“I will stand with you,” Vasile said immediately.

“I will also.” Decebel stepped forward.

“You know I’m in.” Costin smiled wickedly.

“It goes without saying, I will stand with you,” Fane said.

“I will stand with you,” Ainsel squeaked. He looked at their surprised faces. “I’ve been stupid in the past, choosing the wrong side, I won’t make that mistake again.”

“I will go,” Thead said next.

“I will stand with you and be honored to fight alongside you,” Thalion spoke up and Cyn stood next to him.

“I will always stand on the side of good,” Sorin spoke up.

“I go where my Alpha and pack mates go,” Skender said.

“The council will always stand with the wolves,” Alston looked at Cypher. “And now also with the warlocks.”

“You know I’m going because you fools wouldn’t last a minute without me,” Peri told them.

Cypher faced the group willing to stand up to his corrupt brother and felt pride and loyalty swell in his chest. “No matter how many enemies we fight, no matter how many times we prevail, evil will always exist in this world and our own worlds, because there will always be some who choose to put themselves before everyone and anyone. But just like evil, there will always be good, as well. There will always be some who will seek justice and desire to see all beings free to live in a world not corrupted by malice. We will always be a part of those who stand on the side of righteousness. We must because we hold too much power to ever let it be used to harm others. When darkness falls as it has today, we must stand. We must stand for those who cannot and for those who would stand with us if they knew the battle before us. Not too long ago we fought for the packs. We fought for unity and for healing. We fought to protect the world from an ancient evil. Today we fight to bring back the ones who bring light to our dark lives. Today we will prevail. There is no other acceptable outcome. Stand with me and together we will bring back the females who have given us life when we were all so close to death.”

Vasile reached forward and clasped forearms with Cypher. “We will prevail.”

“I completely appreciate the Braveheart moment, and utterly hate that we do not have blue war paint to put on our faces, but we must go, NOW.” Peri reached out both of her arms. “All those who can, hold onto my arms, the rest of you grab Alston, Adam, or Cyn.”

One by one, the fae left with members of their party attached to their arms. Now that the dark forest was once again clear in their minds, the fae would have no problems flashing there. Whether they flashed anywhere close to where Reyaz wanted them was a different story.

“Do you sense them anywhere?” Reyaz asked Lorelle as the stood in the forest waiting for Cypher and thewolves to show up. They had less than five minutes before the hunt was to begin and he was anxious for them to get started.

Lorelle turned her head to the right and tilted it as if listening for something. “Gotchya,” she murmured. Without another word, she grabbed Reyazs’ arm, though she loathed touching him, and flashed to where she had felt her sister just arrive.

They appeared directly in the center of the group. Reyaz smiled as he looked around at the grim faces. “So glad you were able to make it on time.”

Decebel’s head snapped up at the sound of the voice and he lunged forward with a growl that promised death.

“Save your energy, Alpha,” Reyaz huffed as he flicked his hand at Decebel and pushed him to the ground. “You will have your time to throw a fit and act like the furry beast that you are.”

“We’re here, brother. Get on with your games,” Cypher spoke up.

“How long has it been, brother?” Reyaz asked regally. “How long since you betrayed me?”

Cypher shook his head. “I did nothing of the sort and we have been over this a hundred times, so unless you have a new argument let’s not rehash. Let us just get on with this hunt so that we can save our females.”

Reyaz frowned, unhappy about Cypher’s unwillingness to engage in the argument. “Fine. It is good that you brought the wolves; their noses will come in handy. You will not hear your mates because of the spell that I have put on them. Once you have found the first two females you will not be able to move on until you have rescued one of them. You needn't wonder when the hunt will be concluded. I have a wonderful grand finale planned.” His eyes landed on Decebel and the Alpha visibly tensed.

Peri looked at her sister and for an instant her heart ached for her, but then she remembered all the terrible things she had done. “How did you remember the forest?”

“Reyaz needed a place for his hunt, so I did some searching in the archives. You can only imagine my surprise when I ran across this little tidbit. I couldn’t believe how well that spell had worked. None of us remembered in the slightest about this place.” She turned to Vasile then and a knowing smile appeared. “There is a surprise here that I think you most of all will appreciate.”

“Happy hunting,” Reyaz said and then he and Lorelle were gone.

“Am I the only one who wants to see that mofo’s head on a spike?” Peri grumbled.

“I’ll cut it off, if you’ll hold him down,” Adam said.

Peri smiled at him and then turned to Vasile, “Do your wolf thing and sniff out our girls.”

“Keep your eyes open and pay attention. There is no telling what Reyaz might have planned for us,” Vasile told the group.