The cave of warriors was the most sacred place the Carpathian people had. Fen had come here only a few times in his youth, and the power of the caves had been felt deeply then, but even more now. He walked with Dimitri on one side and Tatijana on the other, through a series of smaller caves, each descending deeper into the earth. Each time they moved into the lower tunnels, that great labyrinth of caverns and chambers, he felt the absolute majesty of the place.

Few could take the heat in the lower caves. Carpathians could control body temperature so they were immune to the searing heat, but few other species found their way into the environment. The cave they moved through had crystalline flows draping the high ceilings. Overhead the formations appeared as great chandeliers, some with long white fringe hanging from nature's masterpieces.

Fen hadn't been in many cathedrals, but in his travels, he'd seen a few, and the series of subterranean chambers he moved through, undisturbed, untouched, the natural artistry of nature itself, seemed just as much or more places of worship.

Great columns, sculpted and beautiful, stalactites and stalagmites, grouped together in various shades of color formed a jungle as they went deeper.

Tatijana stumbled a few times on the uneven surface, busy looking in awe at her surroundings. "I lived in ice caves and didn't think anything could be more beautiful, but this is amazing," she whispered.

Fen found it interesting that when speaking, all of them, even the warriors during a meeting, tended to lower their voices out of respect for raw nature.

"As we go lower, it's even more beautiful," he confided.

They made their way through another long chamber, nearly four hundred feet long and almost as wide filled with more towering columns draped with various colors and shimmering shallow pools that reflected back the startling crystalline flows overhead and the sculptures surrounding them.

Fen knew part of the mystique of the cave of warriors was this long walk to gain entrance. The deeper into the earth one went, the more they felt at home. They were creatures of the night. Places like this massive maze of caverns felt like part of them.

They traveled farther down into heat. At first, Tatijana forgot to regulate her breathing and body temperature she was so busy staring in awe at the curtains and draperies, all different colors, some translucent and some dark with impurities, constructed out of calcite. Long fringe gave the illusion of shawls carefully woven, while other sculptures appeared to be capes or scarves. Overhead and dropping near the wall like great coverings were long, wide sculptures of breathtaking flowing stone, so that the entire chamber looked like a theater with thick, intricate drapes.

"How could you not come here every day just to look at this?" Tatijana asked. "My form is a blue dragon, so I need the cooler water, but Branislava would totally love this. Not that I don't. It's so beautiful, but I have to keep remembering to keep my temperature regulated."

Fen brought their joined hands to his face and rubbed the back of her hand against his jaw. "Your skin is always so cool, sivamet. No matter how hot it gets in these caves your outside temperature remains quite cool. I find that . . ." He waited until her eyes met his. Sexy.

Tatijana laughed softly. "You're such a flirt, wolf man."

Dimitri groaned. "Enough of that. My woman is too far away for me to hear this kind of talk from you two."

That distracted Tatijana immediately. "She's so powerful! I couldn't believe her strength. I've never actually experienced that kind of healing power from a distance by anyone else. And she's so young. A child really."

"In Carpathian years, a child, yes," Dimitri said. "In terms of human years and what she's been through, she's years ahead."

"Whatever the case, she's amazing. I can't wait to meet her." Tatijana narrowed her eyes. "Which means you can't go near the Sange rau again, not for any reason. It took all of us to heal you the first time, along with Mother Earth. I think Fen nearly drained every drop of blood out of his body replacing yours. And now this time. Three days in the ground and more blood . . ."

"Hey now, all of us took a few days to heal," Dimitri protested.

Tatijana flashed him a grin. "Perhaps some of us heal faster than others."

"Perhaps you think you're safe, sister-kin, because my badass brother is looking out for you, but he isn't so tough."

She laughed softly. "You're as crazy as your brother, aren't you?"

Dimitri and Fen exchanged a long, pleased look.

They were coming to the end of the long theater. The draperies only became more intricate and translucent. The smiles on their faces faded, leaving them all sober. There was a change in the feel of the caves. Where before they felt like a series of inspiring cathedrals, the atmosphere surrounding them as they neared the most sacred of places-the warrior's cavern, became much heavier.

