Jen smiled in return. "We want you to bind all the males.”

Chapter 25

"What exactly are you doing now?" Thad asked the witch his pack had employed for centuries. She sat in a chair in the room she called her “cave”. Thad tried not to look around at the things hanging from the ceiling or staring out at him from the jars that filled the shelves lining the walls. He didn't look on the floor to see what he might be stepping on, or worse, in. Mona stared out the window as she flipped her wrist at him absentmindedly.

"I'm doing my thing. A better question would be – what are you doing, Alpha?" Mona threw it back in the Alpha's face.

"What can I do?" Thad blustered. "I don't know where they are. It's kind of hard to attack someone when you don't know their location."

"You know, Thad, beggars can't be choosers. So, you either wait patiently for me to tell you when the time is right, or I can turn you into a toad. Really, it's your choice."

Thad's face was turning an unnatural shade of red as he glared at the back of Mona's head. His thoughts from earlier swirled in his mind. What was in it for Mona?

"Mona," Thad said her name sweetly. "Why are you still helping me and my pack after all this time?"

"You know why. Protection from the Fae."

"The Fae haven't set foot across the veil in centuries and your power is stronger than ever. Why are you hanging out with the wolves, Desdemona? What's your interest in the healer?"

Mona turned in her chair slowly. Her mismatched eyes met his. She smiled as she stood and walked toward him. Thad knew better than to back away from a predator, so he held his ground.

"Thad, Thad, Thad," Mona purred. "You know better than to question me." Mona took a long finge nail and trailed it across Thad's cheek and down his neck. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Don't go digging where you shouldn't or you just might find you've been digging your grave all along."

Thad didn't let her see how much her words disturbed him. He kept his face cool and devoid of emotion. She walked away with a sway in her hips and said over her shoulder, "I will contact you when the time is right. Have your wolves ready, Alpha. When this is all said and done you will have more than a little blood on your underworked hands." Just as he thought she was finished, he jumped when he heard her yell, "Oh, and GET OUT!"

Thad stormed into his pack mansion, Mona's words echoing in his head. Digging in. There was something buried that she didn't want him to know. Something about healers and what they meant to a witch. It was time for him to visit his pack archives, even as much as he hated going into the place that smelled of old parchment and dust. But he needed to know what Mona was up to. He was nofool, it was apparent now that Mona wasn't helping Thad, she was using him to achieve her own agenda. He had been blind all along. If she thought to get her hands on his healer, then she wasn't as smart as he always believed her to be. As a witch, yes, she was powerful. But it wouldn't be beyond him to make sure she got caught in the crossfire of fighting wolves. She could stand against some, but there was no way Mona could stand against two packs. Not packs with Alphas and dominants as strong as his and Vasile's. It was actually a shame that he had to rip Vasile's pack to shreds – a  real shame, but necessary.

"You. Want me. To bind. All your males?" Peri's words were clipped and her face told Jen and Jacque everything they needed to know. She thought they had lost their ever-loving minds. She was probably closer to the mark than she realized.

"Yes." Jen and Jacque answered at the same time with no hesitation.

"Look, we know that they would be mad -"

"No child, mad is not the word I would use. The wrath that Vasile would rain down on me... You cannot understand. Have you not been around the dominant and Alpha wolves of the Canis lupis? You know what they are like about their females."

"Yes, yes. We get it." Jen rolled her eyes "But here's the thing, while they are so busy worrying about us poor, weak females, they are totally ignoring the fact that there is a whole, big freaking world out there that needs our help. If Rachel and Sally are the ones who can drop a house on this witch, then we need Rachel. If Jacque and I are the ones to get her here, then WE WILL DO IT. Damn the consequences. We won't let them hurt you when we get back. Just keep them bound the entire time." Jen smiled like she had just solved all their problems.

"You want me to keep them bound the entire time?"

Jen looked at Jacque, letting out an exasperated breath. "Why does she keep repeating me? Am I difficult to understand?"

Jacque shook her head. "I think we are putting her in shock, or she is going to have a panic attack or something."

Peri looked from girl to girl, at a serious loss for their request. She saw the eagerness in their eyes to help and the determination beneath that. She didn't know any other way to do this. So be it. She was going to get her ass handed to her on a platter by the males of the Romanian grey wolves. Who said she didn't like to live on the edge?

"Okay, fine."

Jacque and Jen gave each other silent fist bumps with exploding fingers.

"That's what I'm talking about, Peri! Sticking it to the man! Letting them know that they don't own you, they aren't your daddy, they can't -"

Peri slapped her hand over Jen's mouth and looked at Jacque. "How do you deal with her?"