"Are you alright?" he asked her as he ran his fingers through her silky hair. He loved the shampoo she used. It was something fruity and sweet and it made him want to bury his face in the locks.
She nodded against his chest. "Just glad you're back. Can you tell me what's going on?"
"Then you might want to sit down for this." He led her to a table and pulled out one of the chairs. She sat down and he sat next to her. Lilly angled her body so she was facing him, and Cypher pulled the chair closer until she was in between his legs.
"Peri had some very bad news for Vasile, and he has requested my help along with Decebel, Costin, and Fane. I know you were once with a wolf, but I don’t know how much you know about the supernatural world." Cypher didn't like to think about her time with the Colorado Alpha, but he knew that the relationship had given her Jacque and so he couldn't begrudge her that. Jacque brought her joy and he loved seeing that joy light up her face. "There are many supernatural creatures that stay away from the other races. Some that have been in hiding for a very long time. One such creature is the race of vampires." He paused as he let this information sink in. She nodded for him to continue when she seemed to have processed the news. "They aren't in hiding anymore. And it turns out that there are a lot more of them than we could have imagined."
"Are they causing problems?" Lilly asked.
"They're causing more than problems. They're causing utter horror. They're targeting children as their prey."
Her hand covered her mouth as a gasp was pulled from her lungs. "No," she breathed out from behind her hand.
Cypher took her other hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Peri is prepared to wipe out the entire race. She's angrier than I've ever seen her."
"Good," Lilly said, practically growling as she finally dropped her hand. "How many? How many have died, Cypher?"
This was the part he was dreading even more than telling her that they'd been killing children. The sheer number of deaths was beyond fathomable. "Too many, let's just leave it at that."
"So the wolves are going to deal with the problem?"
He nodded. "We're meeting tomorrow and we will probably be leaving. I know you aren't one to be left behind and I wouldn't normally ask it of you, but I need you to do this for me. Vampires are powerful, cunning, and dangerous. And if you are with me…"
"I'll just be a distraction," she finished for him.
They were both silent for a few minutes before she stood and crawled into his lap. Cypher wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly against him.
"Please be careful," she told him as she laid her head on his shoulder. "And keep an eye on my son-in-law."
"I can do both of those things. I love you," Cypher told her as he pressed a kiss to her forehead and then tilted her head up to look at him. He pressed his lips to hers and loved the way she responded to him. There was never any hesitation on her part, as though she craved him as much as he did her.
"I'm glad," she said as she pulled back. "It would suck to love you and be stuck in the friend zone, as Jacque and her friends call it."
"What's the friend zone?"
"The one place no one wants to be when it comes to their crush."
"So I'm your crush?" he asked smiling down at her.
"You're my something," Lilly laughed.
"Perhaps, tonight I can be your something that definitely proves you are very far from the friend zone." His hand wandered up her back and he buried his fingers in her hair, tugging her head back, and exposing her throat. She gasped and he smiled. Cypher pressed small kisses to the sensitive skin and treasured the little sounds she made.
"Who says we have to wait until tonight," she said breathlessly.
Cypher chuckled as he picked her up into his arms and then stood. "As my lady wishes," he whispered and carried her to their room to show her exactly which zone she was firmly planted in.
Chapter 6
"It seems our enemies are popping up as quickly as we can dispatch them. When one falls, more take their place. I wonder if there will come a time when we are too weary to fight. If that day should ever come, I pray that there are others who would stand and fight. I pray that there are others that would see that when they come together united in a cause, they are stronger than they could have ever realized on their own." ~Vasile
Vasile stood in his office staring out the window into the winter sky. The snow that covered the ground had taken on a bluish hue as the moon took her place in the deep blue night. He could feel the cold pressing in at him from the glass and the ominous feeling it brought with it made his chest feel heavy.
"It's late. Are you coming to bed?" Alina asked from behind him.
Vasile nodded.
"Have you made a decision about the females?"
He let out a long breath and turned to face her. His eyes softened the minute they found her face. His mate had a gentleness about her that brought him peace no other could, and yet she was as fierce as any warrior. "It doesn't matter what I decide, Mina. It will truly come down to what they and their mates want."
Alina crossed her arms in front of her as she considered him. "What about Jacque?"
He let out a low growl. "I would prefer that my daughter in-law stay here where she can more effectively protect my grandchild, but the minute I tell her that, she will be packing her bags and planning the damn mission herself."
His mate laughed. "You're learning, my love."
He grunted as she wrapped her arm through his. As they left his office and walked toward their suite, he pulled her closer and leaned over to press a kiss to her hair.
Alina looked up at him. "What was that for?"
"For being patient with me all these years."
She smiled. "I wasn't always patient, if you remember."
He chuckled. "I remember, and I wouldn't have had you any other way."
"You know how much I love you, Alpha. You know what that love feels like coming from me through our bond. Just remember that is how the females, your daughter in-law included, feel about their mates. Consider that when they tell you to jump off a bridge tomorrow if you advise them not to come along."
