Vasile wrapped Sally and Jen in hugs as soon as he saw them, ignoring the growls from their mates. They weren’t his daughters, but they were as good as. They were pack and their friend had been hurt while under his protection.

  When he released them, Decebel and Costin pulled each of their mates into their arms.

  “Where is she?” Jen asked.

  Vasile stepped out of the way and they saw Alina and Rachel sitting next to a very pale, very still Jacque.

  Sally and Jen both rushed over. Rachel and Alina stood and backed away, letting them get close to their friend.

  Sally wiped a tear away as she took Jacque’s hand in hers.

  “Why won’t she wake up?” Jen asked.

  “We don’t know. I think it might have something to do with their bond,” Vasile told her.

  “What do you mean?” Sally’s head snapped up.

  “I can feel Fane’s agony. Wherever he is, he’s in pain. I think it’s affecting their bond. He may have shut it down somehow or he didn’t and she’s stuck enduring what he is.”

  “Isn’t there anything we can do?” Jen asked desperately.

  Sally reached out and placed her hand over Jacque’s chest. She closed her eyes and reached out for her friend. She didn’t know how she did it but when she sought to get inside someone she was touching, she was able to see them, see inside their body and their mind.

  She saw that Jacque’s mind was covered in a haze. Something was keeping her unconscious. She tried pushing against the haze – she forced her will into it. The force with which it pushed back shoved her out of Jacque’s body and physically onto the ground. Costin was at her side in an instant, kneeling so she could sit on his knee.

  “What did you see, love?” he asked.

  Sally tried to focus her eyes and clear her thoughts. The haze had tried to attack her mind. She felt violated and shuddered in Costin's arms. He pulled her closer.

  “Something is keeping her under. I tried to push it away but it’s wrapped around her mind, encasing it.”

  Rachel walked over to her, her eyes wide and mouth opened in wonder.

  “You can get inside?”

  Sally nodded. “Can’t you?”

  Rachel nodded. “But I’ve been a healer for centuries. You are but a babe.” She looked over at Peri, who smiled with pride.

  “She’s powerful,” Rachel told her.

  “Very,” Peri agreed.

  “Okay, not that I don’t care that Sally is like super healer, but can we get back to Jacque and how we can help her?”

  “We can’t. She needs her -” Rachel was interrupted by a now standing and snarling Jen.

  “IF YOU SAY SHE NEEDS HER MATE I SWEAR I’M GOING TO LOSE IT.”

  “Sweetie,” Sally said calmly, “you’ve already lost it.”

  Jen growled but stepped back. “I’m sorry, but I’m just really sick of the only answer being 'she needs her mate'. How can we be so dependent on you guys? I mean, seriously, what the hell makes you so special that you can fix everything? And how vain is it that you think you are the end all? Jacque is strong without Fane. She doesn’t need him. We don’t need you.”

  Decebel snarled and the sound that came out of him was more like a lion than a wolf. Everyone but Vasile took a step away from the enraged Alpha.

  “You think it makes you weak to say that you need me? Is that what your problem has been, that you don’t want to need me?” Decebel’s eyes glowed as he held his mate’s stare.

  “Why should I need you? You don’t need me. You are strong without me. You can take on anything, deal with anything, but I’m weak. That’s what you think, that I can’t handle it when it gets rough. You think that we will all just curl up and die if you weren’t there to rescue us!” Jen’s breathing was erratic and her heart was racing.

  Cynthia stepped forward, keeping a wary eye on Decebel. “Jen, you need to calm down.”

  Decebel snarled at her. “Who are you to tell my mate what she needs?”

  Cynthia stepped back, ducking her head and exposing her neck in submission.

  Decebel’s head snapped back to his mate. He was trying to control his wolf, but it was becoming more difficult the more she spouted this nonsense about not needing him and him not needing her.

