“It’s Costin,” Sally whispered. “Something is very wrong.”

  Jen reached out for Decebel through their bond. She could feel him, feel his loss, his fear – his suffering. She longed to tell him she was alright, that their baby was alright, but the more she pushed on their bond the harder it was to reach him.

  Crina stumbled as she walked and Elle too seemed to struggle under the weight of their shared desolation.

  Peri finally came to a stop, hours later, before two huge trees that stood several feet apart. Their branches hung over the space between them, creating a canopy.

  “We’re here.”

  Just as she stepped forward and raised her arms to open the Veil, Jacque sat up. Her eyes were open, but they were empty. Sally and Jen stepped toward her but Peri held up a hand to stop them.

  “Perizada of the Fae.” Jacque’s voice came out in a raspy whisper, low and distorted, causing them to take a step back in surprise. “Alina Lupei, mate to Vasile, Alpha of the Romanian Pack. Jennifer Anghelescu, mate to Decebel, Alpha of the Serbian pack. Healer Sally Morgan, mate to Costin, Beta of the Serbian pack. Crina, mate to Adam of the Fae, member of the Romanian pack. Rachel, mate to Gavril, Beta of the Romanian pack. Elle of the Fae, mate to Sorin, Third in the Romanian pack. Cynthia Steele of the Romanian pack.” There was a frightening pause – a demon-like croak forced itself out of Jacque's mouth.

  “I have named you all – I have named you and so I bind you.”

  “Cover your ears! NOW!” Peri yelled as she threw up her hands and began to chant:

  “Trees of the forest, air on the wind,

  Your help now I ask you to lend.

  Grant your power into my care,

  Cover these children, their burden you bare.”

  Meanwhile, the group did as Peri told them, slapping their hands over their ears though they weren’t sure why.

  The evil voice coming out of Jacque’s body continued speaking.

  “I bind you to this realm, you cannot pass through.

  I bind you to this realm, caught if I named you.

  Cross through the Veil, if you dare,

  Cross through the Veil, see how you fare.

  I bind you now with magic black as night,

  I bind you now, forever in my sight.”

  The air around them grew cold and the wind continued to pick up speed. Jacque’s hair whipped around her face, her eyes glowed an eerie shade of green as she looked upon the group.

  “GET OUT!”

  An ear-piercing scream escaped her lungs just before she collapsed.

  The silence was deafening for a moment. Peri lowered her arms and looked at the women.

  “Everyone okay?”

  Sally and Jen rushed over to Jacque’s limp form and checked to see that she was still breathing.

  “Obviously this was the work of that bitch – I mean, witch. Desdemona,” Jen growled. “But that last scream, that sounded like Jacque.”

  Peri nodded. “She was fighting it. She pushed Mona out.”

  Sally wiped a tear away. “That’s our girl,” she sniffed, “a fighter.”

  Rachel approached the two trees that Peri had indicated as where the Veil was supposed to be. She reached out her hand, but the Fae stopped her.

  “No, healer,” she told her somberly. “If we cross, we die. She has indeed bound us to this realm. I can feel it.”

  “What does that mean?” Sally asked, trying to keep the tremble from her voice.

  Peri stepped back from the Veil and observed their group. The fear and weariness was written in their tear-streaked faces, the fall of their shoulders, and the broken look in their eyes.

  But she had no good news for them.

  “It means that for the moment, we are stuck.”

  The group grew still at her words. After a minute of listening to the wind and the defeated silence of the women, Jen stood up. She narrowed her eyes and let out a low grumble.

  “I guess it’s a good thing that well and truly screwed is a place I’m familiar with.”

  The group snorted out exhausted laughter; Jen took it.

  “Pull your shoulders back and put your heads up. She may have won this battle, but the war is just beginning. And just so you know, this is the only battle she will win. I’m tired, my mate is in hell, I’m pregnant, and some disembodied entities have decided they want my baby.” Jen shook her head menacingly. “Oh, they've all messed with the wrong bitch.”

  Her eyes glowed brightly as she looked at Alina. “You ready, Alpha?”

  Alina nodded, determination steeling her eyes.

  Now Jen looked at Sally. “What about you, healer?”

  Sally stood, brushed off her pants, and pulled her chin up high. “I’m ready. I want my mate back.”

  Each of the others stepped forward.

  “I’m ready,” Rachel spoke in her quiet, strong way.

  “I’m ready,” Elle added.

  “I’m ready,” said Crina.

  And, last but not least, Cynthia announced, “I’m ready, too.”

  Jen smiled at them, a wicked gleam in her blue eyes.

  “Do you hear that, Desdemona, last of the witches? I have so named you! Hear me now,” Jen yelled into the dark forest, the wind and thunder still rolling around her. “Your time is drawing near! We are coming. Throw back your head in your tiny victory, laugh at our short-lived defeat, but we are coming. The night will be filled with our howls, the ground will shake with the stomping of our feet! We are coming. We are coming for you, Desdemona, and death follows!”

