“No,” said Stella. “A stare would be a really, really long glance.”
“That’s just semantics,” said Heather.
Kara ignored their banter as she turned in a slow circle. They were standing out in front of Peri’s home enjoying the nice weather. It had been two days since the spell had lifted, and they’d been two intense days, to say the least. Lucian had finally ordered the three mated males to go on a hunt, just to give the girls some breathing room.
When Lucian had given the order, the other wolves, those remaining unmated males, were not around, probably on a hunt of their own. But now they’d returned. Without a word to the healers, they’d all marched into the sparring circles and had been taking turns fighting. It wasn’t until Kara noticed the silence that she realized something was wrong.
As she made the circle, she saw that the unmated males, Drayden, Bannan, Antonia, and Aimo, were now all standing still and staring. At them.
Kara took a step closer to Stella and smacked her arm. “They’re all giving us really, really long glances,” she whispered.
“What in the—” Stella began, but her mouth snapped shut when all four males suddenly moved. It was faster than they could even track, and suddenly the males were standing mere feet from them instead of across the training field.
Kara grabbed Heather’s arm and pulled her back, since she’d unwittingly taken a few steps toward the males.
“Why do I feel like we shouldn’t make any sudden movements? Are we being stalked by a big, scary animal?” Heather asked.
“No, we’re being stalked by four big, scary animals,” Kara answered, her voice tight as she tried to choke down her fear and the shout she wanted to give to alert someone.
“What’s wrong, jailbait?” Nick asked through their bond.
She let out a sigh. Of course, the bond, duh, Kara, she thought to herself.
“Kara?” His voice was a little sharper.
“I think we have a problem,” she said quickly because she could feel his worry.
“You’re going to have to give me more than that, sweetheart.”
“I don’t want you to get mad at them. It almost seems as if they’re under a trance. And it doesn’t seem like they want to hurt us. It looks more like they’re both confused and intrigued. I do think they want to touch us though because Stella just smacked two hands away. Oh no you don’t. Yep, they definitely want to touch us.”
“KARA,” Nick growled. “Who wants to touch you!”
“Oh, sorry. There are some pack members here. Drayden, Bannan, Antonio, and Aimo, I think that’s the last one’s name. They seem fixated on us.”
“Show me what you’re seeing,” he ordered.
Kara pictured in her mind the scene before her. Apparently, Nick did not appreciate the view.
“Where the hell is Lucian?”
“Can’t really tell because we’re sort of surrounded by large bodies.”
“By all that is holy, I will rip my own Alpha apart if he lays a hand on you. We’re on our way.”
Kara nearly sighed in relief but screeched instead when she felt her hair being lifted from behind. She whipped around and smacked Bannan’s hand away.
“I told Nick,” she said.
“Ciro knows, too.”
“Iceberg’s coming in strong,” Heather called out as pushed at Antonio.
“What the crap is wrong with them?” Stella asked, smacking yet another hand.
“I don’t know, but I feel like we’re getting a glimpse of the zombie apocalypse,” Kara answered.
“But instead of zombies it’s hot werewolves,” Heather offered.
“Not really helping my control, lass.” Kale growled into his mate’s mind.
Before Heather could respond, she heard howls and paws beating on the ground.
“When I tell you, drop,” Nick said to Kara.
“Get ready to see how low we can go, girls,” Kara said as she grabbed Heather’s arm.
“Drop!”
Kara didn’t hesitate. She jerked Heather and Stella down with her until they were crouched on their knees, hunched over, protecting their heads as if they were performing a tornado drill in school. She felt fur brush her cheek, and then the bodies that had been surrounding them were gone.
Kara lifted her head. She jumped to her feet when she saw seven wolves locked in battle. Shredded clothes littered the ground, having fallen from the wolves that had just phased. Remnants of shirts still clung to some of the wolves’ fur in their beast forms.
