He looked back at Vasile."That fire... It moved like it was alive, like someone was controlling it, maneuvering it."
Vasile nodded. "We need to talk to Sally. As a healer she can feel magic, especially dark magic."
"We need to get to safety first," Decebel told him carefully, making sure it didn't come across as an order.
"I agree, Beta. I trust you to make that happen."
Decebel called Sorin over.
"I need you to get a head count of our pack. Advise the other Alphas to do the same," Decebel's voice was commanding. It was time to get things in order and get out of the open, where they were most vulnerable.
Sorin nodded and moved quickly through the crowd to an open area. He made the announcements and then began calling out pack member names.
Skender, Boian, Fane, Jacque, Costin, Crina, Sally, and Cynthia formed a circle around Decebel. He noticed the humans shivering in the cold, but not complaining. Their faces were covered in soot, their clothes were singed, and determination filled their eyes as they waited trustingly.
"What's the plan, Beta?" Skender asked.
Dillon walked over from his pack stepping next to Jacque.
"Whatever I can do to help. My pack is at your disposal." He told the Romanian Beta.
Decebel nodded, but did not respond verbally.
Jacque gave a brief smile to her father and then turned her attention back to Decebel.
"We need to get out of here. There's a village we drove through about ten miles down the mountain. We can see if there's a place we can stay there. We need to check and see if any vehicles are salvageable." Decebel began giving orders, needing to stay busy, building a plan towards fulfilling his promise to Jennifer. The sooner he did that, the sooner he could look for her. "Males, you check out the vehicles. Females, organize our pack into groups to ride. Ask the other packs to do the same."
Without a word, all the wolves turned from Decebel to carry out his orders.
"Can I please have your attention?" Sally tried speaking above the pack, teeth chattering.
Cynthia and Crina looked at her in sympathy when nobody paid any mind
Jacque smiled. "Step aside, healer – how can you even speak with your chops going to town like that? Let me show you how it's done."
Sally did the mature thing and stuck her tongue out at her best friend.
Jacque stuck her thumb and middle finger in her mouth and let out an ear-piercing whistle – which was even more piercing for the wolves, with their sensitive ears. Silence fell and all that could be heard was the crackling of the fire that continued to rage, giving the only light to the dark night.
"Listen up, please." Jacque spoke loudly to make sure she reached the ears of those at the very back. "Some of the Romanian males are checking to see if any of the vehicles are still in working order. We need to divide everyone up into groups so we can take as many as we can at a time down to the village ten miles from here."
Jacque watched as the other packs began to break up into groups. She looked over at Sally and winked. "That, my gypsy friend, is how you do it."
Sally rolled her eyes. "How kind of you to take time to teach me, oh wise wolf princess."
Jacque's smile faltered. "That sounds like something Jen would say."
Sally wrapped her in a firm embrace. "He will find her. There is nothing, and no one, that will stand in his way."
"I don’t doubt that. My worry is what he'll find when he does." Jacque wiped a tear that slipped down her face.
Crina and Cynthia wrapped their arms around Jacque and Sally, and Jacque could feel comfort flowing from her pack mates. My pack mates she thought, and for the first time truly felt like a member of the Romanian Grey Wolf pack.
"I would tell you not to worry, love, but I know that's not fair to you. What I will tell you is that I'm here for you." Fane reached out to her, no doubt having felt her grief.
"Thank you, wolf-man. There will be time for tears later. We've got to get our pack to safety."
"I knew you were going to make an amazing Alpha." Jacque felt his lips on her forehead and warmth seeped into her as Fane used their bond for more than just words.
The girls stepped back from the embrace and Sally grabbed Jacque's hand, looking over at Cynthia and Crina. "Come on, let's do this. Jen would kick our butts if she thought we were standing around not – as she would say – getting our asses in gear."
"She does have a way with words." Jacque smiled and they began to separate their pack into groups to travel to the village – and hopefully to safety.
"Rachel?" Jen's voice was weak as she spoke, and growing weaker.
"I know you don't know who I am but you can trust me. I'm on your side," Rachel tried to reassure the girl at the bottom of the cavern. "Gavril, my mate, is going to jump down and get you. Please don't be afraid of him."
Jen chuckled weakly. "You should meet my mate, then you wouldn't worry about me being afraid of yours." Her words were strained as she tried to speak around the pain that wracked her broken body.
Rachel turned as she saw the sky light up in the direction of the large estate south of them.
"We must hurry. I can't shield us much longer," she told her mate.
"I'm coming down," Jen heard a gruff voice announce, which was quickly followed by a soft thud.
Jen tried hard to be unafraid, but when a strange wolf jumps into a hole you've been pushed into, you tend to be afraid of everything.
"I won't hurt you," the voice told her.
"I don't think you're going to be able to avoid hurting me if you're going to move me." Jen cringed at the thought of being moved or even touched, for that matter.