They stepped inside the worn passage, centuries old, carved out by their ancestors, the rock smooth where feet had trod over so long. There was no doubt it was a little like stepping back in time. The stalagmites and stalactites were everywhere, hanging from the ceiling and thrusting upward from the floor. The circumference of the bases was quite large and there were many of varying sizes and color. Each was sculpted and one could make out faces up and down the stone as if each was a totem pole hand carved rather than fashioned by nature itself.

Tatijana stopped just inside the chamber and looked suspiciously around. The oppressive silence was far different than the other caverns. Not even the three pools of water made her feel better. One was crystal clear, lined with stone, and looked deep and cool, almost an ice blue. The second pool gave off a cloud of steam and was slightly tinged red orange. The third bubbled with mud.

"The stalagmites and stalactites used to hum as we entered," Fen said. "Our ancestors greeting us. I wonder when that stopped."

"They hummed the last time I was here," Dimitri said.

The moment Fen had entered the chamber, he had the sense of being weighed, judged, not by the few living who had gathered, but by the dead whose spirits gathered at every meeting. The presence of his ancestors, warriors long gone from the world, was heavy there in that chamber. The fact that they hadn't greeted him boded ill.

Tatijana tightened her fingers around Fen's. "I don't like the feel of this," she whispered. "They know what you are, and some of them feel antagonistic. We should make certain we have an exit plan."

Fen glanced down at her. There was genuine worry in her voice. He was a little worried about the outcome of this meeting, but he was certain he hadn't passed that on to his lifemate.

She's got a point, Fen. The air is heavy in here, Dimitri told him. With judgment.

Fen couldn't say the two didn't have a point, but he didn't want Tatijana to worry. He was grateful Dimitri had used their private telepathic path.

"They got their butts kicked royally," Fen said. "They're used to being at the top of the food chain. They aren't too happy to discover they have an enemy out there who is just that little bit faster than they are."

"You mean superior to them when it comes to fighting," Tatijana corrected. "You're one of those Sange raus who can kick their ass. Do you think they all aren't aware of that? They resent it, Fen. Egos can get out of hand."

Fen shook his head. "That's where I think the misconception comes in, my lady. The Sange rau is not necessarily as skilled in battle as most of these hunters. They are faster, but that doesn't necessarily mean that with a little training, a skilled hunter can't beat them."

He tried to avoid Dimitri's telling glance and focus only on Tatijana.

She stopped moving, tugging at his hand until he stopped directly in front of her. "You mean like Dimitri." She indicated his brother. "You taught Dimitri how to fight them."

Dimitri snickered in his mind. You have an intelligent lifemate, Fen. She's quick on the uptake.

Don't I know it.

He ducked his head, avoiding Tatijana's eyes. "I taught him how to hunt and defeat me. Just in case."

Tatijana's fingers tightened in his. "That's my point. You have always acted with honor. I feel as if you're being accused of something."

Fen had been around Lycan society for centuries and had grown accustomed to viewing himself as an outsider who had to hide what and who he was. It was a way of life, and in the end he'd chosen to remain with the Lycans. He found it endearing that Tatijana had become so protective of him.

I agree with her, Fen. Maybe this isn't a good idea, Dimitri advised.

Fen did look at his brother then. Dimitri was an ancient, a skilled hunter of the vampire, but he'd spent centuries giving his brother a refuge when the traits of the Sange rau became particularly difficult to overcome. He knew, more than any other, that becoming what Fen was, was highly dangerous. Worse, Dimitri's blood was already changing. Both knew it. The Carpathian council could become aware of it as well.

Dimitri had not claimed his lifemate and he could very well be in double the danger. Fen kept his fingers firmly threaded through Tatijana's. He had expected the chamber to be filled with a good number of Carpathian males, but there was only Mikhail and his brother Jacques, Vikirnoff and his lifemate, Natalya, and, of course, Gregori.

He felt Tatijana hesitate. She lifted a hand as if she might try to straighten her hair. All eyes were on them. He gently caught her wrist.

