Jacque grinned. “Glad to see you two being all lovey dovey with the inside couple jokes. It’s cute.”
“Yes, it’s adorable, blah, blah, blah,” Jen said. “Now, on three.” She motioned to their stacked hands.
As Jen counted off, Sally looked at her mate and then at Jacque. “Do you think she’d really kick us out of her group?” Sally asked hopefully.
Jacque shook her head. “She’s dumbed us down so much, we’re the only ones foolish enough to be her friend. She wouldn’t be able to find anyone else.”
They yelled the battle cry with Jen and laughed because she looked so pleased with herself. Then the blonde started back down the stairs.
“Now where are you going?” Costin asked.
“We,” she said, emphasizing the word, “are going on a hunt. We’ve got a she-wolf to save.”
“You were just running away from said she-wolf,” Jacque pointed out.
“Yes, but now we’ve said the chant and declared ourselves all bad asses. If we tuck tail and run now, we look like dweebs.”
They started after her, and Sally whispered. “I’m pretty sure we look like dweebs anyway.”
Jacque held up her hand and high fived Sally. “Truth, sista. You speak nothing but truth.”
Jen threw open the front door and stepped out into the night. They might just be about to get themselves mauled by a crazed she-wolf, but at least they would be mauled together in an attempt to help someone they loved, someone in need, and someone who was having trouble seeing the light in the darkness.
Sally stepped up next to her two best friends with her mate on her other side and took a deep breath. “We’ve never left a chick behind, and we aren’t going to start now. It’s go time, ladies. Let’s do this.” She breathed out.
Jen laughed. “I knew, deep down, you loved my military lingo.”
“Operation Drag-a-she-wolf-home has commenced,” Jacque added.
“Hold on to your butts,” Costin said with a dimpled grin.
Two other bodies stepped up beside the group, and Sally’s smile grew.
“Let’s bring the rain,” Decebel said, quoting one of his favorite robot movies.
“Lock and load,” Fane said as he clapped his hands and rubbed them together.
They moved as one as they started down the steps, running full speed into the night after one of their own.
Zara's breathcame in shallow pants as her paws pounded against the ground. Summer had come to Romania, and the unforgiving sun beat down on her shiny fur coat, making Zara feel as though she was running through a furnace. Her mind was a jumbled mess, and the heat wasn’t helping. During the past week, she'd phased in and out of her wolf form almost a dozen times. She had no idea what caused the transformation or how to prevent it.
The most recent phase came two days ago, and she'd been a wolf ever since. In wolf form, Zara was a wild beast, uncontrollable by anyone, even herself. Eventually, for her own safety and the for the safety of the other pack members, Vasile and Alina had been forced to confine her to a cage. Somewhere, deep inside the trapped beast, the human part of Zara understood the act as prudent and loving. The wolf didn't agree.
Zara’s wolf had been contained inside the human form for entirely too long. It had been trapped, helpless, while the poor human had endured everything the vampires had done to the girl. The wolf had felt every bite, every cut, every desecration. It had screamed to break free and take revenge on the vampires but was powerless to do so.We won’t be caged again,the wolf whispered into her mind.
It was a scary sensation, to have someone else’s voice in her mind, especially when she still hadn’t gotten used to having Wadim there.
I’ve always been with you,the wolf told her.
But I didn’t know that,Zara responded.
She’d thought she’d been utterly alone during her time in the vampires’ captivity. Her family was gone, and Zara hadn’t known if she’d live to see the light of day ever again. In fact, at some point, she’d resigned herself to a slow, painful death in the vampires’ dungeon. It would have been a comfort to have known about her wolf then.
You survived,her wolf said. She could hear and feel the admiration of her animal side, and it made Zara a little proud.
“Zara, please stop.”Wadim’s voice in her mind was a gentle caress. He was trying to soothe her.
“Stop what?”she asked him. In spite of herself, she could hear the desperation in her voice.“Stop randomly transforming into a wolf and acting like a rabid beast? I wish it were that simple, Wadim.”
