Peri let go of Bethany's arm, keeping her on the outside of the cage and a good five feet away from it. "Okay," Peri breathed out. "I don’t have time to walk you through all of this. So here are the cliff notes. That" —she pointed to Drake— "is a werewolf. He can understand everything you say. You should be safe from him because he thinks you're his mate. But, stay away from the cage anyway. You are to stay here until I return. We will not hurt you. Your days feeding the vamps are over. Now, are you going to have a panic attack, or pass out?"

Bethany stared at her with wide eyes. "I don’t think so."

"Good. Oh, one more thing." Peri glanced back at Drake and then to the dormant girl. "If he phases back into a man, under no circumstances are you to let him talk you into biting him. Are we clear?"

"Uh, I'm a hundred percent positive that I won't be biting a werewolf."

Peri laughed. "Yeah, that's what I said too." Peri flashed from the room leaving the pair alone and wondering if she'd done the right thing, not that she'd had a choice. She reappeared back in the underground dungeon where an all-out war had erupted. Only there were no vampires involved, at least not yet.

"ENOUGH!" Vasile’s voice boomed against the walls and a hush fell over the room. The Alpha turned to look at her. He did not look pleased. "When this is all said and done, if we live, we are going to have a long, long discussion on why listening to these three" —he motioned to Jen, Jacque, and Sally— "is detrimental to your health."

Peri flashed him a smile. "Please don't expect me to learn my lesson. That's just way more effort than I'm willing to put in."

Vasile felt his mate’s hand on his arm—smart woman. He was at his breaking point. He took a deep breath and then focused back on the matter at hand. "You three are to stay here." When the girls started to argue, Decebel cut them off.

"Jennifer, enough." His voice was not harsh, but it was firm. "The malice that fills this place is enough to choke a demon. You have to stay here if I'm going to be able to fight. Fane I'm sure feels the same way. And, Sally, if something happens to you while under my protection, Costin will have my head. You've had your adventure. In some jacked up way you even helped. Now please just wait for us."

To Vasile's surprise the girls all nodded.

"Good," Vasile said and then addressed the others. "Alston and Peri will flash back closer to the surface. We are to keep ourselves between the girls and the vampires. If we come across any dormants alive, Peri will flash them here to the girls. Fight smart, fight to kill. Do not prolong the battle by taking your anger out on the vamps. It will only cause unnecessary risks. Am I clear?"

Everyone agreed. He turned to his mate. "Do you think you should stay here with the girls?"

Alina's jaw was tight. "No, I will help look for survivors while you fight. The girls will be fine without me. Decebel has trained Jen well and Sally is not without defenses."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. This had been hard for his tender mate. Alina loved children. She'd always wanted more, but it hadn't happened. And now they were finding out there were dormant children alive in the world being tortured. It would take a long time for her to heal from this once it was over.

Decebel took Jennifer’s face in his hands and tilted it up so that she was looking at him. She was so damn beautiful, and infuriating. "I love you."

She smiled at him. "Even though I drive you crazy?"

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, intending it to be a quick kiss, but she tasted so good and he'd been so worried about her, he deepened it and groaned when he felt her respond to him. Her hands slid under his shirt and pressed into his back. His wolf rumbled his approval at the skin on skin contact. When Decebel pulled away, they were both panting shamelessly.

"Be careful, B," she said softly. "I'd hate to have to save your ass and make you look like a pansy."

He chuckled. "Yes, I'm sure you'd hate that."

"I love you too by the way," she told him, responding to his earlier comment.

Decebel smacked her on her backside just before stepping away. "Behave, female. At least until I return for you."

"I make no promises, fur ball."

Fane placed his hand on his mate’s stomach. "Are you sure you're okay? You seem tense."

Jacque laughed. "Really? I don’t know why I'd be tense. It's not like we found a dormant teenage girl locked in a cage that caused Drake to lose him mind and bite her on the neck."

Fane tapped her on the nose. "There's no need to be smart. I’m just worried about you."

She rose up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. Fane pulled her close, needing to feel her against him, needing to know she was alright.

"I'm fine. You go fight. Come back with your shield or on it and all that jazz."

Fane chuckled. "You and Jennifer watching 300 again?"

"You know how Jen feels about men fighting in capes and Speedos," she teased.

"Take care of yourself and our child. I love you." Fane pressed his forehead to hers and took in a deep breath. He savored her, allowing her touch and scent to comfort the wolf who was demanding to stay with her. Fane knew they had to fight, and they couldn't do that if Jacque was in the middle of the battle.

"I love you back, wolf man."

Costin was pacing the suite he shared with his mate. Titus had fallen asleep watching a cartoon and that had left Costin with his thoughts, and only his thoughts, because his mate was not sharing hers.

"Costin?"

He froze midstep and let out a relieved sigh. "Brown eyes."

"Just wanted to check in with you."

"Why'd you close the bond, Sally mine?"

"I don’t want to argue," she said in the small voice that always wanted to make him slay dragons for her.

"Fine, we'll argue when you get back and I can spank you."

She laughed and he soaked up the sound.

"The group is about to confront the vampires here in Phoenix. Jen, Jacque, and I are going to be safely tucked away from the fight. I thought you'd like to know that. How is Titus?"

Costin loved the way she tried to skip over the whole vampire slaughter that was about to happen by trying to distract him with their son.