“Glad to know you’re seeing this, too,” Jen spoke to Kara, but she looked back to the high fae, who suddenly felt like a stranger to her. “Because I don’t know if anyone who hasn’t seen her would believe me if I told them she was acting like this.” Jen motioned to Peri. She fully expected the fae to snap back with a smart-ass comment, but the woman did nothing. She simply stood there staring at Decebel, waiting for him to answer her question.

  Decebel finally shook his head, his jaw clenching as if he was trying to keep from sprouting a muzzle and biting Peri. “We need to travel to the Spanish pack,” Decebel bit out.

  Peri held out an arm.

  Jen hurried around her and gave Kara a quick hug. At the same time, she whispered, “We’re going to figure this out. Try not to stress about it. And maybe get your bonding complete so you can have some stress relief.” Kara coughed and Jen patted her on the back.

  “I heard that,” Nick muttered.

  “Good. Maybe it will make you get your fur butt in gear.”

  “Jennifer,” Decebel rumbled, though she could feel his humor in their bond.

  “What?” she asked innocently and then gave Kara a wink. Jen joined her mate and placed hand on Peri’s arm. In a blink, they were gone.

  Chapter

  Nine

  “Some things in life make us stronger. And some rip us apart until the pieces are too small to put back together.” ~Kara

  * * *

  “What in the absolute hell has happened to Peri?” Kara stared at the spot where the high fae had been standing seconds before. “I mean, who was that? Because that was not the Perizada who fought Volcan with us. That was not the Peri who was ready to throw her life away to save Jewel. That was… It was… I don’t know who that was,” she huffed. “But that wasn’t our Peri.” She felt Nick’s hands on her shoulders as he turned her to face him again. His dark eyes had a slight glow to them, letting her know his wolf was a little closer to the surface than usual.

  “I don’t know what’s going on, but we’ll find out. We cannot have a fae that powerful going off her rails.” Nick leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. They hadn’t finished the bond, but since Kara had turned eighteen, Nick touched her anytime he could. He constantly held her hand and kissed her hair, neck, or lips when they were in private. He doted on her, and she wasn’t going to lie, she loved it. Kara hadn’t had an easy life growing up in the foster care system. She’d been starved for love, for affection, for someone to look at her the way Nick looked at her now. She was suffocating from the lack of intimacy with another human being, and Kara hadn’t even realized it until Nick was there, breathing his life-giving tenderness into her lungs.

  Things weren’t easy simply because they were true mates. They argued. They had to work through her issues of abandonment, and just when she thought she was over it, Kara’s insecurities came roaring back. The crazy thing was, Kara didn’t even know she had abandonment issues. She’d been blindsided one day when Nick had gone out with his, correction, their alpha hunting vampires. Somehow, in the space of a few hours, she’d managed to get it in her head that he was feeling smothered. And the whole “vampire hunting trip” was simply a reason to get away from her. She’d tried to keep her emotions to herself, but by the time he’d returned she’d worked herself up into a full-blown panic attack. It had been more than a little embarrassing. The entire time they’d been in the Faerie realm, she’d tried to convince Nick that she wasn't a child. Then at the first instance of difficulty, she’d gone and thrown a fit like a freaking three-year-old.

  “Kara.” Nick's tender voice and warm hand on her face drew her out of her memory. She tilted her head back to look up at him. His thumb swiped at her cheek, and she realized she was crying. What the ever-loving-crap was wrong with her? “We’ve been over this, babe. You weren’t acting like a child. Having a panic attack isn’t childish. It’s not something you can always prevent. You need to show yourself some grace.”

  How many times had he patiently explained that to her? She couldn’t count that high. Okay, maybe she could count that high, but the point was, he was so incredibly patient with her he should qualify for sainthood. Nick pulled her against him, and the smell of his leather jacket comforted her frazzled nerves. Seeing Peri had initially been joyous. Kara had wanted to run to the high fae and hug her. After all they’d been through, she’d begun to think of Peri as more than just a protector. She’d become a friend. But the vacant look in the fae’s eyes and the woman’s cold tone had frozen the healer in place. Peri was showing signs that were all too familiar to Kara. Many times in the girl’s life when she was younger and something horrific had happened, she would shut down. Kara remembered looking at herself in the mirror and seeing a shell of the person she’d been, a girl simply existing. She’d been going through the motions of life because the only other option would have been dying, and she hadn’t quite reached that level of despair. Those emotions were what she saw in Perizada now.

