“My skin crawled as my wolf perked up. I knew something wasn’t right. She was too far ahead of me for me to reach her and even if I had, I couldn’t have touched her. So I had to watch what had only been an illusion created by mind, now real before me.” ~ Vasile
“We’re only a few hours walk from the mansion,” Peri told Alina as they continued to keep the brisk pace that they had maintained.
“Are you trying to make a point or do you just feel the need to point out our current position in an effort to create small talk?” Alina raised a single eyebrow at the Fae.
“Alina,” Peri said in a mock sigh, “where is the sweet, compassionate Alpha female we all know, and love?”
Alina snorted. “She got locked in a closet when it became vividly apparent that our males would need to recover from their trial before they can kick the witch’s butt. And, in order for them to do that they all need a good swift kick to the ba—,”
“Language,” Vasile growled, from several feet behind his mate.
Alina held her hand up in the air and much to everyone’s utter surprise, gave her mate the finger.
“Did she, did, I mean seriously, she…” Jen sputtered, as she looked back and forth between Alina and a growling Vasile.
“Yes, yes she did.” Jacque laughed.
“It’s official, Alina. You’re my hero,” Jen shot a fist in the air with a loud “Whoop!”
After several minutes of the girls chattering back and forth about Alina’s retaliation, the group became quiet. They walked in silence. Soon, the only sounds were their breathing and the crunching of the ground beneath them. The air had grown still without so much as the rustling of leaves and the bird’s song that had filled the darkening sky had become silent. The silence was broken by an earth-shattering scream, and then another and another.
“ALINA!” The sound of Vasile’s voice rose above the screams of the females as they, one by one, collapsed.
Peri turned as she watched the last one fall. It was so fast, between one breath and the next, and all six of the mated females were writhing on the ground. She closed her eyes and felt the energy around her. Dark magic was clearly at work.
Costin was behind Vasile when he heard the screams. He didn’t have to see Sally to know that something was happening to his mate. He felt his own heart skip a beat and nearly stop when he saw her small form hit the ground. It was happening again, only this time it was real. She was screaming, tears flowing down her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around her midsection. He ran for her, not worrying about where his feet landed. All he could see was her; her brown hair spilled carelessly across the ground, her tan skin taking on a green tint even as her lips were turning blue. He fell to his knees before her and reached for her. When his hands touched her, he felt a pulse of electricity rip through him and throw him back. He cried out. A chorus of cries rang through the air as the other males tried to touch their writhing mates. He looked over to Vasile and saw that the Alpha looked as helpless as he felt.
“PERI, FIX THIS!” Vasile growled.
“Don’t you think I’m trying, dammit,” the Fae yelled back. Her lips moved quickly and the stones of the Fae had appeared in her hands.
Peri reached for the magic of her people, the magic in the stones, and she tried to fight against the darkness that was weaving a spell around the females. It was a twisted web that kept getting tighter and tighter. When she realized she could not break it she decided to focus on trying to break the pack magic that kept the males from being able to touch their mates.
“Peri, what is going on?” She heard Adam’s voice next to her, but didn’t open her eyes.
“Desdemona, she’s done something to the females, I can’t fix it.”
“Yet?” Adam asked, desperately.
“I don’t know, Adam. I’m trying to figure out a way to allow you males to touch your females. If I don’t I’m afraid that I just might be facing my death in the freaky glowing eyes of an Alpha.”
She didn’t open her eyes, but she knew that Adam was no longer standing beside her. Peri squeezed her eyes tighter and sought out every ounce of magic inside her ancient being. It wasn’t enough.
Why won’t you help them? Peri reached out to the Great Luna. They’re your children, why are you letting them suffer?
She didn’t expect an answer, but she got one.
Evil exists in their world and because of that they will face many trials. Pain will be their friend all too often, but it is how they handle those trials and what they do with the pain that will determine who they will become. I love them too much to cripple them by removing this thorn. Allowing them to endure struggles is not because of a lack of love. It is because I love them that I allow them to struggle so they might gain the strength to do what is necessary. The wolves have free will and they can choose to depend on me as their creator. They can choose to ask me for help or they cannot.
Peri frowned. And, what about the times you don’t help? What about the times your answer is no?