Gavril knelt down in front of her. "I know you can't see me, but I can see you. You are losing blood from that head wound. I'm going to take off my shirt so you can apply pressure to it to help stem the flow."
Jen nodded, knowing he would see her response. She heard some rustling and then felt soft fabric against her head. She reached up with her good arm and pushed the shirt firmly against her scalp.
"Okay, I'm going to lift you now. I know it's going to hurt and I apologize," Gavril told her gently.
"Not your fault." Jen's voice came out hoarse and shaky.
She felt his arm come around her back and the other under her knees. As he lifted her from the ground, Jen bit her lip to keep from crying out and it was hard enough that she drew blood. The pain was so intense that, though she tried to fight it, her exhausted brain shut down in an attempt to escape the hurt her body was enduring.
Gavril bent at the knees and jumped from the cavern with one powerful push, landing gently in front of his mate.
"She's passed out," he told Rachel.
"I'm surprised she is even alive after that fall." Rachel gently pushed Jen's blonde locks from her face. "She's a pretty one," she took a deep breath of Jen's scent, "and she's a dormant."
"Come, Rachel," Gavril urged. "We mustn't linger. The witch is near and she cannot discover you."
"It's going to take a lot to heal her," Rachel admitted as they started off in the direction of their home. "She said she has a mate. He's going to want to know where she is."
"We have to be careful or he will lead Thad's witch straight to our door," Gavril warned his mate.
"I understand that, love, but you know as well as I do that he will tear this mountain apart to find her."
Gavril didn't respond. He knew how dangerous a mated male was, especially if his mate was injured. His first priority was to Rachel, to keep her existence a secret. The only thing the Serbian Alpha Thad wanted more than a mate was a healer, and his mate was the most powerful healer in the history of their species. He had to protect her at all costs, even at the cost of one dormant's life.
Jen's head swam as the darkness began to recede. She tried to open her eyes, but they wouldn't cooperate. She felt pain course through her body – someone was carrying her.
"Decebel." She reached out instinctively.
"Jennifer!" Jen smiled to herself as she listened to the worry in his voice. Why was he worried if he had found her?
"You found me." Jen made it a statement rather than a question.
"No, baby. I haven't found you. Why would you think that?"
"But you're carrying me. I can feel you."
"Jennifer, who has you?" Decebel's voice was full of fear and anger.
Jen was trying desperately to remember what had happened, how she had ended up being carried… The girl, her mate – she began to get glimpses in her mind.
"Her mate, he jumped down. He put his shirt on my head." Jen's voice faded as she tried to think.
" He?" Even through their very new mental bond Jen could hear the anger lacing his words, "A male has you? He doesn't have a shirt on? Jennifer, think! Who are the female and her mate?"
"Quit growling at me, damn it! Oow! Crap, that hurts." Jen cringed as she felt her body being jarred.
"Baby, I'm not growling at you. I just need you to try to remember. Do they mean you harm?" Decebel tried to soften his voice.
"I don't think so. It hurts, Dec. I can't think. I just want to sleep for a while." Jen's voice began to fade.
"Jennifer, stay with me a minute longer."
Jen loved the sound of his voice, the deep timbre of it. She nearly groaned when she felt his lips on hers and his fingers caressed her face.
"How are you doing that?" she asked him, her voice breathless through their bond.
"It's the bond. I just imagine touching you and somehow you feel it."
"Oh, the possibilities." Jen grinned inside.
Decebel chuckled.
"Hmm, that's the sound I like to hear." Jen imagined running her fingers through Decebel's soft, dark hair.
She heard him growl in her mind. "I have to find you, love. Try and think. How did they get you?"
"Have you wondered what our babies would have looked like?" Jen asked absently as she frowned inwardly, trying to picture the future she might have had with her wolf.
"Baby, this isn't really the time to discuss our babies. Let's focus on who is carrying you so that I can get you back. Then we can make babies."
Jen groaned and felt the arms around her tighten, which brought a gasp from her. Decebel must have sensed her pain because she felt his worry.
"I'm okay. Just hurts." Jen actually felt a smile spread across her face. "So you want to make babies with me?"
This time when Decebel laughed she swore she could feel his hands run down her sides to her hips.
"Only you would want to discuss making babies at a time like this."
"Well, you have to admit that it's a better topic than my nearly being killed and now being kidnapped. Seriously, Dec, I'd much rather think about us making babies."
Jen felt another jolt of pain shoot through her – it took her breath away. She felt her consciousness begin to fade.
"I love you, Decebel. Even if we never make babies, I love you." The last thing she heard before the world disappeared was Decebel's deep, determined voice.
"I love you, baby. I'm coming for you."
Learn more about Quinn Loftis Books:
www.quinnloftisbooks.com
https://www.facebook.com/QuinnLoftisBooks
Twitter: @AuthQuinnLoftis
Books are available for purchase on:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Ibooks
Smashword
The Light Tamer (The Light Tamer Trilogy) Page 17