You have nothing at all to prove to these people. You look beautiful. You are my lifemate and we've chosen to live our lives our way. If they do not like it, it will be no different than we have known our entire lives.

It was the truth. Tatijana's life had not been one of acceptance. Her father had kept her prisoner, not even allowing her to be in her natural form for most of her years. Those captured and tortured by Xavier didn't always understand that she was a prisoner just as they were. She'd spent lifetimes outside the norm.

Fen had spent centuries apart from his kind. Had the Lycans known what he was, they would have killed him immediately, without question. He was used to being an outcast, and in truth, it no longer bothered him. He never wanted Tatijana to feel less than what she was-a beautiful miracle.

Mikhail came forward to greet them. He stepped close to Fen, nearly toe-to-toe, a deliberate move that placed him in a vulnerable position. Gregori, who stepped with him, didn't flinch, but his silver eyes had gone to steel. Mikhail gripped Fen's forearms tight, in the traditional greeting of one respected warrior to another.

Fen gripped the prince's arms tightly, surprised at the raw power he felt surging beneath the surface. It was impossible to be so close to the man and not feel the power emanating from him, so great there was no way to contain it.

"Thank you for coming, Fenris Dalka," Mikhail said. "May your heart stay strong, hunter," he added in the language of the ancients, a more traditional Carpathian greeting. He turned to Dimitri and repeated the formal welcoming. He took Tatijana's hands in his. "Thank you for the aid you gave to our warriors, Tatijana. You definitely turned the tide of the battle in our favor."

He stepped back and paced away from them, his quick energy flowing rather than nervous. When he turned back, his dark eyes seemed to look right through Fen. "You have indeed brought us an interesting problem."

Fen looked around the great chamber. "You did not call a council of warriors as I expected."

Mikhail nodded. "I gave this great thought. The only ones among us who actually witnessed the fight between you and the one you call Sange rau are here in this chamber. I thought it was important to know more about what we're actually dealing with. There are many questions that have come to mind."

"May I ask why we are having this conversation here in this sacred place rather than the convenience of a house?" Tatijana asked.

Gregori turned his piercing stare on her.

Her chin went up, Tatijana refusing to be intimidated. Fen could have told him her Dragonseeker blood didn't seem to allow her to be overawed by anyone, not even her own lifemate.

Fen could have told her why. Mikhail Dubrinsky was no one's fool. He'd thought long and hard over the problem of the Sange rau. He had witnessed up close what a mixed blood was capable of. By now he would have gone over all the pros and cons, just as the Lycan council had so many centuries earlier. Nothing had really changed down through the centuries. The solutions were every bit as bad as the problem itself and Mikhail no doubt had come to that conclusion, just as Fen had.

"She asks a fair question, Gregori," Mikhail said, his tone mild. "The truth is, Tatijana, I'm disturbed by the abilities of the Sange rau. They present a real threat to not only our species, but to the Lycans and humans as well. One way to put it is that they have the nuclear weapon and we don't."

"That's what Fen said," Tatijana acknowledged.

"The immediate solution seems obvious," Mikhail said. "And certainly it was proposed that many of our most skilled hunters become the Sange rau in order to better destroy the ones who have turned vampire."

Fen tried not to react. He could feel not only the stare of the prince and the others, but also the weight of the warriors long past. Everything in him rebelled against the idea the prince was suggesting. He had known all along that this would be one of the proposals. If every warrior went out and became the Sange rau, their skill as fighters should give them an advantage when fighting those who had turned vampire-but it didn't work quite like that.

"One does not become Sange rau in one step. The wolf comes to you to protect you. You are not both together and it takes some time before you merge with your wolf. I was living with the Lycan on and off and I think it may have happened faster than normal, but it took time. In that time you're going to lose a lot more warriors to the other side. They will choose to be vampire much faster with their blood mixed."

Fen shook his head, disturbed that he might sound like he didn't want anyone else to be like him. It was a fine line he walked, giving what he felt was pertinent information and not sounding arrogant.

