Fate and Fury (The Grey Wolves Series)

by Quinn Loftis

  “Pipe down Skender,” she told him with a flick of her wrist. “These are the other members of the Fae council. They have come to help me break the curse on the females.”

  Wadim’s eyes widened with hope. “Can you really do it?”

  Peri looked offended. “Do you poop in the woods?”

  Wadim laughed. “On occasion.”

  “Then on occasion we can break curses.”

  Someone cleared their throat behind her and Peri rolled her eyes.

  “Skender, Wadim allow me to introduce you,” she turned and pointed to each Fae as she called their names. “That is Disir, Gwen, Lorelle, Nissa, Dain, and lastly the highest among us, Alston.”

  Skender and Wadim didn’t know if they should bow, or what, so the both just gave short, sharp nods.

  “Now, if we all feel our egos have been sufficiently stroked, could we please go and fix these females so that we don’t have a bunch of feral males killing everything that dares to breathe in their direction?”

  Skender turned to lead Peri towards Vasile’s room. They hadn’t taken two steps when suddenly growling, snarling, and yelling came from the direction where Skender had left the other packs.

  Peri rolled her eyes with a huff. “Well, don’t just stand there, let’s go stop them before they all kill each other and leave us in a worse state than we are now, which honestly would be hard to do considering I thought hell was as bad as it got.”

  They started running towards the far south door that would open into the field. Skender crashed through the door first and stopped so quickly that the others crashed into him. They all stood staring at the chaos in front of them, frozen at the site.

  “What the hell,” someone yelled from their right. Skender turned to see Dillon in his human form holding off another wolf that had phased. “Don’t just stand there, do something,” he yelled.

  Skender and Wadim ran into the fray, separating fighting wolves, throwing bodies far from each other. Skender was able to make some submit, others he had to fight in order to get them to back off. With every fight he broke up, another ensued. The wolves were out of control Fane’s howl had stirred the darkness in them and the combined presence of so much dominance was only stoking the fire.

  Victor ran full speed towards his second, Andrei, who was in hand to hand combat with Tyler, the Springfield Alpha from America. Victor knew his second couldn’t win against the Alpha if he decided to do more than make him submit. He crashed into the pair and grabbed Andrei by the back of the neck. His second turned on him with a deep snarl.

  “Peace Andrei,” Victor growled and pulled on his Alpha power. Andrei fought the command for several seconds before he finally submitted. Victor turned back to Tyler who was still in a battle stance.

  “We don’t need to do this, we are all on the same side,” Victor told him.

  Tyler’s eyes were wild and Victor could see just how young this wolf was, especially for an Alpha.

  “I am not giving you a command, I am simply asking you to tell your wolf to step aside. You are not in any danger here.”

  Tyler stood up fully and his shoulders relaxed. He looked around at the battle going on around them and with a smirk looked back at Victor. “You were saying?”

  Victor chuckled. “Well, you aren’t supposed to be in any danger, at least not from our race. Let’s get as many of them under control as we can before they do any permanent damage.”

  Q

  Vasile felt wave after wave of power flowing through the air. He knew that power; it was Alpha power, lots of Alphas. He stood from where he had been kneeling by his mate’s side. He paced, as his wolf grew even more restless. If there was that much power being released it meant one thing, the packs were fighting. He couldn’t have that, not now, not here. His mate was helpless and the last thing he needed was a bunch of feral wolves running around like crazed idiots. He grabbed the cell phone from his bedside table and dialed Cynthia’s number.

  “Alpha,” she answered on the first ring.

  “Please come to my room.” He hung up without ceremony.

  Less than three minutes later, Cynthia knocked at the door. Vasile swung it open, trying not to rip it off its hinges.

  “Please watch her. Keep her safe. If anything happens to her I will kill you.”

  “Yes Alpha,” Cynthia told him as she bared her neck to him. He stormed out of the room and the walls shook when he slammed the door shut behind him.

