Den of Sorrows

by Quinn Loftis

  Then they’d recruited Wadim to get the blood. First order of business, Rachel had said, was to see if anyone in the pack had type O blood. Type O, apparently, could be given to anybody. Peri had immediately decided that the reason they called it type O was because if they needed that type of blood it must be because they were in an “O-shit” emergency, which of course they were.

  So there she was, holding on to two people who she cared for deeply and who would be missed beyond measure if she and Rachel were unable to save them. No pressure.

  Peri felt a sudden rush of power and then reassuring love flow through the mate bond. Her wolf, ever mindful of her and her needs.

  “It is not your job to save every person every time,” Lucian’s voice filled her mind. He wasn’t being unkind and she knew that. He was being his usual, straight forward, un-emotional self.

  “Maybe not, but it is my job to save these two. They are mine, Lucian. They have been mine since the first time Jacque smarted off to me. The only way I will let them go is if the Great Luna herself takes them from my hands. And even then I might argue.”

  “Might?”

  “Okay, I’d definitely argue. The point is, you should understand why I do this. You have seen all my lives, the millennia that I spent on my own. It has taken three thousand years for me to find my family, but I finally have and I’m not ready to lose any of them.”

  She heard his sigh and knew that he just wanted to fix things for her. “Then don’t lose them. I will give you anything you need. But remember something, Perizada, they may be yours, but you are mine. It is my job to care for you. Please be mindful of that when you are putting yourself through hell.”

  “You didn’t really think I’d make being my mate easy, did you?”

  This made him laugh and she loved the sound of his laughter, it brought her hope. “I would be disappointed if you made it easy, female.”

  “Good to know. Put on your big girl panties, wolf, because it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

  “The darker the night only means that the dawn will be that much more beautiful.”

  “I’m ready for the dawn, dammit.”

  “As am I, beloved. As am I.”

  Decebel pulled Jen tighter against him and he felt her shiver. She was exhausted. He’d finally convinced her to get some sleep when she’d been holding Thia and had fallen asleep sitting up. Her heart was broken and he had no idea what to do to help her keep the pieces together until it could be mended. Jacque and Fane could not die. He wouldn’t allow it. If they died, it would destroy his mate. There would be a part of her that would forever be lost and he wouldn’t be able to fix it.

  Jennifer was strong. She was a force to be reckoned with, but she was not impervious to anguish or loss. She was someone who loved so deeply, so completely, and without ever expecting anything in return. He knew that if she could put her life in place of Jacque’s she would, without thought. She would simply do it because she loved her friend.

  She rolled over, still sound asleep, and buried her face in his neck. Decebel tucked her closer, offering her his love, shelter, and warmth. In that moment, it was all that he could give her. His mate was a woman who he would move mountains for, destroy nations for, or even build dog houses for even though they didn’t have a dog. And yet, despite his willingness to do those things, the only thing he could give her now was love and nothing more. It would be so much easier to destroy an enemy for her than to sit and see her wrestle with something that he couldn’t fight.

  As his own exhaustion began to catch up with him and he felt his eyes beginning to close, he sent out a prayer to the Great Luna. “Please do not take them, not yet. They are still needed here and can still be of great service. I know, regardless of anything we do, it is ultimately you who holds your children’s lives in your hands. Spare them. Spare their child the loss of his parents. Spare my mate the loss of a sister. Spare one of my dearest friends the loss of his son. Please hear me. Please. Hear me.”

  Jennifer stirred and then sat up.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, watching her face closely.

  “With all the crap going on, I totally forgot about Bethany and Drake. Peri was supposed to have taken them to our pack mansion, but she said she was going to lock Drake up. Crap, I wonder if Bethany is okay.” She started to get up but Decebel pulled her back down.

  “I will call and have someone check on them.”

  She looked like she might argue but then surprised him. “Fine. But tell them to take them food and water and blankets and pillows. Oh and tell them not to get near Bethany or the cage for that matter. Drake is feral, or he was when he found his mate bleeding, locked in a cell in the vampires’ coven. I don’t know if he’s going to be able to control himself, even with Bethany with him.” She let out a deep breath and nodded. “I think that’s it. Oh, also tell them to tell Bethany where a bathroom is. She probably hasn’t gotten to shower or pee alone in a very long time.”

  Decebel stared at her. “You never cease to amaze me,” he said as he reached for his cell phone on the nightstand. “Here you are hurting and worried about your two best friends and yet you’re also continuing to lead your pack. I couldn’t have asked for a better mate or Alpha female.”

  She took his compliments in stride by shrugging and saying, “Bossing people around makes me feel useful. I hate feeling helpless, B. It will drive me crazy.”

  “Then I will make sure you have as many people possible to boss around for as long as you need them.”

  She smiled at him, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “I love you, Dec.”

  “And I’m a better man for it,” he said as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I love you, Jennifer.” He dialed the number to his fourth and gave the orders his mate had given him.

  Before he could end the call Jen grabbed the phone. “And don’t scare her or I’ll rip your leg off and beat you with it.” She ended the call, tossed the phone to the side and then curled up back where she’d been sleeping. “And that is how you do it,” she mumbled against his skin.

