“I suggest we stay in our human forms if at all possible,” Decebel added.

Vasile nodded his agreement. Then without another word, he headed off into the forest. It was Fane who picked up the first scent. He let out a low growl and his eyes began to glow wolf blue. “Jacquelyn,” his voice rumbled as he spoke her name.

“Which way Fane,” Vasile asked.

Fane pointed and then took off at a dead sprint.

“Crap,” Peri yelled. “Didn’t someone warn the crazy wolf about running off halfcocked into a freaking dark forest?”

They all took off after Fane. Decebel motioned for them to spread out.

Fane felt his gut tighten as he ran. He could smell her and it broke something inside of him. It had been so long since he’d seen her and so long since he’d held her, and he was desperate for the sight of her. His legs pushed hard and his arms pumped at his side. He felt the warm wind on his face and the sting of branches as they whipped at his skin as he flew past. He welcomed the pain of the slapping branches because it proved to him that he was alive. When he saw her standing there surrounded by trees, hair wild, and skin flushed, he could have sworn that he had died. She was alive and in one piece!

“Jacquelyn!” He bellowed and felt his chest tighten with emotions so strong they threatened to crush him under their weight. He watched as her head turned and her eyes met his. Her face lit into a smile and it was so beautiful, so heart stoppingly beautiful that he just wanted to bask in its glory. She started towards him but then something caught her eye because she turned her head and he saw her eyes widen with fear. When she looked back at him she started shaking her head frantically. She flung her arms at him telling him to go back but there was no way in hell he was leaving now that he’d found her.

Jacque couldn’t believe what she was seeing. First she had been shocked to see Fane, and then she saw the others running with him and knowing they were rescued had been enough to nearly have her jumping up and down doing some wild, crazy, soul bearing dance, but then she had seen something that made her heart stop.

She didn’t know how to describe them, but zombies was the first word to come to mind. Their skin was pale and bluish, tinged as if they had been deprived of oxygen, for like, ever. Their eyes were glassy and lined with red blood vessels. The only thing that differed from their T.V. counterparts was that these zombies were not stiff and sluggish. These zombies were swift and precise in their attack, which Jacque took to mean that they were definitely being controlled and that dark magic was involved. They looked like the dead brought to life, and as stupid as that sounded, she was a freaking werewolf so, really, how far of a stretch was it for zombies to be real? There were hundreds of them, maybe even more. Her eyes flew to the group of men running towards them hell bent on saving them and she didn’t see how they could defeat such a huge army. Shestarted waving at them to turn back but it just made them run faster: damn stubborn werewolves, and fae, and warlocks, and what the crap she thought as she saw the pixie king jumping from tree to tree like Tarzan. She also saw another male that she recognized as a troll, though she didn’t know who he was since she’d only met one troll so far in her, what appeared to be, short life.

She turned to tell Alina to help her and her eyes widened as she saw Lorelle standing off to the side with Alina. Lorelle was speaking calmly to Alina and no matter how hard Jacque tried to listen, she couldn’t hear a thing. She watched as Alina’s eyes went cold and her jaw tensed as Lorelle handed her something wrapped up in a cloth. Alina slipped it into the back of her pants under her shirt. She gave Lorelle one last look before she turned to Jacque and started walking towards her.

“What was that about?” Jacque asked her. She started to ask her about whatever it was that Lorelle had handed her but then decided if Alina wanted her to know then she would tell her.

Alina’s eyes locked onto the scene beyond Jacque as she answered, “Just Lorelle being Lorelle.”

“A bitch?” Jacque growled.

“Jacque, we’re female wolves; let’s not give her such a compliment.”

Jacque felt the grin spread across her face. Man, she had the coolest mother-in-law.

“Now, shall we go help our men?” Alina motioned towards the males who were now in battle with the zombies.

“I’ve been itching for a good fight,” Jacque said as she popped her knuckles.

“Looks like we’ve got one.”

They both took off at a run. Just when they had nearly reached the battle and were about to phase, they both bounced off an invisible barrier with a thud.  Jacque fell back and landed hard on her butt. Her teeth jarred together as she stiffened her neck to keep her head from slinging back and crashing into the hard ground.

“DAMMIT!” she screamed as she slammed her hand onto the ground. Anger flooded her veins as she saw her mate fight off the zombie looking creatures and all she could do was watch.

Vasile saw Alina running towards him and then hit a barrier like the one he had seen Peri use. She fell back, but then quickly stood to her feet so he knew she was alright. He turned his head away just in time to duck as one of the creatures swung out an arm. In its grasp, a wicked dagger suddenly appeared. Vasile could smell the black magic rolling off of the creatures and he had to fight back the nausea. In his long life he had never seen creatures such as these, but much was possible when dealing with ancient dark magic, such as that found in this forest. And all of it was destructive and evil. He and the others continued to fight the creatures. One after another realizing that severing their spinal columns seemed to be the quickest way to keep them down.