Vasile shook his head. “None have been brought to my attention. It’s been years since I’ve had to deal with one”
Peri let out a resigned sigh. “That’s what I thought.”
“Please tell me you are going somewhere with this and you didn’t just call us down here to verify something we already knew,” Decebel growled out.
She glanced at the Serbia Alpha—surprised at the comment, which sounded more like something that should have come from Jen’s mouth.
“He’s cranky,” Jen said by way of apology.
“Please don’t tell us why he’s cranky,” Jacque said quickly.
Jen rolled her eyes. “Get your head out of my gutter, Red. It’s nothing that interesting. He’s cranky because—”
“Jennifer,” Decebel growled.
She looked at her mate. “I should make that my ringtone. ‘Jennifer,’ ” she mimicked in a sing-songy growl, attempting to imitate her mate’s deep voice. There were several coughs of laughter around the room. Peri had to admit, Jen’s impression of her mate was freaking hilarious.
“He’s pissy because one of the doghouses fell apart.” She started laughing before she could even finish the sentence. “One second—” She paused, gasping for her air between laughs. “It was there and then…plop.” She slapped her hand on the table she was standing next to. “It was no more. Perhaps, it didn’t help his mood that I busted out my phone and found a sound bite of the bugle song they play at funerals. I had it wailing as Dec picked through the crumbled remains of his first doghouse.”
Peri’s shoulders shook as she tried to keep her laughter from joining the others. Decebel had his head bowed and his hand was pinching the bridge of his nose. He was holding it together by a thread, which only made Peri laugh harder.
Apparently, the Alpha was done being laughed at because a surge of his power rushed the room. Fane, Jacque, and Wadim were the only ones affected to the point of stumbling. Decebel outranked them. But Vasile, Alina, Cypher, Lilly, the fae, and his mate, simply stood still under its assault.
Peri narrowed her eyes at him. “Done?”
“Are you?” he snapped back.
“Touché,” she conceded. “Now, back to the why behind the questions. The pixies have found more wolves.” She paused and watched as her words sunk in. “Wolves that we believe do not belong to any of the known packs. I’ll know for sure after I’ve investigated further, but we are fairly certain that they are rogues.”
“Where?” Cypher spoke for the first time. As a supernatural leader, he could understand the dangers of having supernaturals running about unpoliced.
“A quaint town in South Carolina called Oceanside.”
“Let me guess,” Jacque said. “It’s by the ocean.”
Peri shook her head. “Actually, no, it’s inland, closer to the mountains.”
“Oh, really?”
“No, not really. Of course, it’s by the ocean. Just because you nearly died does not give you a license to make stupid statements that waste oxygen.”
“Damn,” Jen muttered. “Did your doghouse fall apart too?”
Jacque snorted. “Good one,” she said as she high-fived her blonde friend.
“Do you know how many there are? Alina asked.
“Doghouses? Just the one now,” Jen continued.
Now it was the female Alpha’s turn to growl. “You know what I mean,” she barked.
The high fae cleared her throat. “So far my little spies have counted four—two males and two females.”
“Mated pairs?” Fane asked from his spot, leaning up against the wall behind his mate.
Peri huffed. “They’re spies, not dogs. They can’t smell the lingering scent of hanky panky.”
“Wait, is that a thing?” Jacque’s head pulled back and her eyes darted around the room. “Can dogs really do that?”
