Fate and Fury (33 page)

Peri took the stones of the Fae and laid them around Alina in a circle on the bed. The Fae gathered in a circle around the bed as well and clasped hands. Peri sat down next to Alina and laid her hands on the female’s head. She closed her eyes and she began to chant.

“
Alina, Alpha, precious to your mate,

Hear my voice,
this is not to be your fate.

The darkness binding, twisting inside

Seeking shadowed places in an attempt to hide.

I call you now from the evil you came,

You are not strong; you have no power I can’t tame.

Alina, mother, precious to your pack,

You fight this evil so we can bring you back.

There is a light in you that is alive in your heart,

No curse or spell can ever touch that part.

I am Perizada. I call on the power of my race,

You are finished; you will leave without a trace.

I will pull you from this body wrap you up tight,

Then cast you far from this place with all my might.

Alina! Hear my voice I command it of you,

Open your eyes to everything that’s true,

Fight the horror fight the fear and lies.

Fight and you will win as darkness dies.

Open your eyes Alina. Open your eyes

Open your eyes.”

Peri’s voice
filled with anger as she watched the spell wrapping itself around Alina’s mind. The Alpha was tired and worn out. Her mind was weak and no longer able to pick fact from lie.

“
OPEN YOUR DAMN EYES ALINA! YOU WILL NOT LET HER WIN!”

The stones around the she-wolf began to glow so bright they were nearly blinding and still Peri persisted. She yelled as tears streaked her face. This woman she had grown to love, considered a friend, and respected so much, was letting the evil win and that was not acceptable to Peri.

Vasile walked over behind Peri and placed his hand on the Fae’s shoulder. He pulled power into him, wolf magic, and pushed it into Peri along with his thoughts.

“
You come back to me Alina; we are not done in this life. Don’t you dare give up!”

He waited for something, anything to tell him she had heard him.

Her eyes fluttered open and, after several blinks, her vision began to clear. Peri shuddered as she felt the spell leaving Alina’s body. She pulled it into her grasp and walked over to Alston. He wrapped his hands around hers and spoke so low that no one could here. When he dropped his hands, Peri opened hers and let out a sigh of relief. It had worked.

“
Vasile,” Alina’s voice was weak as she turned to look at him. Tears flooded her eyes and she reached for him. He hesitated and she misunderstood, thinking that he didn’t want to touch her.

“
Don’t,” he told her sternly. “You know better than to think such falsehoods. I have always wanted you and will always want you.”

“
Then why are you there,” she pointed to where he stood, “and not here?”

“
Do you not remember?” He asked.

Alina closed her eyes to think.

“
Don’t, please,” Vasile leaned towards her. “Please, don’t close your eyes.”

Alina looked at him and saw in his mind what she had done.

The pain on her face made Vasile’s arms ache to hold her and he shook with the effort to keep from gathering her in his arms.

“
Please,”
she whispered to his mind.
“I am yours.”

“
You will allow me to have what is mine?”

“
Please,
”
was all she could get out.

The pack magic was broken as soon as Alina had confessed her need for him. Vasile climbed into their bed and pulled her into his arms. He didn’t take his eyes off her when he growled at the Fae in the room. “Leave us.”

Peri and Cynthia went from room to room telling the males that she and Cynthia would need to bring all their mates to Cynthia’s room. It was neutral territory and should help the males feel less threatened. Once they had moved all of them, with mostly no problems, Peri explained what had happened with Alina.

“
So, she is fine now?” Decebel asked, eagerly.

“
Yes, she is curse free and Vasile has his arms around her now. It was rated PG when we left, but I imagine they have moved on to more interesting acts. The point is they can touch again.” Peri clapped her hands together and then rubbed them. “So, we ready to do this? It may take a little more effort and I will need to touch each female at some point. Also, Vasile pushed his magic through me to Alina and that seemed to be the catalyst for her.”

“
What are we waiting for?” Fane snarled.

Peri rolled her eyes. “I swear I’m going to have a nice wolf pelt rug one of these days,” she grumbled as she and Alston placed the stones around the females lying on the floor.

Peri started on the right side, Rachel being the first female. She laid her hands on her head and she pushed into her mind, just as she had with Alina. She chanted as she pulled on the curse. She felt Gavril’s hand on her shoulder as he helped draw Rachel from the dark place the curse had dragged her to.

One by one, Peri touched each mate. She made sure to call them by name and allowed each male to reach out to their females through her. Once again, the stones glowed as power began to fill the room. The Fae council chanted out loud this time as they watched Peri begin to weaken, straining with the effort to remove the spell. She was nearly ready to collapse when Dain stepped out of the circle towards Peri, who was by Sally’s side. Costin looked up to see the male Fae coming towards his mate and he lunged. His teeth were bared and his eyes glowed as he reached for the man he thought meant harm to his mate. He stopped in mid jump when he heard her voice.

