“I’ve never known such fear, such utter despair. Not even in death did my misery meet such depths, for at least, in death, she was at peace. I thought I could keep her safe, or save her from any foe, but how can I save her from her own mind? She, who holds my heart in the palm of her hand and my child in her womb. She, who is so strong, so loyal, lies before me sobbing and broken. How can I ever make it right? How can I ever redeem such a time from her soul? If I could not prevent this, how will I prevent the death of our baby girl?”
~ Decebel
“So we have to get the wolves to phase?” Peri asked Cynthia though she had heard the whole conversation. Peri thought about it for a moment as she looked at the pairs in front of her. Her eyes landed on Adam and Crina. “What about Adam? He isn’t a wolf and I don’t imagine we will be able to get Crina to phase.”
“You are throwing too many problems at me Peri. Let’s just get the wolves to phase. We’ll deal with Adam as soon as the others are in their fur.” Cynthia took several breaths to calm hear heart rate and get her fear under control. Agitated wolves fed off of fear and she was not about to become prey for six dominant males.
Peri let go of her magic and revealed her high Fae form as light enveloped her and she appeared taller than before. She radiated light, peace, and goodness.
“Hear me great wolves, children of the Great Luna, I’m here to help. Remember our history, remember who I am; Perizada of the Fae, friend of the wolves, teacher of the healers. Hear the truth in my words as I tell you how you can help your mates.”
One by one the males turned, taking up defensive positions in front of their vulnerable mates. Peri could see the feral rage that boiled just under the surface of each male. It might not be as hard as she thought seeing as how they were on the verge of allowing their wolves to take over any way.
“Vasile, who am I?” Peri asked the Alpha.
Vasile’s eyes glowed a radiant blue and his body shook with the need to fight, to kill something. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at the Fae. He knew that he should trust her, that he had trusted her many times before, but his mate was totally defenseless, unable to protect herself in any way. Trust was not a male’s first instinct when his mate was in danger.
“Vasile,” she said his name again, firmer, and with more authority this time.
“You are Perizada,” Vasile finally answered, “friend of the wolves, friend of my mate.”
“Yes,” Peri agreed with loyalty that rang true in her voice. “You need to phase, Vasile. Your wolf will be able to touch your mate. Your wolf will be able to carry her to safety. I will be your voice. I will be your guard. Trust me, as you have so many times over the centuries, trust me.”
Peri waited and just when she thought she hadn’t reached him, suddenly Vasile phased, his clothes shredding as he shed him human skin and took his wolf form. He turned abruptly and nudged his mate carefully with his muzzle, when there was no shock of pain he laid down and buried his face against her neck. Tears streamed down Alina’s face as her mind raged against her with lies. Instinctively, she reached for Vasile’s fur. She clutched it and pulled herself over and onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his great neck and wept into his pelt.
As soon as the other males realized that Vasile’s wolf was able to touch Alina, they all began to phase until, where each man had been, now stood, great, snarling wolves.
“Well, now I feel so much better,” Peri said sarcastically, as she began to drop her High Fae form. “Snarling wolves are so much more reassuring than raging males.”
“Well, at least in this form they are useful,” Cynthia, pointed out.
“True enough.”
They watched as, one by one, the wolves coaxed their females onto their backs. Peri noticed that coaxing the cooperation of the females took some dominant commanding from the males.
Adam stood up but did not leave Crina’s side. “Peri, what about my mate? How am I to carry her?” Anger radiated from the male Fae, and beneath the anger, anguish threatened to take over.
Making a split second decision, Peri glanced at Cynthia. “Cynthia will phase and carry Crina.” Adam would hate the idea of another caring for his mate, but better a female than another male.
Adam glared at Cynthia, a silent challenge to take great care of his mate or there would be hell to pay. Cynthia gave a slight nod just before she phased. Adam paced next to her as Peri helped Crina crawl on to Cynthia’s back and he stayed as close to the wolf as he could without touching his mate.
Peri turned to Drake. “You should phase, but stay at the back. I wouldn’t put it past any of these males, who are bordering on psychotic at the moment I might add, to attempt to take you out in a misguided attempt to keep their female safe.” Drake nodded and turned to walk back, far away from the group.
Peri took a roundabout way to get to Vasile so that she would be in his line of sight. She didn’t want him to think she was sneaking up on him. For one brief moment she really wanted to hit a wolf, any wolf would do, upside its head, because of all the precautions she was having to take to keep from becoming wolf kibble. It was highly annoying.
