Jen turned to glance at Sally. “You need to dumb down your kid.” Then she looked back at Titus. “There are many things adults do that kids need not do, Tucker.”
“Aunt Jen,” Titus huffed. “You know my name.”
Jen shrugged. “You irritate me, your name becomes whatever I want it to be.”
Titus rolled his eyes and shrugged before turning to help Thia prop Slate back up on his hands and knees.
Jacque watched all of it with only a passing interest. Her mind constantly searched Fane’s. The day after the ceremony, he’d told her his wolf needed to run. Costin and Decebel had joined him, and the trio had gone out hunting every day since. He wasn’t shutting her out like he’d done in the past. She had front row tickets to all his thoughts, but they were so numerous and jumbled together with his emotions, it was hard for her to decipher them.
Mainly, she felt his worry. Jacque was doing everything she could think of to remove some of his stress. She’d hosted two pack dinners, inviting everyone to eat together. Most of the pack had attended, and the meals had been a good time of fellowship, a chance to share memories of their beloved alpha pair. As much as it hurt to talk about them, taking a walk down memory lane with the rest of the pack was cathartic. The little pieces Jacque gleaned from the other pack members were filling the giant hole left by the loss of the alphas.
“Mission control to Jacque,” Jen huffed.
Jacque blinked several times and looked up from where she’d been staring, unseeing, at the children. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Sally and I were just talking about how we need to have a big Christmas celebration that also includes all the birthdays, anniversaries, etc. that we’ve missed because of all the dickhead bad guys we’ve recently had to deal with.”
“For the record, I didn’t say dickhead,” Sally added.
“But you wanted to,” Jen said.
Jacque thought about the idea, and her first reaction was to say no. A celebration seemed like the last thing she wanted to take part in right now. But then she looked at Thia. The little girl was patting Slate on the back as if trying to tell him she knew he could do it. Thia had turned a year old with no celebration of the milestone. Each of them had birthdays that had come and gone with no acknowledgement because there’d been no time, and when rest had finally come, the reprieve had been short-lived. Who knows how long it had been since Titus had celebrated a birthday?
Finally, she looked at Sally and then Jen. “I think you’re right. We should have a Christmas that celebrates everything we’ve missed.”
“Excellent,” Jen said.
Jacque held up a hand. “But,” she added quickly, “I have a couple of stipulations.”
“Ugh.” Jen flopped back onto the couch. “Stipulations usually mean fun killers.”
“We have one night where the entire pack celebrates, but on Christmas Eve, it’s just our group, those of us who’ve been through it all together.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Sally said.
Jen pursed her lips and seemed to think about it before begrudgingly nodding. “I can deal with that.”
“All right then.” Jacque smiled. “Operation AGWCAEIB is in effect.”
Jen’s lips twitched. “Are you just trying to get on my good side by using my lingo?”
Jacque shrugged. “I wanted a smile, and I got half of one. So, I’d say it was pretty successful.”
“Go ahead, enlighten me. What is operation AGWCAEIB?” Sally asked.
“Operation A Grey Wolves Christmas And Everything In Between.”
“Nice,” Jen said with a nod.
“How do you think the guys will feel about it?” Sally asked.
“I think they’re going to be singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” while they frolic about tossing silver tinsel onto the trees.”
“Is that some weird fantasy you have?” Jacque asked, thankful to have a somewhat normal Jen back to distract her.
“I didn’t say they were going to be wearing Christmas Speedos,” Jen answered with an eye roll.
“And who's going to get the guys to frolic with tinsel?” Sally asked.
Jen pointed to the kids on the floor. “The big bad wolves turn to little puppies when any of those little fur balls whimper.”
Jacque smirked. Jen wasn’t wrong.
It was going to be an interesting Christmas. The only thing that would make it better was if Vasile and Alina were there to enjoy it with them.
Chapter 1
“Nothing is as it seems. If you think someone is on your side, assume they are not. If you think someone is your enemy, leave room for the possibility that they are your ally.” ~Lilly, Warlock Queen
Summer 1991
Lilly stared down into the green eyes of the man with whom she was madly in love. His head rested in her lap as he lay on his back gazing up at her. Her fingers ran through his wavy, auburn hair. She heard a rumble come from his throat. It was something she’d noticed he did when he was content, and she’d also noticed that it wasn’t a sound a human should be able to make. There was something other about Dillon Jacobs, but she hadn’t brought herself to ask about it because she didn’t want to sound crazy.
She wasn’t a stranger to things that weren’t quite normal. Lilly had known from a young age that she wasn’t quite right. It began when she was six years old and living in a girls’ home. The home wasn’t a horrible place to live, but it still wasn’t a family. There were no hugs, no stories read at bedtime, and no comfort when she hurt herself. What there was in abundance for Lilly were feelings of knowing. She couldn’t predict when it was going to happen, but occasionally a feeling would come over her and she just knew that something was going to happen to someone. Unfortunately, it was usually something bad.
The first time it happened was late at night. One of the other girls, Penny, was about to be