  Cynthia stared at the closed door and knew that the wolves that had begun to fight, were in over their heads. They had never felt the full force of Vasile’s power. She smiled to herself as she thought about how much she wished she could be out there when he had them all on their knees.

  With every step Vasile took, his anger grew. He continued to feel the power that shouldn’t be present and his wolf raged at those who would dare come into his territory and act in such a manner. He was their host, and it was his hospitality they were trampling on by acting like animals.

  He reached the door and pushed it open stepping out into the mess. He felt his wolf pushing, wanting, and needing to join the fight, to make someone’s blood flow. Vasile reined him in. He needed order, not more anarchy. He pulled power from his pack and watched as all of his wolves engaged in the fight dropped to their knees. He pushed that power out as he roared. “THIS ENDS NOW!” Vasile’s eyes glowed and he felt the claws on his hands grow, his skin tingled with the need to phase, but he held it together. He continued to force his will on all those who dared to disobey. He forced those who had phased into their wolves to regain their human form. His eyes traveled over the large group, meeting eyes as, one by one, they fell. In less than a minute, men kneeled where wolves had just raged. The sudden silence fell over the field like a blanket smothering fire.

  “Who do you think you are to come into my home and spit in my face with such a display?” Vasile words were controlled, and those who knew him knew that that was a bad sign.

  “Angus, Artur, Victor, Dragomir, Jeff” he called out the Alpha’s names with an authority they could not ignore. “Ciro, Gustavo, Drayden, Tyler, and Dillon stand.”

  Each Alpha stood and walked forward, weaving around the other kneeling wolves.

  “The rest of you are to go to the rooms that you have been given. I will let your Alphas decide your punishment. Be glad that it is not me meting it out. My wolves, your behavior is inexcusable. You will be dealt with. You have pulled me away from the side of my mate, which frankly pisses me off.”

  There was a snort of laughter towards the back of the kneeling group. As he recognized the sound of one of his wolves, Ciro, the Alpha of the Italy pack, tensed.

  “Is there something funny?” Vasile asked as he stepped around the Alphas who stood in front of him.

  “No disrespect Alpha, but your more concerned with staying in the bed your mate warms for you, instead of taking care of your pack?” A chorus of coughs, growls, and snarls flowed over the group and before the sound could die down Vasile had moved more quickly than the wolves could track. He had the offending wolf by the throat on his back. His face was less than an inch from the wolf’s and Vasile fought harder than he ever had for his control.

  “What is your name?” Vasile asked.

  “Rico,” the wolf gasped from the hold Vasile had on his neck.

  “Rico,” Vasile repeated slowly, “you forget your place. It will be my pleasure to remind you.” Vasile jumped back and ripped his shirt off. “Get up!” He spat.

  “Vasile, please do not do this,” Ciro asked, cautiously.

  Vasile’s eyes narrowed as he turned to look at the Alpha. “My allotment for mercy has been exceeded today. I am sorry, Ciro. But, I will not let an offense such as this go. I will not kill him.”

  “That is all I ask,” Ciro nodded resolutely, accepting that he would not change Vasile’s mind.

  Vasile looked back at Rico who had finally gotten to his feet.

  “I don’t want to fight you,” he told
Vasile.

  “I didn’t ask what you wanted and you are not high enough in any pack to tell me what you want. You will learn your place. We are facing an evil like the world has never known. I cannot afford to have disobedient wolves under my command, nor can your Alphas. You made your choice when you spoke disrespectfully of me and my mate.”

  Vasile lunged and phased in midair. Rico jumped back just in time to keep from being tackled by the huge black wolf. Rico phased and bared his teeth at the Alpha. Vasile was much larger than the other wolf, though Rico didn’t seem the least intimidated. That was his first mistake.

