Chapter 13

Thirteen

"I've been alive for thousands of years. You'd think that I would understand how humans think. You'd think that I'd have a clue about the motivations behind their actions. Sorry, but you'd be wrong. I'm staring at a young woman that I honestly thought I knew, and yet as I meet her eyes, I don't even recognize her." ~Peri

Peri paced back and forth in the Colorado pack's living room, her mind a jumbled mess as she tried to process what had just happened. Dalton had been watching her like a hungry beast since she'd returned, not as aloof toward his mate as he had appeared earlier.

Now, the living room was full of exhausted wolves, fae, two warlocks, two djinn, and a white witch. They had been talking when she entered, but the room fell silent as soon as she stepped in.

"She looked desperate," Lucian said through their bond, having seen Jewel through Peri's thoughts. "Like a caged animal."

Peri appreciated that he didn't speak out loud, letting her process her encounter with Jewel. Something in her expression must have given away her thoughts, because no one said a word. They simply stared.

"You're glowing, Beloved," Lucian told her.

Now she understood why no one was speaking. To them, she looked like she was on the verge of releasing a ton of power. After another five minutes of pacing, Fane spoke.

"Peri, we've all debriefed each other on how our missions went while you were meeting with Jewel. I'll let Lucian fill you in." His voice was calm but firm, just like his father's had been. "We all need some serious rest."

"What the alpha is trying to politely say," Zara spoke during Fane's pause, "is bring it down a notch with the glowworm stuff and tell us what the too-smart-for-her-own-good-but-apparently-not-using-her-brain healer said."

Peri's frantic pacing came to a halt as she faced Wadim's mate. Her words caught in her throat as she took in Zara's appearance. Blood was splattered across her face and clothing, her eyes still glowing with the remnants of her wolf form. Peri noticed the tight grip she had on Wadim's hand, her knuckles white from the pressure. It wasn't until Peri looked around the room that she realized they all shared a similar appearance—warriors who had given their all in battle and were now running on fumes.

Her eyes met Fane's as thoughts besides Jewel started clicking. "Cain?"

"Dead."

"I ripped out his heart," Lizzy said, pride in her voice.

"I got his head," Myanin added, holding up a bag, obviously soaked with liquid.

"Jen is going to be so pissed," Jacque muttered.

Myanin laughed. "Which makes the trophy even better."

Peri took a minute to absorb the words. The vampire king was dead. That meant whomever he'd sired who weren't hybrids would also die. "Good," she said softly. "That's good." Later, when she wasn't reeling over Jewel, she'd celebrate their victory over Cain, though she knew there was still much to do.

"I can ask one of the seer sprites if they've seen anything," Lilly offered. "I'm getting nothing."

"You know they can't tell us," Peri pointed out. No matter how badly she wanted to break the rules, using a sprite's premonition had consequences, and they were never worth it.

Lucian met her eyes, and she saw agreement there. They'd both experienced the consequences of breaking rules. Almost always, other people got hurt. Peri wasn't willing to risk any lives.

Tanya walked into the room, and Peri bit her tongue to keep from ripping into the alpha female. That wouldn't help anything or anyone. She forced herself to take several deep breaths and stopped pacing.

"How'd it go in Texas?" Tanya asked, looking at Lilly.

"Jen's parents didn't die from shock," Lilly answered. "So that's a plus. And Jeff is way more competent—not to mention not an ass—than the last Coldspring alpha. He seems to be keeping things under control. So, all in all, it went well."

The Colorado alpha turned her eyes on Peri. She frowned. "What's wrong?"

Peri saw the worry on Tanya's face, which helped bring her irritation down even more. Tanya was not the enemy. "Jewel wasn't here when I arrived, so I waited in her room for her."

Tanya's eyes widened as she took a step toward her. "What?" She breathed out in alarm.

"It wasn't long before she stumbled in, literally. She looks like she's on death's door. What the actual hell, Tanya?" Okay, so she had meant to be calm, but that had apparently gone out the window. This was one of her healers. Peri felt directly responsible for each of them and their welfare. "Her hair is dull, she's got dark circles under her eyes, she's too damn thin, and her eyes are haunted by more than the hell she's already been through. I asked her multiple times what was going on, but she refused to say anything."

Dalton let out a pained whine, like a wolf who'd been kicked, but he made no move for the stairs. Whatever had gone down between him and Jewel had been bad. Bad enough that he was fighting his wolf's need to see and touch her.

"She won't talk." Tanya's shoulders slumped forward. "I don't understand how she got off pack property without us knowing."

"She's a healer with witch magic," Lilly pointed out before Peri could.

"Dammit! The wheelers can flash." Peri slapped her hands onto her thighs. "Volcan gave them the ability. I didn't think any of them were using it."

