“I guess I’m going to be paying the Missouri Alpha a visit,” she said under her breath. She turned then to Wadim and held his gaze with her own hard stare. “Do not share this information with anyone. Not even Vasile—not yet.”
Wadim paled. “I can’t keep information from Vasile.”
“You can and you will. I will inform Vasile of what we know as soon as I’ve worked a few kinks out.”
“And what if he asks for a progress report? I can’t lie. He’ll know I’m lying. Believe it or not, Peri, I’ve grown quite attached to my hide. Lying to my Alpha is a good way to lose it.”
“Then I suggest you make yourself scarce for the day.” She smiled coolly at him. “Thank you for working so diligently on this, history boy. It is much appreciated.”
Just before she flashed from the room, Peri heard his gruff voice, “Well you are not welcome.”
She smiled. The history wolf was growing on her. Maybe a little like a fungus, but growing on her nonetheless.
Peri appeared at the doorstep of the Missouri pack mansion. She didn’t have to knock. The Alpha, Tyler Reed, was already aware of her arrival. The door opened and the tall Alpha looked down at her.
“Perizada.” He bowed his head slightly.
“Reed,” Peri returned, though she did not bow her head in return.
“To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?”
“Oh can the crap, Alpha. Nobody every thinks it’s a pleasure when they see me on their doorstep.”
“Too true,” he chuckled. “Does that apply to your mate as well?”
Peri’s eyes flashed and her power flared around her. “Careful, wolf. I’ve killed for lesser insults.”
“Why are you here?” Tyler asked, obviously giving up the pretense of mister hospitality. Tyler was not a bad guy, but he was an Alpha. It was amazing how often that equated to also being a jackass. Vasile was an exception to the rule. Decebel, well, some days he was an exception. Other days he was quickly put in his place by his firecracker mate.
“I need to talk to you about Cross, Jericho, and two other female wolves.”
Tyler’s face darkened as the names left Peri’s lips. His eyes narrowed on her. “What about them?”
“Why did Jericho and Cross leave your pack?” she asked, holding his gaze and not backing down when his wolf attempted to win the dominance game.
“There were issues upon which we did not see eye to eye. I gave them a choice. They could see reason, or they could leave our pack. They decided to make a life elsewhere,” he answered, attempting at nonchalance.
“Didn’t see eye to eye?” she asked tilting her head slightly. “Would this not seeing eye to eye have anything to do with The Order of the Burning Claw?”
Reed’s eyes snapped up and began to glow as his wolf pushed for dominance. “Don’t speak those words here,” he growled.
Peri rolled her eyes. “Please tell me you aren’t pulling the whole Harry Potter, He Who Must Not be Named, crap.”
Tyler snapped at her. “You know better than anyone how powerful the spoken word is. Do not draw the attention of such evil into my territory.”
“I’m going to take that as an affirmative. The reason they left had to do with the Order.”
Tyler didn’t respond. He simply stared at her.
“Are they dangerous?” she asked.
“Anyone affiliated with the Claw is dangerous, you know that.”
“Bloody hell,” Peri muttered, then grinned because she’d used Jen’s favorite curse. “I thought the Order had died out.”
“What have they done?” Tyler asked, taking a step toward her.
Peri shook her head. “It’s better if you didn’t know.”
“That bad,” he murmured.
“Probably worse than what you’re imagining,” she admitted. “Can you give me any information on them?”
“I’ll do what I can to help, of course. But I’ve not had any contact with them in decades. I’ve made some attempts to reach out to them—to learn their fates—but I’ve never been able to discover anything. I confess that I didn’t devote my best efforts to the task. Even when they were under my power and protection, they weren’t the best pack mates. I can’t blame Jericho. Jericho’s true mate died a long time ago. You know what that can do to a wolf. To my knowledge, Cross has never met his. The cousins are crazy, seriously, crazy.”“Great, just what I need, more crazy bitches in my life,” Peri muttered. “Thanks for your time, Tyler Reed. You were incredibly unhelpful, but that’s not your fault. You’re a dominant male and therefore mostly useless without your mate.” She gave him a bow that was not at all respectful and then flashed.
