by Quinn Loftis
“Did you find something? What is it? What does it say?” her words flew out of her mouth in rapid fire.
“Oh, my bad, never mind.”
Peri saw the small smile on the wolf’s lips.
“You just jerked my chain didn’t you?”
He started laughing and had to wrap his arms around the books in his lap to keep them from falling. “I’m sorry but the tension was just too much; we needed a quick break.”
Peri smacked him across the back of the head before heading back over to her chair. “I swear, one of these days I’m going to have wolf pelts adorning my whole house, and I’ll make sure yours is the one at the front door so everyone will step on you on their way in.”
It was midmorning the next day when, group by group, the males returned back to the Romanian mansion. Vasile told them all to get some sleep and when they argued, he reminded them that if they were delirious with exhaustion they would be no help to their mates. They saw the truth in his words, though that didn’t stop them from grumbling as they went.
Decebel called his pack and spoke with his fourth to see how everyone was doing. He felt like he was neglecting them, but he didn’t know how to change that at the moment. His mate would always come first, and he hoped that they would understand and that he would be an example to the other males who had yet to find their mates. He pushed the worry for his pack from his mind and felt the despair of the emptiness inside of him. He fought the overwhelming desire to kill anything and everything. The feeling of helplessness was beginning to suffocate him and he didn’t know how he was going to sleep with such agony raging inside of him.
He laid down on their bed and her scent enveloped him. He rolled to his side and pressed his face into her pillow and memories of her flooded his mind. The first time he saw her he had been captivated by her and his wolf had surged forward with the need to claim her. She brought indescribable joy to him, and though she drove him crazy, there wasn’t a thing about her that he would change. She filled the empty places inside of him, and she loved him when he knew he was so undeserving of that love. His heart ached in his chest and his muscles burned from the pain that seemed to be constantly radiating throughout him. His body called out for his mate. The bond was nearly gone and yet man and wolf still felt the intense need to be close to her. If she died, mate bond or not, he would follow her. There was nothing in this life for him without her here to share it. As he continued to breathe her scent deep into his lungs, he felt the exhaustion take over and pull him against his will into a deep sleep. Instinctively, he reached out for her, needing to hear her voice before the unconsciousness took him, and still there was nothing but a black void where she belonged.
Two weeks past and every day the men grew more and more restless. More than once Vasile had insisted they go spar with each other to work off the agitation and adrenaline that coursed through them at incredible levels.
Peri and Wadim rarely left the archives. When they did, it was only so Peri could throw massive fits, cursing everyone within her sight for not doing more and for resting when they should be out there killing things for information. Everyone made sure to stand a safe distance from her, but still some of them wound up in her line of fire and found themselves ducking as things within her grasp were flung across the room. If it wasn’t for Adam and Alston using their magic to keep things from breaking, Vasile would have found himself having to replace most of the decorations in his home.
One month to the day after the females had been taken, Fane found himself standing on one of the highest peaks of the mountain. His wolf had tried to force his phase, but Fane refused it. He had to take off at a dead sprint in his human form to keep it at bay, pushing himself as he climbed the mountain. It was all he could give the wolf in an attempt to satisfy the pulsing need to hunt. But Fane didn’t know where to begin, none of them did. They had been all over the mountains and still found nothing. They had sought out other supernaturals, hoping for some scrap of information, but no one knew anything. It was as if Reyaz and their mates had dropped off the face of the earth. Alston and Dain had been going into other realms and searching, but they had come back just as empty-handed. It was maddening. But worse was the utter feeling of loss that ripped through him, pushing him to his knees. He knew what it was, but he didn’t want to admit it. None of the males did. It was like the elephant in the room that they all tiptoed around, but refused to acknowledge. The mate bonds were breaking. They weren’t just closed off. They were dying, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. Slowly their mates slipped further and further from their grasps. Soon they wouldn’t know if their mates were alive or not because their fates would no longer be tied to each other.
Fane suddenly threw back his head and howled, pushing all of his anguish, all of his desolation, all of his heart stopping fear, into the sound. Seconds later he heard his pack mates answer his call as their howls joined in, every bit as sorrowful as his own. He didn’t know how much longer they could control their wolves. The need for blood was a lust that was demanding to be sated. Fane guessed the only thing stopping them from going feral was the knowledge that once they did, without the mate bond, there would be no coming back.
Chapter 17
“For the first time in a long time, I just want to sleep. As in, I only want to sleep. Because in my sleep, you are there. During the waking hours, I can’t feel you, I can’t see you, and I can’t smell you. And as time passes, I almost feel as though at any second I’m going to forget you ever existed in my life. But you come to me in my dreams. You hold me; you whisper words that knit my broken heart back together. But when I wake, it breaks all over again.” ~Sally
“I motion that we play Sex I Spy,” Jen said from the spot where she laid on her back. “We can call it Spex, for short” she said with a snort.
“Okay, can I just clarify one thing? Are you saying we are supposed to spy something having sex?” Sally asked. Lilly and Alina both shook their heads as they listened to the girls’ outrageous discussions that had become an hourly event.