Mikhail seemed to recognize his reluctance. "You do not have to hide what you feel from us," the prince said. "We've asked you here to help us find a viable solution to this problem-and it is a problem. A complex one, the more I study it. I looked at it from every angle and something occurred to me. There is great power in my family, but it comes with a terrible price. I think there has to be a balance, and with the gifts given to us, there is always a price to pay, so I had to ask myself, what is the price of being a Sange rau? Only you can answer that question for us, Fen."

Fen felt the ancient warriors waiting for his answer. The air grew heavier as silence descended in the chamber. A few of the great columns vibrated, darker colors swirling through the stone giving the illusion that the chamber itself was alive.

He sighed. He had come here knowing that Mikhail would be intelligent enough to ask the right questions. He'd seen it in him. They all had to know the truth-especially Tatijana and Dimitri.

"The price is far too high, Mikhail," Fen answered honestly. "Especially for a warrior without a lifemate, but even those of us who have a lifemate are not necessarily as safe as our Carpathian counterparts. At first, yes, the wolf helps. You can see as a wolf does, the colors are dull, but better than nothing. But as time passes, the pull of darkness grows until it crouches like a monster above you and whispers continually."

He didn't look at his lifemate or his brother. He looked around the great chamber at the vibrating columns-ancient brethren who had lived their lives honorably-no matter the difficulty.

"I think every Carpathian who lives a long time and battles the vampire successfully, comes to a place where he believes in himself. He has to. He has to have absolute confidence in himself. Confidence can lead to arrogance. Carpathian males lose emotion and in some ways it is both a blessing and a curse. To feel, when you destroy old friends and family, to live year after year in darkness, is pure hell. To be Sange rau is to fight feelings of arrogance and superiority every rising, lifemate or no. I believe that if you give into these feelings, even with a lifemate, you can become vampire/wolf. Obviously I haven't tested this theory."

Again there was a silence. He could feel Tatijana's horror rising. You understand now my reluctance to bind you to me. There was shame in knowing he hadn't disclosed the worst of his fears to her before claiming her for his own.

Again, Tatijana surprised him. Soft melodic laughter filled his mind. I do not feel horror at your admission, my love, only at your belief that you would ever succumb to the darker impulses of our kind.

We do not know that. There is no way of telling what I would do in a moment of madness. You saw into my mind when I fought with the werewolf to get information from him and again, when I was battling Abel and Bardolf. I believed myself superior even to them. Fen made the confession to her reluctantly.

Silly wolf man.

He was shaken by the love in her voice. She could bring him to his knees so easily.

We have spent most of our time in battle or in the ground healing since you claimed me. How can you possibly know how having a lifemate will affect the feelings of superiority? I can assure you, my love, that Dragonseeker women are superior and therefore, you won't have a leg to stand on.

Her teasing note soothed him as nothing else could. And she had a good point.

Of course I have a point. You knew it was dangerous to access the rogue werewolf's memories, but you did it anyway. Of course there were repercussions. You expected that. And every single warrior facing a vampire must believe that he can defeat him. Acknowledging that you are smarter and faster and more skilled than a vampire is the only intelligent thing to do. You did what every Carpathian hunter does. You're so worried about it that you are not remembering what it is like to be a hunter.

Fen hadn't considered it, but she was right. Every Carpathian male who hunted the vampire did so believing he could destroy the undead. He reached his hand out to her, telling her without words that he loved her.

Mikhail frowned as he paced with restless energy through the great columns of his ancestors while he thought about what Fen said. No one interrupted him. Fen was grateful that Mikhail was the kind of man who didn't simply react to information. He digested it carefully, looking at it from every angle before he made decisions.

"Another concern I have is evolution itself," Mikhail said, coming back to stand in front of him. "Our species is near extinction. Could this be a more evolved species? The combination of our blood with the Lycans?"

Everything in Fen rebelled against the idea that his species was doomed and another would rise in their place-and certainly not the Sange rau.