Peri appeared in the grove of her realm and saw that her mate was waiting for her. She immediately started pacing, not even glancing at Lucian.
“How did it go with the Missouri Alpha?” he asked her in that calm way of his.
She shot him a glare.
“That good?”
“What do you know about The Order of the Burning Claw?” she asked, not acknowledging his question.
A low, deadly growl rose up from his chest when he took a step toward her. “At one time they were radical, dangerous, supernaturals who loathed humans. I thought they had dissolved.”
“You and me both. Who was the leader of it?”
Lucian shook his head. “No one ever knew.”
“I’m really getting sick of evil pricks being able to stay under the radar. It’s beginning to really grate on my nerves.”
Peri filled him in on everything she’d learned from Wadim and Tyler.
“Why not tell Vasile?” Lucian asked her.
“I need to know what we are up against before I alert the pack. If I tell him, someone else will find out. I swear Jen has an army of little house mice that gather intel for her,” Peri grumbled. “Then these wolves will find out that we are on to them. We might not hear from them again until something bad happens. I want to know who is behind all this. I need to know if the Order really is still active. Or maybe it’s been revived after all these years and these wolves are responsible. Regardless, I have to know. You know how much I hate being treated like a mushroom.”
“Treated like a mushroom?” Lucian cocked his head at his mate.
“Kept in the dark and fed bullshit,” she barked.
Her mate just shook his head. “Where are you headed now?”
“I suppose it’s time to pay a visit to the wayward wolves of Oceanside.”
“You just said you didn’t want them to know that we are on to them,” said Lucian.
“Exactly. I don’t want them to know that other wolves are on to them. I don’t want Vasile and his pack to go charging in all growly, bitey like,” she responded. “If that happens, then the rogue pack probably all ends up dead and we learn nothing. But if I go, then they know something bigger is at work. Perhaps, they think the high fae are investigating them. Then they get desperate, maybe make a mistake. I have resources that Vasile doesn’t have, resources that could help me catch these rebel wolves when they do slip up.”
“What resources?” he questioned.
“Pixies.” Peri grinned.
“That’s encouraging,” he said deadpan. “Perhaps, I should go with you on this one. I don’t want you around a bunch of rogue wolves. Even the great Peri needs backup and who better than her mate.”
“No way, Jose. No growly, bitey, remember? We’ve gone over this, Lucian. It won’t come to fighting, and, even if it did, these reprobates wouldn’t stand a chance against me.”
Lucian walked up to her and placed a hand on her cheek tilting her face up to look at him. “Be careful, please.”
“I’m always careful,” she scoffed.
“No you’re not,” he challenged. “You’re impulsive, hot tempered and—”
Peri cut him off. “The next words out of your mouth better be sexy as hell or so help me, Lucian—”
He interrupted her rant with his lips pressed firmly to hers. Peri groaned as she submitted to him and leaned closer to his strong body. It felt like it had been forever since he’d held her in his arms.
When he finally pulled back, he held her face in both of his hands. He was gentle, as though she was made of glass. “You are amazing. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I don’t want you in danger. Please be careful. I love you.”
Well, how can a girl not oblige when he talks like that?
“I love you,” she reciprocated. “I will be as careful as the task allows.”
“That will have to be good enough,” Lucian murmured against her lips as he pressed them once more to hers.
“Come back to me soon. I have need of you.”
Peri loved how honest and open he was with her. Lucian didn’t waffle about, he simply told her how he felt and what he needed. There was no guessing game, no wondering, and it was refreshing.
“Then you shall have me as soon as I’m able.” With one last kiss she flashed, leaving her mate and the shelter of his arms. Sometimes being powerful sucked.
Chapter 13
“I didn’t think that I had a future. I had accepted that my fate was set. One day, I was certain, I would die at the teeth of my captors. But out of the darkness, you charged in—a mighty wolf, rescuing me from evil. I was destined to be yours. And in the short time I’ve known you, I’ve come to want to be yours. There are so many unknowns, yet I feel that as long as you are by my side, I can stand before anything life has to throw at me and not fall.” ~Bethany