“If that’s not a kick to the balls, I don’t know what is,” Peri said as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
Dalton was pretty sure that he wasn’t going to be able to take in another breath. He was going to suffocate right there in the home of his mate’s mother.
“Volcan will be the father?” Dalton asked nearly choking on the words.
“It is unclear who the father will be.”
Peri’s face was taking on a sickly shade of green. “I’m pretty sure I just met my quota of sick, twisted, and utterly disgusting news for the year.”
Dalton pushed away from the table taking deep breaths, attempting to prepare himself for the answer to his next question. “Why not?”
“Because he intends for her to be the mother. The beginning of a new class of witches. Every child she bears will have not only witch blood, but gypsy healer blood as well. Though he does desire her, he will always desire power more. If that means Jewel must have other bed partners, he will allow it.”
“Okay I was wrong, now I have reached my quota.” Peri’s lips were tight and her face more severe looking than Dalton had ever seen it.
Lucian turned and looked at Dillon before speaking to Dalton. “You realize what this means?”
Dalton nodded. “If she becomes with child, my life must be forfeited so that the bond will take her life as well.” There was no inflection in his voice, no emotion on his face to give away the soul wrenching anguish that was threatening to drag him to his knees. “You will grant me this request?” he asked his Alpha.
“I will; you have my word.”
Dalton looked at Lucian and Peri. “I would ask something of you as well. Retrieve her body. Don’t leave her with him.”
Lucian nodded. “We will not abandon her, whether it be in life or death that we search for her.”
“Okay, that is enough!” Peri said as she stood from her chair. “Gem Stone, while I appreciate your gift and the information, I’m done with the gloom and doom. Dalton will not have to be put down like a mangy dog, Lucian and I will not have to retrieve Jewel’s body, and Jewel―sure as hell― isn’t going to be bearing a bunch of little snot nose witch kids. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you thick skulled people this; I. Don’t. Lose. Now if you all are done bellyaching over a future that will not come to pass, could we please get on with the plan to save our girl and once again a world that is completely oblivious to our awesomeness?
~
“We haven’t heard from Peri in quite a few days,” Stella said as the group sat around the crackling fire. The flames danced around them, casting an eerie glow on their faces. This had become their nightly routine. They gathered around the warmth of the flames and talked, sometimes in hushed tones, discussing what might be happening in the world beyond the pixie realm, and sometimes in boisterous laughter, they shared stories with one another. Stella preferred the boisterous laughter because it helped keep her mind off of the growing need to go to him, whoever he was. She could tell that while Anna and Heather were truly enjoying their time bonding, they were growing more and more restless by the day. And they were rubbing their chests a lot more often. Every now and then Anna would meet her eyes and the understanding that ran between the two of them helped Stella remain calm when she began to feel all weepy.
“Speak of the devil,” Anna chimed just after Peri appeared before them.
Peri looked at her and smiled with a wicked gleam in her eyes. “And he will arrive to drag you down to the bowels of hell with him. Which is ironically close to what I will be soon doing to you lot.”
“What’s happened,” Elle asked as she stood from her spot on the ground.
“Cliff notes version goes something like this,” Peri began. “The bond between Dalton and Jewel opened. Volcan used the bond to get into Jewel’s mind and blackmailed her into agreeing to going with him. He came and got her, but not before Dalton completed the Blood Rites just after Jewel finally woke up. Dalton is scarily calm. We’ve been to see Jewel’s mother, who turned out to be some kind of legitimate seer, and she basically informed us that the world is coming to an end. Jewel will become a witch breeding machine, and Dalton will have to die in order to keep Jewel from spitting out mega witches from her lady parts. The whole scenario of course is based on us failing to retrieve Jewel.” She clapped her hands and let out a breath. “So everyone caught up, yeah? Good, now Dalton should be able to locate Jewel since they completed the Blood Rites. We have no idea what we will be walking into. That said, I have a job for you. Gem also said that Volcan cannot be defeated.”
“For some reason that seems not to bode well for us,” Heather interrupted.
“For a blind chick you are quite astute,” Peri quipped.
“Points for effort, but that one was sort of lame,” Heather said dryly.
“Cut me some slack, Helen, I’m sort of trying to prevent Armageddon. - Peri closed her eyes briefly gathering her thoughts. “Now, as I was saying, Volcan can’t be defeated. She said that his demise would be of his own making and that our attack strategy would need to be forcing him to move in the direction that will ensure he makes the choices necessary to destroy himself.”
“Like a game of chess,” Anna spoke up.
“Exactly,” Peri agreed. “Since you all are just sitting here coming up with ways to annoy Ainsel, you might as well be useful. I need strategies. I need you to give me what ifs and what to do in case of those what ifs, and I need you to have multiple options in play so that we can adjust to his moves. As soon as I have information on what he is up to, where he is, etc., I will get the information to you so you all can get to work on setting up the plans.”
“So we’re the war planning party?” Stella asked.
“Yes, you will be responsible for mounting probably the most strategic war in history, but I do apologize that no one will ever know of your mad skills.”
