Sacrifice of Love (13 page)

Jen: Whatev

As soon as the message was sent Jen hit the power button on her phone and watched with sick satisfaction as the screen went black. She tossed it onto the coffee table and let out a deep breath.

“I don’t know about y’all, but I need a drink.” Jen started to stand but Sally pulled her back down to the couch.

“Jen, you don’t drink, and you’re pregnant,” Jacque reminded her.

“Well, my sweet wolf-princess, in the words of the profound band Little Texas, there’s a first time for everything.”

“How about instead of drowning our problems, we talk about them?” Cynthia piped.

“Bloody hell, you aren’t trying an intervention are you?” Jen’s eyes narrowed.

“Jen, I think she’s just trying to help take some of the pressure off. You haven’t exactly been discreet about things between you and Decebel. We love you and hate to see you hurting, either of you.”

“It is an intervention,” she whined and slumped back into the couch, “of all the things I could possibly have needed an intervention for, it had to be Werewolves Anonymous.”

“I take it that you have no loyalties.” Reyaz walked leisurely around the forest that surrounded his lair. He had decided to take a much needed break from spying on his brother, but on his way home, he was interrupted.

“I am loyal to myself,” Lorelle told him boldly, though she felt anything but bold. She hadn’t planned on approaching him this way, but the opportunity presented itself and she had to take it while it was there. Reyaz was not an easy man to find.

“How do I know you will not betray me?”

“I have no reason to betray you. I simply want my sister out of the picture. I can’t kill her. If I did, I would be banished from my realm forever. But in your line of work, and specifically your latest endeavor, you will more than likely run into her. I was just hoping you could give her a little zap.”

Reyaz’s brow rose and his mouth twitched as if to smile. “A little zap?”

Lorelle nodded. “Like you did to Vasile.”

He laughed at this and she tried not to cringe at the sound. The air coming out of him sounded as if it was grating against lungs that had not been used for this purpose in a very long time. Like the creaking and moaning of an old wooden staircase that had not been walked on in years. His raspy laughter assaulted her ears.

“You are calling that a little zap?” he asked as his skin crawling laughter died.

Lorelle decided that it was a rhetorical question and did not answer.

“What do I gain if I give your sister this
little zap
you are asking for?”

She had known that he would ask for some sort of payment. It’s not like evil people do anything for free. There was no such thing as evil charity. Lorelle had wracked her brain endlessly trying to come up with something that he would consider valuable. But she had come up empty-handed.

“I can grant you a request to redeem at your liking.” She had finally decided on the granting of a favor. Though she hated to give him such power over her, there was nothing that she could give Reyaz that he couldn’t simply take for himself.

He didn’t respond right away. She watched as he took slow measured steps, his feet crunching on the dead leaves that littered the ground. He was considering it, no doubt thinking of all the possibilities such a payment would give him.

“Any request?” he qualified.

“Yes.”

“I accept. And I already know what you must do,” he finally told her.

Lorelle gave a short nod and tried not to look as nervous as she felt.

“What will it be?”

“You are going to deliver a message for me, but not from me,” he told her. “It seems that my brother has finally realized that the trolls need to pay for their part in the death of one of his females. He has attempted to keep the peace with them, but he has come to see that in order for justice to be served and real peace to reign, then they must pay. So you will take Thead, the Troll King, a declaration of war on behalf of the King of the Warlocks.”

Lorelle’s mouth dropped open and she knew her eyes were as wide as saucers. She couldn’t believe what he was saying.

“Why? Why would you do this if all you want is your brother’s woman?” she stumbled over her words as she spoke. “You want to destroy two races over the life of your mate?”

“They won’t destroy each other,” he scoffe. “The trolls don’t stand a chance against my brother. As much as I hate to admit it, he is extremely powerful.”

“Do you honestly believe that the wolves will just stand by and let the trolls be slaughtered?” 

“What do you care, Lorelle, faithless and one without loyalty?” He snarled at her.

“One person is very different from an entire species!” She felt nauseous as she thought about the part she would play in this, but there was no getting around it. She had cast her role in his game and she would have to play her part or it would be her life on the line instead of her sisters.

“Fine,” she said and the word tasted like bile in her mouth. “I’ll do it.”

“I had no doubt that you would,” Reyaz told her smugly.

“Some free advice, woman,” she heard his voice just as she started to go, “if you betray me, I will kill you in the same manner that I take your sister, only much slower and much more painfully.”

He was gone before she could even swallow down the lump in her throat. She had come to him wanting his

help in destroying her sister, the one thorn in her side who wouldn’t go away. Now she would help him

destroy at least one entire species, and quite possibly even more.

Chapter 9

“None of us are exempt from the difficult choices in life. They are written in the fine print on the day we are brought forth into this cold world. And though they are set in stone, what is not set in stone is how we respond when those difficult choices are put before us. That is when we discover if the pain and suffering brought on through our birth was worth all the trouble—when stand before those difficult things and say, I can do this, and I will do it for the right reasons.” ~Decebel

Vasile stood in the library of the pack mansion listening to the steady drone of murmuring from the gathered males. He was lost in thought after having spoken to Alina through their bond. Alina had informed him that Jen was having a rough time. He assumed it was the pregnancy and the worry about the baby’s birth, but then Alina had told him that Decebel was texting his mate instead of using their bond. He understood then that Jen was probably having more than a rough time. For her mate to withhold the intimacy of the bond would be painful on the best of days. For him to do it while they are so far apart and she with child was akin to torture. He couldn’t imagine what would cause Decebel to behave in such a manner. It was completely out of character for him. Frankly, failure to use the bond would be out of character for any wolf.

