“
No, sweetie. You've been gone a long time now, we just didn’t want you to know that we knew,” Sally said with humor.
“
Seriously, I know it sounds crazy. But I promise I heard a voice – a beautiful, deep, masculine voice in my head, and it knew my name! That is crazy, jacked up, 'put her in a straight jacket', totally insane!” Jacque looked at them both with fear in her eyes. She truly did wonder if she had finally cracked.
There was after all, people in her family of questionable sanity, her mother being one of them. Jacque loved her mom and they had a good relationship, but she wasn’t always in touch with reality. Jacque’s father wasn’t in the picture and never had been. He had bailed as soon as he found out her mom was pregnant. Thankfully, she had two best friends who kept her feet firmly on the ground, which was why she was so fervently seeking their thoughts on this matter.
Sally finally spoke up. “I don’t think you're crazy, Jac. Really, you’re not. There has to be some sort of explanation. We’ll figure it out, we always do.”
“
Yeah,” Jen added. “It’s two weeks 'til school starts. From now until then we are on scout detail.”
Sally nodded her agreement.
The three were quiet for a few minutes, each pondering ways to “run into” the new exchange student without seeming too obvious. Jen was lying on the floor, looking up at the ceiling fan when she said, “We need to find a way to introduce ourselves to him so that we can each get a good look and see if Sally or I hear a voice in our head.”
“
My mom was planning on taking over a good ol' Southern meal for him since he isn’t from here. We could ask if we could go over with her. Or would that be too lame?” Jacque asked.
“
No, I think that’s perfect,” Jen stated.
By midnight they had come up with a somewhat weak game plan, the whole of it revolving around going with Jacque’s mom to give the new exchange student some fried chicken, taters, and corn on the cob.
Seriously, how lame can you get?
Jacque thought as she lay on her bedroom floor. Jen and Sally had fallen asleep on the other side of her room each with a blanket wrapped around them.
Jacque sat up and looked around her room. This was a place she felt safe and comfortable: the twin-size bed with the new green bed spread her mom had bought her for her birthday, the stained-glass lamp with absolutely no theme whatsoever that sat on her small wood desk. She, Sally, and Jen had carved various things on the desk's surface. She looked at her dresser mirror, which had pictures lining both sides, mostly of Jen, Sally and her in various places and poses.
A few hours ago I was just another seventeen year old getting ready to start her senior year. I was so normal
, she thought.
She had three homecoming mums hanging on the wall next to her bed, and on the other side was the window seat she had occupied tonight, where her life had changed in a way she wasn’t sure of yet. Jacque lay back down on her back and watched her ceiling fan go around in a circle, the motor lulling her to sleep. Her last thought as she drifted off was of a full moon, whatever that meant.
Chapter 2
As his limo
pulled up to the house where Fane would stay, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Not necessarily in a bad way, he just felt unsettled, restless, and tense.
Well, it could've been because he was more than a thousand miles away from home. He knew absolutely no one, it was his senior year in high school, and he was going to be spending it in a country he had never been to before.
“
Yes I imagine that might make a person tense,” Fane said to himself. He looked at the house and noticed it was quite large – two stories with a wrap-around porch. It actually looked like a house you might see out in the country, not in a suburb. The yard was nicely manicured with short green grass. There was a tall, full tree to the right of the walkway with a quaint bench underneath. On the porch there were two rocking chairs and a porch swing, and between the chairs was a little table with a potted plant. Overall, it was a charming home. A home in which a person would feel comfortable – a normal home.
Fane hoped this was the case because 'normal' was not usually a part of his vocabulary. He was, after all, from a family of werewolves. Specifically Grey wolves (Canis lupus). Not only that, he just happened to be the son of the Pack's current Alpha. His name, Fane Lupei, literally meant “Crown Wolf.” How fitting for the Prince of the Romanian Greys.
What could possibly be normal about your family being able to change into wolves, or being a prince of those wolves yourself? Nothing in that scenario could ever be normal.
You made this choice,
Fane told himself.
Now you have to live with it. So get out of the car.
Fane wasn’t really sure why he had even decided to apply to the foreign exchange program. He just knew he'd felt a pull, like a moth to a flame, to come to the United States. And not to just any city in the United States, but to Coldspring, Texas. Why he'd thought it was a good idea to leave his home in Romania, which had the largest number of Greys in the world, he didn’t know.
There were other places that Canis lupus held as territories, like Ireland, the Balkans, and Poland – even Italy and Spain had some Grey wolves. One would think that a Grey would go to another territory where other Greys were. The problem was that wolves were extremely territorial, especially among males, and unless a wolf wanted a fight, you didn’t wander into another’s territory. Fortunately, there weren’t any Canis lupus in the small town of Coldspring, so Fane was free to come and claim his own territory, which was completely in his nature to do.
Okay, no more stalling, Fane thought.
He looked up at Sorin, his driver and friend, and said, “I guess this is it. Mulţumesc (thank you), my friend, for coming all this way to drop me off. I appreciate it.”
“
Think nothing of it, my Prince. It is always an honor to serve you.”
“
Oh, come now. Don’t go getting all formal on me. Here in Coldspring, I’m just a high school student, not a prince,” Fane said.
Fane knew this was hard for his friend, though Sorin’s title was actually “Guard to the Prince” and had been since Fane was a child. Sorin had actually wanted to stay in the U.S. with Fane, but Fane had insisted Sorin go home and let him be on his own for a while. Because there were no other Greys in this area, it wasn’t likely that he was going to get into a battle.
