“Do you ever have that feeling where the hairs on the back of your neck rise, goose bumps suddenly appear all over your arms and your stomach feels like hornets are buzzing around to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic? Take that feeling and magnify it a thousand times, then you will have a small idea of what it’s like to walk into a room full of dominant wolves.” ~ Lilly
“For the pack!” The entire room repeated Peri’s declaration. They stood as one, united in purpose, and joined by a common goal.
Peri let the light around her fade until she finally looked like the Peri they all knew. It was apparent to everyone in the room that, though she now looked less majestic, she still wore power equal to the strongest of Alphas.
“I know it has been a very long time since any of you have seen a healer, if you ever have. That does not excuse rude behavior. You who are Alphas and dominants know better than any, how protective your males are of their mates. So, show the respect they deserve. Show the healer just how precious she is by not acting like rampant idiots.” Peri met each Alphas eyes and held them, letting them see that she was not going to play dominance games with them. She was here as their equal and they would either accept that or not. It would be much wiser of them to just let it be.
Peri saw Vasile and Alina as they approached the entry. She motioned for the wolves to look behind them.
Vasile and his mate walked through the wolves as they parted, each of them dropping their eyes and the Alphas bowing their head slightly to Alina in respect. When they reached the front of the room, Vasile turned to face them.
“We all know why we are here,” he told them. “Our creator, the Great Luna, has seen the evil that threatens our species, as well as all of the others, and she has called us to stand against it. She created us for such a time as this.” Vasile’s voice carried throughout the room, strong and clear. “She made us stronger, more resilient, and more cunning than other species. She made us wolves, because a pack protects its own. Pack protects the weak. Pack protects when all others choose to look away. Thankfully, we are not alone in our stand against the evil that has grown. We have friends who have agreed to help and we will welcome them into our pack and hear what they have to say.”
Vasile motioned towards the back of the room where Cypher, Lilly, Thalion, and Cyn stood with a slew of warriors behind them.
Cypher turned and said something to the others and the warriors stayed behind as the four proceeded forward. The room was quiet as they walked. Cypher and Thalion kept their head straight forward not making eye contact with any of the wolves. Lilly looked everywhere, searching for Jacque, Jen, and Sally. When Lilly’s eyes finally landed on Jacque and her friends her face broke into a huge smile.
Jacque was out from behind Fane and running towards her mother faster than Fane could react. She was barreling through the males not caring who she ran into or how it might affect Fane to watch his mate sprint through a room full of males that he did not know. Sally and Jen were right behind her and all three males tore after them.
Jacque knew what she had done was foolish, but all she had seen was her mother and all she could think about was making sure she was safe. She should have known that Sally and Jen would be right behind her, because they loved her mom every bit as much as she did.
Jacque reached her mom and ran straight into her arms, and for a brief moment, she thought that her little stunt might not be a disaster. She should have considered that a pregnant chick was running full speed behind her in a room jam packed with bodies.
Jen stumbled and Tyler reached out to catch her, but Decebel was there before he could touch her. Decebel glared at the Alpha and Tyler held his hands up and took a few steps back. The room was still as they waited to see how Decebel would respond.
“Hey B,” Jen elbowed him. “Help a pregnant chick out and carry me through the masses?”
Decebel looked down at his mate and shook his head as he swung her up into his arms.
“You are a pain in my a…”
“Tsk, tsk, Dec, no cursing remember?” Jen admonished, as she patted her stomach. Decebel growled, but held his tongue.
Lilly wrapped her arms around all three of the girls as the huddled close. She hadn’t realized just how badly she had needed to see that they were okay. She wiped tears away as she stepped back to look at each of them.
“Look at you three,” she swooned. “You’re beautiful. Romania agrees with you.”
Jen laughed. “That’s about the only thing.” Decebel raised a brow at her when she looked back at him and winked.
Decebel, Fane, and Costin had formed a protective circle around the women and Adam, Sorin, and Gavril had stepped forward as well. The ladies were completely oblivious to their surroundings as they fired questions at one another, barely giving themselves time to answer. A loud throat clearing finally tore their attention from one another.
“I realize that you all want to catch up, and I assure you there will be time for that,” Vasile told them, not unkindly, “but there are other matters that need to be dealt with.”
“We are going to talk as soon as this pow-wow is over,” Jacque told her mom as Fane tugged her by the hand back to where they had been standing. Decebel, Jen, Costin, and Sally followed close behind them. Everyone seemed to gather themselves back together and the four newcomers commenced the progress towards the front of the room.
Cypher pulled Lilly close to him as they reached the front of the room. He didn’t feel threatened by any of the wolves, but he still didn’t want Lilly away from his side. He shook Vasile’s hand and nodded to his mate.