“I’m just going on a wild hunch,” Heather said as she stood back up, “but I think our mates were a little ticked off by the actions of the unmated males.”
“What gave you that idea?” Stella asked. “The snarling, howling, snapping of jaws, or perhaps the scent of blood?”
“Might have been one of those things.” Heather nodded.
“Should we do something?” Kara asked.
“Maybe it would be good for them to get it out of their system,” Heather suggested. “They’ve been wound tighter than a roll of barbed wire. Getting out some of their aggression might help.”
“Or they might kill each other,” Stella offered.
“Well, there is that,” Heather agreed.
Kara shook her head at her two friends and then took off at a run for Peri’s front door. She flung it open and yelled. “LUCIAN.” She knew her eyes were wild, which might have been why the group that came hurrying into the living room looked at her like she was crazy.
Lucian, Thad, Elle, Sorin, Adam, Crina, and Adira rushed toward her. Elle reached her first and grabbed her arm, flashing them out of the way and back onto the yard.
Kara looked back as the others hurried out of the house. Their own eyes were wide with shock at the spectacle before them.
“Peri warned them that this would happen,” Elle muttered, then ran toward the fight.
Elle pushed her magic out toward the out-of-control wolves, separating them from their opponents and freezing them where they stood. They were panting and snarling, but they couldn’t act on their rage. Adam, she realized, was on the opposite side of the group, doing the same with his magic.
Lucian walked over to where she stood, and Sorin walked to her other side and placed a hand on the small of her back.
“Phase,” he said coolly, but with so much power even Elle felt it.
She heard Kara and Stella swear. Where previously there had been furry male wolves, now stood naked human males. They weren’t able to cover themselves, still frozen in place as they were.
“Elle,” Lucian said.
She sighed. “Fine, but they don’t deserve it. They deserve to have to stand there naked as the day they were born.” She motioned with her hand and muttered under her breath. Suddenly, all of the males had on sweat pants. Pink sweat pants.
“Okay, ladies,” Elle called out. “They’re decent.”
“Nice,” Kara said with a laugh.
“Brilliant,” Stella added.
The male wolves didn’t look impressed. Elle didn’t care. They were being ridiculous.
“Ciro,” Lucian called to the Alpha. “What happened?”
The Italian Alpha looked at Lucian with glowing eyes. “Our females contacted us through the bond while we were on our hunt. They told us the unmated males were trying to touch them.”
Elle watched the four unmated males and nudged her mate. “Do you see them?”
Sorin looked at the males and then at the healers behind them. “They’re staring at them.”
“We decided it was just a really, really long glance,” Kara said.
“Jailbait.” Nick growled.
“Did he just call you Jailbait?” Heather laughed.
Elle smiled at the irritated look on Kara’s face. She shot her mate a glare worthy of a dominant female.
“Lucian, the unmated males are being influenced by the gypsy healers’ magic,” Elle told him.
Crina stepped forward. “That’s happen
ed before, to Sally.” She turned to Sorin. “Remember them telling us about that in Costin’s bar?”
Sorin nodded.
“Ahh, yes,” Thad said in his deep, cool voice. “I had forgotten about the healers’ effect on unmated males, especially dominant ones.”
“What effect, exactly, do we have?” Stella asked, sounding as though she really didn’t want the answer.
“But I am curious as to why they are just now being influenced,” Thad said as he rubbed his chin while looking back and forth between the unmated males and the healers. “Maybe it’s because the mate bond has grown in power since they’re out of the pixie realm and met their mates, and the spell that was blocking the pixie realm was masking it. And since they haven’t performed the Blood Rites, the females are still considered fair game.”
There was a round of snarls from the three mates.
“Okay, one more time,” Stella said raising her hand. “What effect are you talking about? Because it looks very similar to the effect that strong whiskey has on human males.”