  “Something is seriously wrong, Nick,” she whispered as another tear escaped. Kara wasn’t usually a crier, but important people in her new pack had died. And the pain she’d seen everyone experience, the worry of wondering what the Order would do next, being part of a supernatural world that she hadn’t known existed … it was all just a lot. And now there was a robot Peri out there in the world. At some point, a person’s mind just can’t hold it all together, and that’s where Kara was. Not to mention, she was exhausted.

  “I’ll talk to Drayden and see what he thinks we should do. But we’ll figure it out, I promise.” Nick held her even tighter.

  “We can’t lose her.” Kara could feel it in her gut. Call it a woman’s intuition. She just knew that if something happened to Perizada, something very bad—worse than what had already happened—would happen to the rest of them.

  Her mate pressed a kiss to her forehead and then promised, “We won’t.”

  The moment Jen, Decebel, and Peri were standing in front of the Spain pack mansion, Peri flashed away from them. The fae equivalent of being shoved out of a moving vehicle. Jen even stumbled, and had her mate not had cat-like reflexes, she totally would have face-planted. Which would have royally pissed her off. So much so that she just might have had to cut a fae. Hell, she might just cut her on principle. The high fae was being a bitch.

  “You’re not cutting anyone.” Decebel steadied her on her feet and then let go of her only to take her hand.

  “If you ask me, she looks like she needs to be more than cut. She needs a mudhole stomped in her ass. And then a marching band needs to walk back and forth over her until the mudhole is dry. Maybe then her good sense will return,” Jen practically growled, her wolf irritated by the fae as well.

  The doors to the mansion opened, and Dec pushed Jen slightly behind him. “Some things never change,” she muttered in response to his protective gesture.

  “And they never will,” he responded softly.

  “Decebel, it is good to see you.” Gustavo, the Spanish alpha, walked down the impressive amount of stairs that led up to the long veranda of a porch that disappeared around the house on either side. The male was tall, no surprise there as most Canis lupus were. He had black, wavy hair, a chiseled face, and chocolate brown eyes. Though he looked to be in his twenties, his intelligent, hawk-like stare belied the young appearance. This wolf was old. “How is our alpha doing?”

  Jen noted the way “our alpha” sounded respectful, and she detected no resentfulness. This made Jen trust Gustavo more than the other alphas. She wasn’t sure the rest of the dominant pack leaders would take too kindly to being told they’d all be subject under one main alpha, a young one at that. The most dominant of their kind didn’t like to be beneath the command of others, hence why they were the alphas of their own packs. She still wasn’t convinced that there weren’t some who would try to buck the new system the Great Luna put in place.

  “He is doing well, holding his own. In fact, his greatest threat is from his mate. She lets him know on a regular basis that if he gets so much as a scratch, he will have to face a challenge from her. We both know how that would go.” Decebel’s lips turned up in a small smile, something he rarely did with anyone outside of their pack.

  Gustavo chuckled and his handsome face transformed into beautiful. “She’d crush him because he wouldn’t lift a claw against her.”

  “Exactly,” Decebel agreed.

  Jen frowned up at her mate. “You fight me when I attack you.”

  “That’s because you’d get even angrier if I didn’t fight back.” Decebel raised his eyebrows, challenging her to disagree.

  “Ugh.” She sighed. “You know me too well. I feel like all the mystery is gone. Maybe we need counseling.”

  The Spanish alpha laughed again. “Don’t let that lie permeate your mind, female. A man could never know all the secrets of his mate. She is like a flower. She blossoms anew every spring and brings undiscovered layers that await the chance to open for her curious mate.”

  Jen couldn’t help the dumbfounded look she knew must be covering her face as she stared at him. “Who’s your mate?”