"I will do my best to remember that, Luna," Vasile told her as he led her into their room. "But I reserve the right to give them a good nip on the heels for their impertinence."
She laughed. "I'm sure they will only nip you back."
Vasile growled and grumbled under his breath as he shut their door. "Mated pairs are going to be the death of me."
It was very late when Decebel decided to leave the training room and head back to his room. The Serbia pack mansion was quiet, with the few that chose to live there already in their suites. For the first time in his mated life, he found himself dragging his feet to get back to his mate. She’d kept her end of the bond closed up tightly, but even so, he could feel the pain and shame radiating from her. He didn’t enjoy or take any pleasure in the fact that she was feeling those emotions, but his own hurt was still too intense for him to know how to handle hers.
When he finally reached their bedroom door, Decebel once again found himself staring at it, unable to reach out and turn the knob. His muscles seemed frozen as his mind tried to work through what he should say—if he should say anything at all. Maybe it would be better if they just went to bed and tried to hash things out in the morning. He stood there a few minutes more until the door opened without his assistance. He took a step back as he was met with Jennifer’s tear-stained face.
Decebel felt all of his own hurt, anger, and frustration melt away at the sight of her. He opened his arms and she walked into them without hesitation. His large frame folded around her smaller one, cocooning her in. He felt her body begin to shake with new sobs as he pulled her tighter. Decebel felt her release her hold on the bond and all of her emotions came flooding through.
“I’m so sorry,” she said through their bond. “I was angry and frustrated and I was so ugly to you.”
“Shh,” he soothed.
“We are both at fault. I should have told you regardless of what Vasile wanted. I respect him, but you are my mate. I should have put you first.”
Jennifer shook her head. “I don’t want you to feel like I’m going to throw some raging, bratty fit every time you don’t tell me something,” she said, her words a little muffled because her face was pressed against his chest. She pulled back to look up at him. “I am sorry I said those things, B. I was wrong. I know that I made you feel like you aren’t capable of leading. I de-manned you in front of our friends and I was wrong.”
“You know I don’t expect you to be a quiet mouse who simply nods at everything I say and never gives your opinion, right?” Decebel asked her as he tucked her hair behind her ear. “You are my guide, my compass when I veer off course. I need your input more than anyone. I also need your respect more than anyone and you need mine as well as my love. I disrespected you by not being open with you.”
“I forgive you,” she told him as she rose up on her toes and kissed him softly on the lips. “Can you forgive me?”
“Yes, baby, I forgive you. I’m sorry that I stayed away. I just needed to clear my head.”
“A break was good,” Jennifer admitted. “I know this won’t be our last fight, nor will any of the ones to come be any tamer than they usually are, but I’m glad that I know you are always willing to work through it with me.”
“I don’t expect you to change who you are. You’re hotheaded,” he chuckled when she frowned. “But that’s one of the things that drew me to you. You’re impulsive, which I at times find unbelievably exciting because I never know what to expect. You’re bold, outspoken, confident, and most importantly, your mine. Any changes we make, we make them together and for the good of us, not just the good of one or the other.”
She smiled up at him. “The Great Luna did a damn good job when she gave me you. No one else would see some of those qualities as positive. And you are right, I am, without a doubt, yours.”
Decebel took her face in his hands and held her still as he kissed her. The wound that had been aching inside of him was closing as Jennifer poured her love into him.
“Take me to bed, Dec. Let me love you.”
“Thia?” he asked as he scooped her up and entered their suite.
“She’s already asleep.”
He set his mate down on the bed and lifted her chin with his finger. “Give me one minute to kiss our daughter goodnight. Then you’re all mine.”
Ontario, Canada
Cain looked out over the sleeping city as he stood on the rooftop. It was peaceful. At least it was for those humans who were tucked away safely in their beds unaware of the dangers that lived among them. It was that very danger that stared out at them now seeking a different prey this night. He felt a snarl curling his lip as he thought about the little intruder who had nearly found him the night before. He had been careful. He was no fool. If the world found out about vampires, well, the panic that would ensue is a problem he and his coven didn’t need. But somehow, a pixie, of all things, had flitted itself through the open window just as Cain was stepping out from behind the bush he'd landed next to when he'd exited that very window. Of course, the pixie probably didn't see him because very few could move as fast as a vampire, but the little being might have sensed him. Cain had stood there watching and waiting for the pixie to leave, but if and when the little creature left, it wasn't in the same way that he had entered.
From the moment he returned to the coven, he'd put his best trackers out to hunt—either information on the pixie or the pixie itself. Though most of his kind couldn't be out during the daylight hours, there were some, older and with special abilities, that could. These were a well-kept secret that no one outside of the vampire race was aware of.
