by Quinn Loftis
“Where is he?” her dad asked with a frown.
“He didn’t come,” Jen told him.
“He let you travel by yourself in that state?” her dad growled and pointed at her stomach.
Alina stepped forward, and though she had a smile on her face, her eyes told a different story. “Jen is perfectly safe with me, with us,” she amended as she motioned to all the women in the room. “Decebel and the other males had business that required them to stay in Romania, and the girls wanted to take a little break. We have a doctor with us,” she motioned to Cynthia who waved and smiled. “Dr. Steele keeps a close eye on her.”
Jen’s parents continued to stare at her. Their eyes darted every now and then to Lilly, giving her looks that clearly said they blamed her for their knocked-up daughter. The tension in the room was palpable.
“I think Peri’s suggestion earlier of crap throwing and squealing is sounding really appealing right now,” remarked Jen. “So who’s going first, Mom? No, okay Jacque, come on we all know your bowels are irregular. You should have something ready to go.”
A snort erupted from Sally and she turned away as Elle patted her on the back while she and the others snickered at Jen.
Peri coughed as she tried to cover her laugh. “Jen it wasn’t a suggestion, you twit, I was being sarcastic.”
Jen smiled at Peri as a single brow rose. “Oh come now, fairy Peri, you know you love a good crap throw as much as the next person.”
“So,” Lilly suddenly jumped in, “who wants hot chocolate?”
At least three hands shot into the air.
“Bloody hell, that was torture,” Jen whined as she climbed into Jacque’s bed.
“I have to agree,” Sally said as she took the sleeping bag on the floor.
“But hilarious as hell,” Jacque laughed.
“Please, pray tell wolf princess, which part was hilarious?” Jen growled. “Was it the part where my dad asked if Decebel had any other children or a wife or was it when my mom asked if we had been using protection?”
“No, it was when you told your mom that yes you had been using protection and not to invest stock in the flavored condoms because they just weren’t as strong as the box claimed.”
All three of the girls shook with laughter. “And then hot chocolate came out of your dad’s nose!” Sally added breathlessly.
“That was a MasterCard moment,” Jen sighed. “Flight home-$300, cup of hot chocolate- $1.50, Dad snorting up cocoa because of discussing daughters sex life…,”
“Priceless!” they all said in unison and erupted into laughter all over again.
As their laughter died down, another feeling began to pool in their stomachs.
“Is anyone else sick of hurting?” Jen asked.
“Totally.”
“Entirely.”
Sally and Jacque said at the same time.
“Then why are we still here?”
“Because this is where they obviously want us,” Jacque said.
“What do you mean?” Sally asked as she leaned up on her elbows.
“If our men really didn’t want us to be here, you know there is nothing-no amount of screaming, whining, or threatening - we could have done to make them let us. They may have thrown their little tantrums, but some part of them wanted us away and that is why we are here.”
“Ugh,” Jen groaned, “we so got played.”
“Jen, babe, are you okay?” Sally asked softly. “You seem to be a lot worse off than Jacque or I and don’t tell me it’s because of your pregnancy.”
“You know, ever since you got this whole gypsy title, you’ve become very bossy,” Jen told her and Sally could hear the smile on her friend’s face.
“Quit avoiding the question.”
“He’s shut me out completely, even from his sleep,” Jen finally admitted and when the words finally emerged she felt the flood gates give way. She rolled onto her side as the tears began to slide down her cheeks and she bit her bottom lip to keep them from trembling. “I feel like he’s slipping away from me. Like every day, every hour, the thread between us gets thinner and thinner.”
Sally’s breath caught at the pain she heard in Jen’s voice. She crawled up into the bed on the other side of Jen as Jacque took the opposite side so that they had sandwiched her in. Both girls wrapped their arms around her and just held her as she cried. There were no words spoken, no false promises that everything would be fine. The reality was that more than likely nothing was going to be fine. So instead they simply took comfort in knowing that in everything they had been through, they had always had each other. Their friendship had stood the tests of life, death, bloodshed, war, and love, and it would continue to do so.
Sally pressed her hand to Jen’s head, brushing her fingers through the blonde locks. She slipped silently into Jen’s mind, trying to keep her friend from realizing what she was doing. As she closed her eyes and opened her spirit to Jen’s, she had to bite her tongue to keep from gasping. Jen’s bond, the thin chord that linked her to Decebel, was stripped, like a rope that had been shredded until there were only a few strands holding it together, so was Jen and Decebel’s mate bond. She could see the emptiness in Jen where Decebel’s soul should be, the other half of hers now nearly gone. Sally was surprised that Jen didn’t simply lie around groaning in pain. It was a miracle that her wolf hadn’t taken over in a desperate attempt to get back to her mate. Sally took her hand away from Jen and rolled onto her back and listened to the slow even breathing of her two best friends.
What did it mean? What could be doing this to their bond and was that why Decebel had been acting so out of character? She didn’t know, but she had an idea of who might. She slid out of the bed, careful not to wake Jacque or Jen and then hurried quietly from the room.