  “Where is this all coming from, Jennifer? How can you say such things to me? TO ME? When you died my life was over. I NEED YOU and I’m not ashamed to admit that. It doesn’t make me weak to need you; it doesn’t make me any less of a man. You make me stronger, you make me better. Why is it so horrible to need me?” Decebel had taken several steps toward her, but she took the same amount away from him.

  She watched his anger turn to pain as he looked at her.

  Jen’s shoulders crumbled in defeat, all the fight gone. She was tired. She was scared.

  “If I need you, if I can’t be without you, then I will die when you leave me – I will cease to exist without you. I can’t need you, I can’t. If you are the air I breathe, if you are the rock I stand on, if you are what makes me whole, then I’m going to be a shell, empty and dry once you’re gone.” Tears slid down her face.

  “Jennifer, I will never leave you, how can you say that to me?”

  “You don’t know. Once you do ... you will hate me.”

  Decebel took another step toward her. This time she didn’t move back.

  “Tell him, Jen. Trust him.” Cynthia spoke softly, her eyes still on the ground and her neck exposed.

  Decebel’s eyes widened. “You told her before you told me, your mate, your husband?”

  Jen cringed at the hurt she saw in his face.

  “I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I’m so sorry. I just don’t think I will survive if I see the disgust in your eyes when you hear it. I can’t lose you, Decebel – I can’t lose you because I need you.”

  Decebel moved quickly to her before she could back away and he knelt down. He placed both hands on either side of her face and held her stare.

  “Baby, there is nothing you could do that would ever cause you to lose me. I am yours – good and bad, I am yours.”

  Jen’s eyes filled with more tears.

  “But this is so bad, Dec. It’s so bad,” she whispered through her sobs.

  Decebel wiped her tears away with his thumbs and because he couldn’t stand it any longer, he pulled her into his arms. He held her shaking body, pouring his warmth into her.

  “I’m pregnant, Dec,” she said so softly that even with his wolf hearing he had to strain to understand.

  When he did, he froze. In response, her body tensed.

  How could she think he would be mad over that? She was carrying his pup, his child. He felt his heart swell and tears formed in his eyes. He pulled her back to look at her but she fought him. She grabbed onto his shirt and held on tight.

  “That’s not all.”

  “Tell me, baby. Trust me, please,” he whispered back.

  “The Fates came to me in a dream.”

  Decebel got deathly still. The air seemed to grow charged with his power.

  “The night you had the nightmare?” he asked her cautiously.

  He felt her nod her head against him.

  “What happened, Jennifer?” He tried to keep his voice gentle so she wouldn’t get scared, but it was so hard to keep his wolf down.

  “They said I have to pay the debt I owe them because I didn’t die when it was my time.”

  “And what is the payment?” Decebel closed his eyes as he asked, already knowing the answer.

  “Our daughter's life.”

  She pulled back and looked into his face. Her face was swollen and tear-stained. “They said that when she is born, they will take her from me. From us.” After a pause, she added, “In nine months, Dec. Nine months.” Her lower lip trembled. “I killed our baby.”

  Anger filled her up. “My choice to come back from the dead is going to kill our child.” She slammed her hand against her chest. “MY CHOICE! How selfish was that? How can you not be angry with me? How can you even want me in your sight?”

  Decebel’s eyes were glowing and hearing his mate spill such nonsense was causing his wolf to surface. His wolf didn’t like to see their mate so broken and he sure as hell wouldn’t tolerate Decebel being the cause of that pain. He closed his eyes, trying to help his wolf understand that he wasn’t upset with their mate.

  “Jennifer, look at me.”

  Jen ignored him and continued to stare at her fidgeting hands.

  He took his finger and gently lifted her face until he was able to look into her amazing blue eyes – they still took his breath away.

  “It would have been my choice as well.”

  Confusion flashed across Jen’s face. “What choice?””