“Vasile, it’s been a very long time,” Cypher told him.
Vasile nodded. “That it has. I see that the Fates have blessed you,” he nodded toward Lilly.
“Hi Vasile,” Lilly smiled. “Good to see you again, though I wish it were under different circumstances.”
“Likewise.”
Alina stepped forward and gave Lilly a hug. “How are you holding up?” She asked her.
Lilly gave Alina a small squeeze as she answered, “I’m good.”
Alina looked at her face as she stepped back from the hug and she could see in Lilly’s eyes that, despite all that was going on, she was happy at Cypher’s side.
Thalion stepped forward and bowed slightly to Vasile and Alina.
“I am Thalion, Prince of the Elves.”
The room erupted into murmurs at Thalion’s introduction. Vasile silenced them with a look, and then turned back to Thalion.
“I’ve heard of you, though in all my time we have never met,” Vasile bowed in return.
“We have kept to ourselves for far too long, and for that I am sorry. I have come to hopefully right some of that wrong.”
Vasile reached for the Elf Prince’s hand and grasped it tightly. “We welcome you, friend of the pack.” He looked at Cypher and Lilly and added. “We welcome all of you.”
The rest of the meeting was spent with Cypher telling them of everything they had been through since Mona showed up in his forest with her proposition. Several times Vasile had needed to remind the group of dominants to pull themselves together, when they growled at something Cypher said and they disliked. But, by then end, everyone seemed to be on the same page.
Vasile addressed the room a last time before dismissing everyone.
“I need each Alpha to stay, the rest are free to go eat and relax as much as possible because the time for that is quickly coming to an end. Do not be foolish with dominance games or I will save your Alphas the trouble and kill you myself.”
The room began to empty until all that remained were the Alphas and Vasile’s core group.
Q
With all the Alphas present, Vasile and Decebel’s wolves, the Fae and Cypher, Lilly, and Thalion, there were fifty seven total sitting in a large circle in the gathering room.
Vasile made quick introductions and immediately got down to business.
“Skender has filled me in on most of what has been taking place here while I was away. You have come up with a battle plan, correct?” He asked. The Alphas nodded and Dillon spoke up, as he had become the unofficial go between for the packs. “We’ve been practicing battle tactics with each other, learning how we each fight and we think we’ve come up with some strategies that will work to our advantage.”
Vasile turned to Cypher and motioned for him to take the floor.
“I am to meet with Desdemona tomorrow. I imagine she will not want to wait any longer to open the veil. I have explained to Perizada of the Fae where the veil to the underworld lies and she will be the one to lead you to it when the time is right. It is very important that any demons that escape be killed, quickly. Thalion and the elves will be the ones who take out the demons. They are the only one with the weapons that will kill them.”
“So, what are the rest of us supposed to do?” Victor asked.
“Desdemona will know that we are coming. There is no way for us to prevent that knowledge. Peri and the Fae council will be able to cloak our numbers, but she will still know we are coming. As she has done in the past, she will use any form of evil she can bend to her will. There will likely be multiple foes to contend with and it will be our job to take them out before they get to any of Thalion’s people,” Dillon explained.
“Once the veil is open, it will also be the wolves’ job to keep Mona occupied while I close it back.” Cypher rubbed his forehead as he let out a deep breath. He appeared nearly human for a brief moment in time when the pressure and strain of all that he had endured and would endure, settled on his shoulders. “I honestly don’t have a clue if any of this is going to work,” he admitted to the group. Lilly took his hand in hers and squeezed it for support. “But, I’m going to do my best to keep from releasing the whole of hell into our realm.”
“That’s all we can ask of anyone,” Vasile told him, “that we each do our best. This is not a fight to glorify one man. This is a fight to save many species. All each of us can do, is give everything we have to win this fight.”
“For the pack.” Decebel’s voice rumbled through the room.
“For the pack,” they all responded in unison.
“Get some rest,” Vasile told them, as they all stood, “tomorrow we fight.”
Q
Peri, Cynthia, and the mated females sat in a circle on the floor of the study. Jen had sweet talked Decebel into building a fire for them in the large fire place and Sally, Crina, and Elle had managed to convince their mates to make hot chocolate for the lot of them. The males had refused to leave them, so they had taken up residence across the room, each looking equally broody and put out. Even Cypher had refused to leave and sat next to Vasile with the same fierce scowl.
They were all just settling in when Jen jumped up and squealed.
“Holy freaking cow on a stick!”
Decebel lunged across the room, standing beside her in an instant.
