Chapter 38

38

SKYE

“ W hen did they get here?” I asked, hurrying up the front stairs with Remy at my heels. Dax and Sam followed us, but stopped at the top stair.

“Your mom got here about five minutes ago,” Sam said. “Your dad just went inside before you got here.”

“He brought his mate with him,” Dax added.

I whirled around. “Natasha’s here?”

As in, inside with my mom ? Together?

Shit.

Mom wasn’t ready for a one-on-one with my father. Hell, I wasn’t ready for our first family meeting. I could feel my stress levels start to spike asI struggled to keep my breathing even.

Dax’s blue eyes went wide. “Is she not supposed to be?”

Remy touched my hand, sensing my panic.

“It’s fine,” I muttered, pushing open the front door.

Remy closed it behind us, the twins on the other side. I could hear them moving away from the house, likely to give us space.

No one else seemed to be around either when we stepped into the formal living room. I was surprised to see Mallory with my parents and Natasha.

She stood up, walking across the room as soon as I stepped into the doorway and sweeping me into a crushing hug.

“Thank God you’re safe,” she murmured against my hair. One hand cupped the back of my head. “We missed you, sweetheart.”

My arms wrapped around her, returning the hug happily even as my gaze moved over her shoulder to where Mom was seated on the couch.

Mallory let me go and headed back to sit down right beside Mom, who still hadn’t looked up at me.

My eyes drifted to Nikolai and Natasha, who looked like statues on the adjacent couch. Tasha gave me a thin, strained smile, but Nikolai’s eyes were focused strangely on the floor.

I cleared my throat. “What’s going on?”

Mallory touched Mom’s knee, and Mom lifted her head.

“Maybe you would like us to wait outside?” Mallory offered Mom a supportive smile. “You can talk to Skye and Nikolai alone?”

I could feel Remy’s chest brush against my back as he crowded behind me. Neither of us wanted to be separated, but I knew he would leave in a heartbeat if I told him I was okay.

Natasha started to get up.

“No,” Mom said suddenly, her voice deceptively calm. She drew in a steadying breath and her green eyes met Mallory first before going to me and then Natasha and Nikolai. She winced slightly at the sight of them together.

She looked back at Mallory. “I would like you to stay, if that’s okay.”

“Of course,” Mallory said instantly.

Mom looked behind me, forcing a smile. “And Remy’s family.”

I felt him exhale, relieved not to be sent away.

Natasha was still poised on the edge of the seat. “I’m happy to give you all your space.”

“No.” This time Mom’s voice was sharper, cracking like a whip in the tense atmosphere. “I mean, you his... Nikolai’s mate. His wife. You have every right to be here.”

Natasha made a pained sound in the back of her throat, her blue eyes darting to me for a second.

Mom had no way of knowing that Natasha felt about as romantically inclined to Nikolai as I did to Rhodes.

I jerked my head, nodding for Natasha to stay before looking around the room.

It was spacious, built to be used for pack meetings with two long couches, a few armchairs, and a wet bar across the room. There was a wall of built-in bookshelves that flanked the stone fireplace.

But the large space felt small now, stifling even.

Remy closed the doors behind us, further sealing off the room and I flinched.

He smoothed a hand down my spine and over my hip before taking my hand and leading me into the room to the armchairs. He sat down, pulling me onto his lap before I could consider taking the seat beside him.

“I owe both of you answers,” Mom started softly, and I didn’t need to guess who she was talking about.

All my pushing and prodding for answers, my anger at being kept in the dark, suddenly seemed so selfish as I watched her skin blanch. Her chest seemed to rise and fall faster as she tried to breath, and she absently lifted a shaking hand to the claiming mark she always worried like a touchstone. Realizing what she was about to do, she jerked her hands back to her lap. Her hands trembled as she twisted them together nervously.

“Mom, you don’t have to do this,” I said a little desperately. I had lived my whole life with half-truths and secrets. I would keep doing it if it meant she didn’t have to relive the most painful memories of her past.

Remy’s finger started tracing a lazy pattern on my back, and I could feel the tense muscles relax under his touch.

