Sacrifice of Love (10 page)

“I’m not happy about this Jacquelyn,” he told her as his blue eyes bore into hers.

“Noted.”

“Do you care?”

She huffed, “You know I do.”

“But you’re still going?”

“Yes.”

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, surprisingly gentle considering the scowl plastered on his face. He grabbed her then and pulled her from their room, suitcase in one hand, Jacque in the other. There was nothing more to say. Now he just had to hope that he could hold it together until they were together again.

Sally was extremely surprised at Costin’s volatile response to her decision to go to the States with Lilly and the others. Of all the male wolves, Costin was the most relaxed and easygoing. But his relaxed nature was gone as he paced around their room, having just hastily shoved on a pair of pants, which was necessitated by his rage induced run.

She stood silently next to her packed things and waited for him to speak. She had packed everything while he was gone and now had an hour to spare, or argue with her unreasonable mate, whatever the case may be.

“I’m not unreasonable,” he snarled. “My mate wants to fly across the globe without me. I’m sorry if I find that a little upsetting.”

“Costin,” Sally’s voice was gentle but firm, “come here please.”

She waited patiently as he made a couple more laps across the room and then finally walked over to her. She looked up into his hazel eyes and saw turmoil dancing frantically in them. She reached up and brushed the hair that perpetually fell across his forehead to the side. His eyes closed and a low rumble emitted from his chest at the contact.

“I love you, and I need you to let me do this,” she told him as she stepped closer to him. She moved until she was pressed against him and his scent swirled around her. She opened her mind and their bond as wide as she could so that he could see this wasn’t easy for her. She didn’t want to be away from him. Surely he had to know that leaving him was not the ideal choice, but it was the only choice there was.

“No,” he whispered as their foreheads touched, “you could choose to stay.”

“Lilly needs Jacque, and Jacque needs Jen and me. That is the way it works with family, Costin. You know this. Don’t ask me to choose between you and my friends because you know that I will choose you. How can I not choose you, the other half of my soul? But you know it would kill me to do so.”

He squeezed his eye closed tight. She was right. If he asked her, then she would stay and it would destroy her if anything happened to her friends and she hadn’t been there. But then if something happened to her while she was gone, it would destroy him. Where was the compromise in that? How is a man to send his mate off without protection and be okay with it? He let out a slow breath and then reached up with one of his hands, gripping the back of her neck. His other hand rested on her hip and tugged her closer. He tilted her head back and looked down into her eyes before he pressed his lips to hers.

It wasn’t a gentle kiss. Costin was feeling anything but gentle and he couldn’t even feign it. He kissed her deeply, attempting to drown in her taste and hoping that when they came up for air all of it would just be a bad dream. Sally responded passionately as she always did when he touched her. She leaned into him and reached up, wrapping both arms around his neck. The small noises she made drove him crazy and he was beginning to think kissing her was a bad idea because it was only reminding him of what he wouldn’t be able to have the entire time she was gone.

“It won’t be that long,
” she told him as they continued to kiss.

“How do you know?”
he asked as he nipped her lip roughly.

She pulled back and looked up at him. Her cheeks were flushed and her breathing was rapid. She was beautiful.

“Because if you think it’s going to be easy for me to be away from you then you have been sniffing too many of the herbs I’ve been working with. I don’t want to be away from you any longer than I absolutely have to be.”

His hands slid to her back and then began sliding lower.

“Could I convince you to stay? Show you what you will be missing?”

Sally nearly groaned as she watched the playfulness return to her mate. It was this flirty, teasing manner that drove her wild and he knew it. He wielded it ruthlessly against her and she nearly always caved.

“Believe me. I know what I will be missing.”

Costin smacked her backside, something he seemed fond of doing, and growled at her.

“As long as you know, then you should know I will be reminding you frequently.” He tapped her head indicating their mental bond.

She felt her skin heat as blood rushed to her cheeks.

He chuckled. “I see you’re remembering just how good I am at using our bond to drive you crazy.”

Sally stepped back from his hold and narrowed her eyes at him, though there was a note of playfulness in her tone. “You just remember that payback’s a bitch, dimple boy.”

Costin grumbled as he wrapped an arm around her. “Name calling, Sally mine? Do you really think now is the time to start that. You know that I like it when you play rough.”

Sally elbowed him in the side as they left their room, and though she appreciated the playfulness he was showing her, she could still feel the underlying anger that he had chosen to bury. She could feel his wolf fighting with the man for dominance. She tried to take a deep breath and not worry about how and when that anger might come bursting free and whether or not she would be there to help him regain control.

Chapter 7

“How does a man protect his heart from a lust for power, greed, and self-indulgence? How does a man remain humble and able to recognize that the world is not his to create and command? I truly believe that the only way to protect myself from becoming one such as this is to give sacrificially of myself, my love, my time, and my possessions. If I am not doing these things, then how am I any different from the tyrant we now pursue? How can I say I am on the side of good, if evil reigns within?” ~Vasile

“You don’t have to do this,” Lilly told her daughter as they walked towards the chartered jet owned by the Romanian pack.

“Life is not about things we do or do not have to do; it’s about doing what we should do, about doing the right thing. There’s no reason for you to go home by yourself, especially after everything we’ve all been through.” Jacque didn’t break stride as she walked beside Lilly. She knew that her mom would try to talk her out of going, but that wasn’t an option and she wanted her to know that.

