Peri looked over at Cynthia and raised a single eyebrow. “Would you like to pick a team?”

Cynthia shook her head at Peri’s ability to be so calm as they stood amongst enraged wolves with death in their eyes.

“I think it best that I be where Jen is,” Cynthia said as she made her way to the women.

Peri watched as the males stood, rigid, and motionless, staring at their mates. She knew that if she lowered the barrier they would no doubt attempt to drag them back kicking and screaming. Although, judging by the gleam in Alina’s eyes, she had a feeling that she would go willingly, only to then kick Vasile in his baby making parts.

“Remove the barrier, Perizada,” Vasile ordered, his eyes never moved from his mate.

“Sorry, Alpha. Can’t do that.”

“Can’t or won’t,” Decebel snarled.

“Tomato, tomato,” Peri retorted.

Decebel bared his teeth at her, and then turned back to Jen.

“You would keep our daughter from me?”

Jen rolled her eyes. “Don’t use the daddy card, B. She is toasty warm in this amazing body. If this party is still rolling by the time I go into labor it will be your own stupid fault.”

“I may not be able to touch her, but I can touch you.”

“Not anymore,” Jen parried.

“I can hear her heart beat Jennifer.”

His words stopped her retort and her eyes held his. Jen fought her every instinct to run to him, to have him wrap her in his arms and keep her safe.

“Make your choice B. Let me be what you need me to be.”

Decebel closed his eyes and Jen imagined that he was counting to ten…or one hundred. It usually took longer for him to cool off when he was mad at her.

“You females do not know what you are asking. There is a reason we are trying to protect you. Sometimes you have to choose the lesser of two evils and we have made the choice that we feel is best for you. We never consulted each other on how to deal with this situation so for me to see that we all made the same decision, to not let the horror we watched touch you, tells me that it must be the right decision.”

Peri started clapping slowly as she walked over to the females and turned to face the guys.

“Well said, Decebel. However I can’t decide if that’s the most caring thing I’ve ever heard from you or the dumbest.” Her eyes lost her twinkling playfulness as she confronted them. “You see, when I hear you say that the majority making the same choice must mean it’s the right one, what I really hear is, hi I’m Decebel and I’m a total dumb ass.”

Jen growled at the Fae. She didn’t like others insulting her mate. Only she was allowed that privilege.

“Pipe down, prego chick,” Peri quipped. “Decebel you cannot believe that crap. If yourlogic is correct then we should all condone underage drinking, minors getting it on like rabbits, and thinking that reality TV shows are good forms of entertainment. By your logic, Alpha, when your daughter is seventeen and boy crazy it will be okay for her bear her lady bits because the majority of her friends are doing it.”

Decebel took a menacing step towards her, his amber eyes glowing dangerously.

“Uh, Peri, not really helping,” Jen snapped.

Peri watched the seething Alpha as he glared at her. She could see that her words had hit a nerve and that’s what she had intended to do.

“Okay, as much fun as this has been, we need to be on our way.” She looked one last time at the males. “Just a suggestion from one bad ass to another, it would not be smart for you to touch your women. So don’t even try it.”

Chapter 12

“Sometimes changed circumstances make a decision, even a decision that seemed liked such a good idea at the time, suddenly look really, really dumb. Now the question at that moment becomes, do you fess up and say hey, maybe I shouldn’t have done that? Or do you stick to your guns, even if swallowing your pride might end up saving your backside? You would think there was an easy cut and dry answer to that question—not if you’re mated to pigheaded werewolves.” ~ Jacque

Mona stood over the scrying bowl as she sought out the exact location of her escaped prey. She had considered just letting them be for now, knowing they would be coming for her at some point, no matter how foolish that decision was. Then her pride had stepped up and she realized that if she didn’t exact some sort of revenge, she would appear weak. She closed her eyes as she pushed out her will, allowing the magic of the scrying to show her where they were. Her lips pulled up into an evil smirk when she finally located them.

“There you are, little wolfies,” she murmured, as she watched them in her mind’s eye.

She watched as the females stood across from their mates with Peri in front of them, appearing to confront them. Maybe the escape was not necessarily a bad thing if it was causing strife between mates.

“Now, what to do with you,” she said, as she tapped her blood red lips with her finger. She had allowed the males to be tormented, to watch horrendous things, things that hadn’t been real. Now, what would it do to them if they really did see something happen to their mates?

“Hmm, this has potential.” Her power had continued to grow and natural laws that once bound her were no longer obstacles to the dark magic she wielded. Mona reached into the forest, seeking out the dark creatures that lurked in the shadows. She drew energy from them, pulling it inside of her in order to shape it to her will. She weaved a spell as her mind and body felt drunk on the rush of power.