  Jen lifted her head and let out a howl worthy of an Alpha female. The others joined. And as their howls died down, for a brief moment before the silence took over, they heard howls beyond the earthly realm, howls filled with grief and triumph, pain and fear, anger and love – howls from those caught in the jaws of the In Between. They had heard their females' cries and they had answered.

  ***

  “The Veil has been bound from the other side,” Cyn informed the Fae High Council.

  The council members sat in their great hall, staring at the female guard before them. The air around them began to shimmer and in a single breath, standing beside Cyn, was the Great Luna.

  The six council members instantly stood and each took a knee before the goddess. Cyn, whose eyes had widened and mouth had dropped open, sunk quickly to the ground.

  “Great Luna, you grace us with your -” Alston began.

  “Swallow the lies you are about to spew, old one,” the Great Luna growled.

  Alston’s mouth snapped shut.

  “I am here to ask why my children and the other supernaturals in the human realm are suffering alone, why they are preparing for a battle for earth alone, while you sit at your table, lazy and fat with power.”

  She began to circle the Fae, who were still kneeling on the ground before her.

  “I am here because I have united your race with my children and yet here you sit while one of your own lays imprisoned in the In Between.”

  A sharp, collective intake of breath rippled across the room.

  The Great Luna raised her brow. “You did not know that your brother Adam had been taken?” She paused, and the feeling in the room was that of children being lectured. “Could it be because you have wiped your hands of the problems of others? You, who are more powerful than you deserve.”

  “Luna, we…” Nissa began.

  “Silence.” The Great Luna did not have to raise her voice – the power behind it did all the work. “You will hear me and you will do as I say. A war is coming. There are laws I must follow and there is only so much in which I can interfere, but a war is coming that I cannot prevent and the world needs you. You can no longer take comfort in the safety of your realm. Desdemona’s power has grown and she has bound Perizada from crossing the Veil.

  “It is time, Alston, High Council of the Fae. It is time to stand against a threat that will destroy the world if it is not stopped. I charge you with its safety. Join your people, the supernaturals, and lead them. There are beings who straddle the line of good and evil – do not let Desdemona sway them. Do not let laziness and an inflated sense of entitlement be your legacy. Stand up and be worthy of the responsibility you have been given.”

  Alston and the other Council members looked up the moment the Great Luna finished speaking, but she was gone. In her place was a white stone.

  Cyn picked it up delicately. “Moon stone,” she announced.

  Lorelle’s mouth dropped open. “She wants us to call the packs.”

  “Which packs?”

  Alston’s eyes narrowed as they fell upon the large white stone in Cyn’s hands, “All of them.”

  Fate and Fury

  The Grey Wolves Series

  Book 6

  By

  Quinn Loftis

  Published by

  Quinn Loftis at Smashwords

  Fate and Fury

  Copyright © 2013 Quinn Loftis LLC

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it, and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Dedication

  For Bo, my best friend and husband. I would not be able to do what I love without all the help and support you give me. Thank you so much for being the amazing man you are. For Travis, you are the most precious gift God has ever given me and the joy that you bring to my life is beyond measure. For the readers, thank you so very much for giving my books a chance, it is because of you that I am where I am today.

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to the Wolf Pack, you ladies amaze me and not a day goes by that I don’t thank God for your help and support. Specifically, thank you to Candace, you have become an invaluable part of my writing process and all that goes into publishing a book. I am so glad that we are friends.

  Thank you to the Hell Cats for your words of encouragement and listening to me complain.

  Thank you to the Quinnssentials, you are an awesome street team and I am so thankful for all your support and help!

  Thank you to all of my friends and family for reading my books, supporting me and cheering me on.

  There are many more to thank, I could write a book alone on all the people who have been so amazing in this journey I have been on. I hope you know who you are and I hope I have told you many times before how dear you all are to me.

  Prologue

  “How long must we hope; hope for help, hope for redemption, hope for retribution, hope for evil to finally lose? Because, to be honest, I’m ready to knock hope to the curb and tell her to step aside while I kick some wicked witch behind. See, I can keep from cussing if I want to, so bite me, bitches.” ~Jen

  “I told you she would be beautiful,” Decebel held their baby girl in his arms and stared down at her with more adoration than Jen had ever seen in anyone’s eyes. He seemed even larger than usual, holding such a tiny person in his arms.

  “Duh, she came from me, what else could she possibly be?” Jen snorted.

  Decebel looked up from Cosmina and smiled at her. “She is half mine you know?”

  Jen let a wicked smile cross her lips, “As far as you know.”

  Decebel let out a low growl. Jen knew he couldn’t retaliate while he held their daughter. Jen pumped her fist in the air. “Oh, heck yeah! You are going to hold her all the time because you can’t do jack when she is in your arms you big teddy bear.”

  Decebel stood slowly, looking every bit the predator he was. He walked over to the frilly, yellow bassinet that stood at the foot of their bed. It was hideous but Jacque and Sally had been so proud of it so Jen endured its presence, but rolled her eyes every time she looked at it. He laid Cosmina down in it gently and caressed her little cheek with a finger. Then his face lifted and his eyes, uh, make that glowing eyes, Jen added to herself, met hers. Jen made a huge tactical error when she saw the hungry look in her mate’s face. She took a step back. Never, ever retreat from a predator, it simply makes them all the more excited to chase.

