Dark Wolf(54)

Ivory shook her head. "The wolf pups should be able to relate even  faster to you both. They'll sense the wolf and accept you as alpha far  more easily than we'd first anticipated. That acceptance is everything.  The fact that you, Dimitri, knew so much about wolves influenced our  decision. We are certain you could easily run a pack."

Dimitri tightened his arms around Skyler, feeling her joy. She needed  joyful moments like this one and he knew it. She'd gone through far too  much in a short period of time. She hadn't wavered for a moment in her  determination, but still, the last few risings had been extremely  difficult on both body and mind. The tremendous gift of the wolf pups  had come at the most opportune time.

"Thank you both again," Dimitri said sincerely. "You found the perfect  gift for the two of us and we're grateful. The moment we're healthy,  we'll come to you."

"Just send word," Ivory said, with another quick glance toward Razvan,  as if she in some way might offend him. Her privacy was legendary. Few,  if any, knew the way to her home and clearly, even with them, she wanted  to keep it that way.                       
       
           



       

Dimitri couldn't blame her. She'd been betrayed and chopped into pieces,  and scattered across a meadow in the hopes the wolves would devour her.  Ivory had risen stronger than ever, a fierce fighter, every bit as  skilled as her male counterparts. Razvan had quickly caught up with her  expertise and they had become the scourge of vampires. Even master  vampires avoided them.

As the four of them rose, Dimitri and Skyler a little shakily, Skyler  sent Gabriel a grateful look. No father could be better than you,  Gabriel. Thank you for bringing me peace with Razvan. You're such a  generous man, and you taught me that trait. I hope to always make you  proud to call me daughter.

There's no need to fear I will ever be disappointed. I know the untruth  you spoke to Francesca and me about your whereabouts and plans for your  college vacation time weighs on you, but in truth, we let you down.

She went to protest, but he held up his hand, making room in the circle  beside him. Skyler and Dimitri took their place next to him.

Even had you been too young to be claimed, it was already established  that Dimitri was your lifemate. All of us knew it, yet we didn't give  you the consideration to tell you what was happening. We treated you  like a child and left you in the dark. That was our mistake and our  fault. You have no reason to be guilty or ashamed. I thank the universe  that you have such good friends in Paul and Josef.

Both Dimitri and Skyler thanked the universe for them as well. She  smiled at the two of them, sitting in the warriors circle, suddenly  being treated as men, although it was Zacarias De La Cruz everyone was  listening to.

"The question is, how do we get everyone safely out of here?" Zacarias  said. "We could fight our way out, and as a last resort, we will, but  out of respect for Mikhail and what he's dealing with there, it would be  best if we found a different way."

"Skyler and Dimitri need a safe resting place to heal," Gabriel added.  "Both are still in poor shape." He sent an apologetic look toward his  daughter.

The transparent walls around them suddenly rippled again. The ground shifted slightly.

Skyler nestled her hand inside of Dimitri's for comfort. She knew it  wasn't her fault that the shelter was collapsing-it wasn't designed to  last forever-but she was too weak to fix it.

Dimitri tightened his fingers around hers instantly and shifted his  body, just a little to offer more protection. She leaned her head back  against his shoulder. The Carpathians and Zev had been discussing  various possibilities for some time. She thought by now, they would have  figured something out.

"We've got enough of us here to slip out and pick them off one by one,"  Nicolas De La Cruz suggested. "They might feel our energy, but with a  large electrical storm, we could easily slow them down and distract  them. We know how they fight. We could take them."

"You can't kill every Lycan because you're angry at them," Zev protested.

"Why not?" Rafael demanded. "Making war on children makes them fair game as far as I'm concerned."

Paul and Josef exchanged a long look with Skyler. Josef's amusement was  in his eyes, making the other two smile in spite of the circumstances.  Although being invited to take part in the discussion, clearly they were  still relegated, by some, to the "child" label.

Because they're solving this problem so peacefully and adult-like, Josef sent, his tone overflowing with laughter.

