His hand rested on her waist and followed around as he circled back to stand in front of her. "Your friends explained what the markings mean?" The question was gentle.
Sally nodded. "They mean that I'm your mate."
Costin grinned. "Yes, gypsy lady, you are indeed mine. But those markings are for my eyes only." His voice was still gentle, but there was an underlying darkness to them. It was clear that he, like Fane and Decebel, was going to be very possessive and obsessive about the markings.
"Your eyes only," Sally repeated. "Got it."
"So," Costin's voice brightened as he squeezed her waist, "I hear you have a birthday today."
Sally laughed. "I don't know where you could have possibly heard that."
"It might have been from a certain blonde running around the mansion reminding everyone of the party of the century taking place in honor of, and I quote, 'the most bad ass gypsy healer known to man', which was followed up with a, 'no offense to Rachel, but fact is fact'.
Sally rolled her eyes and let out a moan of embarrassment. "Sometimes I think we should make a waiver for her to sign so that she understands we aren't responsible for our actions when she flies off at the mouth."
"Well, I for one have been looking forward to it. It will be the first time that we will be seen before the pack as mates, though not bonded," Costin's eyes cut to the side to look at her as he led her to the door, "yet," he finished boldly.
Sally followed him out of her room and had to admit that she liked his hand on the small of her back as he guided her to the large gathering room. The party was already in full swing. Jen and Jacque had gone all out – with the help of Crina and Cynthia, of course.
As Costin led her up to the entryway, the music suddenly died and all eyes turned to look at them. She hadn't considered how large the party would be since Decebel's Serbian pack had been invited. Not all of them had shown up but there was a good number. Sally almost took an involuntary step back but Costin's firm hand held her in place as he whispered, "I've got you. I've always got you."
Sally let out the breath she had been holding and smiled at the room.
"Finally!" Jen spoke into a microphone from across the room. She stood next to the table where the "DJ" was set up. "Here's the birthday girl, everyone! Get your well wishes in because she will soon be on the dance floor partying like it's 1969." Jen paused and spoke softly to Jacque but didn't cover the microphone. Jacque was standing next to Jen, trying not to laugh.
"Was 1969 a good party year? Do we know?" the room heard through the speakers. Snickers rippled through the crowd.
Jacque looked at her and shook her head. "How about we party like it's New Year's Eve 2009?"
A huge smile spread across Jen's face. "Ah, that was a good one." She turned back to the crowd and yelled again, "Rewind! We're going to party like it's New Year's Eve 2009. If you're curious as to how awesome a party that was, please see me, Jacque, or Sally. Sally's version will be much more accurate, and also free of any important inappropriate details." Before she could say anything else, a large hand wrapped around the microphone and pulled it from Jen's hand.
Decebel handed the mike to Jacque as he growled at his mate and pulled her away. All the while Jen was telling him exactly how much she didn't appreciate him getting all up in her Kool Aid.
"Happy birthday, Sally!" Jacque said into the microphone and the room broke into applause. "Everyone enjoy yourselves. The cake will be out soon, and then presents!"
As soon as Jacque put the microphone down and the music resumed, the crowd was back in motion and the murmur of conversation filled the air.
Sally looked up at Costin as they continued into the room. "Well, that was interesting," he said softly and grinned.
Sally was wrapped in a tight hug before she could respond to Costin's remark.
"You look amazing!" Jen squeezed her, apparently haven gotten away from Decebel.
"Jen, you saw me before I came down." Sally told her with raised eyebrows.
"That's not the point. It's all about presentation. You walk up in here in this yummy black dress with yummy, furry eye candy plastered to you... Jeez, you are very striking together."
Sally tried to put some space between her and Costin after being referred to as “plastered” to him. Costin tightened his hold on her and pulled her close. The move did not go unnoticed by eagle-eye Jen, who raised a single eyebrow at Sally and smirked. Sally was very tempted to kick Jen in the shin or give her the one finger salute that Jen tended to throw around when she was in a particularly nasty mood.
However, Sally decided that the birthday girl should probably not act that way. She did note that her inner Jen was all for the kicking and saluting.
Sally, Jacque, Jen, Crina, and even Cynthia spent most the time on the dance floor. They bumped and ground and gyrated all over, earning them applause and laughs from both packs and growls and frowns from their mates. Crina, of course, loved rubbing in the fact that she didn't have to worry about a mate dragging her off the dance floor.
Finally, after an hour or more of dancing, Jacque announced the entry of the birthday cake, which was beautiful, but Sally did not understand its shape. Perizada stepped up next to the table on which the cake had been rolled out.
"I can tell by the look on your face that you don't know what your cake is supposed to be." Perizada smiled at Sally.
Sally looked at the three round maroon cakes that were pushed together, forming a circle.
"Berries?"
Peri chuckled. "No, healer. This is a gypsy rune symbol. It indicates a bonding when thrown during a casting of the future, or can link situations together when used properly. This cake was chosen due to what a little bird -"
"Jen," Jacque coughed, trying to disguise Jen's name as she interrupted Peri, who continued on as if Jacque hadn't spoken.
