Three hours later.
“She left us,” Jacque whined. “She actually flipping left us.”
Sitting on a swing set in a park they found after wandering aimlessly, Jen was getting close to panic mode. “That’s it,” Jen said folding her arms in front of her chest. “I’m requesting a new fairy.”
Jacque laughed. “She’s not an item on a menu, Jen. You can’t just request a new one.”
“Well, you should be able to,” she huffed.
“What are we going to do?” Jacque asked her.
Jen peeked at her through the hands that were currently rubbing her face. “Have you contacted Fane?” she asked quietly as if he might hear her.
“Uh, that would be not just a no, but a hell no.” Jacque was shaking her head so fast she looked like a curly-haired bobble head. “Fane would blow a fuse if he found out that: one, we are here, and two, Peri left us.”
“Yeah, I’ve kept Decebel at bay too. Any time he tries to check up on me, I send him a dirty thought.”
“Of course you do,” Jacque snorted.
“Hey, if it works then I’m not changing it,” Jen told her as she pushed her feet out in front of her and pulled them back, trying to get her swing to go faster.
“You think she’s going to come back for us?” Jacque asked as she leaned her face against the chain links of the swing.
“Yes, she’ll be back. But it probably won’t be until after her happy time with Lucian. Hey, maybe that won’t take long. I mean, who knows, maybe the fae can do it in hyper mode, like ato the maxversion of wham bam thank you ma’am,” Jen chuckled.
Jacque lifted her face and her eyes narrowed as she turned to look at her. “How many times did your parents drop you on your head? You can be honest, it’s just you and me. How many times?” Jacque asked.
“Not enough to knock some sense into me, that’s for sure,” Jen muttered.
“At least you’re honest with yourself.”
Decebel raised his muzzle in the air and took a deep breath. They’d been following Costin’s trail since before dawn and had lost it a few times. This was one of those times.
He phased. Vasile and Fane followed suit.
“Can either of you smell him anywhere?” Decebel asked the two males.
“No,” Vasile said. “But I do smell—”
“Blood,” Fane interrupted. He was running as he phased and hit the ground on four paws. Decebel and Vasile were right on his flanks.
The more they ran, the stronger the smells became. Blood. So much blood. Decebel let out a low growl. They had to find Costin. They had to contain him before he did something that crossed the line of no return.
Fane came to an abrupt stop at the top of a steep slope. Decebel walked up next to him and look down at the drop. It wasn’t terribly far, but it wouldn’t be a pleasant landing. They looked around, trying to see if there was another way across. Fane gave a yip when he found a large crevice in the mountain. Light was shining through it from the other end. As soon as they entered the small crack in the rock, they caught Costin’s scent again.
He smelled of blood, death, despair, and rage. Decebel’s wolf was anxious to find their prey and he couldn’t stop the snarls he emitted as they walked through the dark crevice. Once they’d made it to the other side, they took off at a run once again, following the scent of their friend and pack mate.
Many miles later, all three wolves came to a stop. They all phased nearly at the same time.
“Human blood,” Decebel growled.
They followed in their human form, seeking out the source of the smell. When they finally found the source of the human blood, Decebel’s heart crashed to the pit of his stomach.
Costin had killed a human. Not just killed no, that was too clean a term for what the feral wolf had done. A pile of mangled limbs, intestines, and a severed head—the remains of what had once been a human man— lay on the ground before them.
Vasile knelt down and bowed his head. Decebel understood his mentor’s pain. They felt responsible. They were Alphas. They were responsible for the wellbeing of every pack member. Decebel should have recognized sooner that Costin was losing control. And now, because he hadn’t, a human had paid for it with his life.
“There is nothing we can do for the man now. The rightful thing would be to report the death, but at the moment we have more pressing matters. We have to get to Costin before he can kill anyone else,” Vasile said, turning to Decebel. He was looking for approval since Decebel was Costin’s Alpha.