“Remy told me what you said,” I added quickly. “I know you didn’t have a choice. None of this is your fault.”

“Our daughter is right,” Nikolai said, finally lifting his head and looking at her. “She told me a bit of how your former pack worked. Had I known—”

“Had you known, you never would have let me go back there that morning,” Mom finished sadly.

“Of course not,” he replied heatedly, a bite in his voice. He frowned deeply, his brows pulling together.

“Had I known? I wouldn’t have gone,” Mom told him gently. “I never expected what happened next. I never thought that would set us on this path that we’re on now.”

“And none of that is your fault,” Mallory added firmly.

Mom gave her a fast, grateful smile and nodded. “I told Mallory what happened last night. After seeing you,” she said to Nikolai with a grimace, “I felt like I was drowning. We spent the night talking, and I realized it was time you both knew what happened.”

My heart twisted, aching for her. I leaned back against Remy more, letting him support me physically and emotionally.

“I never wanted that,” Nikolai told her sadly, shaking his head. “My coming here was never to cause you pain, Adalynne.”

“No, you came here to be a good father,” Mom responded kindly. “I can’t be upset that you’re here to help Skye. I’m glad you’re here. For her.”

“I’m here for both of you,” he said quietly.

Natasha exhaled hard beside him, her lips pulling into the start of a grin. Her blue eyes glittered with approval.

Mom cleared her throat, looking a little distressed. “Nik, I don’t want to come between you and your mate.”

“Wife,” Natasha jumped in quickly. “I’m his wife. Not his mate.”

Nikolai’s eyes closed, and I had the sense he was holding in a laugh.

“We’re not... It isn’t...” Natasha flustered was kind of hysterical. She looked comically out of her element.

Mom tilted her head to the side in confusion.

“It’s a long story, one I will happily tell you about one day,” Natasha finished lamely. “But Nik and I aren’t like that. We’ve never been like that .”

“Oh.” Mom’s eyes widened a bit. “But you have a son.”

“I had a mate,” Natasha explained. “A bonded mate. He died when I was pregnant. Nik adopted Dimitri when he was an infant.”

Nikolai scowled slightly. “He’s still my son.”

Mom’s eyes darted between them, her brows knitting together.

“Of course he is,” Natasha replied, laying a hand on his arm. “But I’m not. Yours, that is. I would never... I’m making a mess of this, aren’t I?”

A dimple appeared in Nikolai’s cheek. “You certainly aren’t helping things, love. But keep talking. Maybe you’ll bare all the sordid details of our marriage.”

Natasha’s eyes narrowed for a heartbeat. “Sordid my ass. I want a divorce.”

I choked on a laugh as Remy stilled under me in surprise.

Mom looked horrified. “I didn’t mean—”

“Please,” Natasha added emphatically, turning to Mom. “Take him off my hands. I don’t want him.”

I snorted as Nikolai looked affronted.

“Perhaps we can schedule our divorce talk at a later date?”

“I’m being honest.” Natasha waved a hand at Mom. “I can’t compete with that. She’s gorgeous. For fuck’s sake, Nik, I’m ready to kick your ass for not going back for her before now.”

Natasha meant it lightly, the way she meant most things, but that last barb landed like the blade of a guillotine, sucking all the air out of the room.

“Fuck,” she muttered, clearly realizing she had gone too far. She turned to Mom, her expression pleading. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

Mom tried to shrug it off, but Nikolai was glowering at his soon-to-be-ex-wife.

“I should go,” Natasha said, getting up. She held up a hand when Mom tried to speak. “Adalynne, I don’t know everything that happened between the two of you all those years ago, but I’m on Mallory’s side. You are not to blame.” She looked down at Nikolai pointedly. “Neither of you are. And I appreciate you inviting me here as Nik’s wife, but I’m not his mate. Our marriage is in name only. He’s my dearest friend, but that’s all.”

Natasha touched his shoulder as she left the room.

“Maybe this should be between the three of you,” Mallory said quietly, her gaze flicking to her son.

Mom breathed in deeply and gave a slow nod. “Give us a moment?”