“Gypsy healers are precious to a pack. Not just because they can heal or aid in the success of a pack birth, which is all too rare, but also because they have the ability to calm unmated male wolves,” Thad explained. “An injured, unmated wolf runs the risk of becoming feral. A gypsy healer can calm him with her magic. That same magic pulls those unmated males toward them like a moth to the flame. The three of you together must be magnifying each other’s power and yes, it is literally making them drunk on your magic.”
“Lucian,” Kale called out. “This will not work. Our wolves will not be controlled even against our own pack mates. They are trying to touch our lasses. You know what will happen if this continues.”
Elle looked at Lucian and could see he was considering their earlier conversation with Adira. They’d been in a weighty discussion before Kara had burst into the house.
“You have two choices,” Lucian said. “You can complete the bond my doing the Blood Rites, or I can send the unmated males on a mission with Thad and Adira.”
“I vote for option two,” Stella called out.
“No offense, Fonz,” Kara called out next. “But I second Stella’s motion.”
“None taken, Jailbait,” Nick said and winked at her.
Lucian turned to look at the girls. “Heather, since the females have taken it upon themselves to speak for their mates, would you like to give your vote?”
“I vote for option three,” she said matter-of-factly.
“There was no option three, Stevie,” Stella huffed.
Heather smiled. “I know. But I’m the blind chick. I get to be eccentric.”
“She goes with option two as well, Lucian,” Kara said.
Elle glanced at Thad. He was kneeling down, engaged in an intense conversation with Adira. Adam had joined them and was nodding his head. As crazy as Adam tended to be, he and Adira would be on the same page for whatever plan of destruction she was cooking up. It would be getting Thad to go along with it that would be tough
Her attention was brought back to Lucian when he said her name. “Elle, Adam, once the males are dressed and ready, can you both take them?”
Elle nodded.
“Can do,” Adam said from where he was still kneeling next to Thad.
Lucian turned to Dillon, Dalton, and Gustavo, who’d just come out of the forest. They weren’t wearing shoes with their clothes, since they’d been hunting as well.
“You three will be staying here. The healers don’t affect you.”
“What are you talking about?” Dalton asked.
Elle waved him off. “We’ll explain it later.” She turned to the four unmated males. “If you would please go dress and then meet the rest of us out here.” She released them but used her power to keep them from turning toward the healers.
Once they were inside, Lucian looked over at Ciro, Nick, and Kale. “Please escort your mates to their room and then get yourselves cleaned up.”
The three males nodded and headed toward the girls.
Elle watched with a small smile as Kale tucked Heather’s hand in his arm, Nick wrapped an arm around Kara’s neck and pulled her into him, and Ciro walked as close to Stella as he could without touching her.
“Interesting, isn’t it,” Sorin said softly, watching them as well.
“What?”
“How different each mated pair responds to one another and how each male already knows what it is their mate needs. They’re going to be alright.”
Elle chuckled. “They’re going to be better than alright. Those three are tough, add their mates and they will be a force to be reckoned with.”
Lucian stood staring at the group as they formed a semicircle around him. Thad, Adira, Drayden, Bannan, Antonio, Aimo, Elle, Sorin, Adam, and Crina all stared at him, waiting.
“Adira,” Lucian finally spoke. “Tell the males what you were telling us earlier.”
She stepped forward and stood next to Lucian, looking at the group. “I told you all before Thad removed the spell that locked down my realm that the draheim veil was closed tightly, as well and that it was an evil spell that was forcing it closed. Obviously, this was concerning, so I decided to investigate. I don’t know how much you know about magic, but it has a signature, a calling card, if you will, to the supernatural being who wielded it. Some of us are old enough to remember when Volcan went crazy the first time, and his magic has a definite feel to it. It feels almost like oil being poured over your skin. His is the only dark magic I’ve come across that has made me feel like that.”
“So you’re saying…” Crina encouraged.
