He watched as she processed his words. Decebel played with a strand of her long hair and waited for her to speak.

  Jen sat there, staring at her oh-so-handsome mate and chewed on his words. He did want her, and based on that kiss his desire was evident. But he didn't want her to manipulate him. She realized then that she needed to get to the bathroom so Peri could get her out. So, no manipulation, fine. She could do that. He didn't say anything about being sneaky.

  "Okay." She started to climb off the bed but stopped abruptly when she realized Decebel hadn't let go of her hair.

  "Okay?" Decebel looked at his mate suspiciously. "That's it?"

  "Yeah, you're right. I shouldn't use sex to manipulate you. It's childish. I can admit when I'm wrong Decebel, geez. It's just it happens so rarely that it kind of catches me by surprise."

  Decebel chuckled but still wasn't convinced that everything was okay with her.

  Jen could tell that Decebel wasn't buying her sudden agreement, so she crawled back up on the bed and as he propped himself up against the headboard she climbed into his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly.

  "I know I'm difficult, B. But that doesn't mean I don't know how to be reasonable. And I understand why you pushed me away."

  "You do?"

  "Sure, I do. You're nervous. It's been a while and you're worried about being able to live up to my expectations. It's okay, we'll go slow. I'll give you as much time as you need." Jen was nearly biting her lip she was trying so hard not to laugh at the horror on Decebel's face at her words. She knew what she was saying was a load of crap, but she just couldn't resist. She'd felt like he didn't want her. She'd been hurt when he pushed her away. It wouldn't hurt him if he thought that she thought he was actually stressing over the whole consummation thing.

  "I'm going to go to the bathroom and get ready for bed. Don't worry about me, okay? When you're ready, we can explore our physical relationship." Jen started to climb off his lap as she watched his mouth open and then close. As she reached the bathroom door, she heard him growl.

  "Explore our physical relationship? Nervous? Worried?" With each word his voice got louder and the growling increased. By the time Jen had closed and locked the bathroom door, Decebel was at the door jiggling the door knob.

  "Jennifer, open this door."

  "Decebel, seriously. Can I have some privacy? We have not been mated long enough to pee in front of each other."

  She heard him grumble something under his breath but he moved away from the door.

  Jen stood there, waiting. For what, she wasn't sure. Then all of a sudden, the wall closest next to her just disappeared. Jacque and Peri stood directly in front of where the wall had been.

  "What the -"

  "Shhh." Jacque motioned to Jen to lower her voice.

  Jen walked over to Jacque and the Fae and the wall reappeared as if it had never vanished.

  "That is freaking wicked cool." Jen grinned at Peri.

  Peri rolled her eyes. "Wolves. So easily impressed."

  "So, are we planning our secret op?" Jen rubbed her hands together, looking very much the part of mischievous child.

  Peri motioned for them to follow her. The front door opened soundlessly and closed behind them. Jen and Jacque both expected to begin shivering, but even though there was snow all around them, they felt no cold.

  "I take it you're keeping us warm?" Jacque asked with a raised eyebrow.

  "I can't very well talk to you two if your teeth are chattering incessantly, it's annoying."

  "Alright then, Peri-fairy, tell us how you really feel." Jen rolled her eyes.

  Peri ignored the comment. "The males in your pack will never let you two go on your own."

  Jacque and Jen looked at each other and then at Peri.

  "Yeah, we know that much. What we don't understand is why you aren't working your mojo to bind them like you did Decebel." Jacque decided that her words must have shocked Peri because the Fae took a step back.

  "You want me to bind your mates?" she asked incredulously.

  A chuckle emanated from Jen. "No, silly."

  Peri took an audible breath and let it out, obviously relieved.

  Jen smiled in return. "We want you to bind all the males.”

