“Were?” Vasile asked.
“They were murdered,” Skender said, his voice sounding strained when he continued, “by humans.”
“Humans?” Vasile frowned. “Did these humans know the true nature of her parents? Did they intentionally murder Canis lupus?”
“Yes. There is much I have to tell you,” Skender said. “But I can’t do it over a phone. I need to come back, and I want to bring my mate with me.”
“You sound as though you are asking permission,” Vasile said carefully. “What are you not telling me, Skender?”
“When I first met my mate, the Order brought me in as a carefully watched guest.”
“A nice way of calling you a prisoner?” Vasile asked.
“You could say that. But as time went on, they began to trust me. I was able to move more freely, and they relaxed around me. I heard some disturbing things, Alpha. Things that maybe I should have done something about, but I didn’t because of fear of retaliation against my mate.” Skender cleared his throat before continuing. “I heard they got Sally.”
Vasile didn’t respond immediately. He waited, hoping Skender would reveal more of what he might know.
The other wolf cleared his throat again. “I heard they wiped her memory,” Skender said.
“Who, exactly, did you hear this from?” Vasile asked after another moment of silence.
“Alpha, I can’t discuss this over the phone. It just isn’t safe. I need assurances before I can return,” Skender said. “I need to make sure none of the other pack members will try to retaliate against me. I’ve finally convinced my mate to leave the Order. I made her see just how evil they are.”
Vasile could hear genuine concern in his packmate's voice. The wolf was scared. Skender was wise to be wary. Other members of the pack might attack Skender on sight if they knew he'd been part of the Order. But Vasile hesitated. Vasile had known Skender a long time and the Alpha could tell his old packmate was hiding something. But Vasile couldn't figure out what. Part of Skender's story wasn't true, and Vasile needed to know what the wolf was up to. The Alpha hoped if Skender was there in person, he would be able to pick apart the lies from the deception.
“Come home, Skender, and bring your female. We will figure this out as we would figure out any other problem—as a pack.”
Ahalf hourafter finding Zara, Sally and the others returned to the pack mansion. By this point, Sally was chomping at the bit to see Titus. She hadn’t forgotten about him when they’d arrived. She’d simply reacted to helping a packmate in need when she saw Zara sprint off into the forest. But now that Zara was out of the woods, literally and figuratively, at least for a while, Sally could focus on her son and how desperately she wanted to see him.
“He’s with Gavril,” Costin said.
Sally looked up at him as they entered the doors to the pack home. Her brow furrowed.
Her mate shrugged. “I can feel your need to see him and I want to see him just as badly,” her mate said. “We can meet up with the others in Vasile’s office later. I’m sure they will understand. Also, I wanted to see if you were okay with us staying here at our suite instead of going back to the Serbia mansion. We’re probably going to be here every day anyways.”
She nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. I bet Jen and Decebel will be staying here too. We should just talk to Vasile about expanding this mansion or adding some homes on the land around and bringing everyone to the Serbia mansion.”
Costin took her hand, and she let him lead her to Gavril and Rachel’s suite. He knocked and they waited, though Sally wasn’t feeling nearly as patient as Costin seemed to be.
The door opened a few seconds later, and Gavril stepped back to allow them to enter. Sally had barely stepped through the door when a small body crashed into her legs. Little arms wrapped around her legs and squeezed her tightly.
“You’re back!” Titus exclaimed as he looked up at her, his bright smile beaming like the noon-day summer sun. “The angel said you’d be back. She also said you were better and that Daddy was better. She said I needed to ask you questions about wolves, but I’m pretty sure I already know what that’s all about. And she said that I was destined—that meansmeant for—great things. She said a lot of things, but the most important was that you and Daddy are okay and back home.” He didn’t take a breath as the words rushed out of him in one long run-on sentence.
“Sounds like your angel had a nice long chat with you,” Sally said as she pulled him back so she could kneel in front of him and pull him into her arms. She held him tightly, as if she could somehow protect him from all the nightmares in the world by keeping him in the shelter of her arms. Sally knew that wasn’t possible because Costin held her tightly all the time and still she faced the ugly evil of the world.
When she released Titus, Costin knelt down and wrapped their son in a hug and then stood up, holding the little boy and looking at him as only a father could. There was pride, joy, love, concern, and much more shining in Costin’s eyes.
Titus framed Costin’s face, as he was known to do, with his little hands. “You’re a good man, Daddy. You know why?”
Costin shook his head. “Why?”
“Because you do the right thing even when it isn’t easy. That’s what the angel said.”
Sally bit her bottom lip as tears slipped from her eyes. How she and Costin were blessed to end up with Titus as their son, she would never know, but she was eternally grateful.
Titus wiggled until Costin put him down, and then the boy took both Sally’s and Costin’s hand. “Come on, I need to show you what Uncle Gavril has been teaching me.”
Sally looked back at Gavril, who simply shrugged with a sheepish smile on his usually grim face.
