Fate and Fury (41 page)

Cypher pulled Lilly close to him as they reached the front of the room. He didn’t feel threatened by any of the wolves, but he still didn’t want Lilly away from his side. He shook Vasile’s hand and nodded to his mate.

“
Vasile, it’s been a very long time,” Cypher told him.

Vasile nodded. “That it has. I see that the Fates have blessed you,” he nodded toward Lilly.

“
Hi Vasile,” Lilly smiled. “Good to see you again, though I wish it were under different circumstances.”

“
Likewise.”

Alina stepped forward and gave Lilly a hug. “How are you holding up?” She asked her.

Lilly gave Alina a small squeeze as she answered, “I’m good.”

Alina looked at her face as she stepped back from the hug and she could see in Lilly’s eyes that, despite all that was going on, she was happy at Cypher’s side.

Thalion stepped forward and bowed slightly to Vasile and Alina.

“
I am Thalion, Prince of the Elves.”

The room erupted into murmurs at Thalion’s introduction. Vasile silenced them with a look, and then turned back to Thalion.

“
I’ve heard of you, though in all my time we have never met,” Vasile bowed in return.

“
We have kept to ourselves for far too long, and for that I am sorry. I have come to hopefully right some of that wrong.”

Vasile reached for the Elf Prince’s hand and grasped it tightly. “We welcome you, friend of the pack.” He looked at Cypher and Lilly and added. “We welcome all of you.”

The rest of the meeting was spent with Cypher telling them of everything they had been through since Mona showed up in his forest with her proposition. Several times Vasile had needed to remind the group of dominants to pull themselves together, when they growled at something Cypher said and they disliked. But, by then end, everyone seemed to be on the same page.

Vasile addressed the room a last time before dismissing everyone.

“
I need each Alpha to stay, the rest are free to go eat and relax as much as possible because the time for that is quickly coming to an end. Do not be foolish with dominance games or I will save your Alphas the trouble and kill you myself.”

The room began to empty until all that remained were the Alphas and Vasile’s core group.

Q

With all the Alphas present, Vasile and Decebel’s wolves, the Fae and Cypher, Lilly, and Thalion, there were fifty seven total sitting in a large circle in the gathering room.

Vasile made quick introductions and immediately got down to business.

“
Skender has filled me in on most of what has been taking place here while I was away. You have come up with a battle plan, correct?” He asked. The Alphas nodded and Dillon spoke up, as he had become the unofficial go between for the packs. “We’ve been practicing battle tactics with each other, learning how we each fight and we think we’ve come up with some strategies that will work to our advantage.”

Vasile turned to Cypher and motioned for him to take the floor.

“
I am to meet with Desdemona tomorrow. I imagine she will not want to wait any longer to open the veil. I have explained to Perizada of the Fae where the veil to the underworld lies and she will be the one to lead you to it when the time is right. It is very important that any demons that escape be killed, quickly. Thalion and the elves will be the ones who take out the demons. They are the only one with the weapons that will kill them.”

“
So, what are the rest of us supposed to do?” Victor asked.

“
Desdemona will know that we are coming. There is no way for us to prevent that knowledge. Peri and the Fae council will be able to cloak our numbers, but she will still know we are coming. As she has done in the past, she will use any form of evil she can bend to her will. There will likely be multiple foes to contend with and it will be our job to take them out before they get to any of Thalion’s people,” Dillon explained.

“
Once the veil is open, it will also be the wolves’ job to keep Mona occupied while I close it back.” Cypher rubbed his forehead as he let out a deep breath. He appeared nearly human for a brief moment in time when the pressure and strain of all that he had endured and would endure, settled on his shoulders. “I honestly don’t have a clue if any of this is going to work,” he admitted to the group. Lilly took his hand in hers and squeezed it for support. “But, I’m going to do my best to keep from releasing the whole of hell into our realm.”

“
That’s all we can ask of anyone,” Vasile told him, “that we each do our best. This is not a fight to glorify one man. This is a fight to save many species. All each of us can do, is give everything we have to win this fight.”

“
For the pack.” Decebel’s voice rumbled through the room.

“
For the pack,” they all responded in unison.

“
Get some rest,” Vasile told them, as they all stood, “tomorrow we fight.”

Q

Peri, Cynthia, and the mated females sat in a circle on the floor of the study. Jen had sweet talked Decebel into building a fire for them in the large fire place and Sally, Crina, and Elle had managed to convince their mates to make hot chocolate for the lot of them. The males had refused to leave them, so they had taken up residence across the room, each looking equally broody and put out. Even Cypher had refused to leave and sat next to Vasile with the same fierce scowl.

They were all just settling in when Jen jumped up and squealed.

“
Holy freaking cow on a stick!”

Decebel lunged across the room, standing beside her in an instant.