“I suppose saving the world will have to be reward enough,” Stella huffed dramatically.
Peri turned to the three healers and opened her hand. Three stones appeared out of nowhere. “You all need to continue to practice the things Sally had begun to teach you. The fae stones will magnify your power. You need to learn to bend your power to your own will so that it will answer you when you call for it.” She paused and looked around at the group as they listened so intently. In that moment she realized that if she could pick anyone wolf, fae, warlock, human, gypsy healer, or elf, to go into battle with her to fight to save the world, these individuals would be at the top of that list.
“How is Dalton truly holding up?” Sorin asked her.
Peri was not fooled by the façade that Dalton Black held in place. He was a ticking time bomb and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to be in the vicinity when he finally went off. “He’s coping, for now.”
“Can Dillon control him?”
“If it were Elle in Jewel’s place, could anyone control you?”
Sorin bowed his head to her. “Good point.”
“Stay vigilant,” Peri encouraged. “And healers,” she said as turned her gaze on them. “I am going to tell you what I have had to tell the other gypsies. If any of you suddenly gets this intense urge to be a hero. Don’t.”
She flashed and was gone before they could respond.
Heather snorted. “She has way too much faith in me if she thinks I’m going to be charging out like some fierce warrior goddess. I’d run smack dab into a tree before I ever got close to the battle.”
“You have to admit that would be pretty freaking hilarious,” Crina offered, smiling at the girls.
“Well if I can’t live to help others, at least I can give them something to laugh at,” Heather sighed.
“And we truly appreciate that,” Elle added.
Heather laughed. “You’re welcome.”
The group once again resumed their places around the fire. They were quiet for a time and Stella imagined the other two were thinking the same thing that she was. “At least this w
ill get our minds off of this bond that seems hell bent on dragging us through a forest back into another realm toward male werewolves that we don’t know.”
“When you put it like that it really doesn’t sound very romantic,” Heather told her.
“Well it bloody well doesn’t feel romantic,” Anna huffed. “It feels like my heart is trying to carve an opening out of my chest so it can go crawling off on its own since I’m not doing what it wants.”
Heather threw her hands in the air with a groan. “Okay, now that too is quite disturbing. How about we don’t hear from the voodoo lady or stripper for a while? Let’s not talk about being drug through a forest or our hearts suddenly growing arms and carving themselves from our chests.”
“Fine,” Stella mumbled. “Let’s talk about planning a war instead. Dead bodies, bloodshed, witches, and sorcerers all seem like much better topics.”
“Exactly,” Heather said smiling.
“I think the mate bonds are making them a tad testy,” Crina whispered to Elle.
Stella’s head whipped around and her eyes narrowed.
Elle nodded. “I can see how you might get that.”
“War people,” Stella growled. “Let’s talk war.”
“Oh dear,” Elle muttered
“I don’t think this is going to end well,” Adam added.
“What gave you that clue? Stella looking like she’s ready to kill something, or Anna nodding way too eagerly at Stella’s ranting?”
Just then Heather called out. “War, war, it’s good for the heart; the more you kill the less you think about the wolf you are supposedly going to mate with.”
“Yep, totally not going to end well,” Elle agreed.
~
Sally finished making the bed in the room Jewel had occupied. She felt the need to keep herself busy so that her mind couldn’t contemplate all the horrible outcomes that might befall her and her friends. She was beginning to wonder if they would ever fully defeat the darkness that seemed to continually rise back from the depths they chased it into. Could evil be fully eradicated? And if they were here to defeat it, if there would come a day when peace reigned, why was the Great Luna rebuilding the Canis lupis and gypsy healers now? Additional wolves and healers weren’t necessary unless something bigger was coming or unless she knew that they would never be able to completely defeat their foes. Perhaps, she knew that as one evil is put down, another will continue to rise in its place, like a multi-headed hydra hell bent on destruction. Perhaps, she intended them to be some sort of guardians for the world and realms against such evil. Whatever the reason, Sally hoped with everything in her that they were up to the task.
“Are you going to come to bed any time this year, Sally?” Costin’s voice rumbled from behind her.
“I have too much on my mind for sleep,” she told him as she continued to straighten the room.
Suddenly his hands were on her hips holding her still and pulling her back against his chest. His lips brushed her ear as he spoke. “I would be happy to distract you until you are too tired to think.”
Sally felt the intent of his words down to her toes and her stomach did its usual flip at Costin’s close proximity.
“Costin.”
“Hmm,” he responded distractedly as his lips ran down her neck.
“Do you think we will be enough?”
He paused. “What do you mean?”
“What if there comes a day that we can’t defeat whatever evil it is that we are facing? What will happen to the world and the other supernatural beings?”
Costin turned her to face him and took her face in his hands. She felt small and protected in the shadow of his body and wanted so badly for all the strife in the world to fade away so that they could just be.
“I don’t know what would happen, Sally mine. All I know is that because of what we are, what we are capable of, we must always answer the call to defend the innocent. If we fail, it won’t be because we didn’t give it everything we had.”