“- who told me that you have experienced a bond. Am I correct?"
Sally froze at Peri's question. She knew she couldn't hide her and Costin's mating signs forever, and she knew that they would have to complete the bonding ceremony – eventually. What she didn't know was how to face a room full of Canis lupis and discuss her love life.
Before she could speak Costin stepped forward, and as he said he would, he had her.
"We are here to celebrate Sally turning eighteen." Costin's voice rang firmly over the room, and the dominance he so easily hid was very evident now. "At this moment there is nothing more important than celebrating that on this day, eighteen years ago, Sally Morgan came into the world. Thank you, Peri, for the explanation of the cake. I for one am ready for Sally to blow out the candles so I can have a piece."
As Sally stepped forward to blow out the candles, Jen eased over next to Costin.
"Well played, lover boy. Well played." Jen nodded her approval at Costin's protection of Sally and continued past him toward the cake.
After Sally had opened present after present – with the help of Jen's incessant commentary – the night began to draw to a close. Sally was breathing more easily. Costin had graciously side-stepped a formal announcement of their mate signs and Jen had kept her clothes on. All in all, it was a successful party. In fact, she had been having so much fun with the girls that she had pushed her and Costin's bonding to the furthest part of her mind. It wasn't until she pulled her hair into a pony tail that the hell that she'd hoped wouldn't break out...did.
Jen, Jacque, and Sally sat on the far side of the great room, pretty much oblivious to everyone else as they reminisced about things from high school and how, if a year ago someone had told them they would discover the existence of werewolves, they would have busted a gut laughing. Then they started laughing over the things Jen had pulled over the past year once they all had gotten their driver's licenses.
Late one night, two weeks after Jen had gotten her license, she took her new found independence in her new Honda Civic and used it to wreak havoc on the good people of Coldspring. Jen – and, of course, she dragged Jacque and Sall
y along – made the rounds to each student or teacher that fit into her “waste of perfectly good oxygen” category. Depending on the amount of oxygen the person wasted, according to Jen, determined the intensity of the prank. Some got their cars saran-wrapped so they couldn’t open the car doors; some had their yard forked, which was very time consuming and utterly annoying to the prank-ee when it came time to mow the grass; some got Vaseline put on every visible handle of any kind. After that night, Sally and Jacque had wholeheartedly agreed that allowing Jen access to a vehicle was definitely not in the public's best interest.
"I can't believe your parents thought it was a good idea to let you have a car," Jacque said, then cocked her head to the side. "Speaking of parents, when are you two going to call dear old mom and dad and give them the news of your change in circumstance?"
Before either Jen or Sally could answer, Sally felt a finger brush gently against her back, directly over her spine. She knew instantly that it wasn't Costin because the sensation of ants crawling all over her skin rippled over her. Jacque's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head as her mouth dropped open and Sally just had time to hear Jen mutter under her breath before a deafening snarl ripped through the room.
"Guess I'm going to have to strip after all." Jen stood, motioning to the DJ by bumping her thumb in an upward motion, indicating she wanted him to increase the volume. As she climbed up onto the table, she watched Costin, who was now glaring at the young Serbian pack member who stood behind a terrified looking Sally.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion from that point on.
"Shit," Jen breathed out as she watched Costin lunge and phase in mid air. Only a few in the back of the room had realized what was going on, so Jen took the opportunity to jump across from table to table, like a frog on lily pads, until she landed on the table closest to the dance floor – and in one of those rare Jen moments, the DJ started The Black Eyed Peas' "Let's Get it Started in Here".
Jen thought, How appropriate, and then let out a loud whoop, pulled her hair out of her pony tail, and shook it out as her body moved to the rhythm of the music. She tried to ignore the growling in her mind. She knew that Decebel would be torn on whether to drag her off the table or help restrain Costin from killing one of his pack members. She could admit that maybe by now she would have learned not to poke the sleeping tiger, or in this case, wolf. But as she had said in other stripping situations, desperate times call for desperate measures.
The crowd was clapping and all turned to watch Jen as she kicked off a shoe. She was trying to do as much dancing as possible in between removing items from her body, hoping to minimize the damage. She kicked off her other shoe, and when she began to pull up the sheer black top she wore over a camisole, the room erupted in whistles and more applause.
The music switched and Pitbull's voice came across the speakers, "Give Me Everything" streaming out. Again Jen mentally rolled her eyes at the song, wondering if each one was going to describe the current situation. Someone in the universe was taking great pleasure in adding to the already dangerous situation. Jen made a big show of using the sheer top as a dancing prop so she could keep from removing more clothing. She heard Decebel's voice in her mind and the anger that radiated from it.
"Why are you always the one to volunteer to take your clothes off in public?" Decebel's tone barely covered the contained rage. She could feel his power pulsing through the room as he commanded Costin not to attack. She was amazed that he could admonish her while dealing with a feral wolf.
"Is it some compulsive behavior that every so often makes you feel the need to strip? Because that can easily be accommodated. The difference? I will be your ONLY AUDIENCE! Now put what you have removed back on and step down from the table. If a male touches you as you remove yourself from that table he forfeits his life."
