Jacque stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm. "Remember her words were spoken out of hurt and anger not because she doesn't respect you or love you. I think you should consider it a good sign that she was yelling at you. The time to be worried is when Jen stops yelling because that's when she's decided it's no longer worth her energy. You don’t want to be in that place."

His jaw clenched but he didn't say anything more. He just turned and quietly left.

Jacque turned to her own mate and frowned. "We can talk after Vasile is done."

"Should I be worried because you aren't yelling?" Fane asked her.

Jacque smiled sweetly at him. "Who said I'm not yelling?" She opened their bond on her end and growled, "HOW DARE YOU KEEP SOMETHING SO IMPORTANT FROM ME!"

Fane flinched.

"Vasile, Alina." Jacque gave them both a curt nod and then left. Jacque tried very hard not to imagine what those poor children must have looked like. She tried not to think about blood stained fangs dripping from the evil beings that were responsible for the atrocities. She tried hardest not to think about what those parents must have felt when they found their precious little ones drained of life.

Her stomach felt as though a huge rock had dropped to the bottom of it and her feet suddenly quit moving. Jacque stood stock still in the middle of the hall attempting to get her breathing under control.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to feel like this," Fane said as he walked up beside her and took her face in his hands.

"You can't protect me from everything," she said quietly, blinking back tears.

Fane pressed his forehead to hers and let out a sigh. "But it's my job to at least try to. Just as I will try to protect our child from everything."

Jacque closed her eyes and took comfort in her mate’s strength. She was still upset with him, but she needed him.

"I'm always here for you, Luna."

Sally stared at Vasile and Alina, feeling like she was looking at strangers rather than at the parent figures that she’d come to see them as. "Why didn't you want us to know? Why did you ask our mates to do something that you knew would only upset us?"

Vasile rubbed his hand over his face and leaned back against his desk. "Being a leader isn't all that it's cracked up to be. We make very tough decisions. My daughter-in-law will be having her first child in a month, my first grandchild. How was I supposed to tell her that there are crazed vampires out there eating children?"

"Maybe you just trust that she's stronger than she appears and would have been able to handle it," Sally countered.

"Maybe. But I didn't feel that was the best option."

"And what you feel is the best is always right?"

"Sally," Costin warned.

She ignored him.

Vasile's eyes flashed with irritation. "No, I'm not always right. But that doesn’t change the fact that decisions must be made. This is not a democracy. A wolf pack would not survive if it were. This is a dictatorship. I am Alpha. I am the strongest and those I care about will submit—period. I make decisions that I think are best for everyone. I listen to wise counsel, but ultimately the choice is mine and the consequences are mine as well. I realize that it is still difficult for you girls to understand. In the Canis lupus world, there has to be one leader and many followers. Otherwise, there will be utter chaos. The health of the pack is paramount. You may not like it, but you will accept it."

"Vasile, please," Alina said as she placed a hand on his arm.

Sally waited several heartbeats as she stared at the tired looking Alpha. Finally she nodded. "I get it. But it doesn't make it any easier."

"I never claimed it would be. Vent to your mate. Drink hot chocolate with your females, and think of all the ways you'd like to injure me because of your irritation. Ultimately, though, just like the males in the pack, you must obey."

"What about Decebel?" she asked.

"He can make his own choices for his own pack. But because he respects me and my mate, he listens to our counsel. That is his choice. His pack cannot question his authority. His mate may do so, but she should do it in privacy so as not to confuse the emotions of the others under Decebel's lead. That is something she will need to learn as she continues to grow into her role as Alpha female. I don't blame her for being upset, but her behavior today was unacceptable." He met her eyes and, after a minute, Sally dropped her gaze.

"Fair enough," she answered. She turned to Costin. "Ready?"

He looked at her wearily. "Uh, sure." Then he turned back to the Alphas. "Guess we will talk to you guys tomorrow. Cypher," he said and nodded to the warlock king and then took Sally's hand and led her from the room.

Sally followed quietly, still processing Vasile's words.

"Are you mad at me?" Costin asked quietly.

"Irritated," Sally corrected. "I get that you have to obey, but it sort of makes me feel like you put Vasile's wants before mine, though I know that's not really what you were doing."

"We aren't human," Costin reminded her.

"And I am not Canis lupus, so I suppose we should both cut each other some slack."

Peri flashed back into Vasile's office and looked around. "That party broke up fast. Guess that's what happens when Jen flips her lid." She took a step toward Cypher. "You ready for me to take you home?"

He nodded.

Then Peri looked back at Vasile as she took Cypher’s hand. "They will come to realize you were right to withhold the information," she assured the Alpha.

"Was I though?" He glanced at his mate and then back to Peri.

She shrugged. "Doesn't matter if you were. You're Alpha. You own your decisions and stand by them. You must."

"But I am to protect them and nurture them in all ways."

"You aren't perfect, wolf. You, of all people, know that sometimes the difficult decisions we, as leaders, must make will be the most unpopular decisions. But that doesn't matter. They are still decisions that have to be made by someone. Suck it up and move on."

Vasile chuckled. "Thank you for the advice."

Peri saluted him. "It's what I do."

She left him and Alina and dropped Cypher off before heading back to the veil of her realm. Four pixies awaited her.