"Then there is the question of children. For the first time in a long while we have had multiple children who survived their first year," Mikhail continued. "We have no idea if the Sange rau can have children. Manolito and MaryAnn are the only pair we know of and MaryAnn has not become pregnant. That, of course doesn't mean anything, but it could be worrisome. What would this change in the blood do to a child? Do we want to take chances when we're just now rebuilding our population?"

Fen hadn't considered that particular point. He glanced at his brother. Dimitri was not fully Sange rau, but he was well on his way. Had he condemned Dimitri and his lifemate to a life without children because centuries ago he hadn't known what caused mixed blood and they'd shared blood in the battlefield? When he'd healed his brother himself, he had given Dimitri his own blood. Fen knew the blood would aid Dimitri in healing faster if they could keep him alive, and he'd made that choice for Dimitri.

I would much rather live and know Skyler will live as well, even if we cannot have children. She deserves a life of happiness and I intend to make her life as wonderful as possible. So thank you for saving our lives.

Fen felt humble in the face of his brother's adamant revelation, mostly because he and Dimitri had been in and out of each other's minds for centuries and he could feel the honesty in Dimitri's statement.

"Throughout the centuries," Fen said, "I have lived on and off with the Lycans. During that time, I have come across only two other Sange rau. The first I hunted with Vakasin and the second was Abel. I, of course, didn't know that at the time. Abel turned Bardolf for whatever reasons. But I never once met a pair, not in any country I traveled in. At one time I speculated that perhaps a woman couldn't have mixed blood. Tatijana told me about Manolito De La Cruz and his lifemate. I was worried they wouldn't know the danger they were in from the Lycans."

"So to your knowledge, worldwide, only you, MaryAnn and Manolito are Sange rau who have not succumbed to darkness. Bardolf and Abel are the only ones you know of alive, who have," Mikhail reiterated.

Fen nodded. "That doesn't, of course, mean there aren't others. Worldwide, I can't imagine there wouldn't be others."

"Lycans have avoided Carpathians for centuries," Mikhail pointed out.

"Their council has discouraged interaction between the two species, probably for this reason. There was never any animosity that I heard," Fen replied.

"That would explain the small numbers," Gregori said. "MaryAnn was Lycan already. Do we know what happens when a Carpathian woman changes?"

Tatijana shrugged. "I'll let you know when it happens. It's my choice to be what he is. I doubt that Lycan blood can overpower Dragonseeker to the point that I would be in any danger."

"We hope not," Gregori said, his voice dry. "If something happens to you, what guarantee would we have that Fen would follow you?"

Dimitri scowled at him. "There is never a guarantee for any of us. You included, Gregori, should something happen to Savannah. All Carpathian males are at risk without a lifemate."

"True, but we are not the Sange rau. Our hunters will find us and destroy us before we can inflict too much damage on the other species around us. Can you imagine an army of Sange rau? Your brother told us a single one decimated the ranks of the Lycans. We are few. They could wipe us out entirely very fast," Gregori said.

"There is truth in what he says," Fen agreed. You do not need to stick up for me, Dimitri, although I greatly appreciate it. I knew when I went to Mikhail the enormity of the problem I was bringing to him. The Sange rau are as much a danger to Carpathians as they are to Lycans and humans. We don't have any answers to the questions he's raising. I've had centuries to consider these problems and I still haven't come up with solutions.

We are not Lycan, Dimitri hissed in his mind. I refuse to believe that Mikhail will outlaw the Sange rau without discrimination and sentence you and anyone else who becomes such a mixture to death.

Fen had lived with the Lycans a long time. Do you believe we're more civilized then? He couldn't help the note of amusement in his voice. The Lycans were well entrenched in every high society and public office in nearly every country. They served in the military, and most were highly educated. While the Carpathians had withdrawn from the world of humans for the most part and become silent guardians, the Lycans had done just the opposite-they embraced that world and protected humans just as aggressively.

Dimitri, the rogue pack isn't indicative of Lycans. They've reverted to the animal just as vampires embrace the darker side of Carpathians. Zev and the elite hunters represent the Lycans far better. Don't be fooled into thinking we're superior to them.