“Jennifer, are you okay?” He was trying to check her over and she kept slapping his hands away and pointing across from her. Sally sat with a shy smile as everyone turned to look at her.
Jacque’s eyes widened as she saw Sally’s hand.
“You bit—,”
“Jacque, language,” Jen snapped and then turned back to Sally. “You bitch!”
Jacque looked over at Jen. “Why do you get to cuss?”
“Because, I’m pregnant and, like old people, pregnant people get to do a whole bunch of crazy crap and blame it on their bodies.”
“Huh,” Jacque shrugged. “I guess that makes sense.” They both turned their attention back to Sally and she squirmed under their glares.
“Would someone please fill me in as to why we are giving Sally the death stare?” Crina asked.
“Look at her hand,” Jen growled out.
There was a collective gasp as all eyes landed on the diamond.
“Please tell me that all he did was ask,” Jen warned. “Please tell me that you two did not secretly get married because tomorrow we might all die and you didn’t want to go to your grave with the big V hanging over you.”
Sally’s mouth dropped open.
“Why didn’t I think of that?” Costin called across the room.
“Do not give her more ammunition,” Sally snarled at him.
Costin winked at her from his casual stance against the wall that gave him a perfect view of her.
“We didn’t get married Jen,” Sally huffed. “He just asked me, but I haven’t exactly had a chance to tell you all.”
Decebel finally picked up on the fact that his mate was in no imminent danger, or having any pregnancy complications, and backed out of the estrogen filled circle.
“You’ve had plenty of chances,” Jacque told her. “All you had to do was hold up your bloody hand while you were walking into the gathering hall. I would have been like ‘hey Jen look, Sally is engaged.’”
“And, I would have been like, ‘hey Jacque, she better not have gotten married just so she could jump in the sack with sexy dimple wolf.’” Jen finished.
“What is with you and your fascination of my virginity?” Sally stood up, tired of having her friends loom over her.
“I’m not fascinated by it,” Jen argued.
“Then why are you assuming that I would marry Costin behind your back just so I could have sex with him!” Sally’s hands were on her hips as she bore down on her friends.
Jen paused for a second as she considered Sally’s question.
“Because, it’s what I would do,” she finally answered. The room erupted into laughter. Jen looked around at the flailing bodies, then over to her mate who was shaking his head at her. “What?” She asked, feigning confusion as to what was funny.
“No worries, Jen,” Costin called out again. “I’m totally with you on this one.”
Decebel growled at him and Costin laughed.
“Nobody asked you, Costin,” Sally told, him through gritted teeth.
Costin blew her a kiss and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning like an idiot. And, he knew it too.
“Are you thinking about what I’m thinking about?” He taunted.
“If you’re thinking about me kicking you out of my room, then yes.”
She heard Costin’s chuckle in her mind and felt his breath on her neck.
“Be honest with your mate, Sally. I think you’re thinking about a certain bargain, a certain kiss, a certain…”
“STOP IT.” Sally could feel her face blushing and knew the minute everyone realized she hadn’t heard a word they had said. She hadn’t even realized they'd been fawning over her ring.
Jen looked from Costin to Sally and grinned. “Are you two getting your kicks through your mate bond, right here in front of all of us?” Jen tapped Sally on the nose affectionately. “I didn’t realize that he would turn you into a freak so quickly. Nice work Costin.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” he quipped back.
“Oh, I’m sure it is,” Jacque laughed.
If Sally hadn’t wanted to seep into the ground before, she was definitely seeking out a crevice now.
“As much as I love hearing all the sex jokes from the girls I raised,” Lilly finally interrupted. “I would really like to see Sally’s ring, then I’d like someone to tell me how Jen is pregnant, and I didn’t know.”
“The how is really not in question mom,” Jacque laughed.
“I’m willing to explain exactly how it happened in incredible detail if Ms. P really needs to know,” said Jen.
“NO!” The entire room erupted.
“Man you guys are a buzz kill.” Jen rolled her eyes as she took her seat back on the floor.
“So, Sally,” Lilly smiled, “how did he propose?”
Sally narrowed her eyes over at Costin.
“Your move brown eyes.” He told her as he blew her a kiss.
“You’re right my love, it most definitely is my move,” Sally grinned wickedly, and nearly stood up and danced when she saw his eyes widen with what looked suspiciously like worry.
“Well,” Sally began, “We were laying on my bed, just talking, and then things sort of got heated, you know?”
“No, we most definitely do not know,” Jen interrupted. “We need painstakingly clear details, Sally, details.”
“Jennifer, behave,” Decebel’s voice, rumbled.
“Bah,” she waved him off, “you can punish me later.”