She knocked on the spare bedroom door and was surprised when she heard a muffled, come in. She wasn’t expecting anyone to be awake. She pushed the door open to find Cynthia sitting up in the bed with a book in her lap. She glanced up at Sally before looking back at the book and slipping a piece of paper in the pages to save her spot.
“Sally, is Jen alright?” she asked quietly. Of course she would assume that something must be wrong with Jen because of her state, but she didn’t answer right away.
Sally walked over to the end of the bed and sat down without saying anything. She tried to gather her thoughts but then decided there really wasn’t any easy way to break this.
“Jen and Decebel’s bond is dying.” She watched the doctors face for any sign of outrage, surprise, or shock, but there was none. “You knew?” Sally asked with a frown. “And still you let her come?”
Cynthia laughed bitterly. “Like anyone can keep Jen from doing something she wants to do. And no, I didn’t know, but I had my suspicions.”
“What’s going on doc? What’s wrong with Decebel?”
Cynthia pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them as her eyes met Sally’s. “I don’t really know any more than you.”
“How is Decebel keeping Jen out of his mind while he sleeps?”
“That is a question you should be asking me.” Sally turned at the sound of Elle’s voice and saw that Peri was right behind her.
“Sorry to bust up this little sleepover, but if you want answers, Healer, then you need to go to those in the know.” Peri leaned against the wall, looking more awake than anyone at that hour should and definitely looking like she was in the know.
“So what happened to Decebel?” she asked again, this time directed at Elle.
“He asked for me to make it so that when he slept Jen could not get past his barriers.”
“Why?”
“Do we really have to go through this again?” Peri groaned. “Because he has…,”
Sally held her hand up stopping the fae from going on. “I know, I know, he has man parts. I get it, but that doesn’t fully answer my question.”
“He has a secret and he doesn’t want her to be able to go snooping and find
it,” Peri told her and appeared very put out at having been interrupted.
“Decebel isn’t the type to keep things from Jen,” Sally argued.
“People will often become very different from who they really are when life and death matters are at hand,” said Cynthia.
“I thought that people showed who they truly are when they are in life and death situations.” Sally’s eyes narrowed at the doctor.
Peri waved her hand as if batting away a fly. “Sally, really, do you think we can possibly unravel the workings of the alpha male Canis lupus, especially starting with Decebel?”
Sally didn’t answer; she simply stared at Peri as if everything she wanted to know was going to explode out of her head at any moment. Then the words hit her again.
“You said life and death,” Sally pointed at Cynthia. “This has to do with their baby, wait,” Sally gasped and covered her mouth. “He wouldn’t,” she muttered around her hand, not speaking to anyone but simply staring at the ground as her mind tried to grasp what she was realizing. “Oh,” she whispered slowly, “but he would. They all would.”
“He’s going to sacrifice himself. But he can’t do that if their bond is intact,” Sally finally spoke up loud enough for everyone to hear.
Peri smiled like a proud parent. “I knew she was the smart one in the bunch. Didn’t I tell you Elle,” she nudge the other fae. “Didn’t I say that the quiet, innocent one is the smart one?”
Elle nodded. “Yes Peri, you did,” she said dryly.
“Jen’s going to kill him.” Sally’s eyes locked with Peri’s.
“You can’t tell her, Healer,” Peri’s face suddenly went very serious. “It is not the place of any of us to meddle in the Alpha’s business.”
“She’s my best friend, Peri. That makes it my business,” Sally argued.
“No,” Cynthia spoke up. “If she were only your best friend, then yes, it would be your business. But she isn’t only your best friend. She’s Decebel’s mate, Sally, his wife. There are some things that are between husband and wife that the friend card no longer holds any sway over.”
Sally glared at Cynthia while hearing her words, hearing their truth, and hating them. She knew that there were some things that weren’t her business because Decebel wasn’t just Jen’s boyfriend, he was her husband and that did make it different.
“But he’s making the wrong choice,” she whined. Way to be real mature Sally, she thought to herself.
“That is not for you to decide,” Peri told her, the words of the Great Luna echoing in her mind. “The Fates will ultimately decide whose life they will accept. There is so little we control in this life, and as much as we would like to think life and death is one of those things, it just isn’t.”
Sally let out a deep, resigned sigh. She couldn’t tell Jen. In fact, she couldn’t tell anyone.
“This freaking sucks,” she grumbled.
“So goes the story of our paranormal lives,” Peri agreed.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” the Great Luna said softly to the wolf in human form before her. The warm night air blew through her shimmering hair and the moonlight made her skin glow.
“You knew I was coming?”
“Yes, and they have agreed to hear you.” She motioned for the wolf to follow her. She walked into the forest. As the trees swallowed her, the wolf paused just for a second before following the goddess inside.
They wound through the trees until there was a canopy of limbs that hung over an opening to a cave. Light flickered at the entrance as if a fire burned inside and the flames danced, tempting them to enter and seek its warmth. The Great Luna stepped aside and motioned for the wolf to go into the cave. “This is as far as I go,” she told the wolf who continued forward, following the beckoning light.
The wolf walked deeper into the cave until a voice said to stop.