Peri felt warmth envelope her as the creator of the wolves spoke to her. Does a parent ever say no to her children? Does a parent ever mean harm for her children? I may not help them by preventing the pain, but the pain is necessary and I will always help them bear it. I will always be with them, holding them, reminding them that they are precious to me. My answer will not always be what they want, and they may not understand it at the time, but I will always have their best interest in my heart. They are mine, nothing can take them from me, but as they live in the world, they will endure the evil in it.
So,. what am I to do to help them? Peri asked.
Be there, Perizada. Be there with them and give them strength when they have none. Offer them peace when they feel none and remind them that I have not forsaken them.
Peri watched as the females she had grown to love lay in pain, their tears drenched the earth and the males that loved them so fiercely sat helpless next to them, unable to touch, unable to help.
Jen couldn’t remember the last time she had felt such pain. Maybe when she had been burned in the car fire, or maybe when Decebel had been taken from her, or maybe never. She could hear his voice as he called to her. Why wouldn’t he touch her? Why didn’t he pick her up and take the pain away? Then, through the pulsing pain that shot through every limb, she remembered that she had made it so that he couldn’t. Well, she thought, that’s what I get for trying to prove a point.
“Jennifer?” She heard his voice in her mind and for a brief moment in time, it was like a balm to her aching form.
“If you mention even for a second that I’m the reason you can’t touch me I swear I’ll skin you and put your pelt in our child’s room.”
“I love you too baby,” he growled at her.
“Why is this happening Dec?” Jen’s usually strong voice was laced with uncertainty and fear.
“I don’t know love, but I’m going to fix it.”
“Hurry,” was the last word she got out before all hell broke loose.
Jacque screamed. She tried not to, but the hulking form coming at her was too much. Logan leered at her. It couldn’t be him; he was dead. Wasn’t he? But he was here, standing over her, smiling at her in a way that made her stomach crawl.
“Get away from me.” She tried to sound stronger, but the pain that was stabbing her stomach kept her from breathing and her words came out as a whimper. “You’re dead, I know you’re dead. You shouldn’t be here.”
“Oh sweet heart, I’m here and I’ve come for what should have been mine.” Logan’s voice was just as she remembered it and she felt like oil had been poured on her skin, dirty, and sticky. She rolled over and vomited, just as his hand gripped her ankle, pulling her towards him.
“NO! STOP! PLEASE STOP, DON’T DO THIS,” She screamed at the tops of her lungs, but he didn’t stop. Her mind reached for a memory, something that she knew was real. They had been walking through the forest, she, the other females, and the males. They had been on their way to the mansion. How did she get here with Logan? How was he here touching her, oh god, he was touching her. She began to shake and her body felt cold, like it would never be warm again. She felt her clothes rip and a new scream erupted from her lungs. She opened her eyes, hell bent on killing Logan all over again. Only it wasn’t Logan standing over her, it was Lucas. What the hell? She must be going crazy. That was the only solution; she had to be losing her mind. She kicked, screamed, and clawed at him. In her mind, her nails were raking his face, drawing blood that was raining down on her.
Fane watched as his mate screamed, clawing at an invisible foe. She was hysterical and through the screaming, he recognized two names, Logan and Lucas. She kept saying over and over “don’t do this” and it was when he saw the desperation and fear in her open, unseeing eyes that he knew what was happening in her mind. It was the same thing that had happened in his mind, only now she truly thought it was happening to her. Once again, he sat helpless before his mate. His hands shook as he reached for her, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to touch her. He watched as tears streamed down her cheeks and blood trickled from her lips as she bit them against the screams she was fighting.
“Jacquelyn,” he whispered gently into her mind trying to be a calming presence even as he felt the chaos that was raging through her.
“Fane! Please help me please!”
“It’s not real love; he’s not real. Please come back to me. I’m here beside you and no one is touching you.” Fane flinched when he saw in her mind what she was seeing. When he saw Lucas reach for her he howled, feeling a rage unlike any he’d ever felt before.