  “Did it dawn on you Jennifer, that maybe I could just put her down?”

  Jen tried to speak, but only a squeak emerged. She cleared her throat and tried again.

  “Of course it dawned on me,” she said, flippantly. “I was just counting on the fact that you never let her out of your sight.” Jen cursed herself when she picked up her foot to take yet another step back. Decebel grinned and it was her turn to growl. She was not prey. She would not behave like prey. But, as she watched her mate crouch down in an attack stance she decided that maybe today she was the prey, and prey ran like hell when someone wanted to eat them.

  “Jennifer,” Decebel purred. “Are you offering yourself up for lunch?” His gleaming smile that was all canines had her shivering.

  She took another step back and felt the doorknob in her back. Victory she thought. She knew that Decebel would not leave their little Cosmina alone to chase after her. Decebel must have seen the triumph in her eyes because just as she turned the knob and jerked the door open, he lunged with a huge snarl. Jen took off like the hounds of hell were on her tail and really, what else could you compare Decebel too?

  She heard her mate growl, and then in her mind, she heard, “Chicken.”

  “Maybe,” she responded. “But, this chicken lives to fight another day.”

  She heard Decebel laugh and felt the familiar butterflies of desire stir in her. Damn wolf she thought.

  “You have to come to back to our room sometime Jennifer, you can’t run forever.”

  Jen rolled her eyes, “I’m not running. I’m…simply choosing to take a long detour.”

  “Don’t be too long. I need you.” Jen heard something change in his voice, a sort of desperation that was totally out of character for him. It seemed to be channeling through their bond.

  “Dec, you okay? Is Cosmina okay?”

  “Cosmina?” he said her name slowly as if he’d forgotten it.

  “Decebel talk to me.”

  “I’m trying. I keep telling you that I would save you if I could. I keep trying to get to you, but you just keep dying and screaming and then our baby is born and she’s so little and not breathing. I’m trying baby, I don’t want him to touch you again, but I can’t get to you, I can’t save you. NOT AGAIN, I CAN’T WATCH THIS AGAIN. JENNIFER!”

  Jen’s eyes flew open as she gasped for breath. She blinked several times and slowly sat up.

  “A dream,” she muttered, “It was a bloody dream.”

  But not that last part. Not Decebel calling for her. That had been real. She could feel him, feel the heat of the hell he was enduring caress her skin and scorch her soul. He had somehow contacted her in her sleep and part of her wanted to fall back asleep so she could go to him, tell him she was fine. Well not really fine, she was pissed but otherwise unharmed. She wanted to reassure him that she was coming for him and she would shred the gates of the In-Between down to rubble to get to him. The other part wanted to kill something, anything. Her wolf was restless and constantly paced inside her. Mate, mate, mate was a mantra in her mind as her wolf pined for him. It was maddening, and yet comforting because she wasn’t alone in her pain and fear. But, her wolf was able to do something that Jen was not. Jen's wolf didn’t have emotions messing with her brain. Her wolf was focused on two things; get their mate, protect their pup. She would do anything for those two things. There was no crying, fear, or anger. Only determination to reclaim what was theirs. Our mate, she heard her wolf in her mind he is ours, and we will kill the one who took him.

  Damn straight, thought Jen, we will kill her and then stick her head on a spear in the middle of the battlefield for all to see what happens when you mess with the females of the Canis lupus. Bloodthirsty, much? Maybe a little!

  Chapter 1

  “A Warlock King, a Fae, and a human walk into a bar…no really, it’s not the beginning to a great joke, or maybe it is, but we really did go into a bar. The question is, would we come back out?” ~Lilly

  Lilly walked behind the Fae named Cyn and the Warlock King, Cypher, AKA her mate, according to him, though the jury was still out on her end. She followed them into a seedy looking bar at the very edge of the forest in the Balkan Mountains, were the Warlock’s lived. Perizada of the Fae, whoever that was, had sent Cyn to them. That’s all they knew because that’s all Cyn had told them.

  Cyn had appeared and stood in the forest knowing that it would alert Cypher to her presence and she had waited. When he finally appeared she’d stated simply, “Perizada of the Fae has sent me to you. I am Cyn, Guard of the Council.” That was it. No elaboration, no hey I’m here to lend a hand, just: here I am, deal with it.

  Cypher had narrowed his eyes at the Fae guard but didn’t question her. Lilly, however, hadn’t been quite so trusting. Although Lilly had thrown the Spanish Inquisition at her, Cyn had simply ignored her.

  Now here they were, walking into this bar, full of shady looking characters. According to Cypher, there was a guy here who knew a guy that might know another guy that could help.

  “Do you really think this is a good idea?” Lilly whispered up to Cypher. “I mean seriously Cypher, a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy. Do you honestly believe it’s going to be worth all the work to find the guy at the end of the rabbit hole?”