“I am leaving that up to you and Peri. I imagine that regardless of what I say, she will do whatever she wants. So if she wants them to stagger their arrival, then fine; if she wants to flash them all in at the same time so that they land in a big heap on top of one another just so she can get a laugh, then so be it. Frankly, I don’t care, as long as they all show, and they behave,” Vasile answered. “Regardless of the unity between the packs that has been established, we are dealing with dominant wolves. They are coming into a situation that is dangerous and potential mates, not to mention gypsy healers, are caught in the middle. The protective nature of the men will be very high.”
“Let me guess,” Dillon nearly groaned. “All the males coming happen to be unmated Alphas and Betas.”
“They are the ones that most need to come. Can you blame them?” Vasile asked. “Kale, Beta of the Ireland pack, and Banan, the pack’s Third—both unmated—will be the ones Peri goes for first. She should be getting them this evening.”
The Colorado pack Alpha pinched the bridge of his nose as he considered the consequences of what they were willingly walking into. There was no doubt that the help from the other packs would be beneficial. He just wondered if it was worth the possible blood that might be spilled within their ranks.
“I have spoken with each of the wolves coming, Dillon,” Vasile interrupted his thoughts. “They know the repercussions of their actions if they do not conduct themselves with control. It has been explained that when they initially arrive, the healers will not be paraded in front of them like meat for the taking. As much as we rejoice in males finding their true mates, that is not the intention of this gathering. If they find their mate while there, so be it. They are still to assist in finding Volcan. I do not think you will need to worry about the males fighting.”
“I hope you are right.”
“Perizada will have no problem putting any misbehaving wolves in their place if need be,” Vasile added. “Not to mention my brother is dominate enough to put most in their place, even Alpha’s.”
Dillon chuckled. “That is true. We might actually need to worry more about Peri’s patience with the males. Knowing Peri, if she gets too irritated with them, she’ll make good on any threats to turn them into rabbits.”
“Do I even want to know why she threatened to turn them into rabbits?”
“Let’s just say that the old adage, going at it like rabbits, had something to do with it and leave it there.”
Vasile let out a tired breath and Dillon could tell that though the Alpha had not been present for the horror that had taken place, his worry for his wolves and the healers was taking a toll on him. “Keep me posted if you do not mind, Dillon, and please keep them safe.”
Dillon knew that Vasile cared for everyone in Farie, but he was truly asking Dillon to look out for Crina, Sally, and Costin. Though Sally and Costin were technically members of the Serbian pack, Vasile would always consider them his own. “You have my word.”
Dillon disconnected the call and continued to stare out into the forest. He knew his Beta, Dalton, was out there roaming in his wolf form. Two days had passed since he had informed Dalton that he would be allowing the incoming males to meet Jewel. He was hoping that it would provoke some action in Dalton and that it would drag him back from the dark place that he had lived in for so long. Dillon felt in his Alpha bones that Jewel Stone was indeed Dalton’s true mate. But just as you could lead a horse to water and not make him drink, so you could also lead a male to his mate and not make him claim her.
He had to believe that Dalton would accept her, but he wondered how many lives might be in danger of being lost before that finally happened. If Dalton saw another male touch her, there was a very real possibility that his Beta would not be able to control his wolf’s reaction. Dalton had already proven to be an incredibly strong wolf. If he went feral while other male wolves were around his unclaimed mate, he would become virtually indestructible. He knew that if that happened, he would have to do whatever was necessary in order to destroy his Beta. He could not have a feral wolf running lose while they were in the middle of dealing with a diabolical villain as well.
“Isn’t my life just a ray of sunshine,” he muttered as he turned back towards Peri’s home. He needed to inform the others of the visitation schedule Vasile had laid out. Hopefully it would give the other pack members time to prepare for being around eleven dominant males all hoping that one of the precious healers would be theirs. He released another tired sigh. “Yep, a freaking ray of sunshine.”