  Bethany felt weak. She was hungry and the blood Sincaro had taken had been a lot more than usual.

  “Are you cold?” Drake asked her, his voice gentle.

  “A little. Do you think she forgot about us?” she asked him, speaking about the woman called Peri, who had left them in the room with nothing but a cage and some sweatpants.

  “I think that something has happened that has kept her from returning.”

  Bethany could tell he was trying not to sound worried, but she could feel it through the bond thing between them.

  “What are,” Bethany started to speak when the only door in the room flew open. She heard Drake move behind her but didn’t become alarmed until she heard snarling. Bethany turned away from the man who’d just entered the room and her eyes widened at the sight of the huge wolf. She started to back away from the cage but froze when she heard his voice.

  “Move to the other side, by the shelves with the clothes,” Drake sounded calm, but she felt as though it was deceiving as to what he was really feeling.

  She turned her back to the wall so that she was facing the newcomer as she backed away. Drake was snarling and growling with such ferocity that she worried that perhaps the man standing there looking startled was dangerous to her.

  “Decebel and Jen sent me,” the man said as he attempted to look anywhere but directly at the wolf snarling at him. When he turned to look at her, Drake lunged, crashing into the cage. The man backed up. “Okay, okay, I won’t look at her. I’m supposed to show her where the bathroom is, and I brought food, water, blankets and pillows.”

  Bethany just stood there unsure of what she should do. After several minutes of nothing but Drake snarling and the man standing there looking at the ground, she decided she’d better say something.

  “If you will just leave the stuff there outside the door, I can grab it once you’re gone. I don’t think he will like it if I come ove
r there while you are in here.” Drake growled louder as if needing to punctuate her words.

  “What about the bathroom? Jen, she’s the Alpha female of our pack, thought you would like to clean up, take a shower, and brush your teeth.”

  Bethany did not like the idea of being naked in a house full of people she didn’t know.

  “I can wait on the shower,” she paused and turned to look at Drake. “Or, if you let him out he could go with me and guard the door. I would feel safer with that than going on my own.”

  “Do not let me out of the cage, Bethany.” His statement and the anguish that filled his voice surprised her.

  The man started toward the cage. “Wait! Stop!” she yelled. The man jumped back when Drake lunged again. “Okay, bad idea. Drake said not to let him out of the cage.”

  The man’s eyes widened. “You’re his mate?”

  Bethany shrugged. “Looks that way.”

  “But he’s not in control. How can you be his mate and him still be like that?” He pointed at the wolf who was practically foaming at the mouth.

  “I don’t really know what he’s supposed to be like. I’m new to the whole werewolf, mate thing.”

  After several more minutes of tense silence, the guy turned to go. “I’ll just leave this stuff here like you asked.”

  He closed the door behind himself and Bethany let out the breath she’d been holding. She turned to look at Drake who had already phased back to his human form. He held out a hand, silently requesting another pair of sweats. She tossed them to him, too distracted by what the guy had said to notice his nudity or be embarrassed by it.

  “What did he mean, Drake? He acted like you should somehow be acting differently because of me.”

  Drake pulled the pants on and then stepped over to the right side of the cage. He wrapped his hands around the bars and leaned his head against them with his eyes closed. “He means I shouldn’t be feral.”

  “Feral? What does that mean?”

  “It means my wolf has lost control. The darkness has seeped too deep inside and when my wolf takes over, I can’t control him. Usually a male who finds their true mate has more control over his wolf. Most males don’t like their mates to touch other males, but being in the same room with another male, especially a pack mate, doesn’t usually bring on violence. My wolf doesn’t want any males near you. If I hadn’t been in this cage, I would have killed him.” She knew he was talking about the man who’d just been there. But he didn’t say his name, almost as if saying his name would make him too much of a person, and not an enemy.

  “Okay,” she said slowly. “So, what will happen?”

  Drake’s scarred back was tense as he answered. “My Alpha will have to kill me.”

  Epilogue

  "I'm falling. I keep waiting to hit the ground, to feel my body be crushed from the impact, but it never happens. I just keep falling. It's a continual state of moving, yet going nowhere" ~Sally

  Sally Morgan sat on the balcony of her apartment staring out at the slowly setting sun. She loved sunsets. She loved knowing that, even as the darkness fell, the day wasn’t really ending. Rather, a new one was on its way to beginning.

  She needed a new beginning. Her parents’ deaths had been sudden and in the blink of an eye she found herself on her own. As soon as her parents had been buried and their house cleaned out, she'd packed up her stuff and driven all the way to South Carolina. And the only reason she stopped there was because the ocean was in the way. She'd come to the last town before the ocean began and found an apartment within a day of arriving. Tomorrow she would begin putting in applications for a job.

