The Burning Claw: Book 10, The Grey Wolves Series (45 page)

Epilogue

“Defeat is never truly realized unless you lay down and refuse to fight. The Order of the Burning Claw does not lie down. We do not cower before those who are weaker than us. We do not accept the perverse order of the world because of tradition. We stand for change and change is coming. We will burn through your cities and towns, bringing everyone to their knees. And we will not stop until we have absolute dominion.” ~Member of the Order of the Burning Claw

P
eri stood in the corner of Vasile’s office as a number of supernatural beings entered the room. The usual crew was there, though Sally did not hold her head up or meet anyone’s gaze— which pissed Peri off.  Jen and Decebel were there, as well as Fane and Jacque, Cypher and Lilly, Cyn and Thalion, and Vasile and Alina. Rachel and Gavril had baby duty and wait—
what
? Peri thought to herself as she watched history boy walk in holding the hand of the dormant, Zara.

“Did not see that coming,” Peri muttered. “Well played, Great Luna, well played.” It was about time Wadim got himself a mate.

“I’m sorry,” Jen stood up suddenly.

“No you’re not,” Jacque said dryly.

“Not the point,” Jen snapped. “The point is
why does Wadim have his paws on Zara
?”

All heads turned to the couple. Zara gave a wave and a smile but didn’t say anything, leaving it to her mate to speak up.

“Turns out I have a mate,” Wadim said with a huge smile. “And it happens to be this beautiful creature right here.” He motioned toward Zara.

Jen looked at Zara and narrowed her eyes. “You okay with this? Because if you’re not I totally know some people, who know some people, that can take
him
out.”

“No you don’t,” Decebel growled and grabbed the back pocket of her jeans and pulled her into his lap.

“Whoa, who spit in his kibble?” Jacque asked.

Jen shrugged “He’s mad because the mailman gave me his number.”

Sally’s head popped up. “No way,” she said and for a moment the old light was there.

“Way,” Jen confirmed. “And so my threats of having the mailman’s babies don’t seem so unrealistic to him anymore.”

“Zara,” Peri spoke up. “If you’re looking for someone who can help you cope with the whole true mate, furry guy, thing, Jen is your absolute last resort.”

Zara laughed. “I don’t know, Peri, I’ve heard her and Alpha Decebel volley and she’s got a wicked tongue.”

“That she does,” Decebel said under his breath.

Jen’s mouth dropped open. “Did you just make a sexual innuendo joke?” She clapped her hands like a proud parent. “I knew I could draw out your inner pervert one day.”

Vasile took that moment to clear his throat. The room grew quiet as everyone turned to face him.

“First, congratulations, Wadim and Zara. When you are ready to do the Bonding Ceremony, let me know and we will celebrate your union as a pack. In the meantime, Zara, if you do indeed have questions,
Alina
will be happy to answer any of them. Second, Sally dear,” Vasile said, his voice becoming soft as he looked at her like a loving father, “we are so thankful to have you home. There was a big hole in all of our lives without you. You belong with us.”

“Thank you, Vasile,” she said as she wiped a tear away.

“Vasile,” Decebel spoke up. “Today is as good a day as any.”

Vasile nodded. “Very well. Decebel and I have been discussing the possibility of blending our two packs into one.” Before everyone could start throwing out questions, he held up his hands. “There is strength in numbers. If we were one pack, we would be even stronger than we already are. Decebel has agreed to step down as Alpha and return to his Beta position.

“Awe, that means
B
, has to go back to meaning Beta,” Jen pouted.

“What did it mean if it wasn’t for Beta?” Zara asked.

The whole room groaned.

“What?” Zara asked.

“We tried to avoid encouraging her quirks,” Peri told her. “It’s just better to treat her like you would a fungus. Spray something on her and hope she goes away. Otherwise, she infects everything around her.”

Jen was unable to respond because her mate had, oh so helpfully, placed his hand over her mouth.

“We will talk to all the pack members in both packs, obviously, before making a final decision,” Vasile continued. “But the choice will ultimately rest with Decebel and myself. This is not a democracy, as you know, because such arraignments do not work with wolves. So whatever we decide will be obeyed by all. However, rest assured, any decision we make will be for the good of both packs.”

Everyone in the room, except Peri, Alina and Decebel, tilted their heads back bearing their necks. Though Jen didn’t have to as an Alpha female, she did it out of respect for Alina.

“Moving on. As you all know, Bethany and Drake have been spending time together as a newly mated pair. They are doing well. I’ve called and spoken to Drake a few times and they are making a lot of progress. Eventually, they will join our group.” He took a step forward and Peri noticed how tired he looked.

“I realize that it seems that we are facing yet another threat not just to our own survival but to all of mankind as well. We do not know how deep the tentacles of the Burning Claw reach into the supernatural world.

“Tentacles,” Jen snorted. “Good one, V.”

Vasile shook his head at her. “I aim to please.”

“I think I just threw up in my mouth,” Peri gagged. “Could we refrain from using Jen’s quotes for our own benefit? All it does is grow that already large head of hers, and she can’t manage the thing as it is.”

Vasile rubbed his forehead and then his chin before ignoring Peri and continuing. “The organization is shrouded in secrecy, but make no mistake, they are very real and they are very dangerous. But despite that looming threat, let us rejoice today. One who was lost to us has been returned—a gypsy healer no less. And that is no small thing. Further, we have removed four members of the Order. And that is a start. We will continue to search for and destroy vampire covens where we can find them. We know that they are mixed up with the Order somehow.