~
Sally stared down at the battered–looking Jewel, frustrated that her patient was showing no signs of improvement. The wounds had closed, yes, but she could not get the scars to fade. The poor healer also remained unconscious, unable to communicate to Sally what she might need. Over and over Sally had used her healer abilities to push her essence into Jewel, searching for anything that would help wake her. But it was no use. The young healer had buried herself inside of her own mind. Sally couldn’t say that she blamed her. Anyone, especially a seventeen–year–old girl who had endured what she had, would want nothing more than to escape not just the torture but the memories as well.
“How is she?” Peri asked from the doorway.
Sally had to bite back the retort that gathered on her tongue because she knew it would do no good to take her anger out on anyone else. One by one the pack would stop by to ask about Jewel, and Sally would tell them each the same thing.
“No change.”
“Do not kick yourself, Sally,” Peri said as she stepped further into the room. “At this point, and after all the things you have seen in the past year, surely you know there will be no change until her mate intervenes.”
“He has not been to see her in two days. She has not had any more of his blood in nearly four days. Any male who could leave his true mate in this state does not deserve her,” Sally growled.
“Perhaps,” Peri said nonchalantly. “Or perhaps a male many centuries old has many demons with which to wrestle, and he does not want his young mate to have to face them. Remember also that she is a healer and not yet of mating age. The full emotions of the mate bond will not hit until she turns eighteen. Once that happens, he might not be able to fight it, no matter how badly he tries.”
“Do you know something of his past?” Sally asked as she turned to look Peri in the eyes.
“You know who I am, healer. Of course I know; I was there. But, as much as I love a good wolf tale, it is not mine to tell. Let’s just say that Dalton Black has a past as dark as his name implies.”
“Is it too much to ask for a normal wolf, with no baggage attached, to come along and sweep our healers off of their feet?”
Peri smiled. “Did you just use the word normal and wolf in the same sentence?
“Poor choice of words,” Sally admitted. “I have a feeling that once she turns eighteen and those mating signs appear, Dalton will be even more dangerous. When did you say her birthday was?”
“Since they seem to lose what little sense they have when they see the mating signs, you are probably correct. But since her birthday isn’t for another month and a half, nothing can be done about it just now. Come,” Peri said and motioned her to follow. “Dillon has information to share and, as moody as he has been lately, I can tell he only wants to say it once. Jewel doesn’t look as though she will be sneaking off any time soon; you can step a way for a bit.”
“Tacky, Peri,” Sally grumbled.
Peri shrugged. “I call them like I see them. She’s a healer trapped in a coma induced by torture at the hands and teeth of a possessed fae. She is in need of her mate’s care who refuses to give it—ergo, no sneaking off.”
Sally rolled her eyes at her couth-less friend. “Whatever, let’s just get this little meeting over with. I’m sure it is bound to be filled with encouraging tidbits and not in any way overflowing with the possibility of more things that could and probably will go wrong.”
Pe
ri glanced at her from the corner of her eye as they made their way into the living room. “My, my, you are just a happy little Smirf, singing and dancing and raining on everyone’s freaking parade.”
Sally started humming the Smirf song quietly drawing an unladylike snort from the high fae.
“Just sit down and try to contain your jovial spirit; it’s getting on my nerves.”
“I make no promises, Peri Fairy. If Dalton shows his too handsome face, I may just dance the jig right up to him and spit in his eye.”
“Just one eye?” Peri asked as her brow drew together.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll stab a spoon in his other eye.”
“Good to know you are an equal opportunist when it comes to causing bodily harm.”
“Who’s causing bodily harm?” Costin asked as he wrapped an arm around Sally from behind and pulled her down with him to the couch so she was sitting on his lap.
Peri waved him off. “Never mind, just try to keep your blood thirsty little healer under control.”
“Is everyone here?” Dillon asked as he stepped into the room.
