The Wolves Descend: Book 15 of the Grey Wolves Series

Chapter 1-2

Tenia knelt down in front of her son, Torion, and pressed a kiss to his head. They stood in the corridor just outside of the bedroom they now shared. She was silently thankful for the room. After she’d brought scores of prisoners to the Order, she’d finally shown her “loyalty” and earned Alston’s favor. Tenia had made it clear to anyone who was paying attention—the more time she was allowed with her son, the more she was willing to do for the Order. She only hoped her efforts weren’t too fruitful. Regardless, if recruiting Order members was what it took to be with Torion, she’d work like the top seller in a pyramid scheme pushing essential oils and diet pills.

“I will be back tonight.” Tenia looked into his beautiful turquoise eyes and saw disappointment tempered with bravery. Her son was going to make one hell of a warrior when he grew up. “Out of sight, out of mind. Okay?” It was a phrase she’d begun repeating to remind him that the less any of the leaders of the Order noticed him, the less likely he was to put himself in danger. She knew he got sick of being confined to their room. She hated it, but she hated more the idea of her son being influenced by members of the Order, even if they took no action to harm the boy. In fact, one of Alston’s first threats to gain Tenia’s compliance was that he would kill her and raise Torion as his own son. The idea had been so abhorrent she’d nearly vomited on the high fae.

“I’ll make sure he’s safe,” a deep voice said from above her.

The sound was like a cool stream of calming water rippling over Tenia. She forced her eyes to stay open and tried not to react, positively or negatively, to the words. Skender, Canis lupus, Order member, and her mate. A blessing and a curse all rolled up in one. She didn’t know how he kept getting put on guard duty outside her door, but over the past month, he’d managed to keep his word. Torion was safe, and she was at peace over the fact that she knew Skender would kill anyone who attempted to hurt her son. She felt the truth in his words through their bond.

Tenia hugged Torion one last time and then stood up. Her eyes didn’t raise immediately to look at the wolf before her. Instead, they stopped on the tray in his large hand. Her brow rose as she gaped at the pile of food.

“He’s a growing boy,” Skender said. “I want to make sure he has enough calories in him.”

She stared at the food longer than was necessary before finally forcing her head up and her eyes to meet his. He was handsome, and every time she looked at him, her breath caught in her throat. Guilt and remorse shone through his eyes and his actions. Yet, the wolf still wouldn’t allow the sacred bond between them to be completed. Tenia often found herself wrestling with the need to know what his past held and wanting to run as far from him as she could, never looking back.

“Thank you.” Her words were curt, void of the mixed emotions constantly battling inside her.

“Be safe today,” Skender told her and then motioned for Torion to go back in the room and leaned down so the boy could take the tray of food. “Eat as much as you can,” he said to her son. Torion smiled at Skender and nodded. He was infatuated with the Canis lupus. One more thing to make Tenia’s already torn heart even more shredded.

“Love you, Torion,” Tenia said. She watched her son turn away with the food, no doubt about to do exactly as Skender had said simply because he had said it.

“Love you, too, Mom,” he called over his shoulder, already stuffing a piece of toast into his mouth.

As soon as the door was closed, Tenia started past Skender. But he moved to block her path, though, as usual, he was careful not to touch her.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “I’ve heard what Alston and Ludcarab have you doing. I just…” He paused and took a step closer to her. “I want you to be okay.”

Tenia bit her lip, hard. Why did he have to say the right things, ask the right things, but not be the right thing? Despite the fact that their bond was closed down tightly most of the time, every now and then his wolf would reach out and speak to her. She didn’t know if it was because the beast could feel her loneliness and wanted to comfort her, or if it was because the wolf was lonely, too. Whatever the reason, she found herself waiting almost desperately for those moments. And when they came, she often felt as if she’d been holding her breath in between each one. “I’m fine.” She somehow managed to sound convincing. “I’ll be fine.” Tenia didn’t wait for a response. She stepped around him and hurried away before she said more than she wanted to.

Skender stood in the hall, watching his mate practically run from him. It took everything in him not to bolt after her, and the farther she got, the harder it became to stop himself. When she was nearby, he found himself taking deep breaths of air, hoping to saturate his lungs with her scent. From a young age, Canis lupus are taught about their true mate, that there is one special person out there that holds the other half of the wolf’s soul—one certain someone that the Great Luna created just for him or her. Not in Skender’s wildest dreams could he have imagined how amazing his perfect mate was until he’d finally met her.

