“You aren’t telling me anything I don’t know Wadim,” Dillon let out a frustrated breath. “I will begin to gather my most dominant wolves. Give me a couple days and we’ll be on our way.”

Though Wadim knew Dillon couldn’t see him, he closed his eyes in relief.

“Wadim, do you know if Jacque is alright?” Dillon didn’t mask the worry in his voice.

Wadim didn’t answer right away. Finally, he breathed a resigned sigh.

“She was with the others, I have no idea what has become of them. So, to be honest, I don’t have a clue. I’m sorry to have to tell you that.”

“We’ll be there soon.” Dillon told him, without responding to Wadim’s explanation, and then hung up without a goodbye.

Wadim looked at the phone after Dillon had hung up. He shook his head as he considered the Alpha’s words. He had to agree, this could definitely be the biggest catastrophe known to their kind. So many dominants together, ready for battle. Yeah, he thought: the world, as we know it, could be destroyed by Desdemona, or just maybe, by the wolves themselves.

Q

Cypher ran full speed, with a screaming Lilly, thrown over his shoulder, and Cyn on his heels. He dodged trees and low hanging limbs. He jumped over holes and stumps, his feet moving at an inhuman pace.

“YOU SAID THEY WOULD HELP!” Lilly bellowed over the sound of the wind whipping past her face.

“NOT NOW LILLY,” Cypher yelled back.

Lilly rolled her eyes as she attempted to hold on to Cypher’s waist as he ran. She couldn’t believe they were in this position. Cypher had assured her that this being could help them understand the ramification of opening the veil now that Cypher had found his mate. Cypher had been all: he can help; he knows what I will need to do, he… blah, blah, blah. Instead, they had met a group of creatures out of Lilly’s worst nightmares. Now the monsters…no, monsters wasn’t the right word. Now, the dragons were streaking towards them, jaws agape, and ready to swallow them whole.

Lilly looked up when she heard the loudest screeching sound that had ever pierced her ears. Her eyes widened as she saw the shape of wings impossibly large and a long tail soaring through the air. A giant dragon took a nose dive at them.

“Uh CYPHER, COULD YOU PLEASE SHIFT INTO 5thGEAR NOW.” Lilly’s voice shook a little as she watched the dragon get closer and closer.

Just as Lilly was sure she was about to become the creature’s noontime meal, Cyn turned and in a move worthy of a Hollywood movie, stretched her arms out as she flew back through the air. A bright light flew from her hands streaking towards the dragon. It hit the creature right between the eyes and it abruptly changed its course, lifting itself back up to the sky. Before Cyn hit the ground, she pulled her legs up to her chest and threw her body backwards, wheeling her legs around, and landing on her feet. She turned without missing a beat and continued running.

Lilly looked up at the Fae and gave her thumbs up. She swore she saw a small smile on her usually stoic face.

Cypher continued to run. After a mile there had been no sign of the beast and he finally slowed.

Lilly tapped him on the back. “Could you put me down, now so that I can chew you out properly?”

He stopped and placed her upright on her feet. She looked up into his handsome face as she crossed her arms across her chest. Her foot started tapping of its own accord as she tried to formulate the words she wanted to say.

“So, what the hell was that?” She growled.

“Well, to you it would probably be called a dragon, but it’s actually called a drahiem."

“I wasn’t talking about the freaky beast chasing us; however we will get to that in a minute. I was talking about you saying that we would get help from your brother, but instead we nearly became lunch.”

Cypher’s eyes narrowed. He turned from her and stared back in the direction they had just come. It had been a very long time since he had talked to his brother. Although, the last time had been quite tense, he hadn’t expected such hostility.

“Maybe he didn’t realize it was me,” he said, weakly.

“Cypher look at me.” Lilly uncrossed her arms and reached up to tighten her pony tail that had come loose in the race to get away from the drahiem. “Is there history between you and your brother that you haven’t mentioned?”

“It’s complicated,” Cypher answered.

“Try me,” Lilly said, dryly.

Cyn leaned back against a tree seemingly unaffected by the run or stunt that she had pulled. She watched Cypher with sharp eyes and waited for his explanation. If Cypher’s brother really was their only chance, then whatever had come between them was going to have to be dealt with.

Cypher gazed off into the distance as he let the memories that he had buried come to the surface.

“It’s been centuries since it happened and I really thought he was over it by now.”

“It was a woman wasn’t it,” Lilly asked.

“Yes, but not like you are thinking. He was mated. She was one of the sweetest females I had ever known. She didn’t deserve what happened and I couldn’t save her. He blames me for her death and rightfully so.” Cypher’s usually confident tone dropped in defeat.

“I don’t believe that. If you didn’t save her then it couldn’t have been a choice by you. It must have been the circumstances. All of you alpha males think that everything falls on your shoulders and you forget that you aren’t perfect.”

The side of his mouth lifted slightly as he watched the woman he now called mate defend him. If only she knew the “circumstances” as she called them. Would she think less of him? Would she refuse to trust him to protect her, to protect her daughter?

“There is rarely peace among the supernatural races.”

“You don’t say?” She snorted, sarcastically.

Cypher chuckled. “Is your daughter like you?”

Lilly smiled. “If you mean is she the coolest thing ever? Then no, she is even more amazing than me.”

Cypher smiled. “I can’t imagine that.”

“Don’t get off topic.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“When there is peace,” he continued, “it is not long lasting and is tenuous at best. Something as simple as a perceived disrespectful word can break the truce. There had been peace for some time between my kind and the trolls that live in the mountains.”