"I don't believe we have to worry about Fen turning vampire," Mikhail stated in his usual soothing, calm voice. "We need to come to some decision on what we're going to do. Clearly we need to meet with the Lycan council. We've discussed it at length for several years. We need them as allies, not enemies. This is our best opportunity to invite them to a sit-down meeting and come to some kind of terms."

"Zev is your best man for that," Fen advised. "The elite scout sent ahead of the pack is normally the most intelligent and their best man. He'll report directly to the council and they'll listen to him. His word carries the most weight."

Mikhail inclined his head. "He was severely wounded and had lost a good amount of blood. To ensure he lived, Jacques gave him blood."

Fen closed his eyes, suddenly feeling weary. Tatijana had given Zev blood as well. In his travels and many battles, had Zev received blood from any other Carpathian? It was possible-and dangerous. Fen knew no matter how honorably Zev served his people, should he become the Sange rau, they would turn on him and condemn him to death without a second thought.

"I have no idea how much blood has to be shared before the mixture converts one into something else," Fen admitted. "When Vakasin and I battled the Sange rau, both of us had countless wounds and both of us lost blood often. I don't know how often we'd given one another blood before I began to feel the wolf inside of me, but I felt it long before he felt the Carpathian traits, or maybe he simply didn't recognize that he was any different."

"You're afraid Zev may be in trouble," Mikhail guessed.

Fen nodded. "He's a good man. His ability in a fight is unsurpassed by most hunters. He reminds me of Vakasin. I would hate to see him killed by his own people after the service he's given them."

"That makes it all the more important to talk with their council," Mikhail said. "If they understand the difference between a vampire and Carpathian, we can convince them to look at the Sange rau in another light. We might distinguish the two by providing our own name for a Carpathian/Lycan cross."

Fen sighed. "I wish you every success, but I can tell you the Lycans will fight you on the issue of the Sange rau. Not only do they have legitimate reasons to fear the mixture of Carpathian and Lycan blood, but you're fighting centuries-old prejudices. There are fanatics who belong to a secret society that's not very secret and they dedicate their lives to ferreting out the Sange rau and destroying them. They draw in every misfit there is and brainwash them. The Sange rau gives them a target for their fanatical hatred. Not of course that they ever actually find one, but every sin is blamed on them."

"Surely cooler heads prevail on the council," Mikhail said.

Fen shrugged. "I would hope so, but I've seen some of these fanatics. They've become a religion and they preach to the packs and they're very persuasive. You have to remember, this has been going on for centuries, so the prejudice is well established." He tried to find another way to explain it. "This belief of the Sange rau is at the very heart of their traditions. He represents everything evil. He is their demon, the epitome of every sinful thing."

"Like a religion," Gregori said.

Mikhail shot him a look. Gregori didn't believe in any religion, where Mikhail was a devout worshipper.

"One that is very sacred to them and if not an actual spiritual belief, certainly one that is woven in the very fabric of their existence," Fen said.

Mikhail let out his breath. "All right then. It's good to know what we're up against. Still, I believe we have to try. In the meantime, how do we fight them? How did Dimitri fight such a creature when our warriors sustained so much damage?"

"The Lycans and werewolves are pack fighters. Carpathians are used to fighting lone monsters."

"Lately vampires have been banding together," Gregori said. "Vampires, as unnatural as that sounds, actually put an army together to attack us. For a little practice run, they hit the De La Cruz compound in South America."

"That must have been like stirring up a hornet's nest. Of all the hunters in the world, I think I would prefer any other to come after me," Fen said.

"It was personal," Dimitri explained. "The Malinov brothers decided they were going to rule all Carpathians, and the De La Cruz brothers refused to join them."

"You can see why we would want the Lycans as allies," Mikhail said. "There are too few of us for an all-out war with any enemy."

"If your warriors embrace the Sange rau and deliberately seek to become one, the Lycans will attack you," Fen said. "The war would be endless, and no one would win in the end other than vampires. You have to go into a meeting knowing their prejudice is ingrained in them and will be difficult to change."