“I’m saying I’m almost positive that Volcan set that spell on the draheim veil. And considering the draheim don’t leave their realm willingly, it’s not like they really need it locked. No one in their right mind goes in there, and thankfully, they never come out. So, the only reason I can think of as to why he might have done that is that he’s hiding in there. Whether he’s made some deal with them, I can’t say. Maybe they don’t even know he’s there. Regardless, getting him out won’t be easy. But that’s not the biggest issue. Well, it’s not the only issue. You see, the pixie realm is the closest realm to the draheim in the supernatural world. To put it in terms you humans might understand, and you wolves that live in the human realm, we’re sort of like next-door neighbors in the supernatural world. It’s not exactly that simple, but that’s the best way I can explain it.”
“Okay, so what?” asked Sorin.
“Well, since big bad Thad here kicked down the magical door to our realm, we’ve been experiencing some problems.”
“What kind of problems?” Drayden, the Canada Alpha, asked.
“I’ve noticed over the past couple of weeks that some of my kin have been behaving strangely. They’re not themselves. For starters, they were being cruel to one another. I don’t just mean they were in a bad mood. We all have bad moods. I mean they were being harsh without cause. Pixies are a peaceful folk, especially with one another. When I started paying attention to who was having the worst of those symptoms, I found that it was the pixies that lived closest to the veil entrance in our realm. I brought Adam and Crina so they could observe.”
Adam nodded. “They were wicked little buggers.”
Crina frowned. “There was definitely an evil presence, but it was very subtle.”
“You think the dark magic that created that spell is affecting your realm?” Antonio asked.
“I think it’s doing what any form of evil does. It’s spreading.”
Lucian breathed out a heavy sigh. “I think your suspicious are right, Adira. Volcan is probably hiding out in the draheim realm. Thad, Adam, and Elle have had dealings with Volcan in the past. They know his magic so they can confirm it. We’ll have to break the spell on the draheim veil in order to get to Volcan. Even if we don’t find Volcan hiding in there, we’ll still have to break the spell so the pixie realm is no longer being saturated in evil.”
/> “Can you do it?” Bannan asked as he turned to Thad.
“I do not know. I can siphon power from other supernaturals, which will make my magic even stronger. But it is not something that is lightly done. Adira, here, has been trying to convince us that, if we combine multiple races, our power will be even stronger. But this presents a problem. Dark magic has a mind of its own. If we are not careful in wielding that amount of power, the dark magic could quite literally wrest the power from us. It will thrust itself into the hands of the strongest supernatural it can find that wants to wield it for evil.”
“Volcan.” Lucian breathed.
“Exactly,” continued Thad. “We must be very intentional when wielding that kind of power. If we do this, we must be in one accord, and we must not let the dark magic affect us.”
“That doesn’t sound ominous or anything,” Adam said dryly, causing the tension to break a little.
Lucian looked at the group of unmated males. “I think it would be best if you four left without speaking to your pack mates. Their emotions are a bit unpredictable, and while you aren’t at fault for what happened earlier, their wolves won’t care.”
Drayden nodded. “I agree. I do not hold it against my Beta for attacking. I would have done the same thing had it been my mate.”
“It is settled then,” Lucian said and took a step back. “Elle and Adam will flash you to the draheim veil. And keep me updated on how things are progressing.”
Elle nodded. “Got it.”
Adam gave a thumbs-up as he wrapped his hand around Crina’s.
Lucian watched as Elle and Adam flashed the group from Farie. When he was left standing in the empty yard, he let out the breath he’d been holding.
“Tell me you are alright,” he said, reaching out through the bond to his mate.
“Only if you tell me that you’re alright first,” Peri responded.
“I won’t be alright until you’re by my side, where you belong.”
“Touché, my love.”
“Be safe, Perizada. I love you.”
Lucian felt her love through the bond. The caress of her hand against his face only made his heart ache more. Would there ever be a time of peace? Would there ever be a time when he could just be with her, love her, and hold her? He hoped so, but deep down, he didn’t think that day would ever come. He would have to treasure every moment they had together.