“Everyone except your Beta,” Peri answered.
“Then everyone that matters is here,” Sally piped in.
Anna, Stella, Heather, and Kara had taken seats on the floor across from the couch where Sally sat and were staring at her with wide eyes.
Dillon glanced at the healer wrapped in Costin’s arms, and pain rushed through him at the sorrow in her eyes. She was a gypsy healer; it was in her nature to take care of those around her, to nurture them, and it was obvious she felt totally helpless when it came to Jewel. She also knew that Dalton was partly to blame.
“I spoke with Vasile,” he began, effectively drawing everyone’s attention to him. “Four of the twelve packs will be sending males to assist us in capturing Volcan. Ireland will be sending the Beta, Kale, and third, Banan. Italy’s Alpha, Ciro is coming and bringing his Beta, Aimo. Spain’s Alpha, Gustavo, will be coming and bringing his Beta, Antonio, and the fourth pack is Canada. The Alpha Drayden will be coming and bringing his Beta, Nick. That’s eight new dominant males added to our group.”
“Why only three Alphas? Is Volcan not a threat that warrants the attention of all the Alphas?” Elle asked from where she stood by the stairs next to her mate, Sorin.
Dillon let out a long breath. This was the part that he had been dreading. Emotions were already high, and now he was asking them to accept a situation that might just push some of those emotions out of control.
“Well, I know that we are dealing with some pretty heavy stuff now that Volcan is again on the loose,” he began. “But the fact remains that we have five newly discovered, unmated gypsy healers here, three of which are of mating age.”
“They are sending only unmated males?” Sally snapped and tried to stand but Costin would not relinquish his hold on her.
Dillon met her eyes and waited until she dropped them to continue. “Having the strength and power of more dominant males is something we need, especially in order to protect such precious pack members. These females,” he motioned to the four women sitting on the floor and then towards the room where Jewel lay, “are precious to us, as all our females are, but they are healers and that makes them more vulnerable than others.”
“Mated males can protect them just as well as unmated,” Crina pointed out as murmurs of agreement rippled through the room.
“And what mated female is going to want her mate around a group of unmated gypsy healers?” Dillon challenged. “You? I’m sure wouldn’t have any problem if Sorin was assigned to their protection. How about you, Sally? Let’s let Costin follow them around twenty-four-seven and see how you like it.”
“Enough of this.” Lucian stepped forward. The power in his words had the room silenced before his next breath. “There has to be a solution to this that will benefit everyone. If we stop arguing long enough to think like a pack, then I am sure that we can come up with something. So unless you have something useful to say, do not speak.”
Dillon didn’t take offense to Lucian’s command because he felt none of the wolf’s power ripple over him. But he did give the male a sideways glance as he was surprised that Lucian was able to control and direct who his orders would affect. But then he was the brother of Vasile and as such came from a line of strong Alphas.
“Think,” Dillon encouraged. “We have to allow these males to help us and allow them the opportunity to interact with the healers. But we also have to keep from having them tear into one another?”
“Oh, is that all you are wanting a solution for?” Crina muttered. A low growl from both Dillon and Lucian had her dropping her eyes and clamping her mouth shut.
Heather sat with the other girls, quietly contemplating the dilemma before them. Not being able to see gave her the benefit of being able to really listen to the tone in a person’s voice when they spoke. As she had been listening to Dillon, she heard the compassion that he felt towards the men that were coming to help, but she also heard the very real worry that something bad would happen. She still didn’t fully understand the whole true mate thing. From the way everyone talked about it, it sounded more like a burden than a blessing. However, she could not deny longing to be loved in such a way as Sally and Peri had described the way the males loved their mates. As she considered all the things Dillon had said, she remembered that Peri had said something about the mate signs not appearing until the healers were eighteen. Would that mean that the males could safely be around the two girls that weren’t yet eighteen?