  Chapter 25

  "What exactly are you doing now?" Thad asked the witch his pack had employed for centuries. She sat in a chair in the room she called her “cave”. Thad tried not to look around at the things hanging from the ceiling or staring out at him from the jars that filled the shelves lining the walls. He didn't look on the floor to see what he might be stepping on, or worse, in. Mona stared out the window as she flipped her wrist at him absentmindedly.

  "I'm doing my thing. A better question would be – what are you doing, Alpha?" Mona threw it back in the Alpha's face.

  "What can I do?" Thad blustered. "I don't know where they are. It's kind of hard to attack someone when you don't know their location."

  "You know, Thad, beggars can't be choosers. So, you either wait patiently for me to tell you when the time is right, or I can turn you into a toad. Really, it's your choice."

  Thad's face was turning an unnatural shade of red as he glared at the back of Mona's head. His thoughts from earlier swirled in his mind. What was in it for Mona?

  "Mona," Thad said her name sweetly. "Why are you still helping me and my pack after all this time?"

  "You know why. Protection from the Fae."

  "The Fae haven't set foot across the Veil in centuries and your power is stronger than ever. Why are you hanging out with the wolves, Desdemona? What's your interest in the healer?"

  Mona turned in her chair slowly. Her mismatched eyes met his. She smiled as she stood and walked toward him. Thad knew better than to back away from a predator, so he held his ground.

  "Thad, Thad, Thad," Mona purred. "You know better than to question me." Mona took a long fingernail and trailed it across Thad's cheek and down his neck. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Don't go digging where you shouldn't or you just might find you've been digging your grave all along."

  Thad didn't let her see how much her words disturbed him. He kept his face cool and devoid of emotion. She walked away with a sway in her hips and said over her shoulder, "I will contact you when the time is right. Have your wolves ready, Alpha. When this is all said and done you will have more than a little blood on your underworked hands." Just as he thought she was finished, he jumped when he heard her yell, "Oh, and GET OUT!"

  Thad stormed into his pack mansion, Mona's words echoing in his head. Digging in. There was something buried that she didn't want him to know. Something about healers and what they meant to a witch. It was time for him to visit his pack archives, even as much as he hated going into the place that smelled of old parchment and dust. But he needed to know what Mona was up to. He was no fool, it was apparent now that Mona wasn't helping Thad, she was using him to achieve her own agenda. He had been blind all along. If she thought to get her hands on his healer, then she wasn't as smart as he always believed her to be. As a witch, yes, she was powerful. But it wouldn't be beyond him to make sure she got caught in the crossfire of fighting wolves. She could stand against some, but there was no way Mona could stand against two packs. Not packs with Alphas and dominants as strong as his and Vasile's. It was actually a shame that he had to rip Vasile's pack to shreds – a real shame, but necessary.

  "You. Want me. To bind. All your males?" Peri's words were clipped and her face told Jen and Jacque everything they needed to know. She thought they had lost their ever-loving minds. She was probably closer to the mark than she realized.

  "Yes." Jen and Jacque answered at the same time with no hesitation.

  "Look, we know that they would be mad -"

  "No child, mad is not the word I would use. The wrath that Vasile would rain down on me... You cannot understand. Have you not been around the dominant and Alpha wolves of the Canis lupus? You know what they are like about their females."

  "Yes, yes. We get it." Jen rolled her eyes "But here's the thing, while they are so busy worrying about us poor, weak females, they are totally ignoring the fact that there is a whole, big freaking world out there that needs our help. If Rachel and Sally are the ones who can drop a house on this witch, then we need Rachel. If Jacque and I are the ones to get her here, then WE WILL DO IT. Damn the consequences. We won't let them hurt you when we get back. Just keep them bound the entire time." Jen smiled like she had just solved all their problems.

  "You want me to keep them bound the entire time?"

  Jen looked at Jacque, letting out an exasperated breath. "Why does she keep repeating me? Am I difficult to understand?"

  Jacque shook her head. "I think we are putting her in shock, or she is going to have a panic attack or something."

