"Tyler owes us anyway after hesitating to give up the cabin where Jacque was taken after being kidnapped," Peri said, getting angry at the stupid Alpha despite the fact that she hadn't even been there. The girls had been happy to share with her in grave detail everything that had happened to them up until the point when Peri entered the picture.

"No wolf would let the death of innocent children lie. As soon as those wolves hear about what's going on, they will be more than happy to help. What about the pack in Coldspring, the one with the Alpha that Fane had to kill? Any covens near them could be their responsibility."

"Thank you," she said when she realized his matter-of-fact thinking was exactly what she needed.

"I am always here. I love you."

"I love you too, fleas and all." He chuckled at her and then left her to do what she needed to do. Peri could only do what she was doing because she knew Lucian was protecting the healers they still had in their care and waiting and watching to see if Volcan made a move. If he weren't there taking care of those things, her mind wouldn't be in the game where it needed to be.

She turned to face the group feeling more grounded and less frantic. Thank you for that, mate, she thought to herself. "Okay, I've got a plan," she spouted to those around her.

Vasile stood silent, his arms folded in front of him, as he considered the things his brother had suggested to Peri.

"I understand why you didn't want to get the other wolves involved, Peri," Vasile said.

"Would someone please enlighten the little people?" Jen spoke up as she looked from Vasile to Peri.

It was her mate who answered. "You know of the darkness that lives in the males of our race," Decebel began.

Jen nodded.

"It's one thing to speak of the darkness, to simply acknowledge that it's there. It is a whole other thing to be the one living with it. When we are without our true mate we battle it hourly. So take a male already dealing with that, throw him into a den of vampires, have him kill them, and then be surrounded by the dark magic in them."

"But why don’t the mated ones just do the fighting?" Jen asked.

Vasile watched as his longtime friend’s eyes softened at his mate. "Jennifer, I know you, Sally and Jacque have only experienced this" —he motioned to the group— "for the most part. Over the past year, half a dozen in our packs have found their true mates. That's more than has been found in decades in all of the packs."

Her eyes widened when she finally understood.

Vasile took over. "The majority of the pack members in any pack are unmated males," he said just to be clear. "There just aren’t enough mated wolves to fight this threat. But we have to weigh the options. If we don't ask for the other packs to help, we have to do it all on our own. Which, as Jacque pointed out, would be futile if the vampires began making more of their kind. So instead, in order to protect the greater good, we must have our unmated males fight."

"Will they be willing?" Sally asked.

The men in the group, including Vasile, scoffed. He looked at the healer and nodded. "We protect what is ours and we protect the innocents. They will be more than happy to hunt."

The Romanian Alpha turned back to Peri. "So how will you divide the few among them? Your power will be needed to deal with the aftermath and any survivors that might need to be helped."

Peri glanced at Alston and Nissa and then Cyn. "Yes, each pack will need the assistance of a fae. Nissa," —she said looking at the high fae woman— “you will go to Coldspring. Cyn, you will go help Tanya in Colorado. Alston," —she paused, seemed to consider something and then continued— “you will stay with this group. You aren't as well known among the other packs. Nissa isn't either, but she isn't an ass like you. So it would be better if I dealt with the Missouri pack."

The group tried to bite back its laughter. Well, some of them did, Vasile conceded as he looked at the three American female who were chuckling outright. The sparkle he saw in Peri's eye told him she'd meant for the comment to lighten the mood.

"So where is the fellowship headed next?" Jen asked once everyone had gathered themselves.

"Washington," Peri answered.

Vasile's brow furrowed when Jen, Jacque, and Sally's eyes all lit up.

"Forks?" they all said at the same time.

Chapter 12

"It is amazing to me the things we forget. At the time of their happening, they seem so important, so devastating, or so grand. But then, years later, we can scarcely remember what we were even wearing that day." ~ Alston

Drake was on autopilot. He was obeying his Alpha’s instructions; he was listening to every word said, and yet his wolf and soul seemed to be somewhere else. He could feel them searching for something. Drake kept forcing down the need of his wolf to run, to hunt, and to ferret out whatever it was that had him so focused, but the pull was getting harder to ignore. And the more he ignored this pull, the stronger another pull—the pull of the darkness—became. It whispered to him to come and get lost in the chaos and blood. It whispered that only the darkness could save him now.

"This is not Forks," Jen said, her hands on her hips and her foot tapping restlessly as she glared at the White House as if it had somehow offended her.

"It's your own fault for getting your hopes up," Jacque pointed out. "Peri never agreed with us. She just grinned."

"Yep, and we lapped it up like kittens slurping up cream," Sally agreed.

Jacque and Jen turned to look at her. "Kittens slurping up," Jen began.

"Cream?" Jacque finished.

Sally rolled her eyes. "We can't all be as eloquent as you two poets."

Jen inclined her head. "Can't disagree with you there, kitten." She winked at the now scowling Sally.

Decebel placed a hand on her lower back, drawing her attention away from the banter, and she looked up at him. The look in his eyes made it clear that he was happy to see the three of them going at it again. Things had not been the same since the vampire killing had begun.

"We're going to be okay, B, promise," she reassured him.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. "I've no doubt of that, baby. I just hate that you are even in a situation that makes you feel as though you need to reassure me of such a thing."