  Vasile circled the smaller wolf. His lips pulled back from his teeth and his body shook with the effort to hold himself back. He was waiting; he knew that the younger wolf would grow impatient and make a hasty decision. He didn’t have to wait long. Rico threw his body into Vasile, his shoulder caught Vasile in the throat temporarily cutting off the Alpha’s air. Vasile laughed to himself. If this pup thought that air is what kept him alive, then he knew not of what it was to be mated. The only thing that gave him life was the woman lying beyond his reach in their bed. Next to her, air was optional. He spun around out of the shoulder that had been pressed into him and grabbed Rico’s back leg. He crushed his jaws together and heard the snap in the bone. A collective groan vibrated in the background, but Vasile shut it out. He quickly let go of the leg and jumped back. He circled again, then lunged forward, quickly biting hard into the young pup’s flank. He tasted blood in his mouth and his wolf wanted to howl for the victory of first blood. Over and over, Vasile lunged, bit, and jumped back. Rico never got close to Vasile after that first lunge. Once Vasile saw that there wasn’t an inch of Rico’s fur that wasn’t coated in blood, he lunged a final time and grabbed the other wolfs throat. He pulled his head back and Rico’s body went up and over Vasile’s head as he slammed him on the ground. A loud grunt rushed out of the wolf’s lungs. Vasile tightened his hold on the pup’s throat and growled. He waited. Finally the wolf closed his eyes and stretched his head back fully exposing his neck. Vasile released Rico and snarled a final time. He stepped off of him and phased back into his human form. He stood, oblivious to his nakedness, and howled. The wolves all joined in and when he stopped, so did they.

  “I will have order. Anyone who feels the need to exert their dominance please let me know, and I will remind you why that is not a good idea. This had better not happen again.” He walked back over to the Alphas, effectively dismissing the other wolves.

  “I’m not going to ask how you let this happen because I understand that controlling dominant wolves in this setting is difficult at best. What I am going to ask is what are you going to do to prevent it from happening again? We can’t afford to be at odds with each other. If Desdemona figures out a way to divide us, she will exploit it. Don’t give her that ammunition; she has enough without our help.”

  “Alpha,” Vasile heard from behind him. He turned to see Peri standing there with the other members of the Fae council.

  “Have you been standing there the whole time?” He asked her.

  She nodded nonchalantly.

  “And, you didn’t think to help?” A low growl slipped through with his words.

  Peri stepped forward, not the least bit intimidated. Or at least if she was she didn’t let it show.

  “Excuse me, but I was trying to focus so that I could save your mate, as well as the others, from the spell that has been put on them. So no, I didn’t consider helping. Not to mention, it’s quite a show watching healthy young men phase back and forth. You know, there’s that whole naked thing going on.” Peri, looked at him pointedly.

  Vasile rolled his eyes. “So glad to know that you were so concerned that you felt the need to watch the fight instead of trying to stop it.”

  “I pick my battles, Vasile. And, far be it from me to stop fine men from getting naked. If it ever comes to that, just shoot me.”

  “I may just shoot you now and get it over with,” Vasile grumbled. “You say you can take the spell off of Alina?”

  “I believe we can,” she motioned to the other Fae.

  “Let’s go,” he turned to go but stopped and looked over his shoulders at the Alphas. “Deal with your crap, or I will.” Then turned and walked away.

  Peri looked back at the Alphas and grinned. A few of them were naked from their phase. She raised her eyebrows suggestively. “If any of you need help dealing, by all means, let me know,” she told them with a laugh as she watched a few of them blush. She followed Vasile and left the blushing wolves. She had work to do, but that much needed breather had helped clear her head of all the worry that had been cluttering it up.

  “So how do we break the spell?” Vasile called back.

  “Not a clue,” she volleyed.

  Chapter 17

  “I really thought that eighteen years ago, when I found out that the man that I loved was a werewolf, that I had exceeded the level of weirdness that my life could ever handle. I was wrong, so, so wrong.” ~Lilly

  “Okay, I will admit it Thalion,” Lilly smiled as they entered a room holding more books than she had ever seen. There were shelves overflowing with bound volumes and table after table stacked full of them. Even the floor of the large room in which she stood boasted piles of more books. “You were right. It didn’t take long.”

