Chapter 47

47

REMY

R olling over, I automatically reached for Skye, missing the warmth of her pressed against me. I frowned when all I met were cool sheets. I glanced at the clock on the nightstand and realized it was almost noon.

I had definitely overslept, and my mate was nowhere to be found.

I pushed myself up into a sitting position, scrubbing a hand over my face as I blinked away the last traces of sleep.

“Babe?” I glanced around, half-expecting her to be in the bathroom.

“Aw, missed you, too, honey,” Rhodes drawled from the open doorway.

I smirked. “Asshole.”

“And here I thought our love was stronger than that,” he mused, coming into my room and handing me the mug of coffee in his hand.

I took a sip, grimacing at the bitter liquid.

“How’d you sleep?” he asked, dropping into the chair by my bookshelf.

“Too long,” I answered, taking another drink.

“You’re not a superhero, Rem. You need sleep, too.” He frowned at me, looking a little concerned.

“Where’s Skye?” I set the coffee on the table.

He smiled slightly. “Downstairs with Larkin and Katy.”

“The twins?”

“School. Katy made them go. Dax was pretty pissed.”

I frowned. “That sounds about right.” It was easy to forget my little brothers weren’t so little anymore.

“Nikolai and Dimitri are on their way here. They just got confirmation that there’s three planes full of shifters coming to help. They want to know how you want to handle things. Plus, Michael and Dante have a list of packs that want to join sooner rather than later.” Rhodes ran a hand through his shaggy hair. “You’ve got a lot of decisions to make, Alpha.”

I exhaled hard. “You guys shouldn’t have let me sleep in.”

Rhodes snorted and stood up. “Take it up with your mate. She threatened all of us with bodily harm if we woke you up.”

That sounded about right. “How does she seem today?”

Rhodes sighed, thinning his lips for a second as he considered the question. “Better, honestly. I think what happened in Long Mesa was cathartic for her. That and whatever you guys did last night.”

“Excuse me?” I started to reach for my coffee and froze.

He chuckled as he headed for the door, lightly tapping the wall. “You guys definitely need your own place, man. Or better soundproofing.”

“I fucking hate you,” I grumbled, my chin dropping to my chest.

“Love you, too, babe,” he returned with a grin as he ducked out of my room.

A second later Skye appeared, her green eyes narrowed. “Did he wake you up? I swear to God, Rhodes is like a little kid sometimes.”

“Sure you actually want some of our own?” I teased, appreciating the way her jeans and t-shirt effortlessly molded to her curves. Her hair was tied back in a long braid that would look amazing wrapped around my fist.

With a grimace, I shifted in the bed, glad Rhodes hadn’t mentioned that my body wasn’t finished with whatever Skye and I had been doing last night.

She smiled as she sat down on the bed in front of me, and the image was so stunning that I forgot to breathe for a second,

“I think if we can handle Rhodes and Ryder under one roof, we could easily handle a dozen toddlers.” Her teeth lightly bit on her lower lip and I surged forward with need to kiss her, sucking her bottom lip between mine with a needy pull.

She ducked away with her eyes sparkling. “If my dad wasn’t on his way here...”

Yeah. Mentioning her father was the fastest way for my dick to deflate.

I cleared my throat. “Yeah, well, apparently it’s for the best since everyone is awake, too.”

She tilted her head to the side. “What does that mean?”

“That the walls in our new house need more soundproofing than what we have here,” I replied with a laugh.

It took a second, but her cheeks instantly flushed pink when she realized what I meant.

“Oh, no.” She covered her face with a self-deprecating laugh mixed with a groan. “That’s... awkward.”

I pulled her hands down, not wanting to miss a second of her smile even if it was because she was embarrassed as hell.

“Babe, it’s fine,” I assured her. “And if they heard anything, it’s because they took an hour off from doing exactly what we were doing.”

She gave me an exasperated look. “And if Sam and Dax heard?”

I winced. “Luckily their rooms are at the other end of the hall.”

Her head fell, but her shoulders shook with silent laughter. “I take it back. We’re so not ready to be parents.”

“We can still practice, though.” I grinned and pulled her forward until she was sprawled over my lap like a decadent buffet meant only for me.

“No, no, no ,” she said firmly, somehow managing to slip away with a thunk onto the floor.

Oh, hell. Her on her knees next to the bed, looking up at me, with those big green eyes and pink lips parted, was not helping my growing situation.

She pointed a finger at me. “No. Get that look off your face, Remy Holt.”

“What look?” My tone sounded innocent enough, but we both knew my hands were seconds from shredding the sheets I was fisting to keep from grabbing her.

“I’m not having sex with you with my dad on the way and all of our friends downstairs,” she hissed, scrambling to her feet. She backed away from the bed like I still could lunge at any minute and pull her down.