“Thank you.” Lilly reached over and squeezed Jacque’s hand and fought back tears that had been on the verge of falling since she had arrived at the Romanian mansion. It didn’t feel right to break down in front of her daughter. She was the mom, the mature grownup, and so she pushed away the hurt and disappointment and plastered on her
things are fine
face.

The mates of each of the females were the only ones allowed to accompany them to the airport and so Vasile, Decebel, Fane, Costin, Sorin, and Adam each stood with their mates while Peri and Cynthia stood off a little to the side, giving the pairs some space.

Jacque had no intention of dragging out the goodbye with her mate. They had said all they needed to and if she stayed too long he would just start his assault of reasons on why she should not be going without him.

“I love you,” she told him as she stood on her tiptoes and took his face in her hands. She gave him a firm kiss on his lips and when she pulled back she saw that his eyes glowed wolf blue. She got the distinct feeling that if she did not get her butt on the plane now he just might throw her over his shoulder and run.

“Be safe,” his words were a growl, but the hand that reached out and caressed her face was as gentle as if he were handling a delicate treasure. “You are priceless to me,” he told her softly.

Jacque took another step back and met her mate’s eyes one last time before turning and hurrying towards the jet. She didn’t look back for fear that she would run back into his arms and tell him to take her home. She needed to be strong for her mom. She needed Fane to know she was capable of taking care of herself and more than anything, she needed Fane to pull himself together. Having her with him didn’t seem to help. Maybe with her out of the picture, he would be able to figure out what he needed to do to move past the anger and hurt that was consuming him.

“I can’t talk you out of this, can I?” Costin asked Sally.

She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face to his chest. His scent wrapped around her and though she didn’t have the sense of smell that the wolves did, she still knew his scent and would know it anywhere. She never knew that the way someone smelled could stir such emotion and longing. She wished that she could bottle it and take it with her so she could have it when she needed his nearness.

“No,” she whispered softly knowing he would be able to hear her.

He let out an exhausted sigh and she hated that she was causing him such distress.

“I’ll be fine,” she told him as she pulled back and looked up at his all-too-handsome face. “I love you.”

He gave her one of his heart stopping grins, dimples and all, and she felt her pulse quicken. She wondered if that grin would still cause such a reaction in her twenty or even fifty years from now. As she stared into his hazel eyes where mischief danced, she knew it would.

“I love you too, Sally mine.” He wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her to him pressing his firm lips to her soft ones. He kissed her deeply, devouring the feel and taste of her. It was more than a kiss. It was a claiming. His heart was hers, just as her heart was his. He pushed every ounce of need, want, and love for her into that kiss and Sally felt it deep in her soul.

When he finally let her up for air, he gave her one last kiss on her forehead then gently pushed her in the direction of the plane.

“Go now before I chain you to my side.”

Sally took him at his word and turned and walked briskly to the plane, following the same path Jacque had just taken.

Jen watched as Crina said her goodbyes to Adam and Elle to Sorin. Neither of the males looked any happier than her mate did. The difference was that their tortured looks were because they didn’t want their mates to leave. Decebel’s tortured look, however, was for a reason unknown to her, which thoroughly pissed her off.

“Please try and stay out of trouble.” His voice pulled her eyes from the other two couples and she turned to face him.

“I don’t think many men like to see a pregnant chick strip, no matter how beautiful she is, so I don’t think you need to worry about that―for now.” Jen was trying her best to keep the snarkiness out of her voice. No matter how upset she was with her mate she didn’t want to leave on a bad note.

“Stripping is not your only talent when it comes to trouble, mate.” His eyes were narrowed at her but she heard the playfulness in his tone and that small thing loosened something inside her, if only for a minute.

“Don’t you just take comfort in knowing that you have a very long life to try and keep me out of trouble?” she teased back. And just like that, his guard was back up and it was like the past two hours hadn’t happened.

“Let me know when you land. I love you Jennifer.” He leaned forward and held her face in both of his hands. His eyes held hers for several heartbeats and then he pressed a firm kiss to her lips. She nearly fell forward when he released her, and had his hands not steadied her, she might have landed on her face. She glowered at him.

“I love you too, Decebel,” she said just as stiffly as he had. “Let me know when you decide to act like the mate who claimed me without reservation. Because this,” she motioned to him from head to toe, “is not working for me. I seriously liked you better when you refused to let me out of your sight. What happened to that, B? After I died, you told me you wouldn’t let me be away from you. So what happened?”

“Things change, Jennifer. Circumstances change. I love you. We’ve already been over this. I will come for you soon.” Decebel took a step back away from his mate and the look of rejection on her face ripped at his already shredded heart.

Jen made a motion to step towards her mate, but arms came around her to stop her. “Let it go for now Jen,” Cynthia’s soft voice penetrated the haze of anger and pain that had rushed over Jen when Decebel backed away from her. She nodded, met Decebel’s eyes, and then turned to walk away from him.

Decebel watched as his mate walked to the pack jet, her shoulders pulled back proudly, and her head held high. She wouldn’t cower, not his woman. No matter how her heart ached, she wouldn’t allow the outside world to know it. His hands clenched into fists at his side and the swirl of fear and regret churned in his gut. He should just let her go. There was no need to draw this out, but the further she got from him, the more desperate his wolf fought to be free, to run to their mate.
To hell with it,
he thought as he walked quickly to her.