“Lead the way Alpha. And, if you don’t mind, be quick about it and try not to kill anyone.”
Vasile lifted his lips in a wolf like smile.
Peri lifted a single brow. “Okay, don’t ever do that again.”
She waved out a hand, encouraging him to take the lead.
Vasile let out a loud howl that cut through the silence that had taken over with the witches curse. He took off in a burst of speed only capable by one of his race. The howls from the other males began echoing across the landscape as, one by one, they followed after Vasile. Peri ran parallel to the pack, watching for any danger they might not notice in their single-minded journey to get their mates to safety.
Decebel ran with an urgency that he had never felt before. He pushed his legs to a speed that he never knew he was capable of, all the while keeping his gait as smooth as possible, dodging fallen limbs and holes in the ground that might cause him to stumble and loose his precious cargo. The more distance that they put between themselves and the location where their mates had fallen, the clearer the air felt. His fur rippled as the wind blew through it and his eyes watered. His ears were erect, constantly twitching, listening for any sound that did not belong. His wolf felt desperate to get their mate to their territory, to get out from the open space where any attack was possible. He pushed and pushed never taking his eyes from the path in front of him, all the while remaining aware of the wolves that ran with him and the Fae that stayed just outside of the pack. He was desperate to feel his mate, to open their bond. But he was too afraid that she would become hysterical and let go of him, so he resisted, going against his very nature.
Costin took a small amount of peace at the weight he felt on his back, knowing that he was taking her to safety. It wasn’t much, but it would have to be enough or he was going to lose his mind and his wolf was going to go feral. He didn’t reach into her mind, but he wrapped his love around her so that she would feel his warmth. He didn’t want her to think she was alone in her suffering, that he had abandoned her. He stretched out his stride, racing across the forest floor, more worried about speed rather than stealth. He tried to occupy his mind with ways in which to help her once the spell was broken, and it would be broken. He himself had struggled with the things he had witnessed in the In-Between. Those images had eaten away at him like a disease and threatened to create a chasm between him and Sally that he didn’t know if he could repair. Now, his own battle with the memories paled in comparison to what Sally would go through once the curtain of lies was separated and reality was once again restored. For the brief time he had been in her mind, he had felt her disgust and embarrassment. He had seen in her mind how dirty and defiled she felt, and it was ripping him to pieces. Something that, though wasn’t real, felt like it was taking the innocence she so fiercely protected; an innocence for which he had been beyond grateful for. He knew that Sally wouldn’t be able to look past the curse and see that she was still whole, physically and mentally. Whatever it took, he would move heaven and hell to bring healing to the brokenness that the witch’s evil had caused.
The pack ran as one, unified in the common goal of protecting the most precious thing in their lives. Fane’s heart beat with the every step and he breathed evenly with control. A control that he didn’t really feel he had. He knew that his wolf was keeping the man from coming apart. The wolf did not think with emotions, but with logic and instinct. It knew several things that needed to be dealt with. The man couldn't touch his mate, the witch cursed her, and in the current situation, she was in danger. Those things he could fix. He couldn’t fix the damaged bond between them that the man had caused; he couldn’t heal her battered emotions so he did not worry about those things. Fane let the wolf do the thinking for the time being because the wolf knew what needed to be repaired first. He felt her hands tighten in his fur and heard a small whimper escape her lungs. Like a whip being smacked across his flank, the sound spurred him to move faster.
For a brief time, it appeared that the rest of their journey back to the Romanian pack mansion would be much easier than their journey had been thus far. Peri attempted to be positive, hopeful that they would have smooth sailing back to the mansion. Just then, a bolt of lightning struck the ground very near them.
“Oh come on!” Peri yelled into the forest.
Thunder boomed across the dark sky and the ground shook. The wolves’ steps stayed true. None of them stumbled or fell, even when the sky opened and the rain flowed down in sheets. Visibility became nearly nonexistent and the pack was forced to slow their speed.
“Is this all you have? No originality, Mona. Storms must be your specialty!” Peri was yelling. Though the rain drowned her voice out, Peri knew the witch could hear her. As if in response to Peri’s challenge, the temperature dropped, changing the rain to skin slicing sleet. The wolves stopped, fearing the skin of their mates would be ripped from their bodies if they continued running. The wolves laid the women down, covering them with their bodies. They eyed each other warily as they sheltered their mates from the icy onslaught.
