Beyond the Veil (Grey Wolves Series book #5)

"No one ever thinks of the consequences of promising to name your firstborn child after your best friend. If your best friend is Jen, however, you should think of any and all possible consequences which are, more often than not, created simply by her presence." ~Sally

Jacque just happened to be walking by the door when she heard one of her best friends yell, "Bloody hell!"

She backpedaled to Sally's door and, without knocking, turned the knob, and quickly pushed it open.

"Sally, sweetie, you okay?" she called tentatively into the room.

"I'm over here, Jacque, and okay is taking a vacation at the moment."

Jacque followed the sound of Sally's voice into the attached bathroom.

She found her friend standing in her bra and shorts with her back to the mirror, holding a handheld mirror in one hand so that she could see her reflection from behind. Jacque's mouth dropped open at the sight.

"Yeah, that was my first reaction too." Sally nodded at Jacque's dropped jaw. "But then I moved quickly into the next possible reaction of, 'what the hell is on my back?'"

"Your markings," Jacque whispered. "So, he really is your mate."

"That, or some random wolf is walking around out there with new markings that he wasn't expecting. If you hear a loud, deep voice reacting in kind, then we will know." Sally's voice was shaky, but she was beginning to regain her bearings.

"Peri said that when you turned 18 the mate signs would show up." Jacque motioned with a head bob to Sally's back. "Guess the old Fae knew what she was talking about. Today is your birthday."

"I don't hear anything in my mind." Sally closed her eyes and scrunched up her face.

Jacque laughed. "You won't have to make funny faces in order to hear your mate, Sal, although you probably will until you get used to hearing a disembodied voice in your head. In which case Jen will be sure to ask you if you're constipated."

"Who's constipated?" They heard Jen's voice coming from Sally's room. "You know, they make stuff to help unclog the pipes down there." Jen came into the bathroom doorway and grinned at her two best friends. "So, you guys started the party without me, I see. Sally's already started stripping."

"Yeah, Jen, we didn't want to invite you so we decided to have Sally's birthday party in her bathroom because, ya know, that is all kinds of cool," Jacque rolled her eyes at Jen.

"Mother of pearl," Jen murmured as she saw Sally's back. "Well, welcome to the mated family, Sal. I will tell you now that the sex is fantastic. Just in case you were wondering."

"Gee, Jen, that's exactly what was crossing my mind right about now, as I realize that my life has just changed for, I don't know, EVER!" Sally yelled.

Jen calmly replied, "Now, have you gotten the shrieking out of your system or do you need to hang your head out the window and let it rip?"

Jacque silently watched Sally's thoughts pass across her sweet, gentle face.

"No, I don't think I need a hanging out the window moment right now. However, I reserve the right to have that moment when it is deemed appropriate." Sally was taking slow, deep breaths as she spoke. She had a hand pressed to her heart as if that could keep it from beating out of her chest.

"Your request is duly noted," Jen said with a curt nod.

Jen jumped up on the bathroom counter and began to swing her legs. She felt warmth flow over her as her mate spoke through their bond.

"How is she?" Decebel's voice was deep, and yet very gentle.

"Actually, not doing too bad. She didn't have a break down, and oddly enough she wasn't interested in hearing about married sex life with a werewolf."

"Imagine that, baby, someone not obsessed with the physical relationship between mates. Someone who doesn’t feel the need to discuss them with others and who would, more than likely, listen to her mate when he asks her to keep her trap shut."

Jen let out a low growl. "You are getting entirely too comfortable with the concept of sarcasm, my dear mate."

"Can I help it if I have had the best teacher known to man?" Decebel's voice was tinged with humor and Jen swore she could feel him swat her butt.

"That's enough, B. I've got a party to get ready for."

“You do understand that that nickname no longer applies? I’m an Alpha, not a Beta.”

Jen snorted out loud. “Oh, my sweet fur ball, I wasn’t using the letter 'B' to refer to your former Beta status. Nope.” She grinned to herself. “The B now has a whole different meaning. You’re a smart cookie; you’ll figure it out.”

She sent him an image of her winking at him and blowing him a kiss. “See you later, alligator.”

"Behave." Decebel's voice took on a deep timbre. "And, Jennifer, you will keep your clothes on at this party."

