Peri watched as the females she had grown to love lay in pain, their tears drenched the earth and the males that loved them so fiercely sat helpless next to them, unable to touch, unable to help.

Jen couldn’t remember the last time she had felt such pain. Maybe when she had been burned in the car fire, or maybe when Decebel had been taken from her, or maybe never. She could hear his voice as he called to her. Why wouldn’t he touch her? Why didn’t he pick her up and take the pain away? Then, through the pulsing pain that shot through every limb, she remembered that she had made it so that he couldn’t. Well, she thought, that’s what I get for trying to prove a point.

“Jennifer?” She heard his voice in her mind and for a brief moment in time, it was like a balm to her aching form.

“If you mention even for a second that I’m the reason you can’t touch me I swear I’ll skin you and put your pelt in our child’s room.”

“I love you too baby,” he growled at her.

“Why is this happening Dec?” Jen’s usually strong voice was laced with uncertainty and fear.

“I don’t know love, but I’m going to fix it.”

“Hurry,” was the last word she got out before all hell broke loose.

Jacque screamed. She tried not to, but the hulking form coming at her was too much. Logan leered at her. It couldn’t be him; he was dead. Wasn’t he? But he was here, standing over her, smiling at her in a way that made her stomach crawl.

“Get away from me.” She tried to sound stronger, but the pain that was stabbing her stomach kept her from breathing and her words came out as a whimper. “You’re dead, I know you’re dead. You shouldn’t be here.”

“Oh sweet heart, I’m here and I’ve come for what should have been mine.” Logan’s voice was just as she remembered it and she felt like oil had been poured on her skin, dirty, and sticky. She rolled over and vomited, just as his hand gripped her ankle, pulling her towards him.

“NO! STOP! PLEASE STOP, DON’T DO THIS,” She screamed at the tops of her lungs, but he didn’t stop. Her mind reached for a memory, something that she knew was real. They had been walking through the forest, she, the other females, and the males. They had been on their way to the mansion. How did she get here with Logan? How was he here touching her, oh god, he was touching her. She began to shake and her body felt cold, like it would never be warm again. She felt her clothes rip and a new scream erupted from her lungs. She opened her eyes, hell bent on killing Logan all over again. Only it wasn’t Logan standing over her, it was Lucas. What the hell? She must be going crazy. That was the only solution; she had to be losing her mind. She kicked, screamed, and clawed at him. In her mind, her nails were raking his face, drawing blood that was raining downon her.

Fane watched as his mate screamed, clawing at an invisible foe. She was hysterical and through the screaming, he recognized two names, Logan and Lucas. She kept saying over and over “don’t do this” and it was when he saw the desperation and fear in her open, unseeing eyes that he knew what was happening in her mind. It was the same thing that had happened in his mind, only now she truly thought it was happening to her. Once again, he sat helpless before his mate. His hands shook as he reached for her, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to touch her. He watched as tears streamed down her cheeks and blood trickled from her lips as she bit them against the screams she was fighting.

“Jacquelyn,” he whispered gently into her mind trying to be a calming presence even as he felt the chaos that was raging through her.

“Fane! Please help me please!”

“It’s not real love; he’s not real. Please come back to me. I’m here beside you and no one is touching you.” Fane flinched when he saw in her mind what she was seeing. When he saw Lucas reach for her he howled, feeling a rage unlike any he’d ever felt before.

Maybe it was the gypsy blood in Sally, but she knew that what she was seeing wasn’t real. Knew that she was actually experiencing what Costin had watched all that time that he had spent in the In-Between. Even with that knowledge, it didn’t make it easier and it didn’t make it go away. She closed her eyes against the hands that weren’t Costin’s on her body. She bit her tongue against the scream that threatened to spill out when she felt a knife pierce her skin. She fought every instinct inside to keep from calling out to her mate, but she wasn’t that strong. Costin made her strong, Costin made her the Sally she needed to be and without him she felt alone and broken. She felt Costin trying to push into her mind, but she didn’t want him there. She didn’t want him to know what she was feeling, what she was experiencing. But, in the end, her fear and need of him won out.

“Sally mine,” his soft voice filled her mind and she whimpered.

“Please, Costin, please don’t stay. You don’t need to see this.” She tried to keep the images from him, but knew she had failed when she felt his anger and desperation.

Costin understood now why one by one the males were howling. He felt his own wolf tearing through him, raging for blood and bone.

Peri stood, helpless, with Cynthia and Drake next to her. They stared at the mated pairs and watched as rage and despair took over.

“We have to do something,” Cynthia growled.

“You don’t think I’ve been trying?” Peri snapped. “I don’t know what else to do. You’re a damn wolf; help me figure out how to fix the magic that keeps them apart.”