Tanya cursed under her breath and crossed her arms. "Can you keep her here?"

Peri nodded. "I can bind her." She started for the stairs.

"Can you do it without letting her know?" Lucian asked, making her pause at the bottom of the stairs.

"Yes." Peri nodded.

He raised a brow. "Maybe do that instead of having a confrontation?"

Peri thought about how exhausted the healer looked. She didn't want to cause her any more stress. "Good idea. Not that I think she'd go anywhere tonight. She could barely stand. I'll just stay outside her door while I perform the spell."

"I should go see her." Dalton pushed away from the wall, his large frame rigid with barely contained rage. His wolf, apparently, was winning the battle against the man's anger.

"Why?" Peri snapped. She was pissed at the wolf for walking away from his mate, throwing a hissy fit because she wasn't telling him what he wanted to know.

"Judgy much? " A bit of humor laced Lucian's voice. They'd had their own fights, and Peri really had no room to throw stones when it came to anyone else's stubbornness. That didn't mean she wasn't going to. Jewel was a gypsy healer, which meant she was Peri's responsibility, and she took that very seriously.

"She's my mate," Dalton snarled. "If anyone should check on her and make sure she doesn't leave, it should be me."

"Yeah, because you were doing such a bang-up job of it before," Anna muttered. She looked exhausted, almost as bad as Jewel had. It was obvious that being in those dark places had affected her. It also wasn't like Anna to be cruel.

Dalton's eyes snapped to the brunette healer. Gustavo growled and stepped in front of his mate, blocking Dalton's view. "She's not wrong. You will not take your self-loathing out on my mate or anyone else here."

"Who the hell are any of you to judge me?" Dalton's teeth snapped together. "You cannot understand a man's reasoning until you have walked in his shoes. Who among you has walked in mine?"

Jacque slowly raised her hand, scrunching up her nose. "I kind of get it. I kicked Fane out when he wouldn't talk to me about his crap and he'd closed the bond."

Fane cleared his throat and shifted on his feet, wrapping an arm around his mate and pulling her close.

"I walked away from Peri," Lucian said. "I felt betrayed by her lack of communication with me. I felt as if I was wandering in the darkness alone when I needed her beside me."

Peri felt as if she'd been kicked in the gut. Though she knew that wasn't her mate's intent, he was proving a point. Dalton did not deserve their judgment. If anything, he deserved their support and understanding.

"Mine and Bethany's relationship hasn't exactly been smooth sailing," Drake added.

Jacque snorted. "We know, sheet king."

"I'm sorry, Dalton." Anna peeked around Gustavo. "My words were cruel. I don't know why I said it. I just… I feel?—"

"The dark magic is messing with you," Peri offered. "There will always be a residue of what Volcan did. Dark magic leaves a mark."

Dalton sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He seemed to deflate, his shoulders slumping forward. He and Jewel had been through so much. How much more could they take before the now-fragile bond snapped? "I don't even know if she wants to see me," he mumbled.

"Of course she wants to see you." Everyone seemed to listen when Zara, Wadim's mate, spoke because she so rarely did, and usually only in response to a ridiculous statement by Jen. "No matter what you two have said or done, there's no one you need more than her. And no one she needs more than you."

Dalton looked at Lucian. "I'm so angry with her. I miss the hell out of her. I'm scared of what she'll tell me if she answers my questions. How do you get past that?" He glanced at Jacque, likely because of her admission as well.

"It's not easy," Lucian admitted. "You have to be willing to set aside your hurt, pride, and anger so you can try to see things from her point of view. You don't cling to the adage ‘it's not fair' or ‘why should I be the one to give in?' It's not about fairness or giving in. It's about deciding your relationship is more important than the anger you feel. Being a mate is about loving her more than you love yourself. You can't control her actions. All you can control are your own reactions. There is nothing easy about it, regardless of the soulmate bond. A relationship takes work and sacrifice."

"I can't explain it any better than that." Jacque motioned to Lucian.

Dalton closed his eyes and nodded. "I'll come up after you, Peri."

"The rest of us, not of the Colorado pack, will head back to the sprite stronghold," Fane ordered. "If the fae would be so kind, we would like to see our son and get some rest."

"Always happy to help," Dain stood.

"Thank you." Jacque smiled.

"I'll contact Decebel and find out how things are going with Maxim's pack," Fane continued. "Let's plan to meet back here." He glanced at Dillon.

The alpha nodded. "Works for us."

"Peri," Lilly spoke up, "when you're done, would you mind taking me and mine back home?"

"I got you, Queenie," Peri said as she headed for the stairs. She kept going, knowing the others would work out the travel issues with Dain, Disir, and Elle.