“
Costin,” Sally’s voice reached into him and drew the man back. She was calling for him. His mate was calling for
him
. He was by her side an instant later and nearly touched her before he remembered that he couldn’t.

“
Sally I need to hold you, please invite me.”

Sally blinked, as she tried to focus on what he was saying. Her mind was a jumbled mess and she kept trying to push away thoughts that would only lead to tears.

“
I need you Costin,”
The words were barely thought and Costin had scooped her up and left, without a backward glance, heading straight for his room.

He laid her on his bed and sat beside her. He stroked her cheek and his heart broke when she pulled away from him.

“
Sally, look at me,” Costin tried to keep the growl from his voice; he didn’t want to scare her any more that she already was.

She slowly turned her face towards him, but she wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“
Don’t be submissive to me,” he told her as he gently tilted her chin up, ignoring her flinch. “You’re my mate, my equal, and you will always meet my eyes.”

She stared up into his hazel eyes. He was so handsome it nearly hurt to look at him. She ached for his touch but she feared it as well.

“
Why?”
He asked her.

“
I’m not clean, I’m not…”

“
You’re mine,”
He interrupted and then continued out loud. “You are mine and I am yours.”

“
They t-t-t,” Sally erupted into tears as she tried to explain to Costin. She needed him to know because he wouldn’t want her anymore. At this moment, she was so broken that she knew that if he left now she would just curl up and die. But if he stayed because he didn’t understand then she wasn’t really his anymore, and that would hurt even more.

“
Costin, I was a virgin,”
she finally got out.

“
You still are love,”
he told her gently.
“I would remember if we had indulged in something that is bound to be amazing.”

Sally shook her head, frustrated that he didn’t understand.

“
No, it wasn’t you. Someone else did it, Costin, and I couldn’t stop him. I tried, I promise.”

“
I know baby, but that wasn’t real. It didn’t really happen.”

She continued as if she hadn’t heard him.
“That’s not the worst part, oh god, that’s not the worst.”
Tears flooded her eyes and sobs broke through her chest. She reached for him, though she knew she had no right to. Not any more.

“
I…”
She tried to tell him but she couldn’t. Shame washed over her and so she showed him instead. She buried her face in his neck and played the images for him of the things she had endured, the things she had done. Her body shook and she bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out.

Costin wrapped his arms around Sally and pulled her onto his lap. He saw the things in Sally’s mind that she believed had happened. Costin wouldn’t lie and say that it didn’t make him angry, but not for the reason Sally thought. It made Costin angry, because it took something that was to be special and beautiful for her and cheapened it; stole it from her, making her think that she had cheated on him. Costin had endured the same images in the In-Between and he had prayed that he would be able to keep those images from her, to keep her safe. Yet, here she sat utterly devastated.

He didn’t know what to do. She wouldn’t believe his words. He could see the ferocious determination to push him away because she thought she no longer deserved him, that she wasn’t worthy of
him
. It was ridiculous; if anyone wasn’t worthy, it was him. Sally was his precious and amazing Sally, with a heart of gold and a gentle spirit.

“
I love you,”
he told her and she shook harder, but he wasn’t going to stop, not until she understood with absolute certainty that he was not leaving her.

“
I love you Sally. I love you and I’m not leaving.”
He pulled back so that he could wipe the tears from her cheeks. She fought him, but he was stronger. He held her shoulders still and looked at her.

“
I’m going to kiss you now; do not fight me.”

Sally tried to shake her head, but Costin wrapped his hand around the nape of her neck and held her still. She refused to open her mouth and Costin nipped her lips in admonishment.

“
Open your mouth, Sally.”
His voice was a deep, husky whisper in her mind, it made her shutter, and for a moment, she forgot her pain and fear. She opened her mouth and when their tongues met, she moaned. And, just like that, the sound brought an image to her that made her want to vomit. She tried to pull away, but Costin refused to let her go. He continued to kiss her and Sally gasped when she saw the images in his mind.

Costin decided the only way to fight Sally’s mind was to give her something else to think about.

“
Let me replace those images Sally mine. Those were false things, lies that never happened. No one has touched you intimitley. No other has kissed you as I do and nobody has taken what is so precious to us both. They are lies that were put in your head by a spell. When we are married I will replace those with something real.”
He didn’t wait for a response. He continued to kiss her as he laid her back on the bed. He blanketed her with his body, putting just enough weight on her to make her think about him. Costin moved from her lips across her jaw line. She tilted her head back, giving him access to her throat and he took advantage of it. He kissed her, nipped her gently with his teeth. He made his way across her neck until his lips hovered over his mark.