  “For you to come back to me. I would have chosen that you not die at 18 years old after completing the bond with your mate. If I had known that you were able to make that choice and you chose death instead of life, instead of me – then, my beautiful love, then I would be mad at you. This,” he laid his hand gently on her stomach, where their child grew, “is out of your control. It’s not your fault. And we are not going to lose our child. Jennifer, I love you, with every fiber of my being, every cell in my body, I love you. Please believe me when I tell you I do not blame you for our circumstances. Tell me you believe me.”

  Jen had started crying again and her hiccups in between words tore at Decebel’s heart.

  “I – believe – you –”

  He brushed the tears from her face and leaned down. Then he pressed his lips against hers and pushed all the comfort and love he could into that kiss.

  “Please don’t leave me.”

  Decebel smiled softly. “I’m not leaving your side for quite a while, love.”

  Jen smiled back weakly. “Let me guess, nine months?”

  Decebel chuckled. “Something like that.”

  Decebel kissed her firmly once more and pulled back, framing her face with his big hands. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not angry with you. You are mine and nothing will happen to you.” He placed his hand on her stomach and poured all the truth he could into his words. “Nothing will happen to our baby. I won’t allow it.”

  Jen placed her hand over his, then pressed her forehead to his. She trembled and wept as he whispered to her in Romanian, telling her over and over how beautiful she was to him, how precious and how happy he was that she carried his child. They hadn’t even thought about the others standing around them, witnessing this very private moment.

  Decebel held her face in his hands and kissed her gently.

  “I love you, Jennifer,” he told her sternly.

  She nodded.

  “I love you, Dec. I love you so much.”

  He gently lifted her shirt to expose her skin and leaned forward, placing kiss after kiss across her stomach.

  “You are safe, little one,” he whispered against his wife’s skin. “You are safe and you are loved. I will not let anything happen to you.”

  He raised his head back up but kept his hand, skin on skin, against her stomach. Decebel looked into her eyes.

  “We are not going to spend your pregnancy mourning. We are not going to spend this precious time worrying. We created this little life, Jennifer. Our love created this and I don’t want that tainted by our fears. Please. I can’t stand the idea of nine months without your smart mouth or sexual jokes. Seeing you like this today was my breaking point.”

  “Shh,” Jen pressed a finger lightly on his lips, “I trust you, Decebel. You are my mate, you are the father of our child, and I know you will take care of us.”

  Decebel’s body shook with emotion – he felt the trust and respect in her words, words that poured strength into him and affirmed his capability to do what he said he would.

  “Thank you,” he told her quietly.

  The group was quiet as Decebel held his pregnant mate in his arms. There were no words in that moment, no smart remarks, no endearing comments. It was simply a pack watching the pack mates they loved deal with the challenges of life.

  ***

  Sally stared dumbly, stunned at Jen’s revelation. Her best friend was pregnant – she was pregnant! She just couldn’t wrap her mind around it. Not only was she pregnant, but the Fates were saying they were going to kill their baby. Could things get any worse?

  “Let’s not ask ourselves that.” Costin cautioned in her mind.

  Sally looked up at him from where she crouched next to Jacque’s still form. She grunted her understanding, agreeing that anytime you asked that question, things always seemed to go from bad to worse. And, as if that very flip had been switched, the air grew thick and lightening ripped across the sky.

  All of the males were suddenly on alert, creating a circle around the females. They looked into the forest in all directions as if waiting for the enemy to come charging at them.

  Sally watched tiny bodies emerge from the darkness. They hung from the tree limbs or stood on them, but in every instance, they made sure to stay above eye level. One by one they appeared, several of them, waiting. They were human in appearance, but they had an ethereal beauty. A soft glow seemed to create a halo around them. Sally thought she saw wings, but couldn’t be sure because they seemed to come and go almost as if they were flickering off and on.

  Costin let out a low growl. Vasile stepped toward the largest of them. He was no more than a foot in height and was lithe in form. He had short dark hair, high cheekbones, and eyes that were an iridescent green. He stood regally, his chest puffed out, shoulders drawn back.