Mallory quickly got up, but I resisted letting Remy up for a second, not sure I was ready to let him go. I finally stood slowly.

He pressed a kiss to the side of my head, his hand squeezing around mine briefly before following Mallory out of the room. The door closing behind them was more ominous than I expected.

After a second of internal debate, I crossed the room and sat down beside Nikolai, across from Mom.

“I told him about the omega house,” I said softly, trying to spare her from having to relieve some of the details. “About what happened there.”

“I wish you would have just come to me,” Nikolai added, frustration plain in his tone. “I would have saved you both. I would have taken you far, far away.”

“I tried, once,” she whispered.

My head spun, trying to remember. “You mean that time when I was five? After we saw your mom? You took off that night. You said Linden threatened you.”

Nikolai tensed beside me.

“After that actually,” she admitted, looking down and her shoulders slumping. “You were seven. I had... someone had been in the house. A friend of Linden’s from another pack. I was the only omega then. I needed to clean up after, and I thought he left.”

The rumbling growl from Nikolai’s chest made me jump.

“I had put you to sleep in the room across from me,” she murmured, her fingers lightly, absently, tracing her lips. “I went to check on you and he was there. Standing in your room, watching you sleep. It scared the hell out of me.”

Shivers skittered up my spine. The low growl from my father turned into a full fledged snarl, his gunmetal eyes glinting like the barrel of a gun seconds from firing a lethal shot.

“He left,” she said quickly, her expression guilty, “but I realized that I might not be able to protect you all the time. I ran into Zara the next day. It was one of the few times Linden didn’t have her locked away in the house or being followed by one of his council. Probably because another pack was visiting and he didn’t want to seem like he had to lock his wife up to make her obey.”

She shook her head grimly. “I told her what happened. I could take what they were doing to me, but the thought of them hurting you ...”

I swallowed a sob, resisting the urge to get up and comfort her.

“I knew I couldn’t leave with you, but Zara was planning a dinner that night for the visiting guests. We thought that maybe she could get you outside of the pack by saying she needed to make a special trip to the town nearby for groceries.” She glanced at Nikolai. “Zara knew about you, Nik. I didn’t know exactly what pack you were from, but I knew it was Russian. Zara said she would figure it out.”

“I never told you,” Nikolai murmured, regret and shame on his face. “I only gave you the basic information. I spent most of my life being known for my pack. I came to America to get away after the death of my mother. We were only together that night... I assumed I would have plenty of time to tell you everything later.”

“I remember,” Mom whispered, giving him a sad smile. “We spent that night living in the moment. We didn’t speak of our packs and our pasts.”

“Only the future,” he finished, meeting her gaze. “Our future.”

“I didn’t know much about your pack other than it was in Russia,” she admitted. “That was all I could tell Zara. She was going to call her parents to come and get Skye. They were going to arrange her trip to you or find another way to hide her. The plan was so flimsy, but we were desperate. I was desperate.”

Tears filled Mom’s eyes, and she rubbed her temples, wincing. “I still don’t know how he found out we were planning to get Skye out, but he did. Linden, Allan, and a few others from the council showed up a few hours later. They dragged Zara into the house with them.” She gave me a tight smile. “You were out back playing.”

I frowned. “I remember that night. I hated the way Allan smelled. How he looked at me, so I hid when I heard his voice.”

“They made me choose,” she went on softly. “You or Zara. One of you had to pay for me planning to get you out. They reminded me that you were pack property and what I had done was similar to theft.”

Her lower lip wobbled as she looked at me through glassy, wet eyes. “There was no question, baby. I picked Zara. Linden broke her arm. And then Allan and the others dragged me upstairs.” Her gaze dropped to her lap where she was twisting her fingers. “I don’t have to tell you how that went.”

I shuddered, my body folding in on itself as I absorbed the memory like a physical punch. I covered my face with my hands, horrified. A second later, Nikolai’s hand settled on my shoulder reassuringly. But I still felt the tremor pass from his body into mine.

Mom sniffled, her shoulders curved inward. “I never should have left you that morning, Nik. I had no idea what would happen. I had no idea that I would be putting Skye in danger.”