“If I may,” she spoke up into the quiet room. Everyone else was obviously taking Lucian’s words seriously and trying to come up with a feasible solution.
“Go ahead, Heather,” Dillon told her.
“If I remember correctly, Peri said that for gypsy healers the mate signs did not appear until the female was eighteen. That raises the question; can the males be around Jewel and Kara without knowing for certain if the girls were their true mates? Or at least not feeling it to the extent where they want to kill anyone who gets near her? Sally has told us about how she and Costin met and how he felt a pull towards her before she turned eighteen, but it wasn’t that all-consuming need to claim her.” No one responded immediately and Heather took that to mean that her question had merit.
“You may be onto something, Helen,” Peri spoke up. The girls gave an exasperated sigh nearly in unison at the ridiculous nickname that Peri was hell bent on using for Heather. Heather wasn’t bothered by it and she knew that just aggravated Peri more. Peri continued after a few moments of thought. “We could take the three females that are of age to another location, giving some of the males currently present the responsibility of protecting them. The unmated males could come here, without worry of mating signs with Jewel or Kara, and be briefed on our situation. From there we can decide how to proceed in our pursuit of Volcan without allowing Anna, Stella, and Heather to come into contact with the males.”
“That could work,” Dillon agreed.
It didn’t go unnoticed by Heather that Dillon and Peri were both totally avoiding the whole Dalton–sized elephant in the room when it came to Jewel. If they were going to ignore it, then it seemed like so could the rest of them.
“You do realize that when the males get here and find that there are no healers for them to meet that could possibly reveal the mate bond, they are going to be a tad upset, right?” Elle asked Peri.
Peri shrugged. “What is new about a male werewolf being a tad upset over females?”
“She has a point,” Sally agreed as she nodded.
“Where will you take us?” Heather asked drawing the attention back to the girls on the floor. She waited as Peri clucked her tongue, obviously lost in thought, considering her question.
“I have a certain Pixie King that owes the wolves and I a debt,” she began. A collective groan from the males had Heather wondering just how much trouble Peri was about to get them into.
“Pixie Kin
g?” Anna asked hesitantly.
Peri narrowed her eyes. “You have discovered that fae and werewolves exist, and yet you are surprised there are pixies as well?”
“I try to refrain from making assumptions,” Anna admitted.
“Wise little healer.” Peri nodded approvingly.
“You will entrust their safety to the pixies?” Lucian asked his mate.
“I’m finding it hard to have a whole lot of faith in my own race right now. Having two high fae turn to the dark side tends to have that effect.” She turned back to Dillon. “I suppose Vasile told you that I would be gathering the hounds instead of them flying in?”
Dillon nodded. “Vasile left it up to you in regards to how and when, but he mentioned you would begin with the Irish wolves tonight. Are you sure you want to exert yourself?” His tone was slightly patronizing but Peri seemed inclined to ignore that fact as she answered.
“It will be easier than listening to them complain about long flights,” Peri said “I’ll flash them here starting with the Irish pack.” She said is if Dillon hadn’t already mentioned it. “Might as well start tonight and end tonight because honestly they aren’t going to get along any better if we bring them in a day at a time. Better to just get it over with quickly.”
“So soon?” Kara blurted out after having successfully kept quiet throughout the meeting.
Dillon’s eyes softened as he looked at the young girl. “Unfortunately, evil does not wait for those willing to fight back to be ready. Every day that we aren’t pursuing Volcan is a day that he can gain strength.”
Kara nodded her understanding but the apprehension in her eyes did not abate.
Peri clapped her hands together and began speaking in her no nonsense tone. “Dillon, I think it would be best if you stayed here to welcome the newcomers along with Lucian. We will need dominant males to deal with any lack of control they might have.” She turned then to look at Costin. “Sally will need to stay here to take care of Jewel. I imagine that it is your desire to stay with her?” Peri knew it was a stupid question, but she didn’t miss an opportunity to goad the cocky bartender.