Chapter 22
My Thoughts:
What is a guaranteed way to cause
the wolf inside the man to completely lose it and force dominance? Attempt to
harm his mate, heck, for that matter, just touch his mate…and that is what Fane
saw just as Jacque slammed the wall up in her mind, Lucas lunging after Jacque.
At that point, Fane’s wolf didn’t
care about rules, or protocol, he simply wanted to rip Lucas’ throat out and be
done with it. Now I would have been all for that, but we would have missed out
on some gut wrenching moments, so no complaining about this now.
Fortunately, Fane was able to rein
things in by hearing Sara moving around downstairs. Granted he wasn’t able to
be 100% in control, but it was better than the wolf running amuck through the
streets of Coldspring.
I suspect what truly kept Fane’s
head in the game at this point was the knowledge that Lucas had violated the
challenge rules, in doing so; Fane would now be able to be with Jacque during
the remaining two days before the challenge. As long as Jacque wasn’t hurt,
this was actually a good thing.
Ok so here is my rant for this chapter
begins:
::soapbox::
The rules state that if one of the
challengers is the “true mate” and the other challenger attempts to cause the female physical harm (I’m going to just
ignore the fact that it specifically says physical harm nothing about emotional…)
that instead of being banned from seeing his mate before the challenge, he is
allowed to stay with her and protect her.
Ah, hello?! Does anyone else feel that there is something just hugely
wrong here??? I mean seriously, if the challenger is capable of causing harm to
the female before they are mated, what makes you think he won’t hurt her once
they are?! Why on earth would anyone ever think it was ok to allow it to
continue? I mean if Fane had violated his part of the agreement, by seeing her
before the challenge, he would have forfeited her forever. However, Lucas
attempts physical harm and he simply has to deal with Fane getting to spend the
next two days with her before the challenge?! WTH?!
Then, as if that isn’t enough to
just make your blood boil, when Fane lands in front of Lucas the first thing
Lucas says is:
“If you touch me you forfeit the
challenge.”
Seriously?! You touched Jacque and all you have to do is
just suck it up and let her actual mate stay with her for two days, Fane even
just touches you (and doesn’t rip you to shreds as he really wants to do) and
he forfeits?! Again I say WTH?!
::endsoapbox::
Now Fane is in the street spouting
Romanian to the man in front of him, wanting nothing more than to turn said man
into coleslaw and what does he do, looks over and sees the red marks on Jacque’s
arms. Oh so not a good thing.
…his wolf won. Three words but so
much meaning to them; Fane saw the marks on Jacque’s arms and the man checked
out. The wolf took over and that was it. It could have ended so much worse for
a lot of people here.
Enter Sorin! Lucas didn’t know Sorin
was in the house, so that must have been a bit of a surprise. However, Sorin
kept Fane’s head together and his teeth off of Lucas.
Lucas doesn’t necessarily agree that
he violated the charges, but marks are marks and Sorin explains that it doesn’t
really matter what Lucas thinks, reality is what it is. So Lucas grabs his guys
and leaves.
I have to laugh at Jacque; she gives
Fane grief about telling her to go inside while he is in wolf form. Sometimes
our girls just don’t know when to shut up and roll with it. You would think she
would be more focused on the fact that Fane was now able to be with her.
It is funny though; Jacque is all independent
and knows her place in the world until it comes to intimacy. Then she is shy
and uncomfortable. I love how she blushes every time she has talk about the
bonding ceremony, or how she enters her bed room with her eyes shielded to give
Fane clothes. It is very sweet that she has this shy, innocent girlie side to
her.
Now we begin to really see the
irrational guilt that the males have. Fane feels guilty as he looks over the
bruises on Jacque’s arms. He feels guilty because he failed to protect her.
Forget the fact that he was not able to be there because of challenge rules. He
knows his job is to protect her, but I’m sorry it isn’t possible to protect her
24/7 unless you never let her out of your sight. This, btw, will never be the
case with Jacque, or any of the girls for that matter.
Fane is thankful when he sees that
Jacque doesn’t judge him, condemn him, or even become angry with him because he
wasn’t there. That she is actually understanding and the voice of reason by
pointing out the rules being in the way of him being with her. This happens a
few times in the series. Irrational guilt followed by doubt followed by apologies.
Not just with the males, but a lot of it is the males. Makes me wonder, do we
spend a fraction of that time being concerned about our own relationships? Do
we admit when we have short comings even when there are real circumstances
preventing us from doing what we believe to be our best? Do we tell the person
we are sorry, even if it appears we are being irrational in our guilt? Yeah, I
know – random side bar…I digress.
Favorite Lines:
Sometimes life just threw you a bone
when you needed one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Oh crap, he’s talking in Romanian.
That means he’s pissed doesn’t it? They always talk in their native tongue in
the movies when they’re fixing to kick somebody’s a-“
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He knew he needed to calm down but
when he glanced over and saw the red marks on Jacquelyn’s arms, his wolf won.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Oh right, sorry. I just get so
carried away. I’m good, carry on.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“What you think does not play into
what simply is. It is time for you to take your pack and leave.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You gotta be kidding me. You’re
bossy even when you’re in wolf form.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“EWWWW! You have GOT to stop kissing
me in public. Really, it’s getting out of hand,”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“No touching while you’re standing
in nothing but a blanket,” she told him, trying to sound firm but not able to
wipe the grin off her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m a wolf, not a dog, love. And if
I don’t get to pee on you, then you most certainly do not get to pee on me.”
Fane teased her.
Things We Learned:
- Fane was able to see Lucas lunge at Jacque before she
managed to get the wall up
- Lucas touching Jacque, in a threatening way, violated the
challenge rules
- Because of the violation, Fane will now be able to stay with
Jacque
- If Fane touches Lucas before the challenge, Fane forfeits
- Male Canis Lupis feel irrational guilt when it comes to the
protection of their mates
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