“Of course you didn’t,” he said gently, kindly.

I looked up from between my fingers, my heart shattering to see Mom crying.

She blinked and more tears fell. “It happened so fast. I knew things were wrong in Long Mesa. It’s why I didn’t want you there when I went to tell them I was leaving. I knew my parents would be furious that I was breaking the marriage contract.”

“I should have insisted on going with you,” he replied, almost furiously. The hand on my back shook as he reined in his emotions. “I never should have let you out of my site.”

Mom swiped at her eyes. “Omegas had never been treated well in Long Mesa, but it wasn’t what I endured. That was a special hell they set up just for me. That was my punishment.”

“Why?” I demanded, my voice cracking. “For the sin of bonding with your mate ?”

“For betraying Long Mesa,” she corrected bitterly.

“You can’t control who you bond to,” I argued.

“No, you can’t,” she replied. “But there’s a reason Long Mesa never had any bonded mates. I wasn’t the only mate who had her bond broken. I found that out later.”

“What?” I gasped out the word as Nikolai stiffened beside me.

Her lips twisted into a grimace. “Bonded mates are more loyal to each other than to the Alpha. My father couldn’t have that. He demanded absolute loyalty. All the Alphas of Long Mesa did.”

“So, that’s why he broke your bond?”

“ That was all my mother,” she answered with a wince. “I came home, and I was so happy. I told her I had met my mate. That we were leaving. I knew how much the marriage contract meant to my parents and the pack. I knew they would never accept Nikolai, and honestly? I was sick of Long Mesa and the way the pack was run.”

Nikolai sucked in a deep breath through his teeth with another growl.

“My mother was... calm. I expected her to yell and scream, but she didn’t. That should have been my first warning. The going away tea she made me should have been my second.”

Mom shook her head and leaned back against the couch. “She was being so understanding, telling me what I wanted to hear. Even mentioned that she wanted to meet my new mate one day.”

“I’ll gladly meet her tomorrow,” Nikolai hissed.

“She’s dead.”

His eyes narrowed. “Can’t say I’m too broken up. I can only hope it was slow and painful.”

Mom gave him a curious look. She shrugged finally and said, “I stood up to leave, and the room started spinning.”

“She drugged you,” I stated, practically spitting the words.

She nodded. “It didn’t knock me out. I was... awake the entire time. Felt everything. But I couldn’t move. I couldn’t fight him.”

With a curse, Nikolai lunged to his feet and stalked towards the window. His fists opened and closed reflexively as he struggled to stay in control.

“Allan.” I was barely able to form the name on my lips, let alone get the sound out. “He’s the one who...”

Mom swallowed. “Yes.”

“And he is still alive,” Nikolai demanded harshly, spinning around with bloodlust in his eyes. “For now.”

I swallowed, watching him start to unravel before my eyes. He had already threatened to kill Allan, but I had a feeling now it wasn’t a threat. It was a vow.

Mom’s eyes shuttered a second later, and she turned her face away. “I felt the bond break. Even after eighteen years, that pain was still something I carried with me every single day, Nik. That hurt more than whatever he did to me. I felt every single piece of my heart break and grind to dust. My mother sat there, sipping her tea, watching Allan to make sure the bond was really broken. In that moment, I lost my mate, my future, and whatever family I thought I had.”

I pulled my legs up onto the couch, wrapping my arms around my shins and propping my chin on my knees. Everything in me felt cold.

Mom blinked, clearly away the memories. “After that I didn’t really care what happened to me. There were three weeks to the wedding and I just... existed. Mother acted like nothing happened. Same for my father. Until a few days before the wedding when I had to see the doctor to be declared fit for marriage, and they found out I was pregnant.”

Her eyes cut to me, the emerald shade of her eyes vibrant against her pale skin. “I knew from the second I found out that you existed that you were my world. I fought like hell to keep you, and I was so relieved when you, my beautiful baby girl, came out looking just like your father.”

I bit my lips, remembering what Linden had told me on the plane. But Mom misunderstood my hesitation for confusion.

