Wadim walked in and without regard to formality, threw himself onto the large sofa in the middle of the library. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes as he let out a frustrated groan.

“We are never going to survive this,” he told Skender. “I mean, it’s not a matter of if the world will be destroyed. It’s a matter of who will destroy it and when it is destroyed; a hell bent, bat shit crazy witch, ooorr, a pack of Alpha werewolves in a pissing contest?”

“Please tell me that’s a figure of speech, and that there aren’t really pissing contests going on,” Skender growled. “We just got new carpet.”

Wadim laughed. “Unfortunately, no. There are no real pissing contests going on, however, Radim, Beta to the Poland pack did have the bright idea to share with Seraph what a shame he thought it was for him that he came from a pack where the Alpha betrayed his own kind.”

Skender rubbed his face with his hands as he shook his head. “Is either one of them dead?”

“No, and no blood was shed either. The Poland Alpha, Artur, has a good head on his shoulders and put his Beta in his place quickly and publicly. That seemed to smooth any rising hackles.”

“Have you heard from the Great Luna again?” Skender asked.

Wadim shook his head. “No, but I’m thinking it might not be a bad idea to see if we get in contact with the Fae council. If my records are correct, and they always are, then the Fae would have been the ones to send out the call.”

“Do you think they are going to finally step out of their safe little bubble and help?” asked Skender.

“The Great Luna set the plan in motion to force them into helping when she made us compatible mates with them, so yeah, I think they are finally going to get off their butts.”

Skender stood staring down at the pack historian as he thought about the idea of being mated to a Fae. It seemed a very strange idea to be mated to one not of their own race. But, then again, he had been waiting to find his mate for so long and the darkness was creeping deeper inside of him. If his mate were a Fae, then he’d take her in a heartbeat.

“So what’s the plan, Skender?” Wadim raised his brow at him.

“I think the next step will be to meet with all the Alpha’s once they arrive.”

Just then, the doors to the library flew open and in strode Dillon Jacobs.

“What the hell is going on and why are we just now hearing about the demise of mankind?” His eyes were glowing and his power filled the room. Dillon was pissed and unless they could get him calmed down, there was a good possibility that heads were going to roll.

Q

Skender stood at the front of the large gathering room and briefly met the eyes of each Alpha. The ten packs from other countries and cities had finally all arrived and with the Romanian pack and Serbian pack already present, that made twelve. All under one roof and they wereantsy. The tension among the dominants was tangible and had a human been present, it would have choked them.

“I’ve been on this earth longer than I care to admit and never in that time have we received the call from the Great Luna. Why now?” Drayden, of the Canadian pack, asked.

Wadim took a step forward and began to explain all that had happened from the Gathering until now. He condensed it as much as possible, but made sure not to leave out any vital details. As his story continued on, with every word, the Alpha’s grew more and more tense.

“Why are we just now hearing of this witch that poses such a threat to us all?” Angus, Alpha of the Ireland pack spoke up.

There was a rumble of agreement across the room and Wadim fought the urge to back up a step. Unless he wanted to be chased, he knew better than to back away from these predators.

“You all know Vasile.” Skender stepped forward, taking the pressure off of the less dominant historian. “He cares more deeply for our race than we can imagine. He was trying to prevent a war, and trying to prevent us all from having to be brought together, considering what might happen between our packs. He was not attempting to keep you in the dark, because he wanted to leave you defenseless. If we hadn’t allowed the dominance in us to drive wedges between us, it might not have come to this. If Desdemona had thought that she had to contend with our entire race and not just a single pack, she might not have pursued this ridiculous plan.”

“Are you saying that this is our fault?” Angus growled, with glowing eyes.

Skender held up his hands plaintively and dropped his eyes.

“No, I’m not saying that at all. I’m saying this is a pack problem. It’s all our faults. Whether we like it or not, we are all pack. We may come from different countries, we may speak different, languages and live different lives, but we are all from the same Maker, all of the same blood and that makes us pack. Pack stands together, fights together, and is bound together.” The silence following Skender’s words was soul piercing as the Alpha’s heard, not just listened, but heard what he was saying. If they understood nothing else, they understood the importance of pack. Wolves were not lone creatures. They depended on one another and they needed one another.

Dillon stepped forward and waited for Skender to invite him to stand before the Alphas. Skender gave a slight nod and stepped to the side.

“We might as well put aside petty rivalry and territorial posturing,” he told them. “We all know we are going to stay and fight no matter the consequences. I personally think that the first step would be learning to fight together, as one pack. We need to know how each of us fights, how we move, and what our individual pack strategies are so that we can be effective when we go to battle.” Dillon watched and waited for a response from the pack.