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“Is Sorin going to need me to pick him up?” Fane asked.

“No, he is going to rent a car for the duration of his stay,” his father answered. “I will keep you updated as I learn things. You lay low, Fane. I don’t want my only son and the future Alpha of this Pack killed.” His father used his Alpha voice. It demanded obedience and could not be defied.

“Yes, Alpha,” Fane replied, recognizing that in that moment he was not speaking as son to father, but Pack to Alpha.

Fane hung up the phone and lay back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He decided to wait a couple more days before he confronted Lilly and Jacquelyn, but he was going to have to convince Lilly to tell her daughter. He would obey his father and not tell Jacquelyn before then.

Because he needed her touch, even if only mind to mind, Fane reached out to his Luna. “Are you awake, meu inimă?” He patiently waited for her response.

“Well, I am now. Is it customary in Romania to wake people at the crack of dawn?” she replied grumpily.

“It is not the crack of dawn, Luna. It is already ten thirty,” Fane told her.

“Oh, my bad. It’s moved up to still-too-freaking early,” Jacquelyn responded.

Fane chuckled at her grumpiness and found it rather endearing.

“So I take it you are not a morning person?” he asked her.

“I’m not a person until after noon, so make a note to yourself to keep your thoughts out of mine til then.”

“Duly noted. I will not seek you out until one minute after twelve,” Fane said jokingly.

“Aren’t you just so clever?” she retorted.

Fane wondered what she looked like in the morning, hair all a mess, rumpled clothes. He imagined she was adorable.

“I would rather you not see me first thing out of bed, nor imagine what I look like. I a.s.sure you, ‘adorable’ would not be the description you choose,” Jacquelyn told him.

“I believe how I see you is not really up to you, my Luna,” Fane said gently.

“What exactly does loona mean?” she asked him.

“I will tell you soon but not today. Rest a.s.sured it is a high honor to be called that,” Fane said. “I was planning on picking you up at five thirty. Is that too early?” he asked her. He hoped not because Fane would actually go pick her up now if he could. He so desperately wanted to spend time with her and get to know her. He wanted her to know him and he hoped that she liked what she learned. He wanted to be worthy of her because she brought him balance and control and love. Fane was careful not to let those thoughts be open to her.

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