little, hoping the pain would clear the rest of his muddled
thoughts. He had to get to Jacquelyn. He couldn’t let this happen.
No matter what good she thought it could possibly do, it would
cause more harm. It wouldn’t just affect their lives. Like a line
of dominos falling as the first one was pushed, the lives of those
around them would come crashing down. He truly understood the full
meaning of the saying the path to hell was paved with good
intentions.

“JACQUELYN!”
Fane thundered through their bond. He pushed with
all of his power, even drawing on his father’s power, which was
something he rarely did. He was desperate. More than ever Fane
needed his mate to understand just how important their destiny with
each other was. He couldn’t do that if he couldn’t talk to her, see
her, or touch her.

His chest restricted even tighter when he
finally felt her. She was scared, devastated, and full of guilt.
She wouldn’t answer him which only served to enrage his wolf.

“You cannot do this, Luna!
This is not a decision you get to make for us. ANSWER ME.”
Fane knew he probably looked like a mad man
kneeling on the forest floor with his teeth elongated and claws
stretch from his fingertips. He was barely holding it together. The
sound of her voice in his mind was his undoing.

“I only wanted to take away your pain. Is
that so wrong?”

Chapter 14

J
acque squeezed her eyes closed so tightly it was almost
painful. She couldn’t get the images out of her mind. So much blood
and death, so much pain and confusion, because they hadn’t met as
they should have when she was still in high school―before she’d
shared her emotions with another and before Fane and his father’s
wolves had needed to kill half a pack.

Fane’s anger was like a tidal wave rushing
through her as he suddenly shoved himself into her mind. The bond
wasn’t fully open but it was enough that she could hear him and he
was beyond enraged. She didn’t know how he’d found out what she’d
done, and her heart ached to feel how much it hurt him. His voice
boomed in her mind but she couldn’t respond, at least not right
away. She had to gather her emotions to regain some semblance of
control.

“Your mate is quite upset,” the Great Luna’s
voice broke through her carefully crafted bubble of silence.

Jacque opened her eyes to find them back in
the small clearing where the large boulder rested with her things
sitting on top of it. Her stomach dropped as she looked at the bowl
with her blood in it. Why had she thought that was a good idea?
Fane’s emotions were all over the place, making it hard for her to
think. She knew she needed to respond to him, but she was too
ashamed.

“ANSWER ME.”
His words echoed in her mind and Jacque felt her
heart break for the anguish he was feeling. When he was already
dealing with so much, she had added to his struggles.

“I only wanted to take
away your pain. Is that so wrong?”
she
finally whispered again, this time allowing him to hear her
thoughts. A sob caught in her throat. She was crying more out of
anger than sadness―anger at herself for being so stupid, anger at
the world for being so hard, anger at everything―because it was
easier to be angry than to think about how she’d hurt her mate now
that he’d found out her plan.
“Just talk to him, Jacquelyn,” the Great Luna told her. “You know
now, that though your heart was in the right place, your actions
would not have yielded the best outcome.”

“What if you hadn’t intervened?” Jacque
asked through clenched teeth as tears tracked down her cheeks.
“What if I’d been able to go through with it?”

“Then it would have been a tough
lesson.”

Jacque let out a derisive snort. “Like this
isn’t?” Her head dropped down so low that her chin nearly touched
her chest. She felt defeated.

The Great Luna’s hand gently ran down
Jacque’s head. “It is a tough lesson, yes. But the direst
consequences have been avoided. It is a gift. Take it and learn
from it and move forward. Yes, you must now deal with the
possessive wrath of your mate, but know that he is only angry
because he loves you so much. You will get through this and you
will come out stronger on the other side.”

Jacque knew the minute she was alone. The
warmth that seemed to follow the Great Luna was suddenly gone and
she was once again on her own, alone in the cold.

“Where are you?”
Fane asked and though he sounded a little calmer,
Jacque wasn’t fooled.

Three voices filled the clearing before she
could answer him.

“Do you still wish to petition us for your
request?”

Jacque whipped around to see the forms of
the Fates about ten feet away from her. No longer was she in the
same part of the forest as she had just been standing. Her eyes
widened briefly as she’d forgotten that they might actually answer
her.

She shook her head. “N-n-no,” she stuttered
out. “I take it back. I don’t want to change anything.”

“You have seen what could be?”

“Yes.”

“You know now that you should not attempt to
alter what has been put in place?”

“Yes.” Jacque didn’t know what else to say.
She wanted to scream ‘I got it,’ but decided not to push her
luck.

“Then it is time you were reunited with your
mate and you finish what destiny has started.” The forms faded from
view and the forest around her seemed to morph before her eyes,
bringing her back to a familiar landscape. She turned in a slow
circle as she began to recognize that she was once again in the
forest beyond the mansion. She heard a low growl from behind her
and she squeezed her eyes closed.

“I know you’re angry.”

Fane chuckled deep and low and Jacque felt
her stomach drop.

“You have no idea, Luna.”

She turned slowly to face him. Her hand
instinctively landing on her stomach as his eyes dropped to her
abdomen.

“Are you alright?” he asked carefully.

She nodded.

“Is my child alright?”

She nodded again.

Fane let out a slow breath before finally
speaking again. “We will return home. Then we will discuss what has
happened. You must be cold and hungry and I will see to your needs
before we deal with this any further.”

As much as those things were true, Jacque
would almost rather just get it done. It was like when she was a
child and her mother would tell her that when they got home she
would be getting a spanking. The anticipation was worse than the
actual spanking ever could have been.

“I can’t do this now, Jacquelyn. I am too
upset,” Fane admitted having picked up on her thoughts. She
realized that the bond was fully open and he was not attempting to
mask his presence in her mind. As her mate, he had every right to
be in her mind―just like he had every right to her body and her
time and her affection and anything else. She was his and yet just
as he had done to her, she’d withheld a part of herself from him.
When would they ever learn?

Fane reached out his hand to her and she
took it allowing the warmth from him to reach deep inside of her
and relieve the ache that had been building. Being separated from
him sucked and yet she’d done it willingly.

“Do you hear that?” Jen asked as she lay
wrapped in Decebel’s arms. They were leaning back against a large
tree trunk, and she wasn’t about to wipe away the goofy grin that
had been spread across her face since her mate had begun his
pursuit of her. So she’d been a little easy and let him conquer her
without a fight; her mate could be quite persuasive when he put his
mind to it.

“Footsteps,” Decebel confirmed. He stood up
and pulled Jen to her feet. She brushed herself off and turned to
face the direction of the noise. A few minutes later, a very ticked
off looking Fane and forlorn looking Jacque emerged from the
trees.

Jen ran to Jacque and threw her arms around
her. She squeezed tight and pressed her mouth close to her ear. “I
won’t rip you a new one right now because you look as though you’re
kicking yourself enough for the both of us. But if you ever take
off like that again, all bets are off.”