The sleet stopped abruptly and the wolves heard a loud whoosh. Despite the freshly wet ground and foliage, flames roared across the ground. The fire circled all around them, flames so high that they could not see past them. The wolves positioned themselves in a circle facing towards the fire so that every angle was covered. Their teeth were bared and low growls rumbled through out them. Peri paced around the wolves trying to think, to draw up a memory of what she knew of dark magic. An idea formed, just out of her grasp. When she opened her eyes and saw that the fire was closing in. The wolves were becoming more and more agitated. Peri squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated as hard as she could. Finally, it hit her; dark magic could not control elements unless the element was already present. Mona could create the rain because the clouds held water. She could create lightning because of the static electricity in the clouds. She could adjust the temperature because she could control the wind that was already present.
Peri smiled to herself. In order for her to be able to conjure fire, Mona would have to have a flame to begin with and last time that Peri checked, snow didn’t burn. Therefore, the flames before them were merely an illusion, and a good one at that.
Peri whipped around to face Vasile. “It’s not real,” she told him. “The fire, it won’t hurt us because it isn’t real.”
Peri knew that the instinct of the wolf to avoid fire would keep them from running through it, unless Peri could prove it. She turned and ran towards the flames, and as the heat from them grew hotter, she thought for one heartbeat that she might be wrong, but then she was through the fire without so much as a singed hair. She turned and ran back through and much to her surprise, saw Vasile leading the others towards her. Their need to get their mates to safety must have been overriding their fear of the flames. Vasile stopped around eight feet from the flames. He watched them dance and flicker for a brief moment before taking a running lunge. He passed through the fire and, like Peri, emerged safely on the other side. In less than a minute, all of the others had passed through the fire as well. Without another pause they were off and running through the storm once again.
The storm raged on, and still the wolves ran.
Q
Skender saw them first. He was standing in the field where the packs had been training. Something had drawn him out, a restless energy in the air that crackled around him. He knew that Dillon had followed him out but had stayed back, a silent shadow.
“Dillon,” Skender didn’t raise his voice, he knew the Alpha would hear him, “are you seeing this?”
Dillon stepped up beside Skender and looked in the direction that Skender motioned to with the nod of his head. Up on a hill across the field, he saw the wolves slowly step from the cover of the trees, their mates clinging to their backs. Dillon and Skender watched from where they stood, but made no movement to come any closer. They saw Peri step out as well, standing closest to the large, black wolf that Skender recognized as Vasile. Dillon scanned the line of wolves using his enhanced eyesight until he finally spotted her prone from on Fane’s wolf. Dillon started to walk forward, heedless of the danger, his need as a father overriding his commonsense. Skender grabbed his arm before he made it more than a few steps.
“Not yet,” he said, simply.
Dillon nodded and stepped back, but his eyes stayed on his daughter and the wolf that carried her.
Peri appeared to be talking to Vasile and his response was a snarl. Peri threw her hands up in a manner that told them she was clearly irritated. She started towards them, leaving the wolves standing on the hill. Dillon growled irritably. It was taking the Fae forever to walk to them, knowing that she could have run or flashed to them.
Peri finally reached Skender and Dillon. When she noticed Dillon’s posture and demeanor, it took everything in her not to slap the look right off his face.
“I’m going to say this one time, Dillon Jacobs, Alpha of the Colorado pack. I have had it with possessive, overprotective, controlling wolves. If you growl, snarl, bare your teeth, or snap at me I will personally make sure that every time you are in your wolf skin you have the uncontrollable urge to hump any leg that comes your way. Are we clear?”
Dillon gave a curt nod and waited for the Fae to continue.
“We have a very precarious situation. The wolves you see up on the hill aren’t quite sane at the moment. We have been through quite a lot as we ran for our lives through the forest and they are tired, wet, cold, and carrying mates who are still enduring their own personal hell on top of being cold, tired, and wet. It is imperative,” Peri paused meeting their eyes, imploring them to understand just how serious the situation was, “that there be no other wolves in their presence or line of sight. It’s going to be bad enough that there are going to be scents of unknown males all over the frickin’ place. Let’s not give the pissed off wolves any excuse to make an example out of someone.”
“We arranged everything as soon as we got off the phone with Cynthia. The other packs have been moved to the far side of the mansion, opposite all of the pack rooms. I can go back now and make sure all is clear,” Skender told her.
“Dillon you must go with Skender.”
Dillon started to argue, but Peri cut him off. “This is not the Vasile that you know. He will not care that you are an Alpha, or that you are Jacque’s father. Give them time to sort out the situation and once it’s safe you can see Jacque.”
Dillon did not look happy about it, but he refrained from growling.