“Allan thought you were his,” she explained gently. “He planned to take you. It was the only reason they didn’t terminate the pregnancy. But as soon as he saw you, he knew you weren’t. You look like your father too much.”

My eyes darted to Nikolai. He smiled back at me, his expression impossibly soft for a heartbeat as he studied me.

“But you have your mother’s eyes,” he whispered, his gaze sliding to her.

“Why not exile you?” I asked slowly. “Why did they do what they did?”

“That was all Linden,” Mom said darkly. “Linden and Allan. Linden said if I wanted to behave a whore, then I should live as one. My father was too busy handling the coming war with Stone Valley, and I think my mother, who had always been a little jealous of how my father doted on me, liked seeing me knocked down.”

“Like mother, like son,” I said bitterly, remembering how Linden had bitched about Mom being loved more by their father.

Mom nodded. “Those two were always thick as thieves.”

Nikolai’s gaze sharpened. “But why not come to me after you and Skye escaped? I would have taken you both in. Protected you.”

“I considered it,” Mom admitted, nibbling on her lower lip until it was red. “I even managed to find out where you were and who you are.”

My head jerked up. “You what ?”

Mom looked at me, guilt straining her features. “It was right after you left for school in the fall, Skye. I couldn’t stop thinking about him one night.”

Nikolai went rigid. “Then why the hell didn’t you come to me then?”

Mom gave me a tight smile. “Zoe helped me find you. She and Michael knew a few people in Europe. I gave them a vague description of what you looked like, Nik, and they sent back a photo of you... with your wife and son.”

Nikolai’s eyes squeezed shut.

“And you assumed he had moved on,” I finished for her.

Mom nodded miserably. “Plus, finding out you were an Alpha... I was scared. I was scared you would come and take Skye away from me as punishment for breaking our bond and keeping her a secret. I had just gotten her out of hell. I couldn’t stomach the idea of anyone else hurting her.”

“You have so little faith in me?” Nikolai rasped, shaking his head slowly.

“I have so little faith in everyone ,” Mom replied caustically, her tone laced with bitter resentment. “I was betrayed by my pack and my family. My own mother and brother broke me in ways you can never imagine. When I got free, Skye was my focus. She’s all I have left. I couldn’t risk anyone taking her from me.”

I sat back, swallowing down my sob. So much time had been wasted and lost for all of us.

“Your mother I can do nothing about, and the disgusting creature that violated you isn’t here,” Nikolai said evenly, calculating coldness seeping into his tone, “but your brother is, and I have been desperate for the reason I need to end his existence.”

“Linden’s here?” Mom’s eyes rounded.

“Yeah,” I confirmed. I hated what I was about to say. “But maybe we should hold off on killing my uncle for a day or two?”

Nikolai’s eyes cut to me. “I agree. I can drag his torture out indefinitely. And a day or two isn’t enough to pay for the lifetime of pain he’s caused the people I love.”

Mom jolted, stunned at his words, but I tried to stay calm and file them away. “Let’s also keep torture on the back burner.”

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “I see no reason for that.”

“Linden will pay,” I said firmly. I held up a hand. “And I’m even down for him suffering, but we have a lot more going on, and he may have a little value. He knows Damien. He’s our best bet if we need an inside angle.”

“I want him dead,” Nikolai snarled, the short leash on his temper snapping.

“And I’m saying I agree, but not now .” I stood up, facing him fully with a glare.

Mom slowly eased to her feet. “Skye’s right.”

Nikolai huffed, turning his piercing gaze to her. “Addie.”

Mom hesitated, but then crossed the room to him. She laid her hand on his forearm, and they both jerked at the sudden contact.

“Linden is going to pay for all he’s done,” Mom said softly, her hand drifting down his arm and tangling their fingers together. “But not now. Not yet . Linden deserves to know everything he did was for nothing. That we’ll all be happy long after he and Long Mesa are dead and gone. That’s how we win, Nik.”

Their gazes locked, the air practically crackling with electricity. I started to walk to the door, feeling suddenly like I was in the way of whatever this was.

Maybe this was the closure they both needed. Or maybe this was the start of something totally new.