  “I tried to tell you.”

  “Yes, well, my track record with supernaturals is a little rough, so forgive me if my first thought was to think that you were full of crap.”

  “I’m going to try and not be offended by that,” Cyn told her.

  Lilly smiled at the Fae as she walked around the room, looking at the shelves of books and papers stacked haphazardly in every corner. From the outside, the building looked like a home from a fairytale. The inside, however, resembled a huge study, containing scattered tables and several different seating areas containing plush couches. A huge fireplace stood on the north wall, boasting a crackling fire that cast a warm glow throughout the room.

  “Why does the outside of this place look like a regular house?” Lilly asked.

  “Keeps anyone who doesn’t belong here, out.” Thalion explained. “Not that we have many visitors, but it’s always better to be safe. There’s a lot of information contained in these tomes, most of which, many other races would not want to be public knowledge.”

  “In other words,” Cypher cut in, “if they found out this place even existed they would burn it to the ground.”

  “Huh,” Lilly nodded, “alright then.”

  “What are we looking for?” Cyn asked.

  Thalion walked slowly around the room, his eyes roaming over the books. “It’s a brown, leather book. The only distinguishing mark on it is the word Nushtonia.”

  Lilly looked over at Thalion. The word was not English and frankly not any language she had ever heard. “What language is that and what does it mean?”

  “It’s the language of the underworld,” Cypher answered.

  “They have their own language?” Lilly’s brow wrinkled as she looked at Cypher doubtfully.

  “Yes, and it is wise not to use it,” Cyn shot Thalion a warning look.

  “They have no power here,” he told her.

  “Word travels faster and farther than you know. You have spent far too much time separated, cut off from everything going on.”

  “Haven’t we already been over this?” Thalion asked.

  “Maybe, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need to hear it again.”

  Lilly held her hand out for a high five from Cyn, who simply looked at it. Lilly rolled her eyes, picked up Cyn's hand, and slapped it against hers.

  “So what does this n word mean?” Lilly, asked again.

  Cyn let out a slow breath before finally answering. “It’s hard to translate into the human tongue, but basically it means open this and the world as you know it, is over.”

  “All that from one little word?” Lilly asked.

  Cyn shrugged. “I s
aid it was hard to translate.”

  “So if the word on the outside is demon language, than is it safe to say that this book was written by demons?” Lilly asked.

  “That is correct,” Thalion, told her as he continued to scan the vast library.

  “How did you come across a book scribed by the demons?” Cypher asked.

  “That is an interesting story,” Thalion said evasively, “and perhaps should be told at a better time.”

  “When exactly would be a better time, considering we need to do the exact opposite of what the title tells us not to?” Lilly asked, dryly.

  Thalion looked over his shoulder at her. “Fair enough. Make yourself useful and help look for the book while I tell you the tale.”

  Lilly, Cyn, and Cypher began going through shelves and stacks of books as Thalion began the story.

  “A very long time ago…”

  “How long exactly?” Lilly asked

  Thalion’s lips tightened, as he narrowed his eyes at Lilly. “If you want me to tell the story you are going to have to listen, and if you are talking, you cannot be listening.”

  Lilly held her hands up. “Proceed,” she muttered.

  “It was so long ago that the Warlock King was not even a thought in the wind,” Thalion continued. “The human world was very young and the disobedient children of God had just fallen, creating the underworld. Your God because of their desire to be like God forsook them. They craved and desired, the one thing that they should have never wanted, and that was to be as great as their creator. During this time of peace, the supernaturals traveled freely between the realms. We all knew of the fallen, the angels that had become demons, and knew that they were never to be released from the hell in which they had been cast. Their evil was beyond anything that we had ever known. The leader of them, Lucifer, had declared war on the human children of God and desired more than anything to take their souls, to drag them to the hell he and his were stuck in for all eternity. All of the supernatural races were warned by an angel of God to never allow the demons from the underworld to escape their own realm. The veil was sealed by the angel and hidden from all.