  “You have chosen a side, pixie King?” Vasile asked.

  The pixie tensed but quickly schooled his expression.

  “It is nothing against you or yours, Alpha wolf.” The pixie King’s voice was surprisingly deep for such a small being.

  “That is where you are wrong. Her magic is hurting mine. Your choice is causing harm to what is mine.” Vasile’s eyes were beginning to glow and his voice was guttural.

  “Careful, great Alpha,” the pixie King warned. “You are in my realm now.”

  “You cast your magic against my daughter-in-law and son, you seek to trap my pack, my brothers, and then you tell me to be careful?” Vasile snarled and took a menacing step forward. “Maybe you, pixie, should be careful. It has been a while since my wolves have had any good meat, and pixie is looking awfully appetizing.”

  An orchestra of hissing rippled across the trees where the pixies perched and hung. The King hopped down to a lower branch, getting closer to Vasile.

  “We’ve come for the males. We can do this the easy way and you can come with us, or you can make this difficult. It is up to you, Alpha.”

  Decebel snarled and lunged toward the nearest pixie. He stopped short when he heard Jen scream in pain, reaching her just as her form hit the cold earth.

  “Jennifer, love, talk to me.” Decebel brushed her hair from her face and kissed her gently.

  Meanwhile, Costin lunged forward and grabbed a pixie in his now-phased hand. He growled.

  “What have you done to her?” he asked as he pointed to Jen.

  It was the pixie King who answered.

  “It’s what will happen to all of your women if you do not come with us.”

  Costin threw the pixie from his hand and it hit a tree and crumpled.

  Almost simultaneously, Sally screamed in pain. She folded in on herself, trying to stop the sharp stabbing in her abdomen.

  Costin snarled, “STOP THIS!”

  One by one the females fell – Rachel, Alina, Cynthia, Elle, Crina, and even Peri.

  Vasile lunged for the pixie King and out of nowhere a spear appeared in the pixie’s hands. He parried Vasile’s lunge and Vasile just barely sidestepped the jab.

  The other males jumped into action. Adam began wielding his Fae magic, tossing bolts of power at every pixie he could see. He hit as many as he missed. They were fast, dodging left and right and engaging with their own war tactics – which mainly included hand-to-hand combat.

  Adam managed to put a shield over the males. He tried to help the females, but whatever the pixies had done, he could not undo.

  Gavril had phased into his wolf form and held nothing back when he got his teeth on a pixie. It was not pretty, but with every whimper he heard from his mate the more feral his wolf became.

  Drake and Costin teamed up and fought back-to-back, but with every pixie they dispatched another five literally came out of the woodwork.

  Lightning crashed to the ground and thunder rolled through the charged night air.

  “ENOUGH!” the pixie King yelled in a booming voice.

  The wolves froze – not because they wanted to. The King was holding them with his magic.

  “Enough of this, Vasile, Alpha of the Romanian pack. Say your goodbyes to your women. You cannot win against us and I will not continue to let you kill my people. Say your goodbyes and then pass through the portal. If you refuse, I will continue to torture your women in front of you.”

  As soon as the King stopped talking the wolves were able to move again.

  Decebel made to lunge once more and Vasile caught him.

  “We must pick our battles, old friend,” Vasile told him quietly. “Go to your mate.”

  Decebel didn’t move for several moments. Then he nodded once and turned to Jennifer.

  Costin knelt down beside Sally and pulled her up into his lap.

  “Are you still hurting?” he asked gently.

  Sally nodded with a tremble on her lips. “Please don’t go,” she whispered to him.

  Costin closed his eyes and pulled her close.

  “I have to, Sally mine. I don’t want to, but I won’t watch them torture you. It would kill me.”

  Sally tried to stop the tears from falling, knowing she needed to be strong for him, but the more she tried to stop them, the more they fell. She looked up into his eyes and leaned forward, pressing her lips to his. When she pulled back, she saw the glistening wetness in his hazel eyes.