"I don't think you're going to be able to avoid hurting me if you're going to move me." Jen cringed at the thought of being moved or even touched, for that matter.
Gavril knelt down in front of her. "I know you can't see me, but I can see you. You are losing blood from that head wound. I'm going to take off my shirt so you can apply pressure to it to help stem the flow."
Jen nodded, knowing he would see her response. She heard some rustling and then felt soft fabric against her head. She reached up with her good arm and pushed the shirt firmly against her scalp.
"Okay, I'm going to lift you now. I know it's going to hurt and I apologize," Gavril told her gently.
"Not your fault." Jen's voice came out hoarse and shaky.
She felt his arm come around her back and the other arm slip under her knees. As he lifted her from the ground, Jen bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain, so hard that she drew blood. The pain was so intense that, though she tried to fight it, her exhausted brain shut down in an attempt to escape the hurt her body was enduring.
Gavril bent at the knees and jumped from the cavern with one powerful push, landing gently in front of his mate.
"She's passed out," he told Rachel.
"I'm surprised she is even alive after that fall." Rachel gently pushed Jen's blonde locks from her face. "She's a pretty one." She took a deep breath of Jen's scent, "and she's a dormant."
"Come, Rachel," Gavril urged. "We mustn't linger. The witch is near and she cannot discover you."
"It's going to take a lot to heal her," Rachel admitted as they started off in the direction of their home. "She said she has a mate. He's going to want to know where she is."
"We have to be careful or he will lead Thad's witch straight to our door," Gavril warned his mate.
"I understand that, love. But you know as well as I do that he will tear this mountain apart to find her."
Gavril didn't respond. He knew how dangerous a mated male could be when his mate was injured. His first priority was to Rachel, to keep her existence a secret. The only thing that the Serbian Alpha, Thad, wanted more than a mate was a healer, and his mate was the most powerful healer in the history of their species. He had to protect her at all costs, even at the cost of one dormant's life.
Jen's head swam as the darkness began to recede. She tried to open her eyes, but they wouldn't cooperate. She felt pain course through her body – someone was carrying her.
"Decebel." She reached out instinctively.
"Jennifer!" Jen smiled to herself as she listened to the worry in his voice. Why was he worried if he had found her?
"You found me." Jen made it a statement rather than a question.
"No, baby. I haven't found you. Why would you think that?"
"But you're carrying me. I can feel you."
"Jennifer, who has you?" Decebel's voice was full of fear and anger.Jen was trying desperately to remember what had happened, how she had ended up being carried… The girl, her mate – she began to get glimpses in her mind.
"Her mate, he jumped down. He put his shirt on my head." Jen's voice faded as she tried to think.
"He?" Even through their very new mental bond, Jen could hear the anger lacing his words. "A male has you? He doesn't have a shirt on? Jennifer, think! Who are the female and her mate?"
"Quit growling at me, damn it! Oow! Crap, that hurts." Jen cringed as she felt her body being jarred.
"Baby, I'm not growling at you. I just need you to try to remember. Do they mean you harm?" Decebel tried to soften his voice.
"I don't think so. It hurts, Dec. I can't think. I just want to sleep for a while." Jen's voice began to fade.
"Jennifer, stay with me a minute longer."
Jen loved the sound of his voice, the deep timbre of it. She nearly groaned when she felt his lips on hers and his fingers caressed her face.
"How are you doing that?" she asked him, her voice breathless through their bond.
"It's the bond. I just imagine touching you and somehow you feel it."
"Oh, the possibilities." Jen grinned inside.
Decebel chuckled.
"Hmm, that's the sound I like to hear." Jen imagined running her fingers through Decebel's soft, dark hair.
She heard him growl in her mind. "I have to find you, love. Try and think. How did they get you?"
"Have you wondered what our babies would have looked like?" Jen asked absently as she frowned inwardly, trying to picture the future she might have had with her wolf.
"Baby, this isn't really the time to discuss our babies. Let's focus on who is carrying you so that I can get you back. Then we can make babies."
Jen groaned and felt the arms around her tighten, which brought a gasp from her. Decebel must have sensed her pain because she felt his worry.