Sorin got out of the car to open Fane’s door, but Fane was unfolding his tall form before Sorin could even get around the front of the car. Fane stood six foot two inches tall, which was a good five inches taller than Sorin, so once out of the car he had to look just a little lower to meet his long-time friend in the eye. Sorin bowed only slightly, a show of respect and love for the Prince, and then broke formality and hugged him. Wolves took great comfort in touch; it was as much in their nature as breathing and even in human form they tended to touch more than humans. Fane patted Sorin on the back and stepped away.
Out of nowhere, Fane caught a passing thought in his mind that caused his wolf to perk up.
“
He must be more than just his driver.”
Fane turned his head to look toward the thought’s origin, and locked eyes with a girl in a window of the two-story house across the street.
The belief by humans that men “changed” into werewolves was false. Fane was able to do what the Canis lupus called “phasing”. The wolf and the man were one, there was no changing from one to the other. A change would mean that once a man was in wolf form he was no longer a man, but fully wolf, and when in human form that he was fully human. This was not the case. A Canis lupus was always aware of his wolf, as was the wolf always aware of the man. They usually existed together harmoniously. When Fane was in his wolf form, he could still think and reason as if he were in his human form. When he was in his human form, he could call on his wolf to phase only the parts he needed to use instead of phasing his entire being.
He phased just enough to let his wolf eyes do the looking. Although the Grey wolf’s eyesight wasn’t as good as its hearing, its night vision was the best of all the breeds of wolves. He found himself looking into eyes the color of emeralds.
It registered in Fane’s brain at that moment that he had “heard” her thoughts. There was only one person in the world that a Grey could hear thoughts from – his mate. His wolf growled possessively, and he took several deep breaths to keep from phasing. He discovered for the first time was what it was like to not be in harmony with his wolf. The wolf wanted out, he wanted to go to his mate, his other half. Fane knew it was a better idea not ti phase into his wolf and go pining at her window like a lovesick pup. He couldn’t get her scent, so her window must have been closed. A wolf’s mate also carried a certain scent that only he would recognize.
Reflexively, he sent her a thought as he picked her name out of her mind.
“At last, my Jacquelyn.”
It was so natural to claim what was his, and she was without a doubt his, whether she knew it yet or not.
Judging from the look on her face, she had heard him, and for a minute he thought she just might pass out from shock. Further confirming that she was his mate, he could feel her distress and confusion. But he knew she would be fine, she was strong. She had to be because she was the mate of an Alpha and she was to be his Luna. She was so named because she, like the moon, had a pull over many things – she had power that other female Greys did not.
Fane turned and, ignoring his wolf's instincts to go to her, walked up to the house, so breaking the gaze that had locked them together. As he knocked on the door, he couldn’t help himself and sent her another thought, one to assure her this encounter wasn’t their last.
“
Soon,”
he thought, and once again felt her confusion.
The Henrys were the family he would be living with for the next year – the “host” family was what they were called in the exchange program. This was the first time he had ever seen them and he was surprised at how young they were. They both looked to be in their early thirties. Mr. Henry was a little shorter than Fane and had sandy brown hair and brown eyes. He was thin, like a runner, and had a friendly face. Mrs. Henry was much shorter, with dark brown hair and pale brown eyes. She was average in size, neither heavy nor thin, and had a short, cute nose and rose-colored cheeks.
“
Welcome to our home, Fane,” Mrs. Henry said, reaching out to hug him.
Fane was a little surprised, as he knew Americans to be stand-offish when it came to touching. But he found comfort in the touch and sank into that feeling.
Mr. Henry held out his hand and Fane responded by shaking it. “We are very glad to have you here with us,” Mr. Henry said.
“
Thank you for allowing me to stay in your home. I appreciate your generosity greatly,” Fane said sincerely.
“
You must be tired from your long trip. Why don’t we show you your room and let you get settled for the night. If you're hungry, I can show you the kitchen and you're welcome to help yourself to anything you find. We can visit more tomorrow and get better acquainted once you have rested,” said Mrs. Henry kindly.
Fane followed them both upstairs and they went down a long hall, passing several doors. “We'll give you the full tour tomorrow,” Mr. Henry told Fane.
That was fine with Fane. He was very tired, but his brain was going ninety to nothing thinking about what he had just discovered. The wolf inside was restless knowing that his mate, who he possibly could've had to wait an eternity for, was just across the street.
Finally at the end of the hall, at the last door on the left, Mrs. Henry stepped aside and said, “Here is your room. We took the liberty of decorating it a bit, but you are welcome to change it anyway you like. So we'll leave you to it. Sleep tight.”
“
Mulţumesc,” he stated formally. The Henrys looked at him quizzically. “Oh, that means ‘thank you’ in Romanian. Sometimes I forget and start speaking my native language, forgive me.”
“
Oh, no. That’s great, Fane,” Mrs. Henry said. “I would love to learn your language and culture. Please feel free to use it anytime you want.”
“
Well then, mulţumesc and noapte bună – which means good night,” Fane told them.
With that, the Henrys turned and walked away, leaving Fane to explore his new territory.
He walked into his room and immediately felt at home. They had inadvertently decorated his room in winter tones with wolves as the dominate theme.
How fitting
, Fane thought. The walls were painted a white that glistened like snow and one had a mural of a winter forest; in the distance there was a wolf on a snowy hill, his head tilted to the sky in a lonely howl. The bed was a full-size with a thick blue comforter and lots of pillows.
To the left of the bedroom door was another door. Fane opened it, and walked into a huge closet with built-in drawers all along one wall. The back wall had a clothing bar across the top. Along the right side of the closet were various sizes of shelves from floor to ceiling. All in all, it was quite a sight – there was even a built-in shoe rack along the bottom of the closet all the way around the perimeter.