Peri cleared her throat. “Thank you for that, wolf-princess.”
“I do what I can, Peri. I do what I can.”
“The Order,” Vasile spoke up, deciding that it was better to go ahead and cut the females off before they even got started, “is an ancient organization—”
“What isn’t ancient with you supernaturals?” Jen muttered.
Vasile glanced at her with a raised brow as he paused.
“Sorry, continue,” she said with a bow of her head and a wave of her hand.
“How gracious of you, Jen. As I was saying, the Order is an ancient organization of supernaturals that believe that the human race is inferior to them. They do not think that we supernaturals should have to live in hiding.”
“But they don’t want to just come out and sayhere we are, we come in peace, do they?” Jacque asked.
Vasile shook his head. “No, they do not. They believe that life is about the survival of the fittest—the strong prevail, and the weak do not. They consider humans weak. But that doesn’t mean that they believe all supernaturals to be equal, either.”
“Who’s the leader of this Order?” Fane asked.
Vasile noted that his son was able to speak again without growling and that was a good sign, though he still hadn’t let go of his mate.
“Who knows? No one has heard from the Order in a very long time. But, it was usually the strongest member at any given time. At one time it was a fae, at another, it was a vampire,” he explained.
“I thought the fae werethemost powerful of all the supernaturals—end of story?” Jen piped up.
“We are, and don’t you forget it,” Peri told her. “But not all fae were created equal. Most of us with brains, and therefore power, would never consider joining the Order.”
“What about your father?” Decebel spoke up, his amber eyes turning on Thalion. “You said he’s involved with the Order. Could he be their leader?”
Prince Thalion shook his head. “I honestly don’t know. After seeing him today, I would not believe him to be of sound enough mind to lead such an organization.”
Jen laughed. “And what leads you to believe that any leader of a radical organization hell bent on the destruction of an entire species is ever of sound mind?”
“Point,” Jacque called out as she pointed at Jen. “She’s totally got ya there, elf boy.”
Peri rubbed her forehead. “Did I miss something while I was saving your life?” She looked over at Jacque. “I mean, did I knock some more screws loose while I was in there?”
Jacque pulled her shoulders up and scrunched up her nose. “I don’t know. It’s like these things just keep spilling out of my mouth and I can’t shut it off.”
“Soooo, there’s two of her now?” Thalion asked pointed at Jen.
Cyn elbowed him.
“Dude, B wishes there was two of me,” Jen said as she smacked her thigh and laughed.
Decebel growled and whispered something in Jen’s ear that had her frowning at him.
Vasile pinched the bridge of his nose and glanced as Peri. She shrugged. “This is how they handle a crisis, you know this. We tell them that the world is being threatened and they turn into mouthy comedians. Roll with it, Alpha.”
“We need a plan,” Vasile said as he grabbed the chair from behind his desk and rolled it around to add to the chairs that had already been maneuvered into a circle.
Jen, finally breaking free of her mate’s iron grasp, rubbed her hands together. “Now we’re talking. The Order wants to jack with my best friend. Well, I’m going to jack back.”
Jacque smacked herself in the forehead as several of the males coughed to cover their laughs. “Jen, please, please think about what you just said and never say it again.”
Jen paused and then shook her head. “Yeah, I totally don’t have an excuse for that one. That was just poor execution.”
“And she’s back,” Peri muttered.