  Peri looked from girl to girl, at a serious loss for their request. She saw the eagerness in their eyes to help and the determination beneath that. She didn't know any other way to do this. So be it. She was going to get her ass handed to her on a platter by the males of the Romanian grey wolves. Who said she didn't like to live on the edge?

  "Okay, fine."

  Jacque and Jen gave each other silent fist bumps with exploding fingers.

  "That's what I'm talking about, Peri! Sticking it to the man! Letting them know that they don't own you, they aren't your daddy, they can't -"

  Peri slapped her hand over Jen's mouth and looked at Jacque. "How do you deal with her?"

  Jacque chuckled. "She grows on you."

  Peri snorted. "What, like a fungus?"

  It was Jacque's turn to snort at Peri's remark.

  Peri finally took her hand away from Jen's mouth – only after giving her a pointed look that said, shut your mouth.

  "This is how we will do this. I'm going to put the binding curse on them now while they are asleep and can't feel it working on them. You gals are going to take the gear I give you and go through the Veil. I will give you a sort of compass that will take you to Rachel and Gavril. You must move quickly, quietly, and try to go unnoticed. Meanwhile, I will be here to incur the wrath of five very stiff, pissed-off wolves." Peri smiled and added sarcastically, "Won't that be fun!"

  Peri turned to the door and closed her eyes. She began to mumble under her breath and Jen and Jacque looked on, waiting.

  "So, how do you think our furry friends are going to be when they wake up and find us gone?" Jen whispered to Jacque, whose eyes were on Peri.

  "Let's just say I'm glad that I'm going with you. And you do realize that if you thought Decebel was going to be bad about not letting you out of his sight before, it's fixing to be multiplied by like a million, right?"

  Jen rolled her eyes. "He probably won't even let me pee alone when we get back."

  "Fane won't be much better," Jacque added.

  "Yeah, but Fane is so much more reasonable."

  "That's just because you're married to someone from the dark ages who thinks men should hit their woman over the head and drag her back to their man cave by her hair."

  "True that," Jen agreed dryly.

  Finally, Peri turned back to the girls.

  "It's done."

  Peri got them everything they needed. Jen and Jacque were both amazed as the fairy conjured things out of thin air. Once they had warm clothes, light packs on their backs, Fae food, and water, they were ready.

  "Remember," Peri told them, "quickly, quietly."

  "Q squared, got it," Jen told her as they followed her to the Veil.

  Jen and Jacque looked back at Peri one last time before they both stepped through the invisible shield between the two worlds.

  Peri closed her eyes as the girls disappeared. What have I done? she asked herself. She was trying to decide if maybe she should just leave Alina a note explaining what she had done and then add that the Fae council needed her. Peri immediately threw that idea out of the window. She wasn't a coward. She would take responsibility for her actions. She would, however, be sure to stay out of reach of any snapping jaws.

  "So, I totally feel like we should have the Mission Impossible soundtrack playing in the background as we embark on our little journey." Jen chuckled.

  "Did you just say embark?" Jacque asked as she looked over her shoulder at her best friend.

  "Hey, I died, I get leeway on any vocabulary improvements or issues."

  "That sounds so familiar coming from you. Seems like anytime you get burned alive or die, you suddenly have a license to say anything you want."

  "You're catching on, Red. You totally should have milked your catastrophes a little more."

  Jacque rolled her eyes as she pulled out the pocket watch-looking apparatus that Peri had given them. All Peri said about it was that it was tuned, so to speak, to Rachel's pulse or whatever. Jen had politely told her that technicalities were not necessary as long as the damn thing worked.

  "Okay, it's pointing us that way." Jacque pointed to the left, through trees, bushes, and who knew what else.

  "How are we supposed to be quiet when we have to veer off the beaten path, stumbling through tree limbs, thorny bushes, and whatever else gets in our way?"

  "Just try to step carefully. We can do this, Jen. For Sally, for all of us."