"Aren't you being a little dramatic? You would rather me fall off this table than let a gentleman help me?" Jen put her shirt back over her head and took her shoes from Crina, who had picked them up.
Crina winked at Jen and mouthed, “You're my hero”.
"You got your butt up on that table on your own; you will get down on your own. I might not be bothered by a male helping you if you had not just sparked all kinds of excitement in their young, immature minds."
With an exasperated sigh Jen sat down on the table and slid off.
"It's not like they're going to get all hot and bothered over my sexy little toes," she muttered, heading back to the table where she, Sally, and Jacque had been sitting before the evening's main – and dramatic – event.
Costin's wolf was out of control and the only thing able to hold him in place was Decebel's dominance. Vasile had not intervened since a Serbian pack member had committed the offense.
Decebel commanded him to stop and the Alpha command wrapped around Costin and halted him in his tracks. He stood snarling, his eyes glued to the wolf that had so stupidly touched Sally. Costin was trying to push his wolf back and regain control, but the wolf was having none of it. The possessiveness he felt toward Sally was like nothing he had ever experienced, and on some level it worried him that as long as they weren't bonded he was dangerous to anyone and everyone. But it did not bother him enough to keep him from making it clear, when he walked over to Sally and stood in front of her, that no one was to get close to her. He snarled and met the gaze of each wolf and waited for them to lower their eyes. Costin looked at Sally and let out a low rumble. She started to take a step back at what seemed to be a growl, but Costin shook his head. Then he motioned with an upward nod.
"I – I..." Sally's voice was hoarse as she tried to speak to the wolf that was Costin. "I don't know what you want.”
Jen stepped up and gently pulled Sally's dark brown hair from the pony tail and arranged it in a way that covered the markings on her back.
"He wants these out of sight so that no other flea-infested fur ball will see them," Jen whispered.
Sally's head snapped around toward Jen and then back to Costin.
"I forgot." Her voice was apologetic. "I'm -" She started to say more but stopped when Costin nudged her hip, trying to push her toward the door.
"I think he needs to call it a night," Decebel told Sally.
She still had the shell-shocked look that had come across her face when Costin landed next to her, looking every bit the part of the big bad wolf.
Sally nodded absently as she turned and headed for the doors with Costin walking so close to her that she could feel his fur brushing her leg. Sally heard Decebel tell someone – she assumed Jen and Jacque – to come check on her in a little while.
Sally wasn't sure what she would say to them. Am I okay? she thought as she continued up the stairs toward her room. She decided to be honest with herself: no, she was definitely not okay.
Chapter 2
"If you find yourself suddenly mated to a werewolf, whatever you do don't panic. Simply turn to Jen for assistance and she will give you a cool acronym to call him…because that's just so important." -Sally
Once they were at Sally's door Costin nudged her forward. She opened it and when she stepped back to let him in he stayed in the hall. Sally stared for a moment before it hit her.
"You need to phase back and get dressed," she said.
Costin nodded once and then stepped forward. With his right paw he stomped the floor just outside her room. Sally cocked her head to the side, not understanding. She watched as he did it again and then shook his head as if to say no.
"Oh." Sally brightened, proud of herself for deciphering his sign language. "You're telling me not to leave my room."
Costin nodded his big wolf head again. His eyes had begun glowing during the earlier confrontation and even now they shimmered an eerie shade of green.
Sally's inner Jen had been triggered as soon as she got the words out. So, naturally, she did what her inner Jen told her to – she stepped forward, putting one toe outside her door. Costin growled, so she stepped back. Wat
ching him coyly, she put her other toe outside her door, and he growled again. Inwardly she was scolding herself for taunting him and allowing her inner Jen to control her actions, but she had discovered long ago that sometimes inner Jen was just more fun.
When Sally stuck her foot out for the third time, she giggled when Costin snapped at her. She could tell he was playing by the way his tail wagged and his eyes lightened. It seemed her playfulness had helped calmed him. That was a good thing because she was going to need him calm for what she wanted to discuss.
"Are you coming back?" Her words were tentative.
Costin nodded once, then turned and trotted off toward his room.
Sally closed the door and stood with her back pressed against it. She closed her eyes and took slow, deep breaths, trying really hard to get the picture of Costin lunging across the room – lips curled back, eyes glowing, ears down and hackles raised – out of her mind. She wasn't afraid of him, not exactly. She was afraid of the intensity he felt for her, and she for him. It was one thing to see your two best friends meet their soul mates and watch the passion they felt for each other flow out them like water, and another to experience it yourself.
She took one last deep breath and headed to her closet to change out of her dress. She put on a red, fitted long sleeve tee shirt and a pair of black, low waist yoga pants. She was going for comfort, at least physically because she knew as soon as Costin returned, emotional comfort would fly out the door as he closed it behind him.
Sally was walking out of her closet when the knock came.
"How long do you think it's going to take Decebel to deal with the wayward wolf who touched Sally?" Jen asked Jacque casually as they sat in the now nearly empty gathering room.