Though she knew that they needed more time to come to terms with reality, she couldn’t give them time. They needed to get the hell out of dodge and they needed to do it yesterday.

  “Okay, all you lovely, people,” Peri’s voice rose so that everyone could hear her. “As much as I would like to give you all time to process this, you are going to have to put on your big girl panties and just trust that your mates are here to save your assess and go with it. We don’t have time to do a twelve step program, so pull yourselves together long enough to get out of here.”

  “Man I missed you,” Adam said from across the room with a sly smile, one arm wrapped around Crina as he smiled at Peri. The smile was real and the words as sarcastic as ever, but there was still something off in his eyes.

  “Yes, yes, I know. You want to pledge your undying love for me, yadda, yadda,” she said, dryly, “Let’s get moving people. Cynthia, start singing again, please, and maybe make it a happier tune so that we don’t all want to shoot ourselves.” Peri headed towards the stairs. She motioned for Vasile and Alina to come over.

  “Alpha,” she bowed her head slightly to him. “It’s good to see you. Now, if you would be so kind as to lead your people out of here. Keep your wits about you. Listen to Cynthia’s voice and don’t think about your worries. If you have to, take a note from Jen’s book and think about sex.”

  “I heard that,” Jen hollered. Peri ignored her.

  Vasile took Alina’s hand and began to lead her up the stairs. He cleared his mind of any worries or fears. He only thought of the rich sound coming from Cynthia and the feel of his mate's, hand in his.

  Peri directed each of them up the stairs, telling them each over and over to think only of Cynthia’s voice. Peri was the last to begin the climb up the stairs and she herself focused on the doctor’s voice pushing away the fears that were attempting to flood her mind. She refused to give them even a fraction of her attention.

  When she reached the top of the stairs she stopped when she saw that everyone was standing there staring at where the opening should be.

  “What the hell, Peri,” Jen snarled.

  “Has it been over two hours already?” Elle asked.

  Peri reached out her hand and placed it on the wall. She closed her eyes as she concentrated.

  “That sniveling little weasel,” she spat at the wall. “It hasn’t been over two hours. Our friendly, neighborhood troll thinks to trap me, Perizada of the Fae.”

  Adam laughed as he shook his head. “They never learn.” He said to no one in particular.

  Peri’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the place her hand had just been. She spoke in a low voice, a beautiful language that rolled off her tongue. Her eyes gleamed and she began to glow as magic pulsed from her body. Suddenly the wall burst open and Thurlok stumbled back on the other side. Vasile and Alina were the first to pass through, and then the others followed. Once they were all out, Peri stepped through the veil, and let it close behind her. She stood looking down at Thurlok.

  “You thought to trick me?”

  Thurlok pushed himself to his feet clumsily. “I knew you could get out, Peri,” he told her nervously. “I had to close it in case someone came by. It would look awfully suspicious should someone come by and see the veil just sitting open.”

  Peri watched him as a hawk would watch a mouse. He fidgeted under her stare as he waited for her response.

  “I will let you live only because the blood oath was not broken.” Peri turned to look at Vasile and Alina. “We need to go, now.”

  She took off at a brisk jog and trusted the others to follow.

  “What about the stone?” Thurlok yelled.

  “Check your pocket you dimwit,” Peri yelled back but didn’t turn to see if he listened to her.

  Peri and Elle got a fire started as the others grabbed logs to sit on. The camp was quiet and somber. They had run late into the night and were all exhausted.

  Cynthia walked over to Peri and pulled her to the side.

  “Why does that seem like it was a little too easy?” Cynthia said, squinting her eyes.

  Peri let out a breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Rescuing them from the In-Between was never my real worry,” she admitted.

  Cynthia waited for her to go on. Peri looked over her shoulder at the group as she spoke.

  “That was the easy part; the hard part will be keeping the males from killing anyone.”

  Cynthia’s eyes narrowed. Peri motioned for Cynthia to look and so she did.

  Decebel sat with Jen in his lap, her head on his shoulder. She was talking to him softly while his eyes shifted from person to person, narrowing and glowing amber. His shoulders were tense and he looked poised to attack, even though his mate was in his arms.

  Costin sat with his back against a tree and Sally in between his legs, with her back to his chest. He held her tight and Cynthia watched as every so often he would kiss her hair or gently brush his finger along her cheek. But his eyes never left those around him. He never looked down at her, but instead watched each person carefully. She looked at each male and saw as they held their mates the distrust in their eyes as they steadily watched one another.

  Cynthia looked back at Peri who was watching her expectantly.

  “Now you see?” She asked her.

  Cynthia nodded. “We would never be able to stop a fight if it were to break out among them.”

  Peri shook her head. “Not with these dominants.”

  “What do we do?” Cynthia asked.

  “We’re going to have to first make them aware of their behavior. So, that they might think before they act on instinct.”

  “And second?” Cynthia prompted.

  “Second,” Peri breathed, “hope against hope that no one does anything stupid.”

  “Then we’re done for,” Cynthia told her.

  “Pretty much,” Peri agreed.

