Blood Rites

"You will answer Vasile's questions honestly, be advised he will know if you lie." Jeff growled low at the four seated before him.

"Are any of you acquainted with a wolf named Logan?" Vasile asked.

At first the wolves did not answer but as Vasile's power began to squeeze their throats, cutting off their air, finally one relented.

"No, we don't know a wolf by that name."

"Truth," Vasile acknowledged.

"It would make sense, Alpha, for Logan not to reveal himself to them." Decebel spoke low, not affected by his Alpha's power flowing through the room.

"Did any of you aide a wolf in the abduction of Fane's mate?"

Again, the wolves did not answer right away. Vasile growled a warning promising discipline at their lack of obedience.

"We don't know what you are talking about." This time a different wolf spoke up.

Fane lunged forward, grabbing the wolf by the throat. "You lie," he growled, allowing his wolf to show. His eyes glowed a deadly blue, his canines lengthened, and his claws dug into the wolf's neck. For the first time, Vasile did not try to stop Fane.

"It is obvious that none of you learned your lesson about harming an Alpha's mate when Fane killed Lucas." Vasile's voice was sharp as a knife. "You will answer with truth or I will allow Fane to glean the information from you however he deems necessary."

The four wolves looked to their Alpha, pleading with their eyes for him to intervene. His response showed the ultimate disrespect as he turned his back, essentially saying he was turning a blind eye to the Romanian Alpha's actions.

Finally the wolf sitting farthest from Fane broke. "We gave him a car. He said he needed transportation that could not be linked to him in order to take Fane's mate." The wolf dared to snarl at Fane when he told him, "It's no less than what you deserve for taking one of ours."

Fane dropped the wolf he had been holding and to his father's surprise he stepped back. His gaze swept over each of them, and a power Vasile knew matched his own caused the wolves to fall to their knees in submission.

"Where did he take her?" he asked, his voice had gone low, the calm before the storm.

"That we don’t know. He didn't say and we didn't ask."

"Truth." Vasile nodded.

"You will hear my Alpha's judgment for your actions and you will thank whatever god you serve that it is not me dealing out your fate." Fane once again pushed his power out and the four wolves grabbed their throats, trying in vain to breathe. Finally, after they began to turn blue Fane relented.

Vasile turned to Jeff. "Alpha of the Coldspring pack, this is my decision for these four wolves who are under your rule. I expect you to make sure it is carried out. If you do not you will share in their fate."

"So as you say, it shall be done," Jeff told Vasile as he bared his throat in submission.

Turning back to the condemned wolves, he told them, "You will be forced into your wolf forms by your Alpha. While in this state you will be declawed and your fangs pulled from your mouths. Your pelts will be shaved from your bodies." The wolves whined in fear and anger but Vasile was not done. "Once back in your human forms, the markings on your backs shall be distorted to show you have been stripped of your place in the pack. You will then be turned out to be lone wolves in your vulnerable states, without a pack to protect you. Do you understand that this is the price you will pay for your treachery and crime against Fane, the prince of the Romanian Canis Lupis?"

The four wolves had no option but to bow in submission and bare their throats. Vasile turned back to Jeff. "I thank you for your cooperation and if you find anything else out I would ask that you contact me immediately. Do you still have my card I gave you after the challenge?

"Yes, I will help in any way I can." Turning to Fane, Jeff averted his eyes to Fane's shoulder, not wanting to challenge him by looking in his eyes. "I'm sorry for the pain my pack has caused you again. I know that does not help, but I want you to know nonetheless."

Fane gave a single nod at the Alpha to show that he heard his words, but said nothing in return. He turned to follow the way they had entered, needing to think and process the information Jeff's wolves had said. He didn't know if it was enough to help them but it was something, and right now something was better than nothing.

Chapter 27

Cynthia held on to the handle on the roof of the small plane that Logan had procured once they had arrived in Dallas. She had never flown in one so small and had already decided after thirty minutes of the it rattling all over the place that she never would again.

"How long did you say this flight would take?" she asked Logan.

"We have about an hour and fifteen minutes left."

"Great," she muttered under her breath.

It hadn't been as difficult as she had thought to get Jacque loaded up into the plane. She did have to give her another dose of the sedative as Jacque had started to moan again. Cynthia was hoping that once they arrived at her cabin she could allow the sedative to wear off so that Jacque could tell her how she was feeling. There was no way for her to gauge the progression of her condition without Jacque's input.

Logan looked over at Dr. Steele and decided it was time for her to explain what exactly would need to be done to fix Jacque. He didn't want to have to wait to bond with her, he knew that even now Fane would be doing everything he could to locate her.

"Tell me again what is wrong with her," Logan said, more of a command than a question.

Cynthia took a deep breath and let it out slow, knowing it was inevitable that this conversation would take place.

"She received a transfusion of human blood. To put it simply, because she is half wolf that part of her blood does not recognize it. Therefore, it is attacking the cells. Cells that have already begun to flow through her heart, her liver, her kidneys, all her muscles. Blood is the nourishment of the body, taking nutrients and oxygen to the organs. Her body is trying to prevent that from happening because it thinks the blood she received is a virus."

Logan's face was somber when he asked what needed to be done.

"She needs werewolf blood to replace the human cells that her body is attacking," She explained.

"That will be easily remedied."

"I don't know if it's that easy, Logan. I don't know if she has to receive it by biting and taking the blood through her fangs, I don't even know if she has fangs, or if a transfusion would work," she admitted.