They arrived at his office on the other side of his town. A flurry of talk was already spreading through his pack at the new arrivals. Lyonis led Willow through his main office where he conducted most of his work with the pack. She would try to escape with her sisters that much he knew. She wouldn’t be successful though, he’d make sure of it.

The sight of her sisters sent Willow into the most feminine frenzy he’d ever seen in her. She squealed and ran to them, hugging them close as they started chattering over each other.

Lyonis grinned at his mate and met up with the men.

“Tyrian, Telal,” he nodded.

Tyrian spoke first. “Alpha Lyonis, thank you for seeing us on such short notice.”

“It’s not as if you gave him much choice,” Telal said with a frown. His eyes skirted over to the sisters and the frown around his mouth became even deeper.

“True enough but Willow’s family is always welcome here.”

“We need to talk business,” Tyrian said, his eyes cold and serious.

“Of course, I have a free office down the hall. We can talk there.” Lyonis looked back at the sisters and realized he might as well not even be in the same room. None of them seemed to notice they were leaving.

Entering the office, Lyonis turned to Telal. “Are you looking forward to your own Bellum sister, Telal?” The demon took a seat; he looked like he’d just tasted something awful.

“I don’t see why either of you have bought into their nonsense. They are nothing but trouble. First they summoned Karr and now another demon is stalking across the earthen realm.”

“You looked into what I saw in Germany?” Lyonis asked Tyrian.

“Yes, I did. We sent out some scouts and they found exactly what you said—the stench of ancient demon. I think that whatever the sisters did in that spell has set something in motion. The first demon is dead—”

Telal scoffed. “How is it dead? I told you; it cannot be defeated. Even the demons who first bound the demon into the rift couldn’t kill it. It was far too strong.”

Tyrian shrugged. “All I know is that it’s dead. It was bound by the spell that the sisters made and then decapitated with an axe. I assure you, it’s dead. We burned the body and spread the ashes into the ocean.”

Telal, if anything, looked even unhappier at this news. His blue hair fell in waves over his shoulders and his skin was like gold. Lyonis knew the demon had the power to cover up his unusual appearance, but he refused to. Lyonis understood that and would do the same.

“We have no idea what Karr did while he was awake. He could have amassed other ancient demons, maybe even brought one of them back to life.”

“How and why?” asked Tyrian.

“Perhaps so that if he died, he’d have a way to resurrect himself.”

“How?” Lyonis asked.

Telal steepled his golden fingers, drumming them together. “Have you ever heard of a demonic pact? We demons refer to it as a revargen. It’s a magical pact done in blood. The terms of the pact must be completed within the specified time frame or you die.”

“You think the demon Chloe killed might have had the time to make one of these demonic pacts?” Lyonis’ instincts were on high alert. The safety of his pack and his mate may be in jeopardy.

Telal nodded. “The succubus sisters messed with something far greater than them. They are fools who have endangered not only themselves but countless innocents as well.”

Both Lyonis and Tyrian stood at the same time, growls forming from their throats. Telal shook his head at both of them.

“What is wrong with you? Surely you're not so addled from these women that you can’t see the truth. Listen, the facts are that we have no idea what Karr did. Some of my sources say they saw him below the rift recruiting demons, other say they saw him above the rift deep in the forests of Europe, nowhere near Chloe or her sisters at the time.”

“Okay we have no idea what he did, so what do we know?” said Tyrian.

Just then the door flew open and in poured the Bellum sisters. Chloe, the eldest, went to stand behind her new mate Tyrian. She laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, which the Commander reached up to touch for a moment. The youngest sister, Lily, flounced to the demon Telal and sat in his lap. The demon looked so shocked that Lyonis burst out laughing.

The sister managed to whisper something into the demon’s ear before his jaw dropped and he literally pushed her off his lap. She dropped to the floor and winked at him before sitting crossed legged in front of him. The demon stood and marched to the corner of the room.

Lyonis frowned when his mate—fine, his future mate—didn’t come near him but sat between her sisters.

“We know that something unusual happened in the forest in Germany,” Lyonis said. He watched his mate as her eyes lit up with...fear.

“Willow, do you know something about this?” She nodded and bit her lip.

“We need to know everything in order to move forward,” Telal said in his rich, strangely accented voice.

“I had just gotten off the train in Germany when I heard something strange, like a deep rumble. It came from the forest behind the train station.”

Lyonis’ gut tightened. She’d been there. She’d seen it and he hadn’t been there to protect her. Anger infused his blood, curled his hands into fists.

“I watched as the trees started swaying and shaking in this one spot. I remember the birds flew away from it and then...” Her eyes were wide, stark as she recalled her tale. Lyonis hated seeing this side of her. Gone was the strong woman capable of outwitting him and in place was a frightened woman in need of help.

“Then I saw this beast, this thing, stand up from the trees. It was huge; it towered over the trees and looked right at me. It-It said my name.”

The sisters gasped and went to her at once, hugging her close. She tried to push them away but eventually gave in and let them hold her even. She sat as stiffly as possible.

“What did it look like?” Telal asked, an odd note in his voice.

“It was dark, black. It looked like it had scales covering its whole body. It was dark outside so I didn’t get the best look at it, and well, after it said my name I hightailed it out of there.” His mate was smart. He still would have been there with her if it weren’t for her antics.

“This is bad,” the demon said simply.

Everyone turned to look at him. Shaking his head, he shrugged. “I have a hypothesis about what’s going on and it’s not good.”

“Tell us,” Willow said. Her strong voice belied the fact that she was gripping each of her sister’s hand tight enough to cut off circulation. Lyonis itched with the need to pull her close and comfort her. Dammit that was his job, not theirs.

“Before Karr was bound in the rift, he had a partner of sorts. It was a jaheera demon like Karr. The jaheera are big, strong, magically possessed demons; stronger than the idummi and more magically powerful than my kind. Her name was Dura, and her power was some of the darkest imaginable.

She drained the souls of other demons, even the idummi. The more souls she absorbed, the stronger she became. She thrived off their fear; it fueled her magic. You can imagine how easy a demon like her could gain power through fear...”

Lily clapped her hands together. “I remember reading about that. It was during the Great War that the Atal Warriors finally managed to subdue the great Dura. With the help of some demons, they were able to enclose Dura in a magical shell in a place so deep in the rift, she’d never be freed.”

“Until three foolish sisters—”

“Hey!” Lyonis snapped at the demon.

Willow’s eyes shot to him in surprise. That almost hurt him more than it shocked him. His own mate didn’t think he’d stand up for her? He’d lay his life down for her if it meant saving her. Keeping one rampant demon tongue in line was nothing.