“We have agreed to hear your petition.” The three figures of the Fates suddenly appeared before the wolf. “What is it you ask for?”
“I come to offer my life in the place of one that you have claimed. I ask that you allow the child to live and let me fulfill the debt. Let my blood wipe clean the slate.” The wolf’s voice was full of sincerity.
“Why would you offer yourself as a sacrifice for this child? It is one thing for the father to do so, but who is this child to you that you would lay down your life?”
“The child is pack. She is family and she is loved. What greater way to show that she is loved than to give my life for hers?”
Silence filled the cave as the Fates watched the wolf, and then they finally spoke again.
“We will consider your sacrifice, but you will not know our decision until the moment it is due. You must tell no one of your choice. For true sacrifice does not seek approval or crave attention. You will do this and no one will know until you have left this life and passed on to the next.”
The wolf left the cave and walked into the arms of the Great Luna.
“Can you restore what has begun to be broken?”
The Great Luna’s eyes filled with moisture as she shook her head. “I cannot. They still might choose him. If their bond was restored, then she would die also. I am proud of you, but I hurt for you as well.”
“It is what should be,” the wolf told her.
The Great Luna nodded. “Just because it is right, does not make it easy.”
“No, but it just might atone for my wrongs.”
“Oh child, all you need do is ask for forgiveness and the wrongs are wiped clean.”
“I want to believe that,” the wolf looked into her eyes, “but there is a part of me that feels that I can never be forgiven, that I will never be worthy of it.”
The goddess took the wolf’s face in her hands and held it gently. “You are not worthy. Not on your own, but I have made you worthy. My love for you has made you worthy.”
Chapter 13
“Peace is a fragile thing. It is forged on the trust that your enemy will choose respect over pride, selflessness over greed, and mercy over power. It is not won in wars, nor bargained for in treaties, for it can’t be won and it can’t be negotiated, not real peace. Real peace, peace that lasts, comes when parties who do not agree, set aside their disagreements for a greater purpose. It comes at the price of self. That is why true peace will never last on this earth, because we are not beings who find many things worth the price of our self.” ~Skender
“Will you not welcome one of the Fae Council into your midst Thead?” Lorelle asked the troll king.
Thead’s eyes narrowed on the fae and the stirrings of mistrust rolled in his gut.
“Since when has the Fae Council ever shown interest in the trolls, Lorelle?” Thead asked. His deep voice rumbled and he smirked as he watched the female shift nervously.
“Since we have heard rumors of war coming your way.”
Thead didn’t give her the pleasure of acting fearful, or surprised, though he might be both of those things. He could tell that there was something amiss with this Lorelle of the fae.
“Then tell me your rumors and be on your way.”
She drew herself up and pulled her shoulders back. She met his eyes, and though she was taller than he and probably more powerful, he didn’t flinch under her gaze. He didn’t flinch until she spoke.
“Cypher, King of the Warlocks, has declared war on the trolls for the murder of Thea, mate to Reyaz, the king’s brother. He will accept no prisoners; he will extend no mercy, blood for blood, life for life.”
Thead continued to hold onto the mask he had donned as soon as Lorelle had appeared, but it took everything in him to keep from lashing out. Cypher had promised him long ago that no retaliation would come after Thea’s death. He had told Thead that he would not condemn an entire race for the misdeeds of a few and he had believed him. Now, centuries later, what would bring him to go back on his word? What would change his view on something so very important?
“You do know that Cypher has taken a mate don’t
you?” Lorelle said, as if she had just read the questions in his mind.
“No, I had not heard that,” he admitted.
“I suggest that you ready yourself King. Cypher will not be swayed and war will be at your door before you know it.”
Thead stood there staring at the spot that Lorelle had just occupied. He had always hated the disappearing act that the fae could perform; it left him uneasy in the sudden silence. War was coming, she had said, and at the hands of the warlocks. He and his did not stand a chance against them. They were not very powerful to begin with, but with the magic in the human realm waning, their ability to protect themselves had dropped greatly. He honestly had no idea how he could possibly ready himself and his clan, but he knew he wouldn’t just lie down and let Cypher destroy them. If he was going to die, he would die fighting.
“Cyn, Prince Thalion, it is good to see you again,” Vasile told his unexpected guests as he motioned them to take a seat in his office. “I have a feeling this is not a social call.”
“I wish I could say otherwise,” Thalion said as he took a seat. Cyn sat next to him on the love seat, her serious face firmly back in place.
“Cyn has come across some very disturbing news,” Thalion began. “Let me back up. I went to see Gerick at the warlock stronghold. Cypher has commissioned my elves to make his warriors’ weapons. I was there to verify the amount and the types today. While I was there, Gerick exhibited some very strange behavior. But he said he was fine, and so I took my leave,” he paused and looked at Cyn who took it as her cue to continue.
“He mentioned the behavior to me so I went to check on the situation. When I arrived, Cypher was there in the great hall, along with nearly all of the warlocks. They were in various states of illness. Some vomited while others writhed in pain. But still others were standing up appearing perfectly normal, other than their eyes being a blood red. Then I heard Cypher talking about war.”