“Jen, I’m bored out of my mind, but I’m still not that bored,” Jacque told her.
Jen laughed. “And you guys call me a pervert. What I meant was that if you can’t find what the person spies, then you have to give up a detail of your love life.”
“Uh,” Crina’s eyes darted from Jacque to Sally, waiting to see what their reactions would be.
“Why would we do this?” Sally asked.
“Because we never got to before our lives turned into The Young and Furry.” She pulled her body up into a sitting position and faced the group. “Teenage girls are supposed to go on dates, kiss, make out, and then report back to the girlfriends. It’s in the freaking handbook.”
“There’s a handbook?” Elle asked.
“Of course, I wrote it,” Jen’s face broke into one of those faces that said duh what did you expect?
“Of course you did,” Crina laughed under her breath.
“I have to admit that Jen is right on what teenage girls discuss behind their bedroom doors. However, there are usually not parents present,” Lilly pointed out.
“Desperate times, Ms. P, desperate times.” Jen looked from person to person, noting their blank faces. Finally she huffed. “Fine, we’ll play something else.”
“Got anything that does not include sex, sexual innuendos, stripping, and the like?” Cynthia asked.
Jacque and Sally laughed as they looked at Cynthia with smirks.
Jen held up a finger. “Hold on, let me think about it.” She bunched her lips up as she tilted her head one way and then the next. Then she scratched her head and tapped her lips with her finger. She sat up straight suddenly. “Oh wait, got it,” she paused as she held out her hands as if to make the others stop what they were doing. Just as quickly her shoulders slumped back. “False alarm. I got nothing.”
Cynthia shook her head at Jen with a small smile while the others let out quiet chuckles that didn’t quite meet their
eyes. None of their laughter did, not anymore.
They had no idea how many days or weeks had past. It was so hard to tell time in the dark forest where there was no sunlight. There was no changing of the daylight to indicate how early or late it was. Their watches and phones were useless. They had just stopped working the minute they had entered the fae realm, or rather, the dark forest. So they sat; sometimes they stood, or walked around, or slept. They talked about nothing and everything. Jen continued to use humor as a coping mechanism, though there were nearly as many tears as there were jokes. They had begun to grow very hungry and very thirsty, and just when the pain of it was beginning to grow unbearable, food would appear. The first time it happened, they had all nearly peed themselves at the sudden appearance, but after sniffing it and taking tiny bites, they decided it was safe and they had gorged themselves. There had been bread, fruit, turkey sandwiches, and water to drink. Cynthia had insisted that Jen eat and drink her fill first, and everyone had agreed. After a small amount of protest, she finally gave in. They attempted to judge the passage of time by the appearance of the food, but it was no use; its appearance was sporadic at best.
“Holy crap, I’m nearly as bored as I am in pain,” Jen grumbled as she laid on her back, staring up into the dark sky. They had given up any games and resorted to just sitting.
“Do you think Reyaz is ever going to show his face?” Jacque asked no one in particular.
“Eventually,” Alina answered. “He is meticulous and seems to steer towards the whole idea of his prey growing complacent. I think he enjoys the shock value.”
“While I appreciate your evaluation of our captor. I’m just going to go with he’s an asshat with brother issues,” Sally said.
Jen laughed gave Sally a thumbs up. “Captivity agrees with you Sally. You get snarkier by the day, or hour, or whatever the amount of time has passed.”
“My inner Jen seems to be triggered by being dropped into spooky, evil places where we’re fed like animals and forced to dig holes to pee in.”
“We aren’t going to be here forever,” Lilly said confidently. She had been attempting to be as positive as possible and she was as relentless as her plight. “You know your mates are going crazy trying to find you, and I have a feeling that nothing stands a chance against them when it comes to getting their mates back.”
“As awesome as they are, mom, they are still human,” Jacque paused. “Well, sort of, but you get my drift.”
“How are you finding your accommodations?” A masculine voice said from inside the darkness. They all scrambled to their feet as they watched Reyaz materialize from the forest. “I know it’s a tad rustic, but then you are wolves, well most of you, so I figured it wouldn’t bother you.”
Alina stepped forward and her body radiated anger and protectiveness for the women with her. “What do you want with us?” she asked pointedly.
“Come now Alpha. You are intelligent. Surely you have figured out that I didn’t really want anything with the wolves. My brother’s lovely human mate has always been my target. But you all just continued to get in my way. I don’t like it when people interfere with my plans.”
“Are you going to kill us?” Cynthia asked him.
His brow rose in surprise at how calmly she asked about their demise. “Are you so eager to die?”
“Are you really that stupid?” Jen growled. “Oh wait, you have to be because you took the mates of some of the most powerful werewolves in history away from them. In what delusion of yours could you possibly think that would end well for you? Even if we die, our mates will rip you apart and then use your bones as tooth picks.”
Reyaz took a step closer towards the clearing where the girls were trapped. “You’re the pregnant one.” It wasn’t a question. “I could potentially have an interest in keeping you alive, or at least until your child is born. Can you imagine how horrific it would be for your mate to know that I was raising your child as my own? Training it in my ways and teaching it my magic?”