It was difficult to keep a straight face with Josef's sense of humor spilling over to them.

"I guess I'm their biggest problem," Paul confided in a loud whisper. "I can't shift."

"Neither can I at this point," Skyler said. "I can barely sit up anymore."

Her whispered words acted as some kind of a trigger for the conferring Carpathians. They all turned and looked at her.

She sank back against Dimitri again. He put both arms around her, caging  her in-a small warning to the others that he was running out of  patience with the arguing.

"I've got to get her out of here now," Dimitri decreed. "I don't care  about retaliation, only making certain Skyler gets the care she needs."

"Let's just fly everyone out of here," Fen said. "There's no need to go  to war with these people. We have a strong enough force to shield Paul,  Zev and our wounded."

"We have a reason," Rafael declared.

Zev scowled and started to say something, but Fen shook his head in  warning and cut him off before he could engage with Rafael, who clearly  was upset over his nephew being shot multiple times.

"There's no way to tell who is with Gunnolf's faction and who stands  with the council. We can't lump all Lycans together. Clearly, there's  some internal war going on and whoever is behind the bid for power sees  Carpathians as a threat. Until we have a clear understanding of who our  real enemy is, we can't risk injuring-or killing-an innocent."

"Fen's right," Zacarias agreed. His tone brooked no argument, and no one made one.

"Let's get it done then," Dimitri said. "We've got most of the night left."

"We can form the shield to allow the escape out of here"-Zacarias  volunteered his brothers-"but we will retaliate if fired upon."

Zev shook his head. "I could try talking to them."

"At this point," Fen said, "most of the Lycans believe you are a traitor  or have become the Sange rau and we're protecting you. Your council  members, or most of them, are in the Carpathian Mountains. So is your  pack. You'll do more good there. If we can get to the bottom of what's  going on, we'll have a better chance to stop it."

Gabriel and Lucian looked at one another and gave a slow nod in perfect  unison, as if they had one mind. They'd been battling together for  centuries. Strategy was a way of life. Although retreating was  abhorrent, sometimes they knew it was necessary.

"Lucian and I will lead us out," Gabriel said. "Razvan and Ivory can  take up the rear. If Zacarias and his brothers shield us, that gives us  Tatijana, Fen, Byron and Vlad to carry the wounded. We'll need one more  carrier."

"I can fly myself out of here," Dimitri said. "I might be weak, but I'm not dead."

Gabriel shook his head. "I'm not willing to risk you, Dimitri. You've  got my daughter's life in your hands. You've been tortured beyond all  reason and shot as well. Your body needs recovery time."

"I can fly," Josef volunteered. "I brought Paul and Skyler here."

Zacarias swung around, his dark eyes steely and cold. "Riordan will take you. We will not risk you either."

Josef let out his breath and ducked his head. He hadn't expected  Zacarias to take an interest in him, to even be on his radar. He was  used to arguing with his adopted father and uncle, but Zacarias was on  an entirely new level.

Man, how do you live with that? Josef asked Paul, but he was secretly  pleased that Zacarias had even noticed him, let alone decreed one of the  De La Cruz brothers would actually look after him.

He's cool, isn't he? Paul said.

Cool like a caged tiger, Josef replied. He's a little bit terrifying.

I know. But then you see him with Marguarita and he's all gooey and mushy with her.

"It's settled then," Gabriel continued as if he hadn't been interrupted.  "Tatijana, you take Skyler and follow me out. Fen can take Dimitri.  Riordan has Josef. Vlad will have Paul. Byron, will you take Zev?"

"Of course." He gave his nephew a warning glare. Don't do anything crazy around the De La Cruz brothers.

They know me through Paul, Josef assured, recognizing his uncle's gruff  caution was more fear for him than embarrassment over something he might  do. But I want to get home as fast as possible. Skyler needs to heal  and be safe. His uncle knew he loved Skyler and that reassurance was the  best that he could give.