"I'm okay. Just hurts." Jen actually felt a smile spread across her face. "So you want to make babies with me?"
This time when Decebel laughed she swore that she could feel his hands run down her sides to her hips.
"Only you would want to discuss making babies at a time like this."
"Well, you have to admit that it's a better topic than my nearly being killed and now being kidnapped. Seriously, Dec, I'd much rather think about us making babies."
Jen felt another jolt of pain shoot through her – it took her breath away. She felt her consciousness begin to fade.
"I love you, Decebel. Even if we never make babies, I love you." The last thing she heard before the world disappeared was Decebel's deep, determined voice.
"I love you too, baby. I'm coming for you."
Chapter 2
Decebel squeezed his eyes shut as he felt Jennifer slip away again. He had nearly fallen to the ground when he heard her voice in his mind. She was alive – that was what he had to focus on right now. He couldn't think about the fact that she was in the arms of an unknown male wolf, or that she was in so much pain she was losing consciousness, and he definitely couldn't think about the fact that she wanted to make babies with him.
Decebel thought about how her voice had sounded in his mind. Even in pain and fear his mate would lighten the moment and try to distract him. How had he been so blessed to get a woman who would stand up to him, challenge him, accept him, and love him for the overbearing man he knew he was? At that exact moment he didn't know or really care, he just knew that he needed Jennifer; he needed his mate back in his arms where she would be safe. And as soon as he found her, he would chain her to his side so she would never be out of his sight again.
He chuckled to himself. Yeah, I'd like to see me try to chain her, he thought, then smiled even bigger. Although, my mate would probably like being chained.
Decebel rubbed his hands across his face, setting aside his thoughts about Jennifer while he dealt with the matter at hand.
Fane, Skender, Dillon, and Boain pulled up next to the large crowd in two black Hummers and two vans.
"Excellent." Jacque smiled as she watched the four males climb out of the vehicles.
Decebel waved over the Alphas from the other three packs.
"Each of you take a vehicle and begin transporting your packs down to the village. See if you can find a place large enough for all of us – or a couple places, if that's the best we can do. Dillon, you take a vehicle as well and get your pack down the mountain." The Hungarian and Bulgarian Alphas nodded and walked off, shouting orders to their packs, as Dillon began hollering orders to his pack.
Decebel turned to Sorin. "Get Vasile and Alina in the vehicle first. Then the females, with one male to each vehicle. Have Dorin drive. The rest of the males will stay here with me and wait for their return."
"I'm on it." Sorin nodded and then turned to Skender. "Help me with Vasile and Alina. I'm not sure that they are quite ready to walk on their own. Don't assist Vasile unless absolutely necessary. He won't want to appear weak."
"I want to stay with Fane," Jacque told Decebel.
"With all due respect, Jacque, you do not outrank me yet," Decebel told her firmly.
Fane pulled Jacque to the side. "You must go, love. Take care of the females while my mother is weak."
Jacque pursed her lips together as her eyes narrowed. "If you let something happen to yourself I'm going to be pissed. Don't say I didn't warn you."
Fane smiled as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "I consider myself warned. Know that those feelings go both ways, Luna. Take care of yourself."
Jacque wrapped her arms around Fane's neck, pulling him tight. "I love you," she whispered in his mind.
"That's good to hear, because I plan to keep you around for quite some time," Fane teased, trying to keep the moment light.
Jacque stuck her tongue out at him as they separated. Fane winked at her, praying they would be safe as she headed toward the Hummer and climbed in behind Sally.
Decebel, Fane, and Costin watched as the four vehicles, packed beyond capacity, headed down the mountain.
Decebel felt a chill run through him as the temperature seemed to drop unnaturally. He glanced in the direction of the burning mansion. His brow furrowed as he remembered how he had watched the fire engulf and devour the structure.Definitely not natural, he thought.
"Sorin." Decebel called to his pack mate. "You're older than I am." Sorin nodded in agreement. "What do you know of dark magic?"
Sorin's face paled as he looked just to the right of his Beta's eyes, so not to challenge him.
"It comes from witches." Sorin voice was strained.