"Why, my dear hubby, whatever do you mean? A well-bred southern girl like me would never participate in such public spectacles." Jen laid on the thick southern accent in her thoughts as she teased him.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"I feel the need to tell you that Decebel has informed me that I must keep my clothes on tonight at the party," Jen told her friends as she examined her nails, looking for all the world like she had no plans to oblige him.

Sally's head snapped to look at Jen. "Actually, that's not a half bad idea."

Jen's jaw dropped. "You want me to strip at your eighteenth birthday party? You do realize that a stripper is typically used at a bachelorette party, not a birthday party? If a stripper is used for a birthday party, it’s really only appropriate for the big two-one. And even then, it has to be at the beginning of the party because shortly after it starts everyone is smashed enough to think that they have the body to be a stripper as well. That’s when things get ugly – literally.”

Sally and Jacque stared open-mouthed at Jen. Before they could talk, she quickly added, “Oh, and in case you haven’t noticed, I am very much a female. I would think that if you must have a stripper at your party then surely you would want someone, oh, I don’t know, who maybe has the absence of breasts. Unless, of course, you are into man boobs. But I think you would find it hard to find a male stripper who is endowed with said boobs. Especially if you were wanting someone with my -”

Sally interrupted Jen’s commentary with a loud shout. “SHUT IT, JENNIFER!”

Jen’s mouth snapped closed as her eyes widened, staring at Sally in surprise. “Wow, kitty has grown some claws,” she muttered.

"The point is not for me to enjoy the show, Jen,” Sally snapped. "The point is, if you strip, you would keep the attention off me."

"It's your party, you goober smooch. The attention is supposed to be on you."

Jacque snorted out a laugh. "Did you just call her -"

Jen interrupted her redheaded friend. "Yes, a goober smooch. It is completely warranted at this point in the conversation. Also, I don't think you two understand the wrath that I would endure from the Alpha of the Serbian pack for even taking off my shoes and wiggling my cute little toes at everyone."

This time Sally and Jacque laughed together.

"Man, that would totally be a MasterCard moment – priceless."

"Who said your toes were cute?" Sally added.

"Don't be brash, Sally." Jen rolled her eyes. "You just asked me, me of all people to take my clothes off in front of at least 50 people, maybe more."

"Jen, you played strip poker with the enemy. You flashed your not-quite mate in front of the other males of our pack, you -"

Jen snapped her fingers together in front of Sally's mouth with a, "Shh!"

"That was the old Jen. This is the newly improved, mated Jen," she said, the look on her face daring them to contradict her – and, of course they did.

"Do you really want me to get into the fact that I saw you running to your room in the middle of the night just a few days ago…in your underwear?"

Jen clapped her hands together, laughing. "Oh, man, you guys should have seen his face. I thought he was going to kill me."

This time, Sally and Jacque crossed their arms across their chests, giving their own smirks back.

"Okay, okay. So maybe I still have a tendency to run about in less than acceptable attire. Still, this is a major, seriously owe me, like, name your first child after me request."

"That's okay," Sally said enthusiastically. "The chances of me getting pregnant are slim to none, so I can go with that. And of course, if it's a boy, I won't have to name him after you."

Jen clucked her tongue at Sally. "Oh, you naïve, sweet thing. You think a little thing like the sex of your child will get you out of naming him after me if I do this for you?" She shook her head as she took slow steps toward the brown-eyed healer. "Oh, no, gypsy woman. You will name him after me. I don't care if it's JenBo, JenBob, or JenJakifer. I don't care if it's as blatant as YesIAmABoyNamedJennifer. But know this: I will sign my freedom away by simply suggesting that I'm going to undress. I will have to watch my oh-so-possessive mate stare daggers at me while I dance on a table. Then I will have to tuck my furry little tail and run for my life from said possessive mate. For all this, you will owe me."

Jacque let out a low whistle. "Man, Decebel must be tying her up whenever she steps out of line. She's usually jumping at the opportunity to get freaky in a crowd – the bigger, the better."

Sally was looking at Jen with her mouth dropped open, but nodded, acknowledging Jacque's words.

Jen stepped back and clapped her hands together with a grin. "So, now that that's settled, when does this hoedown get started?"