“
Jennifer, are you okay?” He was trying to check her over and she kept slapping his hands away and pointing across from her. Sally sat with a shy smile as everyone turned to look at her.

Jacque’s eyes widened as she saw Sally’s hand.

“
You bit—,”

“
Jacque,
language
,” Jen snapped and then turned back to Sally. “You bitch!”

Jacque looked over at Jen. “Why do you get to cuss?”

“
Because, I’m pregnant and, like old people, pregnant people get to do a whole bunch of crazy crap and blame it on their bodies.”

“
Huh,” Jacque shrugged. “I guess that makes sense.” They both turned their attention back to Sally and she squirmed under their glares.

“
Would someone please fill me in as to why we are giving Sally the death stare?” Crina asked.

“
Look at her hand,” Jen growled out.

There was a collective gasp as all eyes landed on the diamond.

“
Please tell me that all he did was ask,” Jen warned. “Please tell me that you two did not secretly get married because tomorrow we might all die and you didn’t want to go to your grave with the big V hanging over you.”

Sally’s mouth dropped open.

“
Why didn’t I think of that?” Costin called across the room.

“
Do not give her more ammunition,”
Sally snarled at him.

Costin winked at her from his casual stance against the wall that gave him a perfect view of her.

“
We didn’t get married Jen,” Sally huffed. “He just asked me, but I haven’t exactly had a chance to tell you all.”

Decebel finally picked up on the fact that his mate was in no imminent danger, or having any pregnancy complications, and backed out of the estrogen filled circle.

“
You’ve had plenty of chances,” Jacque told her. “All you had to do was hold up your bloody hand while you were walking into the gathering hall. I would have been like ‘hey Jen look, Sally is engaged.’”

“
And, I would have been like, ‘hey Jacque, she better not have gotten married just so she could jump in the sack with sexy dimple wolf.’” Jen finished.

“
What is with you and your fascination of my virginity?” Sally stood up, tired of having her friends loom over her.

“
I’m not fascinated by it,” Jen argued.

“
Then why are you assuming that I would marry Costin behind your back just so I could have sex with him!” Sally’s hands were on her hips as she bore down on her friends.

Jen paused for a second as she considered Sally’s question.

“
Because, it’s what I would do,” she finally answered. The room erupted into laughter. Jen looked around at the flailing bodies, then over to her mate who was shaking his head at her. “What?” She asked, feigning confusion as to what was funny.

“
No worries, Jen,” Costin called out again. “I’m totally with you on this one.”

Decebel growled at him and Costin laughed.

“
Nobody asked you, Costin,” Sally told, him through gritted teeth.

Costin blew her a kiss and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning like an idiot. And, he knew it too.

“
Are you thinking about what I’m thinking about?”
He taunted.

“
If you’re thinking about me kicking you out of my room, then yes.”

She heard Costin’s chuckle in her mind and felt his breath on her neck.

“
Be honest with your mate, Sally. I think you’re thinking about a certain bargain, a certain kiss, a certain…”

“
STOP IT.”
Sally could feel her face blushing and knew the minute everyone realized she hadn’t heard a word they had said. She hadn’t even realized they'd been fawning over her ring.

Jen looked from Costin to Sally and grinned. “Are you two getting your kicks through your mate bond, right here in front of all of us?” Jen tapped Sally on the nose affectionately. “I didn’t realize that he would turn you into a freak so quickly. Nice work Costin.”

“
The pleasure is all mine,” he quipped back.

“
Oh, I’m sure it is,” Jacque laughed.

If Sally hadn’t wanted to seep into the ground before, she was definitely seeking out a crevice now.

“
As much as I love hearing all the sex jokes from the girls I raised,” Lilly finally interrupted. “I would really like to see Sally’s ring, then I’d like someone to tell me how Jen is pregnant, and I didn’t know.”

“
The how is really not in question mom,” Jacque laughed.

“
I’m willing to explain exactly how it happened in incredible detail if Ms. P really needs to know,” said Jen.

“
NO!” The entire room erupted.

“
Man you guys are a buzz kill.” Jen rolled her eyes as she took her seat back on the floor.

“
So, Sally,” Lilly smiled, “how did he propose?”

Sally narrowed her eyes over at Costin.

“
Your move brown eyes.”
He told her as he blew her a kiss.

“
You’re right my love, it most definitely is my move,”
Sally grinned wickedly, and nearly stood up and danced when she saw his eyes widen with what looked suspiciously like worry.

“
Well,” Sally began, “We were laying
on my bed, just talking, and then things sort of got heated, you know?”

“
No, we most definitely do not know,” Jen interrupted. “We need painstakingly clear details, Sally, details.”

“
Jennifer, behave,” Decebel’s voice, rumbled.

“
Bah,” she waved him off, “you can punish me later.”

Lilly coughed on the hot chocolate that she had been trying to swallow. Jen patted her on the back as she stared at Sally waiting for her to continue.