Maybe it was the gypsy blood in Sally, but she knew that what she was seeing wasn’t real. Knew that she was actually experiencing what Costin had watched all that time that he had spent in the In-Between. Even with that knowledge, it didn’t make it easier and it didn’t make it go away. She closed her eyes against the hands that weren’t Costin’s on her body. She bit her tongue against the scream that threatened to spill out when she felt a knife pierce her skin. She fought every instinct inside to keep from calling out to her mate, but she wasn’t that strong. Costin made her strong, Costin made her the Sally she needed to be and without him she felt alone and broken. She felt Costin trying to push into her mind, but she didn’t want him there. She didn’t want him to know what she was feeling, what she was experiencing. But, in the end, her fear and need of him won out.
“Sally mine,” his soft voice filled her mind and she whimpered.
“Please, Costin, please don’t stay. You don’t need to see this.” She tried to keep the images from him, but knew she had failed when she felt his anger and desperation.
Costin understood now why one by one the males were howling. He felt his own wolf tearing through him, raging for blood and bone.
Peri stood, helpless, with Cynthia and Drake next to her. They stared at the mated pairs and watched as rage and despair took over.
“We have to do something,” Cynthia growled.
“You don’t think I’ve been trying?” Peri snapped. “I don’t know what else to do. You’re a damn wolf; help me figure out how to fix the magic that keeps them apart.”
Cynthia thought about it, trying to remember something, anything from their history that might aid them. She couldn’t think of anything that would help, but she knew someone who would know.
“Do you have a cell phone?” She asked Peri, who gave her an “are you freaking kidding me” look.
“I need to call someone.”
“What, you’re using your phone a friend option at this point in the game?” Peri walked over to where Jen lay, ignored the snarling Decebel, and reached into her pack. She pulled out the cell phone that had been dead for days.
She pushed power into it, and then handed it to Cynthia.
“Hope you know that this is your only life line left. Asking the audience isn’t an option and fifty, fifty just might get us killed by some pissed off mates,” she told the doctor.
“You are just a bowl full of cherries,” Cynthia snatched the phone away and started dialing.
“No my dear doctor friend, you are confused with someone who wants to blow smoke up your furry butt. What I am is a bowl full of wake the hell up and smell the roses.”
Q
Wadim snatched the phone up when he recognized the American number.
“Hello,” he asked, breathlessly.
“Wadim, it’s Cynthia.”
“You’re alive?” He asked as he flung himself back on the couch letting out a deep sigh of relief. Skender and Dillon who had been talking with him about their next move, both moved closer to him.
“Well, for the moment the answer to that question is yes. However, it is liable to change at any moment.”
“Why? Where are you? Where’s the pack? What’s going on? Where is Decebel?” Wadim had jumped to his feet at her declaration. He paced back and forth while the other two wolves in the room watched him with nerve wracking intensity.
“Okay, you are going to have to shut up and listen,” Cynthia growled through the phone.
Wadim took a deep breath and gathered his composure. “Okay, I’m good.”
“We’re in the forest on the way to the mansion,” she said.
“We’ll send vehicles for you,” Wadim interrupted just as Dillon made to leave the room.
“WAIT!” Cynthia yelled. The males froze.
Dillon, having taken all the waiting he could handle snatched the phone from Wadim.
“What the hell is going on Cynthia?” He growled.
“If you males would just chill out for two seconds and put away your need to control every damn thing around you I could tell you.”
A pause. “I’m listening,” Dillon responded, in a much calmer tone.
“It wouldn’t be wise to send any males near these females right now.” Dillon heard a scream in the background and felt his wolf rise up inside of him.
“Desdemona is working her bitchery and the females have a spell on them. The males can’t touch them,”
“Why can’t the males touch their mates?” Dillon snapped.
“Once again, keep your trap shut until I am finished.”
Dillon bristled at the order, but ignored it when he heard Fane yell Jacque’s name. It took everything in him not to crush the phone in his hand.
“It’s a long story, but basically the females uninvited the touch of their mates. I can’t get into the whys just now. At the moment, the males are watching their mates endure terrible visions, happening only in their heads. And, the males can’t touch them to help! Peri has tried to break the spell and tried to force the pack magic to break, but it’s not working. We need to know how to restore the male’s ability to touch their mates so we can move the females. Peri thinks that we can break Desdemona’s spell by transporting the girls somewhere farther away. Sometimes this type of magic has a limited range. It’s a shot in the dark, but at the moment I think we’d take just about any suggestion if it would fix this.”