  Chapter 9

  “If, when you find out that out the largest number of werewolves to ever gather in history is coming to your town, your first thought is, did I pee on everything I want to keep, then you might be a werewolf… or you have an overactive imagination and an unhealthy fixation on the Calvin and Hobbes stickers portraying Calvin peeing on, well, everything. Choose your poison.” ~ Jen.

  Skender stood in the library of the Romanian pack's mansion staring out onto the lawn. Rows of cars lined the drive as, one by one, pack Alphas, and their top wolves arrived. It had been three days since the call went out and already six of the eleven other packs had arrived. The Alphas from Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Ireland, Spain, and Italy, plus their top three, were each currently in residence at the mansion. Only half of who would be coming had arrived and already things were tense.

  He ran a hand through his hair and let out a low growl as his frustration and agitation grew. He was fourth in his pack. Dominant? Yes, but not dominant enough to prevent a war between any would be enemy Alphas. Where the hell was Vasile? It had been weeks since he and the others had set out and though he knew through pack bonds that Vasile was still alive, that was all he knew. Before three days ago, Skender had just thought that it was taking Vasile longer than he anticipated discovering Desdemona’s plan. But, then the call had gone out and that was when Skender realized that something had happened to Vasile and the others. For the Great Luna to send out a call to all her wolves it had to be bad.

  A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts. “Enter,” he answered the knock.

  Wadim walked in and without regard to formality, threw himself onto the large sofa in the middle of the library. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes as he let out a frustrated groan.

  “We are never going to survive this,” he told Skender. “I mean, it’s not a matter of if the world will be destroyed. It’s a matter of who will destroy it and when it is destroyed; a hell-bent, bat shit crazy witch, or, a pack of Alpha werewolves in a pissing contest?”

  “Please tell me that’s a figure of speech, and that there aren’t really pissing contests going on,” Skender growled. “We just got new carpet.”

  Wadim laughed. “Unfortunately, no. There are no real pissing contests going on, however, Radim, Beta to the Poland pack did have the bright idea to share with Seraph what a shame he thought it was for him that he came from a pack where the Alpha betrayed his own kind.”

  Skender rubbed his face with his hands as he shook his head. “Is either one of them dead?”

  “No, and no blood was shed either. The Poland Alpha, Artur, has a good head on his shoulders and put his Beta in his place quickly and publicly. That seemed to smooth any rising hackles.”

  “Have you heard from the Great Luna again?” Skender asked.

  Wadim shook his head. “No, but I’m thinking it might not be a bad idea to see if we get in contact with the Fae council. If my records are correct, and they always are, then the Fae would have been the ones to send out the call.”

  “Do you think they are going to finally step out of their safe little bubble and help?” asked Skender.

  “The Great Luna set the plan in motion to force them into helping when she made us compatible mates with them, so yeah, I think they are finally going to get off their butts.”

  Skender stood staring down at the pack historian as he thought about the idea of being mated to a Fae. It seemed a very strange idea to be mated to one, not of their own race. But, then again, he had been waiting to find his mate for so long and the darkness was creeping deeper inside of him. If his mate were a Fae, then he’d take her in a heartbeat.

  “So what’s the plan, Skender?” Wadim raised his brow at him.

  “I think the next step will be to meet with all the Alphas once they arrive.”

  Just then, the doors to the library flew open and in strode Dillon Jacobs.

  “What the hell is going on and why are we just now hearing about the demise of mankind?” His eyes were glowing and his power filled the room. Dillon was pissed and unless they could get him calmed down, there was a good possibility that heads were going to roll.

  ***

  Skender stood at the front of the large gathering room and briefly met the eyes of each Alpha. The ten packs from other countries and cities had finally all arrived and with the Romanian pack and Serbian pack already present, that made twelve. All under one roof and they were antsy. The tension among the dominants was tangible and had a human been present, it would have choked them.

  “I’ve been on this earth longer than I care to admit and never in that time have we received the call from the Great Luna. Why now?” Drayden, of the Canadian pack, asked.

  Wadim took a step forward and began to explain all that had happened from the Gathering until now. He condensed it as much as possible but made sure not to leave out any vital details. As his story continued on, with every word, the Alphas grew tenser.

  “Why are we just now hearing of this witch that poses such a threat to us all?” Angus, Alpha of the Ireland pack spoke up.

  There was a rumble of agreement across the room and Wadim fought the urge to back up a step. Unless he wanted to be chased, he knew better than to back away from these predators.

  “You all know Vasile.” Skender stepped forward, taking the pressure off of the less dominant historian. “He cares more deeply for our race than we can imagine. He was trying to prevent a war, and trying to prevent us all from having to be brought together, considering what might happen between our packs. He was not attempting to keep you in the dark, because he wanted to leave you defenseless. If we hadn’t allowed the dominance in us to drive wedges between us, it might not have come to this. If Desdemona had thought that she had to contend with our entire race and not just a single pack, she might not have pursued this ridiculous plan.”

  “Are you saying that this is our fault?” Angus growled, with glowing eyes.