Peri walked up the stairs, and the voices in the living room faded to a murmur. As she ambled down the corridor toward Jewel and Dalton's room, her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. So much had happened in such a short amount of time. Cain was dead. Peri hadn't even had time to process that nugget of gold. But he'd left his mark on this world when he created the hybrids. So in a way, he was still haunting them. Damn vampire. Peri's shoulders dropped as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her. Her body had been running on adrenaline and was now running out.

"You're so tired you didn't even hear me following you." Lucian's voice came from right behind her.

"I knew you were there."

"Liar."

He knew her too well. Also, he had access to her thoughts, and she was too tired to even try to block him. "You will do the spell, assist Lilly, and then we're heading to our home, where you will go straight to bed."

"Bossy," she grumbled.

"Or maybe you just need to be told to stop so you don't make yourself vulnerable to the enemy by being so worn out you could do little more than an untrained child."

"Obnoxiously correct." Peri stopped in front of the couple's door and placed a hand on it. She spoke in the tongue of her race, and instead of binding Jewel's body, she warded the room so the healer would be locked inside. Peri wanted to keep the girl safe, not keep her from attending to her personal needs. When it was done, Lucian took her hand, and they walked back down to the living room together.

D alton stood in the empty living room once everyone had gone. He felt frozen, as if his feet were held in place by concrete blocks. His wolf was howling to get to their mate, but the stupid, stubborn male with his hurt feelings and crushed pride still fought the desire to give in. He pictured her beautiful face with tears running down as he told her he was leaving. The bond slipped for a second, and he'd felt her crushed spirit. He'd nearly dropped his bag and wrapped her in his arms. But then she'd snapped it closed again, and he was left alone in his own mind.

"You will get through this." Dillon came up beside him. "I've known you a long time, and you've been through hell, yet you're still standing."

"Barely." Dalton's voice was rough with emotion.

"Even if you couldn't stand on your own, we would hold you up." Dillon placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze. Dalton felt the alpha's power flow into him, the comfort that came from a leader who genuinely cared for those who belonged to him. "We love you and Jewel. Whatever it takes, we will be with you every step of the way. I promise you there is a light at the other end of the tunnel."

Dalton swallowed around the knot in his throat. "Thank you. I've always appreciated and respected you. I will continue to without exception."

"Go to her," Dillon encouraged. "Don't push too hard, just be there for her. Whatever is going on, it's obviously devastating to her." His alpha gave a final squeeze and then left him.

Dalton made his way up the stairs, which seemed to be growing in number as he climbed. It felt like an eternity had passed before he finally stood before their door. He could feel magic flowing around it—Peri's magic. He tried the doorknob and wasn't surprised to find it locked. His beast urged him to kick the damn door in; it stood between them and their mate, but the man wouldn't react so uncontrollably.

Dalton leaned forward and pressed his forehead to the wood, closing his eyes. "Jewel," he called, loud enough for her to hear him through the barrier. "Please talk to me." He waited, hoping she would unlock the door, but there was just silence on the other end. Maybe she was asleep? Peri had said she looked exhausted. Then again, maybe she felt like him—lost and empty, unable to sleep because of the separation between them. Perhaps she lay in bed, curled up in a ball, wishing, like him, that he would hold her. "If you're listening, I want you to know that I'm sorry." He rolled his head back and forth on the door, clenching his teeth tightly to keep his emotions under control.

"I'm sorry I left the way I did. I was hurt and angry, and I let those emotions fuel my actions. I'll admit, part of me wanted you to hurt the way I was hurting. I'm ashamed to say that, but there it is." His hands came up, pressing on either side of his head, his fingers spread wide. His muscles bunched, ready to shove the offending door out of the way, but he stopped himself. Dillon had said to be gentle. "Little Dove." He choked on the words. Moisture gathered in his eyes, and he found that he didn't care if he cried. Man or not, he hurt just like everyone else. He turned and slid down the door until the floor stopped him. If she wouldn't let him in, he'd sit there and wait until she had no choice but to answer the door.

"I'm not going anywhere," he told her, his head pressed back against the wood. "I won't make the same mistake twice. You need me. I know you do, just as much as I need you. We're going to work this out because there's no other outcome for us but to be together. I love you, Jewel Black. And I know you love me." He pulled in a deep breath and resigned himself to a long night of sitting in the hall on the hard floor. It was a minor discomfort to endure for his female.

He sucked in a sharp breath as he felt the bond loosen, but only enough to hear her voice. "I love you, Dalton. Never doubt that." Then she was gone.

He slammed his head back against the door as emotions swamped him. His skin burned for her touch. His heart beat painfully in his chest as if there wasn't enough oxygen to make the organ work correctly. He was empty and utterly alone.