“Death is a part of life, child. I did not create you to be immortal, even though I gave you long lives. Jennifer was to come home to be with me, and she chose not to. She went against the laws of nature. The Fates are the ones who watch over all supernaturals, not just my wolves. They keep the balance and even I cannot interfere with that balance. If you are still sure that this is what you want, then it will begin tonight. She is in her second trimester of the pregnancy. It will take the rest of that time to fully eliminate the bond between you. And do not worry about how you will put distance between you. There is an opportunity coming.”

Decebel’s stomach tightened at this information. When he started to ask her what she meant, she was already gone.

As he started to stand, he felt as though the weight of the world was now draped across his shoulders and he saw no way to be rid of it. He turned to leave the quiet peace of the garden, and just as he reached the door, he grabbed onto the frame as he stumbled. He felt a sharp pain rip through him and then it was gone. But left in its place was what felt like a small tear in whatever seam held him together. He closed his eyes, searching for Jennifer, needing to know if she was okay. He found her in their bedroom. Her face was pale and Sally was helping her sit down. He clinched his jaw as he thought about how it should be him helping her. It should be his arms around her, checking on her and comforting her. She looked so confused and scared.

It had begun, just as the Great Luna had promised, their bond was being broken—the bond that had saved him from darkness was now being taken from him and it was of his own doing.

Chapter 5

“Whoever came up with the saying when it rains it pours was a bloody optimist. In my experience, when it rains, it doesn’t just pour. More likely, it is a tsunami. I mean the wind blows so hard that houses fly around like Dorothy’s shack and Toto can just kiss his hairy butt goodbye. Rain comes down in sheets so thick that you might just drown out on the street. And while all this is going on, we have werewolf males doing the complete opposite of what is in their nature to do. They are running in the wrong freaking direction. I mean, seriously guys, what the hell is up with that? When it rains it pours, HA, that’s a good one.” ~Jacque

Sally was sitting next to Jen on the bed when the door came flying open. Jacque came running in with a frown on her face. Behind her, Peri and Lilly followed.

“Lilly!”  Sally smiled and jumped to her feet to give her a hug.

“Hey Ms. P,” Jen said from the spot where she sat. She didn’t get up because she was nervous that the sudden pain would come back. Sally had called Cynthia to come check on her and they had been waiting when Jacque and the two others had come barging in.

Jacque had yet to say anything but stood off to the side with her arms folded across her chest with her face pinched into a tight frown.

“Um, Jacque aren’t you glad to see your mom?” Jen asked.

“She would be, if the reason she was seeing her wasn’t because her king is giving her the boot,” Peri interjected.

“Thank you for that, Peri,” Jacque snapped.

“What?” Sally’s eyes widened as she took a step back so she could see everyone in the room.

“What do you mean giving her the boot?” Jen nearly snarled as she started to stand.

The door flew up again before anyone could answer and Cynthia came rushing in.

“Are you alright...any blood, nausea, vomiting?”  The questions flew from her mouth like rapid fire gun shots as she continued towards Jen. She ignored the others as she took Jen’s pulse and listened to her respirations and then listened for the heartbeat of the baby.

“Calm down, Dr. Quinn, medicine woman. It was a false alarm. I had a brief moment of pain and then it was gone. Sally was just being over cautious.”

Cynthia looked around and noticed for the first time that the room was full of women.

“Where the heck is your mate?”

Yet again the door flew open, only much harder since it was a large, upset wolf who came through it.

“Jennifer,” Decebel maneuvered quite gracefully for his large size around the women until he stood in front of his mate.

“Are you alright?” he asked gently as he brushed his fingers against her cheek.

Jen felt the familiar butterflies that Decebel always triggered in her as if they lie dormant until he touched her or even simply looked at her as he was doing right now.

She nodded. “It was nothing, just a sharp pain and then gone.”

Decebel stared into her eyes. As she tried to search in his mind to find out what he was thinking, she felt him gently push her out. She was still angry about their earlier discussion, but now there were other things to think about.

“Not now, okay. Later, we’ll talk.” He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead and the act was so gentle, so unlike her mate, that once again she felt the unease of knowing that something was wrong.

“What’s going on?”  Decebel asked as he turned to face the group of women.

Peri let out an exasperated huff. “Can we please just get anyone necessary for this little meeting of the not-so-stable minds in here so we don’t have to repeat it fifteen bloody times?”

“Vasile wants us to meet in the great hall,” Costin said from the doorway. All the eyes in the room swept over to look at him.

“Finally, someone who doesn’t nearly rip my door off to get in,” Jen grumbled. Decebel slipped his hand into hers and gave it a small squeeze, which just sent those damn butterflies soaring up her throat and nearly out of her eyes in the form of tears.

Everyone in the room was still looking at Costin like he was a funny growth on the wall.

He huffed when nobody moved. “My mate informed me of what was going on so I took it upon myself to share it with Vasile. That’s how I have a freaking clue. Can we all please go to the great hall now?”

Everyone nodded in unison with small ‘oh’ and ‘right’ coming from them. By the time everyone had filed out of the room, Fane was there waiting to take Jacque’s hand. They stayed at the back of the group with Lilly walking next to them.

No one spoke, as if there was an unwritten law that kept them from discussing the matter until they were all gathered, just a Peri had suggested.

Vasile, Alina, Wadim, Cyn, Sorin, Elle, Adam and Crina all sat waiting for them in the large room.

“The gang’s all here Vasile,” Peri announced, “gathered again. It’s sort of like one of those where are they now specials on Oprah.”