“We will get them back Decebel; you have to believe that. We will get them back and we will destroy the one who took them from us.”

Decebel was shaking his head as Vasile spoke. There may have been truth in his statement, but not for Decebel. It did not apply to him.

“I petitioned the Great Luna,” he finally bit out.

Vasile tensed as he took in this information. There could be only one reason Decebel would do such a thing.

“I take it Jen doesn’t know,” he asked calmly.

Decebel shook his head.

“Is this why you sent her away with such ease?”

Decebel snarled and turned to face Vasile. He fell down into a crouch, eyes glowing, canines extended, sharp as knives. “If you think that I did it with such ease then you do not know me at all. Putting her on that plane went against everything, every fiber of my being. There isn’t a second that goes by that I don’t think about her flying off in that plane and feeling my soul rip apart all over again. Every breath without her is like a knife ripping through my lungs. Every beat of my heart screams to have her back. My wolf has nearly taken control several times and I don’t know how much longer I can fight him. If she stayed with me, she would be safe at my side now instead of in the clutches of a mad man. That knowledge eats away at me like the decay of death.” Vasile remained standing across the room staring at Decebel, meeting his eyes but not allowing his own wolf to rise to the challenge that presented itself before him now. “Alina had told me, before the bond was lost, that Jen was experiencing severe pain. Pain that is greater than that of being separated from you should be. Why?” He waited patiently as he watched Decebel attempt to gather himself.

Decebel took several deep breaths and closed his eyes. Not the enemy, he told himself. He knew that Vasile was not the one who should be enduring his wrath, not when the circumstances were all of his own making. He was the one who made the decision to petition the Great Luna. He was the one who sought out Cynthia to block his mind from his mate. He was the one who pushed her across the globe so that their bond would die. So that he could die and she and their daughter could live. This was his fault and no one else’s.

“The Great Luna is destroying the bond between us so that when I die, Jennifer will live. The distance was supposed to make it happen more quickly. She said it would be painful, but I don’t think either of us realized how tight our bond was.”

Vasile let out a derisive snort. “You could have asked me; I would have gladly told you what a fool you were for even thinking of attempting to destroy your bond with your mate― your pregnant mate.” The last part was said slowly and firmly letting Decebel know just how stupid Vasile thought his actions were. And they were stupid.

“What would you do Vasile?” Decebel stood up from his crouch and ran his hands through his hair. He had not bothered to cut it since Jennifer had left and it was longer than it had been in a while. He knew she would like it and probably make some crack about being able to grab onto it. He nearly smiled at the thought. “If you didn’t have a clue how to save your child, what would you do? And now she has been taken. I won’t be there for the birth of my baby girl, and as soon as she is brought into this world I will be taken out. I won’t be able totell my love goodbye. I won’t,” he had to stop to regain his composure before he broke down. “I won’t be there while she is in labor, scared and in pain. I should be there!” He pounded his chest as his words reverberated in the room. “Me, Vasile, her mate, I should be the one who tells her she is doing great. I should be the one who wipes the sweat from her skin and kisses her, even though she is cussing me. I should be there and because of my choices she will do it all alone.”

Vasile hated to kick him while he was down, but sometimes you need to hear the truth, even if it hurt. “I understand your reasoning, Decebel, probably even more than you do because I have a child. I know exactly what it means to love truly unconditionally with every fiber of your being. But when you took Jen as your mate, you took her as your partner, your equal. How would you feel if she made such a drastic decision without your knowledge? How betrayed would you feel?”

“I KNOW!” he yelled. “I know how I would feel, but the fact is, if I had told her, she would have tried to stop me.”

Vasile nodded. “And she would have been right to try. You belong to her. She expects you to make decisions with her not for her. I’m not saying it would be easy, but there might have been a compromise reached. It’s too late to know what could have been. What’s done is done. Now we just do everything in our power to get her back before she goes into labor.” Vasile walked over to one of the chairs that seemed to have taken the least amount of abuse and sat down. There was none of the grace he usually wore like a second skin. Exhaustion was written in every line on his face and in the slow movements in his limbs. “I know that you think you are doing the right thing, and maybe you are. Honestly Decebel I don’t know what the right thing is. All I know is that what you are doing is destroying the woman you love and once she gives birth to your child and she realizes that you are dead…that you sacrificed yourself without telling her, she might just kill herself so she can come kick your ass.”

Decebel sat down equally as gracelessly across from the Alpha. “I know she won’t take it well, but how much more painful will it be to hold our child that has no life? Vasile,” Decebel clenched his fists and pounded them into his thighs. “I didn’t know what else to do! I’m supposed to protect her. I’m supposed to bring her happiness. I’m supposed to keep out the dark things. And I’ve failed her, not just once, but many times.” He held Vasile’s gaze for several breaths and then dropped his head forward. For so long, he had been fighting the tears, fighting the pain, fighting the despair, and he was growing so tired. His wolf was growing stronger with every breath and he feared that once his wolf had control, he would destroy the world to get their mate back. “I don’t know what to do.” The words stumbled out through ragged breaths and he squeezed his eyes closed as he gave in to the utter truth of his declaration. As his bond with Jennifer weakened, he had been growing more and more agitated and the darkness gained more and more ground every day. He could no longer feel her at all, not even when he reached out as hard as he could. What was left of their bond was fragile, and he knew it could break and be gone at any moment.