Dillon stared at the floor as his brain tried to process what Cynthia had just told him. He knew that Skender and Wadim had heard everything and he could tell from the looks on their faces that they were working it all out in their head, searching for any solution possible.
“HELLO!” Cynthia yelled. “Look, the world is falling apart as I know it and I don’t have time for you to go into all freaky Alpha mode, so please help me.”
Wadim moved slowly as he took the phone from Dillon.
“Cynthia,” Wadim’s voice was steady and he felt less panicked, as he discovered that he had a purpose and could be of help. “The males were in their human forms when the woman put the binding on them?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, okay,” Wadim, said again. “The males need to change. The wolf is not bound by the human female’s desire. The mate bond from wolf to wolf is different than the human bond. I don’t have time to explain it.”
“What about Sally? She isn’t a wolf.”
Wadim thought about it for a moment, but then shook his head. “It should still work. Costin’s wolf sees Sally as his equal, as his she-wolf regardless.”
“Okay so if they shift they should be able to touch them?”
“I think so.”
Cynthia growled. “You think so or you know so?”
“Crap Cynthia, it’s not a freaking exact science. I’m going on what I’ve learned over the centuries of documenting our race, so truly, anything is possible, but what other choice do they have right now? By the sounds of it, they are on the verge of killing anything or anyone. Get those males to change and get them and their mates home.” Wadim was breathing heavily when he finished and his heart was pounding in his chest. This is what it was to be pack. When one in the pack hurt, they all hurt. When one in the pack was in danger, they all felt the urgency to save them.
“Okay,” Cynthia finally answered. “You need to have their rooms ready. The males are going to want their mates in their territory, surrounded by only their scents. No other males, unless you want a blood bath. Wadim, Vasile is not in control. You need to prepare the others for that.”
The phone went dead. Wadim pulled it from his ear and looked down at it. He looked up at Dillon and Skender. “Did you get all that?”
Skender nodded.
“She didn’t give us a time frame for how long till they get here,” Dillon said as he looked out of the window to the forest. “We need to start preparing for their arrival now. It would devastate Vasile if he killed one of his own.”
Wadim shook his head as he let out a humorless laugh. “I swear, I didn’t think things could get any worse. After everything that has happened, you would think that I’d be smart enough to realize that, more than likely, things are going to always get worse—much, much worse.”
“The important thing is that we stand united. Desdemona’s first goal in any battle with us will be to separate us, either physically or by creating division among us. That must always be in the back of our minds. It has never been as imperative as it is now to put aside our pride, our dominance, and our need to control. If we fight as one she cannot win; she is no match for all of us.” Dillon’s words gave Skender and Wadim the encouragement and renewed determination to put aside their fears and do what they could, what was within their power to do.
Dillon waited as the other two males left the office. He closed his eyes and reached for his mate. He needed to feel the comfort and strength that came from being mated to one who is your perfect match. He felt the return of her love, felt her spirit spurring him on to be the man she knew him to be. That’s what a mate was. She was the one who reminded him, in his darkest hour that there was still light in the world. As long as those who stand for good, fight evil, then there was always hope and hope was all they needed in order to stand firm.
Q
“Where did the ginormous dragon go?” Lilly pointed to the clearing where the beast had fallen, the clearing that was now empty.
Thalion shrugged as if a giant dragon hadn't just disappeared. “He was not of this realm, so in death he would not stay here. He was returned to his realm where he will be laid to his eternal rest.”
Cypher, Lilly, Cyn, and Thalion stood just on the edge of the forest while the other elves gathered the arrows so that no humans or other supernaturals would find them.
“Where do we go from here?” Thalion asked Cypher.
Cypher paused and looked at Lilly. She saw the question in his eyes and was touched that he was looking to her for advice.
“Might as well tell him, he’s going to find out,” she told him.
Cypher gave a resolute nod and looked back at Thalion.
“I made a bargain with Desdemona. At the time, I thought it was my only option. I needed a mate and I needed magic for my people. The magic in the human realm is growing thin since the Fae have confined themselves to their own realm. The divisions among the supernaturals were killing us slowly. Mona asked me for a favor, one that only the King of the Warlocks could perform.”