  Jen took a breath, looking into the woods. I've died and come back, she told herself. I can stumble through some cold, dark woods. Anything should be a piece of cake after dying. right?

  She nodded at Jacque and added, "I'm with you. We totally got this."

  They started off into the trees, trying to be light-footed and not stumble.

  "So, how are things with you and Decebel?" Jacque asked, trying to get their minds off the cold and the possibility that an evil witch was at that very moment tracking their every move.

  Jen let out a whispered laugh, trying to be quiet like Peri had warned.

  "You know how we argued about the whole not withholding sex as a form of manipulation?"

  Jacque growled. "Yes, I can't believe he said that to you. I didn't tell Fane because he would've been very offended thinking that Decebel might've thought he just wanted to mate with me to get in my pants."

  "He doesn't think that about Fane."

  "He thinks I can manipulate Fane that way."

  "Well, can't you?" Jen asked, raising her eyebrows.

  Jacque turned red from the neck up. "Yes, but geez, he's not over a century old and been with other chicks. He's still pretty eager about the whole thing."

  It was Jen's turn to growl. "Yeah, Decebel was so kind to remind me that he isn't as white as freshly fallen snow. But I'm not holding it against him. I mean, multiple decades being celibate? I would begin to wonder if he was even attracted to women."

  "So, what happened when you guys went to bed?" Jacque wiggled her eyebrows at Jen suggestively.

  Jen really laughed then and had to put her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound.

  "Oh man, it was priceless, Jacque. I really should keep my phone on Record when we're alone. There's a whole side to Decebel that you guys don't get to see."

  "Spill," Jacque encouraged.

  "Okay, okay. Well, at first, I was mad, right? But then he told me it hurt him that I was blocking him. His voice was so soft, so unlike Decebel, and it really hit me hard. I don't want to hurt him, ya know? So, I relented and apologized for blocking him from my mind. We started kissing, and things were moving along, then he pulled back and pushed me away."

  "What?" Jacque's mouth dropped open.

  "I know, right? At first, I was hurt. It felt like rejection. I felt like he was just confirming what he had said, that he wasn't excited to be with me. But then he explained how he did really want me but didn't want to be manipulated. It was about that time that I realized you guys were probably waiting on me."

  "Yeah, well, we thought you might be awhile."

  "Ha ha," Jen retorted.

  "So, then I decided to give my fur ball a little dose of Jen. I wasn't mad anymore, really, but I just couldn't resist."

  "Spit it out already." Jacque was making a motion with her hand that punctuated her words.

  "I told him that I understood that he was nervous about meeting my expectations because it had been a while for him."

  Jacque stopped walking as she doubled over, trying to laugh quietly.

  Jen continued despite Jacque's lack of composure. "And I told him I would go as slow as he wanted while we explored our physical relationship." She finished with a very self-satisfied look on her smug face.

  Jacque kept on laughing and finally Jen gave into her own laughter after having to hold it in while she'd tortured her mate.

  "Bloody hell. I wish I had been a fly on your wall. I bet his face was utterly horrified."

  "Oh, he looked confused at first, but then it sank in that I was basically saying he was having trouble performing. Yeah, he was beating on the bathroom door by the time I walked away."

  "Good grief, Jen, you do love to provoke an already pissed-off lion."

  "How boring would life be if I just nodded my head and said, 'yes, sir'?"

  Jacque snorted. "Well, my life would definitely be a whole hell of a lot more boring. You just never cease to amaze me."

  They began walking again, Jacque checking the device they had deemed the LT – locator thingy.

  They walked, and at times when they could feel eyes on them, they jogged through the forest. The tree limbs snagged at their clothes and their noses were pink from the unforgiving temperature, which had dropped when they'd left Peri behind.

  Twenty-One Days Post-Curse

  They had been walking/jogging for several hours and the morning light was just beginning to penetrate the thick cover of the trees when suddenly both girls nearly fell to their knees.

  "JENNIFER!"