Lilly coughed on the hot chocolate that she had been trying to swallow. Jen patted her on the back as she stared at Sally waiting for her to continue.
“So, as I was saying, things were getting pretty hot and heavy…”
“Third base heavy or did he go for a grand slam?” Jacque broke in.
“Good questions, Jac,” Jen nodded in approval, “definitely good questions.”
“Oh, he tried for the grand slam,” Sally tried not to blush as she said the words, “but he struck out.”
“Ouch,” they heard Decebel mutter. Then a crashing sound that they all ignored. Sally glanced over the girls to see if Costin was all right. One of the chairs next to him had obviously been shoved or kicked over, he was glaring at her, and it warmed her to the bones.
“So, I sort of felt sorry for him when he finally got the nerve to ask me to marry him. I had already shut the ballpark down for any rides, so I wanted to make up for it when he was brave enough to ask me.”
Jen rolled on the floor grasping her stomach as she laughed. “Shut the ballpark! Rides!” She laughed harder when she looked at Decebel, who couldn’t decide if he should risk walking through the estrogen bomb to see if she was all right or make a run for it, in the opposite direction.
Lilly tried to cover her laughter as she watched the gleam in Sally’s eyes, but the rest of the room had given up any pretense of trying to be cool.
Sally’s eyes widened as Costin came striding across the room. He stood just on the outside of the circle and the hazel eyes that met hers smoldered.
“Oh my,” Jen murmured, when she finally gathered herself. “I know that look, Jacque don’t you know that look?”
Jacque looked up at Costin. “Mm hmm, girl, I most definitely know that look.”
Alina smirked. “I even know that look.”
Sally’s eyes danced back and forth between Costin and her friends. “Well, somebody help a sista out because I don’t know that look.”
“You’re about to find out,” Crina muttered.
Costin smiled at her and the entire circle of mostly mated women swooned. He had one of those smiles. The dimple, the eyes, the wink, it was lethal to anyone watching.
“Shall I tell them what really happened, Sally mine?” He asked in a voice that should only be reserved for the bedroom or if you happen to work for one of those nine hundred number things.
Sally stood up slowly. She decided that it was time to fight fire with fire. She let her body unfold like a lazy cat and she smiled sweetly at him, biting her lip shyly.
“We could show them, you know, reenact it for them.” Sally tried for a sultry voice and thought maybe she had achieved it when Costin growled.
Jen laughed. “I think she’s got your number, dimple boy.”
Sally quirked an eye brow at her mate. “I’ll show them mine, if you show them yours.”
Costin knew he’d been beaten at his own game and snarled when Sally’s hands went to the hem of her shirt. He turned and stalked back to the side of the room where the other males were giving him sincere looks of sympathy.
“Welcome to my world,” Decebel told him, as he came to stand beside him.
Costin’s eyes honed in on his mate who was smiling and laughing with her friends. She was proud of herself, and to be honest, he was proud of her too. But, that didn’t change the fact that he didn’t like to lose and he had most definitely lost.
“Check mate,” he heard her giggle in his mind.
“How do you survive,” he asked Decebel.
“Killing things and lots and lots of s—,”
Costin choked before Decebel could finish. Decebel frowned at his Beta.
“I was going to say sleep you perv,” he laughed at Costin’s wide eyes. “I’m actually going to agree with my mate on this one, you two just need to get hitched and take care of business. The tension is so tight between you two, one of you is liable to snap and attack the other one in plain daylight.”
Costin laughed, “She would break before I would.”
Decebel shook his head. He looked over at Sally and then back at Costin. “No Beta, I don’t think she would.”
The girls talked late into the night, and when Jen dozed off, the males finally stepped in. One by one, they gathered their mates.
Lilly gave Jacque a hug before Fane picked her up. “I’m so glad you’re happy Jac.”
“Thanks mom, me too. Tell the Warlock King I’ll kick his posterior if he hurts you.”
Lilly laughed. “I’ll pass it along.” Cypher stepped behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. “She’s going to kick my what?”
Lilly shook her head with a smile. “She’s all bark.” Lilly took his hand and let him lead her out of the study.
Decebel gently picked up Jen and she curled up in his arms. He kissed her forehead and nodded to Costin as he left the room.
Costin and Sally were the last ones in the study. The fire crackled and the light from the flames danced on Sally’s face. She had dozed off along with Jen quite a while ago, but he hadn’t wanted to disturb her. He knelt down next to her and ran a finger across her cheek. She nuzzled it and he smiled. Even in sleep, she knew who he was.
“Mine,” she mumbled.
Costin picked her up and held her close to his chest. “Always,” he whispered in her ear, as he carried her to their room.