But the beauty of Tenia threw his own filthiness into stark contrast. Skender gritted his teeth to keep from pacing. Conflicting thoughts raged within him. The first, a fervent desperation at knowing how amazing his mate was and knowing he couldn’t have her because of his past sins. His life was forfeit; he knew that. Either he’d die in the service of the Order, be killed by the Order for betraying them, or be killed by the Romanians for betraying them. The thought of losing his own life didn’t bother him. But knowing he couldn’t be there for Tenia threatened to drive him over the edge. A second, quieter thought remained. A silent thankfulness to the Great Luna that he actually knew her and had been chosen to be there to protect Tenia and her son— a son that he and his wolf had claimed as their own.

When she was no longer in view, Skender turned to the closed door and gently knocked. A return knock, in a distinct pattern that Skender had taught the boy, was the response. The man knocked again in a pattern that would alert Torion that it was actually Skender on the other side of the door. A second later, the door opened, and wide eyes stared up at him. The boy wore a large grin on his face.

“Can we practice now?” His face was covered in food.

Skender chuckled. “How about we get cleaned up a bit, then we practice?”

Torion scurried into the bathroom and returned a few moments later, his hands and face still dripping water, but mostly clean. “Ready,” the boy said.

Skender managed to convince Alston to allow him to teach the young fae boy to fight. He’d argued he could also influence Torion to be a dutiful soldier for the Order, and Alston had readily agreed. Instead, Skender was ensuring Torion could defend himself against the Order, or anyone else for that matter, if he ever needed to. Skender hadn’t mentioned it to Tenia, though he knew he needed to quickly before she got wind of it from someone else. She might get the impression that he actually was trying to get her child to join the Order. But his wolf rarely allowed the man to talk to their female. Getting out the few sentences he’d said to her this morning had been painful. The entire time, he’d been holding back his wolf.

“You should leave her be,” the beast told him.

“Like you are?” Skender challenged his wolf.

“She hurts.”

“Because of me.”

His wolf rumbled an agreement but then added, “Because of many things, but yes, we are at the top of that list.”

“Are we going, Skender?” Torion’s voice brought his attention away from his wolf.

“Yes, little warrior, we’re going.” Skender took the boy’s hand and pulled the door closed behind him. They headed the opposite direction Tenia had departed toward a large room that had once been used for storage. Skender had become acquainted with Torion’s former guards and over time had come to see that they were protective of the boy. Their loyalty obviously was to keeping the fae child safe over the Orders because as soon as Skender had decided to tell the two males that he was Tenia’s true mate, they’d allowed him to take over watching the child even though they hadn’t been taken from their posts. Skender remembered that conversation and how his wolf had pushed him to reveal who he was to Tenia and Torion to the fae males. Part of it was his need to stake his claim, and the other part was the need to let them know that if they did mean either his mate or pup ill will, he wouldn’t hesitate to end them.

“The boy seems important to you,” the fae male on the right said. He had sharp green eyes that were filled with anger and nearly white hair.

“It’s my job to keep an eye on him,” Skender replied, trying to sound indifferent.

“Keep an eye on him how?” the other male, who had deep blue eyes and black hair, asked. “Tenia will gut you if you harm her son.”

Skender’s eyes narrowed as he looked between the two males. “Tenia and Torion are mine. My mate, my child. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for them.” he said.

“They’re fae,” the whited-haired fae barked.

“Don’t pretend you haven’t heard recent news of fae and Canis lupus being true mate pairs blessed by the Great Luna. I’ve noticed how you two watch over him. What I want to know is who holds more of your loyalty. My mate and son, or the Order?” Skender watched for any sort of reaction from the two. One of the male’s jaws tightened, and the other’s eyes flashed with unmistakable rage.

“He’s a child and he’s fae.” The blue-eyed fae’s snarl was worthy of a male Canis lupus. “Not to mention, we know there is no way Tenia is doing anything of her free will because if she was, they wouldn't have her son locked away. It is abhorrent that the Order is using the young in such a way.”

“Children should be protected,” Skender agreed, “especially from the likes of the Order. My loyalty is to Tenia and Torion. Do you understand?” He was trying hard to gauge their reaction without just saying ‘hey, I want to burn the Order to the ground and send Ludcarab, Alston, and everyone else to hell where they deserve to burn. Oh, and I’ll be joining them because it’s where I belong as well.’ Skender wasn’t sure how well that response would be taken.

“If that is true, then we can trust you, correct?” the white-haired male asked.

“If you mean you can trust that I won’t put the Order first, then yes,” Skender answered.

“I am Zaire,” the dark-haired male said. He took a step back from Skender, and his stance relaxed a bit. “This is Owan.” The white-haired fae tilted his head slightly. “The Order is not our first loyalty either.” He paused as if he was trying to decide if he should say more, then after several minutes he continued. “There are more like us”—he motioned to Owan—“who are not okay with what the Order is doing. Some have been blackmailed. Some joined thinking that what the Order originally stood for was simply to no longer have to hide in the shadows. But over time … the actions the Order has taken ... they’ve come to realize that the lengths the Order is prepared to go in order to get what they want are not okay.”

