“Cypher has declared war on the trolls.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Decebel grumbled under his breath. Vasile ignored him and continued speaking.

“I need you to find out if Thead is aware of the declaration and if so, what response he is mustering.”

“Yes Alpha,” Skender said.

“Stand up Skender,” Vasile said in exasperation. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger and squeezed his eyes shut briefly. “My anger is not at you. It is at the situation,” he explained.

Skender simply stood and nodded.

“I will go with him,” Decebel spoke up.

“I would prefer you stay here, but as I am not your Alpha you may decide.”

Decebel met Vasile’s eyes trying to get a read on him, but all he could see was frustration and irritation.

“Fine, I will send Costin with him.”

“I am not going to deliver the weapons to Cypher,” Thalion told Vasile, “not until this threat he has professed has been retracted.”

“I think that is wise,” Vasile agreed.

“Decebel, I would like for us to speak with our top males about this. We will need to take action and it will need to be swift and hard. Thalion, you are welcome to stay and listen in. Cyn could you please summon Alston?” Vasile turned then and looked at Skender, “Wait until after we’ve discussed everything before you leave.”

Fifteen minutes later, Vasile’s office was filled with wolves, fae, and an elf prince. Decebel had quickly gathered Costin, Fane, Sorin, Gavril, Adam, Wadim, and Drake. He had asked Vasile about Boian, but Vasile had simply said that he had the wolf looking into other things. Cyn had brought Alston, and Thalion had chosen to stay. He stood leaning back against his desk, staring at absolutely nothing.

“I’m beginning to see a pattern here,” Wadim spoke up. “Every time we meet like this, you tell us that someone wants to kill us.”

There were a few snorts around the room at his joke but it died down quickly when Vasile finally looked up at them all. His eyes glowed with the power of his wolf and frustration was written across his brow.

“Unfortunately, I have gathered you because of death, but it is not our death that is being sought after.”  Vasile informed them of everything Thalion and Cyn had told him. He watched as expressions changed from shock to confusion and anger.

“This doesn’t sound like something Cypher would do,” Sorin said.

“I agree,” Vasile answered. “I have Skender and Costin looking into it. If it’s true, then Cypher will need to be dealt with.”

Peri’s sudden appearance into the room caused several wolves to growl. She looked around until her eyes landed on Vasile. “Can someone please tell me why I have just been informed by Dain that a hoard of angry and quite possibly deranged warlocks, led by none other than our friendly neighborhood Warlock King, are running through the forest straight towards the land of the trolls?”

Immediately everyone was on their feet, but their growls and questions were held back by Vasile and Decebel’s authority.

“Are they cloaked?” Vasile asked her.

She nodded. “Yes, Cypher has them completely covered from view, but they are moving fast. What the hell is going on Vasile?”

“Why did Dain come to you?” Alston asked though he didn’t sound offended, just curious, since he had been the one to send Dain on the mission.

Peri crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at him. “I was in the area and we bumped into each other.”

“Why aren’t you in the states with the females?” Decebel asked as he took a step towards her.

Peri did not like the look in the Alpha’s eyes nor the tone of his voice. “Did I or did I not just inform you that Cypher has lost his damn mind and is about to attempt to make the troll population extinct?”

“You’re hiding something, Perizada, and if that something puts my mate in danger we are going to have a problem.” Decebel’s amber eyes flashed with light and she could see his canines were lengthening.

She held his gaze, knowing that was probably the dumbest thing she could have done, but she had to make him think she was not hiding something, especially since she was. It was a pretty big something, seeing as how she knew that if the wolves in that room knew that Reyaz had shown himself at Lilly’s, and Peri hadn’t told them the minute after it happened, she was as good as dead. Then again, judging by the fury in Decebel’s face, she just might be as good as dead anyways. Might as well put the final nail in my coffin, she thought.

“Obviously you don’t catch on real quick wolf, but you already have a problem and if my idea of your problem is correct, then I can guaran-damn-tee you do not need another problem, especially one as inventive as me. So, back, the heck up,”  The last few words were bit out one at a time as she motioned for him to step away from her.

With Peri and Decebel’s little encounter over, the room began to focus on what Peri had told them.

Vasile looked at Alston. “You and yours are the only ones who can get there quickly enough to at least hold them off until we can get there.”

“Say no more,” Alston told him. Then he looked at Peri. “Are you in?”

“Puh-lease,” she huffed, “like I would miss an opportunity to kick Cypher while he’s down,” she in turn glanced at Adam. He smiled his heart stopping smile, one that she knew Crina would have loved to have witnessed. “Let’s do this gorgeous, it will be like old times,” he said.

“Old times?” she scoffed, “We just did this a few months ago.”

Adam shrugged, “Okay, it will be like good times with all the killing and maiming.”

“Now we’re talking.”

“No killing unless necessary, Peri. Just incapacitate until we are sure that Cypher isn’t under the influence of dark magic,” Vasile warned.

“You wolves take the fun out of everything. No stripping, no flirting, and now we’re going to war and we can’t even freaking kill anything.”

She was gone as the last word hit her lips.

Vasile looked at Adam. The fae gave thumbs up. “No killing, only taking out knee caps and chopping off hands so they can’t hold a weapon. We got this.” He was gone just as quickly as Peri.

Alston was gone next. Cyn glanced at Thalion. His eyes told her he was worried about her, that he didn’t want her there without him, but the resigned nod told her that he knew this was a part of her job and he couldn’t stand in the way of that. He gave her a quick wink, which made her blush, and then she was gone.