  The paper lay beside her on the little table next to her chair. She’d circled little ads here and there. Sally picked it up and glanced back over the employment section. She'd circled two advertisements for department stores—she liked clothes so she thought that could be fun. She had circled one for a bank—at least at a bank she'd have weekends off. She'd circled one for a vet clinic—she loved animals. Those all made sense to her. But the last job she'd circled was a mystery to her and the only reason she could think that she'd picked it was because she needed a new beginning. She wanted to try things she'd never done before and be someone she'd never been. So when she'd read the ad for, 'Bartender needed, will train, no experience necessary', Sally had circled it on a whim. Out of all the jobs she'd considered, it was the only one that felt right to her. Who knows, maybe she'd actually even be good at it?

  Thank you so much for taking your time to read Den of Sorrows. I truly hope that you enjoyed it and don’t dislike me too much for that ending…just remember I believe in happy endings. It just might take our favorite characters going through hell, and back, before we get there. Hang in there! There is more to come. I’ve already started working on Book 10 in the Grey Wolves Series. Many of you ask how many books will be in this series and my answer is as many as the characters will let me write. As long as the story continues to unfold and it doesn’t become boring or blah, then I will keep writing the GWS. Check out my other books, as well as the following talented YA authors.

  Books by Quinn Loftis

  Grey Wolves Series

  Prince of Wolves

  Blood Rites

  Just One Drop

  Out of the Dark

  Beyond the Veil

  Fate and Fury

  Sacrifice of Love

  Luna of Mine

  Piercing Silence, Grey Wolves Novella

  Den of Sorrows

  Book 10 Coming soon!

  Elfin Series

  Elfin

  Rapture

  Surrender

  The Gypsy Healer Series

  Into the Fae

  Wolf of Stone

  Jewel of Darkness

  Book 4 Coming Soon

  Dream Makers Series

  Dream of Me

  Dream so Dark, Book 2 Coming Soon

  Stand Alone Works

  Call Me Crazy

  Other YA Authors to Check out:

  Relentless, By Karen Lynch

  Sara Grey’s world shattered ten years ago when her father was brutally murdered. Now at seventeen, she is still haunted by memories of that day and driven by the need to understand why it happened. She lives a life full of secrets and her family and friends have no idea of the supernatural world she is immersed in or of Sara’s own very powerful gift. In her quest for answers about her father’s death, Sara takes risks that expose her and her friends to danger and puts herself into the sights of a sadistic vampire. On the same fateful night she meets Nikolas, a warrior who turns Sara’s world upside down and is determined to protect her even if it’s the last thing she wants

  Sara’s life starts to spin out of control as she is hunted by an obsessed vampire, learns that her friends have secrets of their own and reels from the truth about her own ancestry. Sara has always been fiercely independent but in order to survive now she must open herself to others, to reveal her deepest secrets. And she must learn to trust the one person capable of breaking down the walls around her.

  Runes, By Ednah Walters

  Seventeen-year-old Raine Cooper has enough on her plate dealing with her father’s disappearance, her mother’s erratic behavior and the possibility of her boyfriend relocating. The last thing she needs is Torin St. James—a mysterious new neighbor with a wicked smile and uncanny way of reading her.

  Raine is drawn to Torin’s dark sexiness against her better judgment, until he saves her life with weird marks and she realizes he is different. But by healing her, Torin changes something inside Raine. Now she can’t stop thinking about him. Half the time, she’s not sure whether to fall into his arms or run.

  Scared, she sets out to find out what Torin is. But the closer she gets to the truth the more she uncovers something sinister about Torin. What Torin is goes back to an ancient mythology and Raine is somehow part of it. Not only are she and her friends in danger, she must choose a side, but the wrong choice will cost Raine her life<
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  Hope{less}, By Melissa Haag

  Gabby's brain is like a human fish finder. It comes in handy when she wants to avoid people. Mostly men. They seem to like her a bit too much. It's lonely being different, but she's adapted to it. Really. She just wishes she knew why she is different, though.

  In her search for answers, she discovers a hidden community of werewolves. She immerses herself in their culture, learning about their world until she meets Clay. He's unkempt, prone to mood swings, intense without saying a word, and he thinks Gabby is his.

  It's going to take every trick she knows to convince Clay to go away, and every bit of willpower not to fall for him when she discovers the man beneath the rough exterior.

  Delve into a riveting world of werewolves and young women with unexplained abilities, in Hope(less).

  Perfekt Order, By S.T. Bende

  All's fair when you're in love with War.

  For seventeen-year-old Mia Ahlström, a world ruled by order is the only world she allows. A lifetime of chore charts, to-do lists and study schedules have helped earn her a spot at Redwood State University’s engineering program. And while her five year plan includes finding her very own happily-evah-aftah, years at an all-girls boarding school left her feeling woefully unprepared for keg parties and co-ed extracurricular activities.

  So nothing surprises her more than catching the eye of Tyr Fredriksen at her first college party. The imposing Swede is arrogantly charming, stubbornly overprotective, and runs hot-and-cold in ways that defy reason . . . until Mia learns that she’s fallen for the Norse God of War; an immortal battle deity hiding on Midgard (Earth) to protect a valuable Asgardian treasure from a feral enemy. With a price on his head, Tyr brings more than a little excitement to Mia’s rigidly controlled life. Choosing Tyr may be the biggest distraction—or the greatest adventure—she’s ever had.