“After the attack from the Romanian wolves,” Owan jumped in, “we began to have hope. If there were others willing to fight back, then maybe we could get out. We don’t want to be a part of an organization that is willing to make slaves out of any race, be it supernatural or human. We’re going to do what we can to take the Order down. We will get the vulnerable out or die trying.”

Skender admired the males. He wished that he could say he’d been coerced into his fate as well, but he’d simply been a fool. “The Order has been a part of my life for a long time, though I was not a part of it for quite a while. I am not proud of the things I’ve done since I’ve returned, and I know the p*****t for my transgressions is death, but I will go to my death protecting the innocent and trying to defeat Alston and the likes of him in the Order.”

Zaire and Owan simply shook their heads, and Zaire said, “We all have things we are ashamed of. For some of us, our shame is on display for the world and has hurt many people. And for some, our shame is a secret we live with. It eats us alive from the inside out while no one else is the wiser.”

Owan added, “If you betray us, we will cook you from the inside out. Your organs will fry, and the last thing that will stop is your mind so you will experience every second of jaw-clenching pain.”

“If you betray Tenia or Torion, I won’t be able to cook you until after I kill you, then I’ll feed you to the trolls,” Skender replied, needing them to understand that he was just as serious as they were.

That had been the beginning of their alliance to secretly work against the Order. They didn’t have a plan yet on what it would look like to get out, but it was a start.

When he’d told Zaire and Owan what he was doing with Torion, they’d been excited.

“How can we help?” Owan asked.

“We can teach the boy how to hone his magic,” Zaire offered. “And use protection spells.”

“We need a place to do this.” Skender glanced up and down the hall where they stood in front of Torion’s door. They’d been talking so softly that even a supernatural being would have had to have been directly beside them in order for them to be heard.

“We know of a storage room that is never used,” Owan said, and Zaire nodded. “It’s at the back of the East building in the bunk house that has yet to be filled with new vampires.”

They’d helped him clear out the storage room and gotten him mats, some punching dummies, and wooden swords to practice with. The two male fae had jumped in with vigor in training, and Torion was a quick study and picked up new techniques with the ease of someone much older.

“Today we’re going to work with the double short swords,” Skender said as they entered the sparring room.

“Real swords?” Torion asked, his little voice ringing with hope.

Skender shook his head, and a tiny smile formed on his face. The kid was always trying to get him to use actual weapons. “Do I look like I want to lick my wounds later?”

Torion’s head tilted as his lips pursed. “Do you mean that for real? Would you really go lick your wounds in your wolf form?”

“Let’s not find out, hm?” Skender walked over to the wall of practice weapons. He picked up two of the wooden short swords and handed them to Torion. Then he grabbed one for himself.

They stepped into the center of the mat and faced one another. Torion held a sword in each hand and swung them in alternating circles as he bent his knees and bounced on the balls of his feet. The kid was a natural. Even though he was a fae, that didn’t guarantee an ability to fight in hand-to-hand combat. But Torion appeared to be gifted, nonetheless.

“Remember what I told you?” Skender asked.

The boy nodded. “Fight clean until the enemy fights dirty. Then fight dirtier.”

Skender nodded. “Exactly. Unfortunately, few enemies are going to be honorable enough to fight clean. Begin when you’re ready.”

Torion kept his eyes on Skender’s middle, the spot that would reveal the shift before his feet would move. He began to step sideways, foot over foot, moving them in a circle. Then, in a blink, the little fae was in the air, swords swinging and a battle cry on his lips. Skender took a step back and held his weapon at the ready. The force at which Torion’s weapon hit his own was impressive. Skender pushed, making Torion step back and separate their swords.

The fae child didn’t even take time to reset his feet before he rolled on the ground, feet over head, right through Skender’s legs. He whipped out his wooden “blades” and struck Skender across his ankles. “Got you!” The boy rolled up to his feet and grinned.

Skender chuckled and ran his free hand over the boy’s head, ruffling his hair. “Well done. Using your small stature to your benefit will make you superior to a larger foe who isn’t expecting you to know how to do that.”

“Skender, will I be as good a warrior as you are one day?”

A kick to the jewels would have been less painful. “You’ll be a better warrior, Torion. Much better.” His voice was thick with emotion. He wanted to be the man the boy saw. But he’d made his choices. All Skender could do now was try to prevent anyone else that he cared about from getting hurt by the Order. Tenia and Torion were at the top of that list.

Skender held his weapon at the ready. “Again.”