  Skender held up his hands plaintively and dropped his eyes.

  “No, I’m not saying that at all. I’m saying this is a pack problem. It’s all our faults. Whether we like it or not, we are all pack. We may come from different countries, we may speak different, languages and live different lives, but we are all from the same Maker, all of the same blood and that makes us pack. Pack stands together, fights together, and is bound together.” The silence following Skender’s words was soul piercing as the Alphas heard, not just listened, but heard what he was saying. If they understood nothing else, they understood the importance of pack. Wolves were not lone creatures. They depended on one another and they needed one another.

  Dillon stepped forward and waited for Skender to invite him to stand before the Alphas. Skender gave a slight nod and stepped to the side.

  “We might as well put aside petty rivalry and territorial posturing,” he told them. “We all know we are going to stay and fight no matter the consequences. I personally think that the first step would be learning to fight together, as one pack. We need to know how each of us fights, how we move, and what our individual pack strategies are so that we can be effective when we go to battle.” Dillon watched and waited for a response from the pack.

  Slowly faces morphed into looks of determination and nods were given.

  Dillon clapped his hands together and rubbed them slowly. “Great,” he turned back to look at Skender. “Where’s a good place to do combat training?”

  Skender let a slow smile spread across his face as he motioned for the Alphas to follow him.

  “We have a gym and outdoor grounds we use for our battle training.”

  Skender led them into the large gym and turned to face the group.

  “There is only one rule in this gym. Respect your opponent.”

  “I think it might be wise to add just one more rule,” Victor spoke up. “Don’t kill your opponent.”

  “Good call,” Wadim said with a low chuckle. “It would be a damn shame if the last thing I ever documented for our race was that we were dumb enough to kill each other before the witch got a chance to.”

  ***

  Thurlok stared at the stone in his hand as a wicked smile crossed his face. He considered the power that he now held and thought how foolish Perizada was to give one such as him an object this powerful. He frowned at the thought. He knew Perizada, knew her to be an intelligent foe. It didn’t make sense that she would barter such a treasure. And, just as he began to wonder what the catch could possibly be, his palm was suddenly empty. A snarl emitted from his chest as he glanced quickly around him. He knew that it was gone, but that didn’t keep him from searching all around the bridge. After several minutes of looking, he finally stopped and closed his eyes. He had been tricked. He did not like being tricked and raged boiled up inside of him as he thought about what a fool he had been to trust the Fae.

  “PERIZADA!” He yelled into the night. “You will be sorry,” he promised the emptiness between panting breaths. He would not let her get away with her treachery. He, who had guarded the entrance to the In-Between for so long, would not allow the insult to go unanswered.

  ***

  Peri felt Thurlok’s rage through the blood bond. She hadn’t known how long the stone would stay in his possession. The Fae stones had a mind of their own and tended to turn up where and when they were needed. She had not worried that he would be able to use the power from the stone because she knew that he would not have it for very long. She also knew that his wrath would be swift and that he would respond rashly because of it. She would need to be on alert, though she knew that his power was nothing compared to her own.

  Costin hadn’t been able to stop touching Sally for even the briefest time since she had found him and he knew that it was probably driving her insane, but he was fighting his wolf every second to keep from grabbing her and fleeing to a safe place. He knew that no such place existed, but his wolf didn’t care. He felt they were vulnerable with so many dominant wolves so close to his mate, his fragile, human mate. He knew that his emotions were running on overdrive with all the memories of what he had endured in the In-Between and he didn’t know how long they would remain open wounds.

  “Stop,” Sally’s soft voice penetrated his thoughts as she gently turned his face to look at her. “I’m not annoyed by your touch. I’m not irritated, nor do I feel smothered, so please quit entertaining those thoughts.” She met his hazel eyes and saw the raw emotion swirling in their depths.

  “Being here is driving me insane, Sally,” he told her, honestly.

  Sally nodded. “I know, but in case you hadn’t noticed, it’s driving the others crazy as well. Truly, you are more of a threat to each other than to us females. You all are so consumed with the thought of one of us being hurt that you don’t realize that there really is no threat.”

  Costin pulled her onto his lap and kissed her neck. “There is no reasoning with me or my wolf, love, not right now.”

  Sally rubbed his back gently and let out a slow breath. “Okay,” then repeated, softly, “okay.”

  The morning light began to penetrate through the trees as the wolves and the Fae began to stir. Jacque looked around and as she saw the gaunt and tired faces of the males, she knew that none of them had slept. They were on edge and distrustful of one another and it broke her heart. They may have made it out of the In-Between alive, but they had not emerged unscathed.

  “Hey,” she felt Fane’s breath on her neck and fought the urge to climb into his arms, pushing away everything else but him. “You alright?”

  She leaned back against his chest as his arms came around her. He pulled her tight against him and she felt his chest rumble with satisfaction at his mate’s eagerness to be close to him.

  “Yeah, I am just worried about all of you.” She turned her face up to look at him and the slight glow in his blue eyes called to her wolf. She wanted to be alone with her mate, needed to feel his strength surround her and submerge herself in his scent.