Jen wasn’t the only one who let out a snarl this time as several of the she-wolves lunged forward. “You will never get your hands on my child.”
“Relax, mate to Decebel. You don’t need to stress yourself out just yet. You have time to fret over it before the child is born. I think you have about a month and a half.”
Jen’s mouth dropped open but it was Cynthia who spoke. “That’s not possible; she isn’t eight months pregnant yet.”
A grin spread across the warlock’s face. “Didn’t your fae tell you? Time passes differently in the dark forest. One month in the human realm equals two months here.”
“Bloody hell,” Jen muttered.
“You girls must be getting bored by now. I think a game is in order. So you all might want to start saying your goodbyes. I will be back for one of you soon and the hunt will begin.” Then he was gone.
“He said I have a month and a half left,” Jen started, not bothering to acknowledge that he had left. “Okay, I was five and a half months pregnant when we were taken. So if he’s saying I have a month and a half, that would make me seven and a half months pregnant, which means we’ve been missing for a month in the human realm and two months here.” She glanced down at her stomach and lifted her shirt. She did look bigger, but she didn’t think she had grown that much while they had been there. She looked up at Cynthia. “Is she going to be okay? Do you think she’s developing according to the time here or the time in the human realm?”
Cynthia’s eyes were wide and filled with worry, which did not instill confidence in Jen. Cynthia walked over to Jen and bent down on one knee and pressed her ear to Jen’s abdomen. She strained to listen and then heard it.
“Her heartbeat is strong and solid,” Cynthia told her.
Sally cleared her throat, bringing everyone’s attention to her. “I could check on her.” She paused, waiting to see if her announcement was going to freak Jen out; she was so unpredictable these days. When she didn’t say anything, but just continued to stare at her, she continued. “I mean I could go in and look at her and see how developed she is. If you want?” she finished quickly.
Alina walked over and put her hand gently on Jen’s shoulder, “This is why having a healer is such a gift, Jennifer. She will not hurt you or the baby. This is what she was created for.”
There was complete silence as they waited for Jen to speak. Jen trusted Sally. It wasn’t a matter of trust that was causing her to hesitate. It was fear. Once Sally did her thing, they would know for sure if the baby was alright. What if she wasn’t? There’s nothing they could to help her. Decebel wasn’t here to hold Jen’s hand, or to wrap his arms around her and tell her he would protect them. But she knew if he were here, he would have already grabbed Sally and forced her on Jen. He would be brave and he would want her to be brave.
“Alright,” she finally agreed softly.
“Here Jen, come lay your head in my lap and I’ll play with your hair like you use to make me do for hours when we watched Buffy.” Jacque sat on the ground and motioned for Jen to follow.
Jen closed her eyes as Jacque’s fingers ran through her hair. She had always loved it when they would take turns fixing each other’s hair and brushing it. She felt the air flutter against her neck as the strands were lifted and then felt the soft brush of the locks against her shoulder and back. Over and over Jacque’s fingers worked their way through the blonde strands.
She felt Sally’s hand press gently to her stomach and warmth began to radiate from it. It began in her abdomen then traveled outward, down her hips and thighs to her feet and toes, and up to her chest, shoulders, neck and head. The warmth made her relax even further, and she felt cradled in the arms of something greater than herself. She thought of Decebel and wished desperately that he could be with her, that he could be the one running his fingers through her hair. She longed so desperately for him and her mind tumbled back to a memory that made the warmth grow stronger.
He had been sitting on their bed
and she had just come back from spending time with Jacque and Jen.
He turned to look at her and her heart melted all over again.
“Hey,” she said in an almost shy manner.
“Hey yourself,” he said back. His eyes danced with mischief and she knew he was in one of his playful moods, a mood only she got to see.
“Did you have fun with your friends?”
She nodded. “Yes. Did you have fun beating other wolves up?” she had asked him several times to let her come watch him spar with the others, but he was adamant about not letting her go. She had discovered, through doing a little eavesdropping in his mind, that he didn’t want her to see all the half-dressed guys. He had no clue how beautiful he was; how utterly perfect he was. She had told them that those other guys weren’t even in the same atmosphere as him, that he was on a totally different universe compared to others. He didn’t see it. He didn’t see how she saw him.
“Come here,” she told him.
He rose and turned to face her as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Feeling confident today?”
“Why wouldn’t I feel confident? I’m mated to you. That must make me pretty dang special.”
He walked towards her with a sly smile, his gait so confident and sure. When he was finally standing in front of her he lifted his hand to brush her hair from her face and then cupped her cheek in his large, rough hand. “I don’t think you have any idea how special you are to me, Jennifer. But I will spend my life trying to show you.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, slowly, gently, until his hand slid back behind her head and pulled her closer. His other hand slid under her shirt and grazed her side where the marks, that testified that she was his, traveled from her hip to under her arm. He pulled away just briefly to whisper against her lips. “You are indeed mine and nothing will ever take you from me.”
Her mind returned to the present when she opened her eyes and saw Sally leaning over her with her eyes closed and her brow scrunched up, concentrating. She tried not to hold her breath as she waited for her gypsy friend to do her thing.