Now, twenty-four hours later, he still had no information on why the pixies were involved in vampire business. It was a frustrating situation to say the least, especially since they were just beginning to venture aboveground for the first time in centuries. For so long they’d created traps to lure their prey to themselves, but there had been stirrings that dark power was once again beginning to take hold in the human realm. The tides were turning and the time of the wolves and fae was coming to an end. The reign of darkness was coming and his race, as well as some others that practiced dark magic, would soon take over. There would be no more hiding in the shadows, sulking like worms beneath the ground.
Cain smiled and felt his sharp teeth pressing into his lips. Soon those who had oppressed them would pay for their insolence.
“Very soon,” he muttered into the dark night.
Peri, Alston, Gwen, and Nissa all stood on a rooftop in the dead of night. Peri’s jaw was clenched tight as she stared out into the city outlined by the night lights that dotted the buildings and homes in the outlying suburbs.
“Why Phoenix, Arizona?” Nissa asked, her own voice tight with emotion.
“Other than Mexico City, Phoenix has had the most child abductions in the world over the past few months. Now we know why, even if the humans never will,” Alston answered.
“Too bad we don’t have the manpower to take out the humans who abduct children as well as the vamps,” Peri growled. She hated the idea of any child being hurt by anyone, supernatural or otherwise. The only mercy from the vamps was that they were killing the children for food, not abusing them in any sick way for their gratification. Well, she supposed drinking them dry was for their gratification in a way, but at least it was a quick death. Most vamps, as in all of them, didn’t have the self-control to drag out a feeding. They struck fast and drank just as fast.
“So Phoenix is home to the largest vampire coven in the human continent of North America?” Alston asked her.
Peri nodded. “According to my little pixie peepers. They’ve been busy searching out every city with large numbers of unsolved abductions. The vamps don’t leave a trail so they will never find the bodies of the children they take.”
“No closure for those poor families,” Nissa said. “Not only do they lose their child but they don’t even get the peace of mind to know that their child has gone to be with their Maker. They will live thinking there is a possibility that their child is in the clutches of a horrible person enduring who knows what.”
“Why is it that in every race besides the vamps and the humans children are considered off limits?” Peri asked. “Why can’t everyone see that these children are their future? You would think that they would want to nurture their future, not destroy it one little life at a time.”
“It is disturbing,” Alston agreed. “But we can’t fix the problems of every race. We have to focus on dealing with the biggest threat right now and that’s the vampires. Not only are they taking and killing children but they are becoming bolder and running the risk of being discovered by humans. The human world isn’t ready for supernaturals.”
“Will they ever be?” Nissa challenged.
“Probably not,” Peri answered.
“What now?” asked Alston.
“Now we bring the wolves to Phoenix.”
“What are they going to do?” Nissa spoke up. “They can’t declare war in the middle of a human city. Perhaps, it would be better to flush the vampires out. Start with the smaller covens. Let’s send a message. Perhaps, then the leaders of the larger covens will decide to fight back.”
“Draw the enemy out by lessoning their numbers,” Peri muttered under her breath. “That’s a great idea, Nissa. I have to admit I’m surprised.”
“I’m nearly as old as you are,” Nissa said, folding her arms in front of her.
“Age does not equate to wisdom,” Peri quipped.
“You two were getting along so well,” the male fae sighed. “Can we please just get through this without you two scratching each other’s eyes out?”
“Depends on whether or not I get bored,” Peri said with a wink. “Can’t make promises that I’ll find unpleasant to keep.” She rubbed her hands together. “Okay, so the pla
n is to take the wolves to the smaller covens. I’ll need you two to meet me at the Romanian mansion tomorrow night. We’ll need to move fast so we will have to flash the wolves to the locations.”
“Never thought I’d wind up being a taxi service for werewolves,” Nissa grumbled.
“What better things do you have to do? If you file your nails any pointier you might as well become a vamp yourself. And if your hair gets any shinier, you might blind someone. Quit pampering yourself and get your damn hands dirty for once.”
“Peri,” Alston huffed. “A please wouldn’t kill you.”
“Kids are dying. I draw the line at saying please when asking for help to save the lives of children. Instead, I say get your ass in gear and help the innocent. See you two tomorrow night.” She flashed before they could respond to her angry response. “Say please,” she snarled under her breath. “There are kids being snatched from their beds and they want me to say please? Damn high and mighty fae.”
“Some would say the same of you, beloved.” Her mate’s arms came around her as she appeared in the clearing that they often went to in the fae realm.
“What?”
“Some might say you can be a little high and mighty,” Lucian said as he pressed his lips to her neck.
“At least I put forth my efforts in order to help others and not make my appearance better or sit on a cushioned pillow. I’ve told my people before that they can’t hide behind their veil and ignore everyone else. The freaking world is going to burn to the ground around them if they don’t start helping.”
“Have they agreed to help?” he asked.
“Yes,” Peri said sounding a little too much like a petulant child for her liking.
“Then what are you fussing about?”
“They wanted me to say please when I told them to meet me at Vasile’s home. I mean come on, wolf. Why should I have to say please?”