Thalion’s eyes grew wide and Lilly thought it probably wasn’t a look that crossed his face very often.
“The underworld? She wants you to open the veil to the underworld.” Thalion ran a hand across his face and for a brief moment, he looked much older than his young face portrayed.
Cypher nodded.
“What has changed?” Thalion asked.
Cypher’s eyes fell on Lilly and softened when she smiled at him.
“Ahh,” Thalion drew out. “So Lilly is the mate?”
“My mate,” Cypher emphasized.
“Tell him the really good part, your majesty.” Lilly’s voice was dry and dripped with obvious irritation.
Cypher growled. “There is a slight problem. I made a blood oath with the witch.”
Cyn was shaking her head. Even though she had heard the news already, it was apparent that she felt it just as stupid as the first time she heard.
“You made a blood oath with a witch?”
“That is what I said,” Cypher barked.
“Why?”
“I was desperate. It’s no excuse, but it is the truth.”
“The truth sucks,” Lilly, said with a sigh.
“Now, that I’m mated, I am unsure of how the spell will work, or how it might affect Lilly. It is also very important that I know how to quickly close the veil once it’s opened. I was hoping my brother would shed some light on the situation, but it seems that he is still a tad cross with me about our past.” Cypher explained.
“A tad cross?” Lilly asked, incredulously. “He released a giant dragon on us. I’d hate to see what he’d do if he was really angry.” Lilly pursued her lips and stared at Cypher.
“Not helpful, little one.”
“Not trying to be, big one.”
Thalion held up a hand to stop the bickering of the two mates.
“The warlocks are not the only ones with the knowledge necessary to open the veil to the underworld.”
“Why does that not surprise me?” Cypher glanced at Cyn.
“You didn’t ask,” she defended.
“Haven’t you people ever heard of information that is ‘need to know,’” Lilly asked? “Cyn, sweetie, that is information that is need to know, and should have been offered up without being asked.”
Cyn nodded towards Thalion. “Hey, the prince of the elves knows how to open the veil to the underworld.”
Lilly snorted. “Thanks for that Cyn.”
“I’m just here to help,” she responded.
“You are getting way too good at sarcasm. I think I liked you better when you just stood and stared at everyone.”
“Do you know how it will affect Lilly?” Cypher, asked the prince.
“I can find out,” Thalion told him. “We will have to visit our library back in the Elvin realm. We keep documentation there on all the supernatural races.”
Cypher’s brow rose. “You have records concerning the history of other supernaturals?” His tone of voice questioned whether it was wise of Thalion to have divulged this information.
Thalion didn’t appear bothered by the king’s question. “It would be both foolish and prideful to think that the actions of others would not affect us, even in the smallest of ways. The safety and well-being of my kind is my greatest priority, as I’m sure you understand. It would behoove any leader to pay close attention to the doings of others, especially those that might be a threat to his race. Such diligence is prudent in order to be a successful leader.”
“So what I hear you saying is that we are going to be doing some more hiking?” Lilly asked, grumpily.
Thalion smiled. “Yes Lilly, mate of Cypher, we will be doing the unthinkable and using these appendages we call legs.”
“Ha, ha, you are so clever,” she told him, dryly.
“Come,” Thalion motioned. “It’s not all that far.”
“I want to believe you, I really do,” Lilly muttered, as Cypher took her hand.
Q
Mona’s uninvited guest had finally taken leave. After several minutes of collecting herself, she turned her attention away from the danger that had taken its leave, to the grief that was music to her ears and nutrients to her body. “If I were the dancing kind, which I’m not, I swear I would do a jig right now.” Mona stroked Octavian’s mane as she felt her magic pulsing across the distance finally having found its prey. She could taste the agony of the females and the rage of the males feeding her wickedness and urging her on. The chaos was a welcome distraction from the frustration caused by the continuing failure of the warlock king. She had to admit that there had been much that had not gone as planned and there were new situations she'd had to adjust to, but that was the way of war and she was no stranger to adapting to new complications.
She would give Cypher a few more days, simply because she was in a good mood; torturing people tended to do that for her. But, if she had not heard back from him by the end of three days, then he would endure her wrath. Actually, his mate will bear my wrath, she thought as she opened a small box and lovingly stroked the strands of hair tucked safely inside.