His eye’s drifted over to his former Beta and he watched as Decebel too studied the room. His usually focused eyes seemed to be restless and flighty, darting over the other males and to the doors. It didn’t appear to be as much vigilance as it was looking for a way to escape. He looked tense as he clenched and unclenched his jaw and shifted from foot to foot. Decebel was naturally a very still creature; his every movement deliberate and calculated. Just in the few seconds of watching the Alpha, Vasile could see that something was definitely off. Why hadn’t he seen it before? How could he have missed such big behavioral changes in a male he had known for over a century?  Vasile let out a tired sigh as he thought about the problems and stresses plaguing their combined packs.  Fane, Costin, and now Decebel, three males he loved dearly, were all struggling with things that they desperately needed their mates to help them cope with, and he, like a good Alpha, had sent them all away. Even though Decebel was technically responsible for Jen and Sally, he certainly would have relented if Vasile had opposed the idea. It was again one of those situations where Vasile had to ask himself,
was there really any right answer
?

Decebel felt his muscles twitching as he stood waiting for Cypher to join them. He hadn’t slept since before Jennifer had left and he barely had an appetite. His insides were a constant knot and anything he put in his stomach seemed to want to crawl right back up his throat again. He could feel her, just barely, but she was still there. He missed her with such fierceness that his bones ached with it. Every minute was a relentless battle with his wolf and he knew that he was walking a very fine line when it came to keeping it under control. The hardest part for Decebel wasn’t that Jennifer was not by his side. The hardest part was knowing that she was in pain, just as he was, and he was the cause of that pain. Their bond had been so very strong, and as it grew weaker with every passing hour. He could feel the life being leeched out of them both.

The Great Luna assured him that their child would be safe, but as he bit his tongue to keep from snarling out in anger at the pain he felt pulsating through his veins, he wondered if the goddess knew just how excruciating this process was truly going to be. Jennifer was tough, he didn’t doubt that, but even the toughest of them had limits. Jennifer had a limit and he was terrified that he was very close to pushing her past hers, and that once he had, it would be too late for her to come back.

The door to the library opened slowly and the room began to quiet. Cypher stepped through and calmly looked around, giving slow nods to each male. Based on the tense and nearly painful looks on the faces of the wolves, he knew something bad had happened.

“I’ve come in peace, Vasile, to honor our agreement as allies and to help in any way that I can,” Cypher told the Romanian pack Alpha calmly. His voice was strong and carried out to the walls. It almost seemed to push away the angst and worry. He took in a deep breath, attempting to use all of his senses to see if he could understand what had happened to make the usually very forward wolves hold their tongues.

“We welcome you Cypher, King of the Warlocks. You are accepted as our guest and under our protection,” Vasile responded formally. “Have you come alone, King, or did you bring your mate?” Vasile knew he should probably leave it alone, but he found himself to be in a mood and decided to start the meeting with a little prodding. His lips twitched as he watched the usually calm and confident Warlock King squirm under his scrutiny.

“I have come alone.” Cypher said no more and he continued into the room and took one of the empty seats.

Vasile motioned to the other wolves in the room and, one by one, they took seats, all except Decebel. Vasile made eye contact with him briefly, an unspoken message that he was aware something was off with him. Vasile was about to speak when the library door was once again pushed open.

“I realize I wasn’t invited to this meeting,” Alston said as he stepped into the room, “but I was told by a little fairy that I should be present.”

“Did this little fairy happen to have a big mouth?” Decebel asked coolly as chuckles vibrated across the room.

Alston tipped his head briefly to Decebel before straitening back up. “Perizada often sticks her nose where it isn’t welcome, though often it is needed.”

“Please join us, Alston,” Vasile spoke up. “Perizada was right to contact you. I would have thought to do it myself had I not been distracted by pack issues.”

“I suppose it is good that we have nosy females who step in when we are distracted,” Alston said as he took a seat next to Sorin. 

“A very good thing,” Vasile agreed. He turned back to look at Cypher and his face grew serious. “Peri brings us news that your brother has been meddling in your forest.”

Cypher nodded as his lips tightened in a grim scowl. “I have not seen him with my eyes, but his evil permeates the air.”

“What does he want?” Sorin asked.

“To punish me,” Cypher answered without pause. Cypher didn’t know what he expected from the males when he answered. Perhaps they would tell him to hand himself over so that his brother’s wrath would be satisfied and then maybe he would leave everyone else alone. But he knew they were too smart to believe that his brother would stop with only him. He had, after all, already killed Vasile, or at least attempted to, simply to display his power. Therefore, he wasn’t at all surprised by the patient looks they gave him as they waited for him to elaborate.

“His mate died many, many years ago and he blames me for her death,” Cypher continued.

Decebel’s eyes narrowed as he watched the king. “Blames you, or your actions?”

“The lack thereof,” Cypher told him. “His mate made a decision to act as an ambassador to another supernatural race and I warned her not to, but she was determined to do what she wanted.”

“Aren’t they all?” Fane growled under his breath. Grumbles of agreement floated across the room and Cypher gave them questioning looks.

“Ignore their grumbling Cypher,” Vasile interrupted the noise, “their women have deserted them.” Dirty looks were shot his way but he ignored them and concentrated on Cypher.