  His face softened, and his eyes lit up. “My Anna. She is mi amor.” His voice was so filled with tender love that it nearly made Jen ache with the same evocative emotions.

  “She is one lucky chick,” Jen said. “Good looking and poetic. Despite the fact that you might get fleas. I think the former negates the worry about the latter.”

  “I love you too, mate,” Decebel grumbled.

  Jen grinned and squeezed his hand. “B, no one holds a candle to you. You burn brighter than the sun, casting all others in shadow. You know that. You feel it through our bond. But if you like to act slighted, I will humor you.”

  Decebel cupped her cheek and leaned down. He pressed his lips to hers, holding the gentle touch for longer than what would be considered appropriate for public display. Jen didn’t care. When Decebel focused on her like this, the entire world faded away and it was just them. It made her toes curl and the greedy female inside of her wanted to dance around to keep his attention focused solely on her.

  “If I didn’t have my own true mate, I would be jealous of such a sight.” A female voice joined them.

  Decebel finally pulled back, but his glowing amber eyes held Jen captive. “If anyone is the sun in this relationship, it is you.”

  Jen swallowed her emotions, though she turned her head slightly, exposing her neck to her mate, giving him a sign of respect and submission. It wasn’t necessary as his mate, but it was a tender action, one that let him know just how high she held him in esteem. Finally, she turned to see who had joined them. A petite brunette with curly hair stood next to Gustavo. She had clear, hazel eyes, and cheek bones that made Jen jealous. She wore a green T-shirt with a gold heart on it, matched to a long, flowing green skirt patterned with gold that shimmered when she moved. She also wore golden canvas tennis shoes. It was a quirky look, but this chick pulled it off beautifully.

  “I’m Anna,” she said, glancing at Decebel but then quickly looking over to Jen. “I saw you at the celebration of life. By your description alone, I knew you were the Jen that Sally constantly spoke of.” Anna stepped forward, and Jen didn’t miss the way her mate moved with her. To Jen’s shock, Anna wrapped her arms around Jen and hugged her tightly, as if they were old friends that hadn’t seen one another in a long time. “I am so very sorry for your loss,” the female whispered. “I didn’t know any of them, and yet it hurt me deeply, so I can only imagine how it must be for you.”

  When she released Jen, the girl stepped back and Gustavo wrapped an arm around her waist, settling her snuggly against his side. Jen felt raw, as if all of her nerves had been exposed to the elements. She wrapped her arms around herself, wishing she could lay down and curl inward. Instead, she forced her shoulders back and her chin up. Yes, Alina and Vasile’s deaths had been soul shattering, but they had to move forward as a pack. There was nothing else to do.

  “Since there is not a helicopter sitting in my driveway, or a car that might have brought you from an airport, I’m going to assume that a fae delivered you to my doorstep,” Gustavo said, looking between Decebel and Jen.

  “Was it Peri?” Anna asked, her voice eager. The woman’s feet made a small scuffle motion as if they, too, were as excited at the possibility of seeing Peri as their owner.

  “It was Peri,” Jen confirmed. “Aaaand, not Peri at the same time.”

  Anna’s feet stopped their weird not-dancing thing ,and her eyes, that had been soft and gleeful, hardened. She stood up straighter and lifted her chin. “Um, what do you mean?” the healer's voice dropped and a darkness shadowed her face. It seemed at odds with an innocent woman who’d shown up moments ago. Now before them stood a female who looked like she could take on an army and win.

  “Whoa.” Jen lifted a brow, glancing at Gustavo. “What are you feeding her? Raw meat? Cuz she’s looking blood lusty.”

  “Anna spent some time with Volcan, unfortunately, along with the other healers Peri shepherded into our world. It seems that time spent in such close proximity with such a dark force has had some … lingering side effects.” Gustavo appeared as if he was in physical pain as he looked at his mate. “Strong emotions tend to bring it out. At least that seems to be the time when my Anna is prone to show these side effects.” He motioned to his female.

  “I love you, Gustavo, but I’d love you more if you’d stop talking like I’m not here,” Anna bit out through clenched teeth. “Forgive me, Jen, but after what my sisters and I endured at the hands of that monster, when you say Peri isn’t Peri, it brings up bad memories, not to mention it scares the crap out of me.”