Mikhail nodded. "I do believe we need to have our own name for those Carpathians and Lycans who have not turned vampire yet have mixed blood, something to indicate they are very different than the demon the Lycans believe them to be. That must become part of our vocabulary before I even meet with Zev. Which means we should come up with it immediately."

"Do you really think changing a name is going to change their minds?" Vikirnoff asked. It was the first time he'd spoken, and Fen could tell by his tone that he didn't like the situation at all. Had the situation not been so grave he would have smiled. Mikhail Dubrinsky fully understood the problem. He wasn't going to throw his hands in the air and walk away, he was going to actually try for resolution. More than anyone there, other than Fen, it was Mikhail who knew what he was facing.

Many of his Carpathian warriors would be tempted to become Sange rau, just to make them better fighters. They would want to ignore the potential problems and they wouldn't recognize that MaryAnn and Manolito and Fen and Tatijana as well as Dimitri would become experiments. They would be watched closely by both Lycans and Carpathians if Mikhail was successful in convincing the Lycan council that there was a difference. If not, what then?

Would the Lycans be willing to go to war to force the Carpathians to hand over those who were Sange rau? Sadly, Fen considered that a big possibility. Even if Mikhail convinced the council, that didn't mean all the packs would agree, not over something that had been so ingrained in them. If the council agreed, their decision could very well cause a split among the packs.

"We need a lot more information before we allow any of our people to voluntarily choose this path," Mikhail said. "I am counting on the three of you to supply us with that information."

Fen nodded. "I have no choice but to follow the rogue pack if it moves. I have to hunt both Abel and Bardolf."

"After seeing Abel's return to his homeland, I believe he has one purpose in mind, and he won't be going anywhere very soon," Mikhail said. "He has returned in order to kill me. In the meantime, our hunters need to know how to fight Abel and Bardolf. You obviously trained Dimitri, who has known about this for some time."

There was the smallest hint of a reprimand in Mikhail's voice.

Dimitri shrugged, unrepentant. "The rogues never came near our homeland. I chose to set up sanctuaries for our wolf brethren knowing Fen needed a place to rest and heal at times. It gave me a chance to be with him. What he was, during those centuries, had no impact on our people."

Gregori stirred, his silver eyes slashing at Dimitri, but Mikhail held up his hand to prevent Gregori from speaking.

"There has never been a question of Dimitri's allegiance to our people," Mikhail said. "Until this rogue pack came to our homeland, the Lycans avoided us."

"True," Gregori admitted, "but had we known of such a potential enemy, we could have been better prepared. As it is, many of our hunters were badly wounded."

"They fought the pack, not the Sange rau," Dimitri pointed out.

Why are you engaging in this argument with him? Fen asked. You know he is right. We both should have brought this enemy to light long before this. You were protecting me, Dimitri, we both know that.

Dimitri frowned. It was unlike him to take exception to someone pointing out the truth. It was Gregori's job, above all else, to guard their prince. Why did he feel this unsettling restless, almost feral, resentment?

Your wolf is rising to protect you, Fen explained. Can you feel him? You're in a place where our ancestors can judge us. He feels that and is urging you to leave.

Mikhail waved his hand and hundreds of candles along the walls sprang to life. Instantly the giant columns and crystals radiated muted colors. In the very center of the room was a circle of crystal columns. They were the shortest in the chamber, the middle one coming up to Mikhail's shoulder. It was bloodred, formed of rich minerals and crystals. The tip was razor-sharp.

Mikhail spoke in their ancient language, the ritual words to call to their long gone ancestors. "Blood of our fathers-blood of our brothers-we seek your wisdom, your experience and your counsel. Join with your brother-warriors and lend us your guidance through the blood bond. We pledge to our people our unwavering loyalty, resolve in the face of adversity, compassion for those in need, strength and endurance through the centuries and above all, we will live with honor. Our blood connects us."

Mikhail brought his palm down over the tip of the column so that it pierced his flesh and droplets of blood coated the top of the column. "Our blood mingles and calls to you. Heed our summons and join with us now."