Two weeks past and every day the men grew more and more restless. More than once Vasile had insisted they go spar with each other to work off the agitation and adrenaline that coursed through them at incredible levels.

Peri and Wadim rarely left the archives. When they did, it was only so Peri could throw massive fits, cursing everyone within her sight for not doing more and for resting when they should be out there killing things for information. Everyone made sure to stand a safe distance from her, but still some of them wound up in her line of fire and found themselves ducking as things within her grasp were flung across the room. If it wasn’t for Adam and Alston using their magic to keep things from breaking, Vasile would have found himself having to replace most of the decorations in his home.

One month to the day after the females had been taken, Fane found himself standing on one of the highest peaks of the mountain. His wolf had tried to force his phase, but Fane refused it. He had to take off at a dead sprint in his human form to keep it at bay, pushing himself as he climbed the mountain. It was all he could give the wolf in an attempt to satisfy the pulsing need to hunt. But Fane didn’t know where to begin, none of them did. They had been all over the mountains and still found nothing. They had sought out other supernaturals, hoping for some scrap of information, but no one knew anything. It was as if Reyaz and their mates had dropped off the face of the earth. Alston and Dain had been going into other realms and searching, but they had come back just as empty-handed. It was maddening. But worse was the utter feeling of loss that ripped through him, pushing him to his knees. He knew what it was, but he didn’t want to admit it. None of the males did. It was like the elephant in the room that they all tiptoed around, but refused to acknowledge. The mate bonds were breaking. They weren’t just closed off. They were dying, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. Slowly their mates slipped further and further from their grasps. Soon they wouldn’t know if their mates were alive or not because their fates would no longer be tied to each other.

Fane suddenly threw back his head and howled, pushing all of his anguish, all of his desolation, all of his heart stopping fear, into the sound. Seconds later he heard his pack mates answer his call as their howls joined in, every bit as sorrowful as his own. He didn’t know how much longer they could control their wolves. The need for blood was a lust that was demanding to be sated. Fane guessed the only thing stopping them from going feral was the knowledge that once they did, without the mate bond, there would be no coming back.

Chapter 17

“For the first time in a long time, I just want to sleep. As in, I only want to sleep. Because in my sleep, you are there. During the waking hours, I can’t feel you, I can’t see you, and I can’t smell you. And as time passes, I almost feel as though at any second I’m going to forget you ever existed in my life. But you come to me in my dreams. You hold me; you whisper words that knit my broken heart back together. But when I wake, it breaks all over again.”  ~Sally

“I motion that we play Sex I Spy,” Jen said from the spot where she laid on her back. “We can call it Spex, for short” she said with a snort.

“Okay, can I just clarify one thing? Are you saying we are supposed to spy something having sex?” Sally asked. Lilly and Alina both shook their heads as they listened to the girls’ outrageous discussions that had become an hourly event.

“Jen, I’m bored out of my mind, but I’m still not that bored,” Jacque told her.

Jen laughed. “And you guys call me a pervert. What I meant was that if you can’t find what the person spies, then you have to give up a detail of your love life.”

“Uh,” Crina’s eyes darted from Jacque to Sally, waiting to see what their reactions would be.

“Why would we do this?” Sally asked.

“Because we never got to before our lives turned into The Young and Furry.” She pulled her body up into a sitting position and faced the group. “Teenage girls are supposed to go on dates, kiss, make out, and then report back to the girlfriends. It’s in the freaking handbook.”

“There’s a handbook?” Elle asked.

“Of course, I wrote it,” Jen’s face broke into one of those faces that said duh what did you expect?

“Of course you did,” Crina laughed under her breath.

“I have to admit that Jen is right on what teenage girls discuss behind their bedroom doors. However, there are usually not parents present,” Lilly pointed out.

“Desperate times, Ms. P, desperate times.” Jen looked from person to person, noting their blank faces. Finally she huffed. “Fine, we’ll play something else.”

“Got anything that does not include sex, sexual innuendos, stripping, and the like?” Cynthia asked.

Jacque and Sally laughed as they looked at Cynthia with smirks.

Jen held up a finger. “Hold on, let me think about it.” She bunched her lips up as she tilted her head one way and then the next. Then she scratched her head and tapped her lips with her finger. She sat up straight suddenly. “Oh wait, got it,” she paused as she held out her hands as if to make the others stop what they were doing. Just as quickly her shoulders slumped back. “False alarm. I got nothing.”

Cynthia shook her head at Jen with a small smile while the others let out quiet chuckles that didn’t quite meet their eyes. None of their laughter did, not anymore.

They had no idea how many days or weeks had past. It was so hard to tell time in the dark forest where there was no sunlight. There was no changing of the daylight to indicate how early or late it was. Their watches and phones were useless. They had just stopped working the minute they had entered the fae realm, or rather, the dark forest. So they sat; sometimes they stood, or walked around, or slept. They talked about nothing and everything. Jen continued to use humor as a coping mechanism, though there were nearly as many tears as there were jokes. They had begun to grow very hungry and very thirsty, and just when the pain of it was beginning to grow unbearable, food would appear. The first time it happened, they had all nearly peed themselves at the sudden appearance, but after sniffing it and taking tiny bites, they decided it was safe and they had gorged themselves. There had been bread, fruit, turkey sandwiches, and water to drink. Cynthia had insisted that Jen eat and drink her fill first, and everyone had agreed. After a small amount of protest, she finally gave in. They attempted to judge the passage of time by the appearance of the food, but it was no use; its appearance was sporadic at best.