  Jen’s eyes widened. “Oh, bloody hell, she’s not possessed by anything. Or being controlled by anyone,” she quickly said, remembering the things Sally and Peri had shared with them about what the five healers had endured at Volcan’s twisted will. “I just meant she’s struggling with Alina and Vasile’s death differently than the rest of us. At least, that’s what we think it is.”

  Anna rubbed her hand across her chest as if she was hurting directly over where her heart was located. “The Peri I know, she was too strong to let anything bring her down,” Anna said, though she sounded unsure.

  “That’s the Peri we know as well,” Decebel agreed. “But everyone has a breaking point, even supernatural beings as strong as Peri. We will get to the bottom of it.”

  “When you figure out what is going on, will you please let me know?” Anna asked. “Maybe there’s something I, or the other healers, can do to help.”

  Jen started to speak, but her mate rested a heavy hand on her shoulder, so she closed her mouth.

  “We will,” Decebel agreed. “Although Perizada is an important topic, she isn’t the reason we’ve come. Fane wanted us to speak with each of the alphas face-to-face. He needs to know if the Order has targeted you in any way. And he also wants to formally offer the aid of the Romanian pack if you have need.

  “You are old enough to know, Gustavo, this is not an insult. Fane is not attempting to insinuate that you are not capable of protecting your pack. He cares. He cares deeply for all of us, every Canis lupus. Every mate, every child, Fane cares about what happens to them.”

  Gustavo was silent for several minutes, and Jen wondered if she’d made her judgment too soon. Perhaps the Spanish alpha was threatened by Fane or did resent having an alpha over him.

  “He is his father’s son,” Gustavo finally said. “If he continues on this course, he will be a force to be reckoned with.”

  “He already is,” Decebel said, his voice filled with respect for their alpha.

  Gustavo nodded once, acknowledging her mate’s words. “I have my wolves out patrolling in a fifty-mile radius around our headquarters and watching the towns around us,” the alpha said. “We’ve had some whispers in the area of Order spies about, but we’ve yet to get our hands on one.”

  “Part of me is glad it’s just whispering,” Decebel admitted. “Part of me just wants all hell to break loose so we can get on with it.”

  The Spanish alpha chuckled. “We may be patient hunters good at waiting, but we prefer action.”

  Jen raised her hand. “Sorry. I don’t fit into the typical Canis lupus mold of a patient hunter. It’s just not my thing. I’m a tad bit impulsive, and I hold a grudge, which means if you’ve hurt one of mine, I’m sitting around planning ways to make your death as painful as possible. That’s more my thing.”

  “Oh,” Anna purred, and her lips turned up in a wicked smile. “We need to talk.”

  “Sorry, as long as your pack is good right now, we need to keep moving,” Decebel said, his phone out once again and his fingers moving across it. “No time for talking.”

  “Thank the Great Luna,” Gustavo muttered under his breath, earning him a glare from his little female.

  Peri appeared a second later. She glanced at Gustavo and bowed her head. Her eyes touched on Anna, but they didn’t even hover for more than a second before she turned to Decebel. “Where to next?” Peri held out her arm to them.

  “You’re not even going to say hi to Anna?” Jen challenged. “If I remember correctly, you said she and the other healers had become quite important to you.”

  Peri’s steel gaze landed on Jen. Immediately, Jen felt the cold that seemed to radiate off of the high fae running over her. It wasn’t just cold, it was as though the blood in her veins was turning to ice, chilling her all the way to the bone. Suddenly, Decebel was in front of Jen, blocking Peri’s view of her.

  Decebel growled at the high fae and stepped into her space. “I will tolerate your bad attitude. I will tolerate your aloofness. I will even tolerate whatever the hell happened between you and Lucian.” For a split second, Jen saw an emotion in the high fae’s eyes, and it was such raw pain that it nearly made Jen cry. “But,” Decebel continued, “I will not tolerate any pain inflicted upon my mate. Do not ever use your magic on her again. High fae or not, you can still be killed, and I will not hesitate a second time.”