“And now, let us turn our attention to another happy union. Cyn and Thalion,” he said, turning to the elf and the fae who were standing together holding hands, “congratulations on your mating. You have done something historic, and I hope that your union will be the beginning of a period of peace and cooperation between elves and fae. We will need the combined strength of your races if we are to face the threat that the Order presents. We wolves will assist you in whatever way we can as you take back the throne from your father. I have no doubt that you will be victorious.” Thalion bowed his head in appreciation and acknowledgment.

“Peri,” he turned to her. “We must find Alston quickly. He needs to be tried for his crimes. He purposely endangered the life of another supernatural being. He kidnapped a gypsy healer. He’s conspiring with traitors, and who knows what else. We need to bring him down but we need him alive.”

Peri nodded. “That won’t be easy, because as I’m sure you know, he’s one of the few supernaturals in existence whose power rivals my own.”

“You will have the aid of the wolves. And I’m sure that I’m not speaking out of turn here when I say that you will also have help from the elves and the warlocks.”

“That means he will get the ass kicking of a lifetime,” Peri responded as a wolfish grin crept across her face.

“Oh, oh, can I help? Pick me, pick me,” Jen said bouncing up and down in Decebel’s lap.

Jacque shook her head at her best friend. “Jen, sometimes I’m just not sure about your sanity.”

“What’s not to be sure about? I am surely insane. Boom. End of story. Now can we talk about me helping Peri castrate Alston.” All of the males in the room flinched, which only made Jen laugh.

“I never said I was going to castrate him,” Peri pointed out.

Jen threw her arms in the air. “Oh come on! When a thousand-year-old fae kidnaps a barely adult girl, especially one as sweet as Sally, he deserves to be castrated and then fed his own boy parts.”

Wadim whistled. “You are simply diabolical.”

“Can I get a t-shirt that says that,” she asked him with a smile, which made her mate smack her thigh.

“Behave,” Decebel growled.

“Okay, final order of business.” Vasile spoke up to cut off all conversation. “I didn’t want to read this today, but unfortunately the world can’t wait on us to take a respite. Our attack on Jericho and his rogue pack did not go unnoticed. We received a letter from the Order.”

“What?” was the general consensus around the room.

“Dearest wolves, fae, elves, and warlocks,” he read. “You are being watched. Don’t consider your recent acquisition as a victory. We will get what we want. If you don’t comply, then we will start attacking humans openly. Entire towns will be wiped out. The vampires are hungry. You, have after all, kicked them out of their homes. We want the healer, and we will get her or innocent people will die. Hope this finds you well, Sincerely, TOBC.”

“Well, I wish they’d been a little clearer on what they wanted exactly,” Jen said dryly.

“They want me,” Sally’s small voice broke Peri’s heart.

“They can’t have you,” Costin, Vasile, Decebel and Fane all spoke at the same time.

“What’s the plan, V?” Jen asked.

Vasile motioned to everyone in the room. “That’s why we’re here: to come up with a way to take the Order down. As you now know, time is of the essence.”

“Crap, why didn’t you just say so,” Jacque blurted.

“Thank you, Red, for saying what we were all thinking.”

“We must be smart, we must be resourceful, and we must not be careless,” Vasile said as he looked at each person around the room. “I do not believe that the Great Luna brought all of us together for her entertainment. She brought us together because we work well with each other. We are able to complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We cannot do this without a united front.” He looked over to Cypher. “What about you?”

“The warlocks are with you.”

“And you,” he said to Thalion.

“The elves will stand with you.”

“No worries, Alpha, the Jens will stand with you as well,” Jen said deadpan.

“Who are the Jens?” Sally asked.

“The few, the proud, the Jacque, Sally, and Jen,” she answered. “We’re kind of like Charlie’s Angels.”

“Only we don’t have awesome martial arts skills or a millionaire at our disposal providing us amazing toys,” Jacque pointed out.

“Details, Watson, details,” Jen sighed dramatically.

“The Great Luna help us,” Vasile muttered as he once again drew the attention back to himself. “We need ideas on how to root out the Order. I’m asking you to send out whatever spies you have at your disposal. Alston is our number one priority. Hopefully, continued destruction of the vampire covens will draw him out. Be on the lookout for any strange killings among the humans. Like it or not, we are their only hope now.”

Vasile scanned the room. Every face was set with a determined look.

“We will overcome. Thank you, all. I’ll be in touch with battle plans as necessary.”

The group seemed to take this as a sign that the meeting was over, and everyone began to disperse and talk among themselves.

“I’m thinking we totally need some sort of official supernatural gang uniform or something,” Jen said to the girls closest to her.

“That’s actually a pretty cool idea,” Zara said.

Jacque and Sally groaned the loudest this time as they both turned to Zara. “For the love of history boys everywhere, please, please stop encouraging her.”

Zara held her hands up. “My bad.” She laughed.

“Zara don’t mind the two biddies. They’re just jealous.”

Both girls turned with dropped jaws and wide eyes. “Jealous?” Jacque seethed.

Jen nodded and looked at her nails as if they were the most interesting thing ever.

“Jealous of what, exactly?” Sally asked.

“Me, just in general.”

Sally scoffed. “Jacque, are you jealous of Jen?”

“Totally, not jealous.”

Guess that settles it.
Peri thought.

“Fine, then you just can’t stand it that I have better ideas,” Jen blurted out suddenly.

“Honey, a raccoon on crack, going through withdrawals, while afflicted with food poisoning
and
rabies has better ideas than you,” Sally said sweetly.

Jen glared at her and after several minutes she started laughing. “That was a good one, Sally. Raccoon on crack, ha! Classic.”

“Do we want to know why she thinks a raccoon on crack is classic?” Zara whispers to Jacque and Sally.

“The answer to any question regarding Jen that begins with
do we want to know
is always, without a doubt
no
.”

“Good to know,” Zara said, giving them a thumbs up.