She wished his answer gave her a measure of peace, but as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead, she felt as if the clock was ticking for them. With each minute that passed they were getting closer and closer to something they couldn’t defeat―and with it would come great loss.
~
“Do you wonder what she will be like, your true mate?” Nick asked the other males as they sat around the dinner table. It was apparent by the looks on their dejected faces that they were once again not happy about being left behind to do nothing. “I mean do any of you have some sort of feeling that maybe one of the four left is yours?”
Kale glanced at the other males attempting to gage the looks on their faces. They were so used to having discord between them that it was hard to reveal something so personal, but he supposed that the only way to truly be united was to begin to trust each other. He knew it was a risk to tell them about the bond, but maybe he could just tell them part of it.
“There was a scent in the room where the lasses stayed that I am drawn to,” he admitted. “I didn’t ask whose bed it was because I don’t want to cause any friction between us. I, just like each of you, long for my mate. It’s becoming a fierce hunger that I cannot fill.”
They each nodded at him, the low rumble of their agreements filling the room. It was strange, Kale thought, sitting there among other dominants and not attempting to force each other to submit in order to figure out who the Alpha would be. But it was also freeing. To be around other males who were going through the same things, having similar dispositions and therefore able to understand one another, was something he never thought he’d experience.
“I too have felt drawn to this place. When I arrived it seemed like fate,” Gustavo spoke up. “I wondered if perhaps it was just wishful thinking on my part.”
“How long do you think Perizada will make us wait to introduce us to them?” Ciro asked.
“There is no telling with that fae,” Kale answered. “Especially if she thinks the meetings will somehow distract them from finding Volcan. But we might be able to speed up the process if we can convince her that it is wiser for us to find out if one of them is indeed our mate. A mated male is a stronger male.”
“Perhaps, some of us do have a valid argument,” Drayden agreed giving Kale and the two other males who had spoken up a pointed look. It wasn’t envious, or threatening, he was simply acknowledging their claims, and he was okay with it.
“Regardless.” Kale met their eyes. “War or no war, she has no real right to keep us from our mates. It only makes sense that because of what they are to us―our lights, our peace―that we meet them sooner rather than later. “
The group descended into silence again, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Kale’s mind had begun to grow more and more chaotic, and he was feeling his wolf getting more restless. Like most males as old as he was, his time was growing short. And the more violence that he had to take part in, the more the darkness inside of him grew. The violence, whether justified because of a war or not, only fed the darkness. But it wasn’t only for himself that he was becoming desperate to find her. He felt as though she was going to need him. The bond between them seemed to be growing tighter, like a rubber band stretched too far. He didn’t know if she was in trouble, or if something had happened in the pixie realm to endanger her life, but his wolf seemed to know that one of those three was indeed theirs, and she needed his protection as much as he needed her light and goodness, and the man agreed.
He couldn’t, and wouldn’t, wait much longer. If it came to it, he would go against Peri’s orders and he would find his mate. If he had to tear through every inch of the forest around the pixie realm to find her, he would. Like any male in search of his true mate, nothing would stand in his way. He wouldn’t find peace until she was safe in his arms. He wouldn’t be able to focus on the coming battle if he did not know that she was under his protection. Kale had spent centuries looking for her, hoping that he would no longer have to e
ndure his long life alone. Now she was so very close and still he could not have her. I’ll see you very soon, lass, he thought wishing there was a bond for him to send it through.
“Any of you up for a hunt?” Drayden’s voice brought the room back into focus.
“Since we aren’t getting to sink our teeth into an evil fae, we might as well go kill something,” Antonio, Gustavo’s Beta, added.
All of them headed for the forest dropping their human form and phasing into their wolves. Kale knew it was not the hunt any of them wanted to be on. The hunt they craved ended with a warm, light filled female in their arms. Much to his wolf’s―and his own―dismay, they would have to settle for a rabbit.
Epilogue
“I can see inside of you to the places you’d rather keep hidden. I see your wants, your secret desires, and the things that you would never admit to longing for. I will give you those things and not judge you. I will show you what you are capable of and teach you how to wield your power. You will be mine, and you will be thankful that I didn’t leave you to be a servant to the Canis lupis.” ~Volcan
Jewel hadn’t moved from the spot in the corner that she had retreated to when Volcan had released his grip on her body. The room in which he had left her had obviously been decorated for a lady of distinctive tastes. With its four poster bed, lace curtains, and decorative pillows, it looked like a throwback to the Victorian era.
She sat with her knees pulled up to her chest, her back glued to the wall behind her, and her eyes fixed upon the door. She didn’t know when he would be back, but when he did return she wanted to be ready. There was no way she was going to become his, whatever it was he expected, without a fight. She knew a little self-defense from books she had read and would resort to scratching and clawing if she had to. She was not above resorting to crazy girl tactics. Jewel tried not to let her mind wander back to her last minutes with Dalton. The look on his face when Volcan had flashed away with her tore her soul in half. She wished that she could rewind the clock and have him holding her again, marking her, and claiming her for all to know that she was his. Jewel hadn’t realized how intimate it would be, and after having that level of closeness with him, being separated was nauseating.