Which wasn’t too far off the mark of possible.

“Go take a shower. Alone ,” she emphasized when I started to remind her we had showered together last night. “I’m going to... do something that’s not in the room.”

I shrugged. “As long as it’s some thing and not some one .”

Her jaw dropped. “Cold shower, Remy. Cold.”

“You know that’s actually a false statement, right?”

The little crease that formed between her pinched brows was adorable. “Huh?”

“Cold tightens things. Hardens things,” I added, grinning as her blush traveled down her throat. “Cold shower is the worst thing you can do when you’re turned on.”

She threw up her hands. “Fine. Take a hot shower. Burning hot.”

My eyes lit up. “Hot like when you’re—”

“Oh, my God!” She whirled and stormed out with a laugh, slamming my door as she went, leaving me half-naked, mostly hard, and totally alone.

“Fuck,” I muttered to myself.

M y stomach was growling by the time I made it downstairs, but I should’ve known there was no way this day could stay as good as it had started. The raised voices in the living room called me forward, my instincts going on high alert.

“We’ll make it work,” Katy said adamantly as I entered the room.

“How?” Michael asked. “Katy, I’m all for making it work, but we’re simply running out of places to put people.”

“What people?” I asked as I looked around the room.

Michael and Katy were standing across from each other, almost at different ends of the spectrum while it looked like Rhodes and Skye were trying to help them find a middle ground.

“Six buses,” Skye answered grimly. “Five from new packs, and one from the Flatrock pack that managed to escape. They’d been hiding out until they heard Kevin made it here and joined us.”

“Plus Nikolai’s three planes full of people in a few days,” Michael added with a sigh. “We don’t have the space for all of these people. We just don’t. It’s not even a matter of just housing anymore, Remy. Food and supplies are going to start running low.”

“Then we order more food,” Katy rebutted, eyes flashing.

“It’s not that simple, Kit-Kat,” I murmured. We’d been monitoring the food and supply trucks that came and went from Blackwater to make sure no one came in undetected, but the biggest way to keep someone from slipping inside was to limit the amount of deliveries we had.

Opening up a fully functioning pipeline of supplies could also open up a way for Norwood to get people into the pack lands, and I had read The Odyssey enough to avoid a Trojan Horse situation.

“Are there any packs that we haven’t pulled in on this side of the country?” I asked Dante.

He thumbed his bottom lip thoughtfully before shaking his head. “No. From Canada to Mexico, we control the west coast now. Everyone is part of Blackwater.”

“Then maybe it’s time to start acting like it,” I said slowly.

Skye’s eyes narrowed. “Meaning?”

“Meaning we stop piling everyone into town and what we consider Blackwater territory,” I explained, meeting her gaze. “We reassess where our boundaries really are and work on securing those.”

“That’s a good plan,” Dante replied. “Blackwater is more than this town or the original pack lands. All these former independent packs are part of us now. If we treat it like that, packs don’t need to relocate.”

“We opened the borders to provide a sanctuary, but we’re past that now,” Katy admitted. She started to nod. “It’s a great idea. Especially if Nikolai is willing to let us spread his people out to shore up the packs that don’t have a heavy population.”

“Actually, that’s Skye’s call now,” I reminded her.

Skye’s eyes went big. “Me?”

“You’re their Alpha, babe. It’s your call.”

She shrugged. “I’m on board, but I still want to ask Nikolai where he thinks we should put people. He knows the packs that are coming and probably has a little more insight. He should be here any minute.”

I smiled at her. “Good. You two figure out where they go. Dante and Rhodes can help you figure out which packs might need the most support.”

Michael groaned. “It’s not that easy, Remy. Half of these people aren’t here for Blackwater. They’re here because of you two.” He pointed at me and then Skye.

“Why us?” Skye asked, confused.

“The bonding wave,” Katy groaned. “They want in on it.”

“It’s not something we’re selling tickets to,” I muttered, rubbing my jaw.

“Besides, the way Lulu said it, it doesn’t matter where you are. If they’re part of Blackwater, they’ll feel the effects, right?” Skye added.

“Not just Blackwater, love,” Nikolai jumped in as he came into the room with Dimitri and a sleepy looking Lulu.

“Congrats, little sister,” Dimitri chimed in with a grin. “You two also triggered a bonding wave in Europe last night.”

Skye went a little pale. “Wh-what?”

“It makes sense,” Nikolai said with a smile. “The packs all agreed to you being their Alpha. Blackwater reaps the benefits of Remy’s connection to them, and your pack receives the same benefits from you.”

“Pretty cool, right?” Lulu smiled wearily as she sat down on the far couch.

“Which means you’re now the new darling of all the European and Asian packs,” Nikolai finished with a wide grin. “I just talked to leaders from most of the larger packs. I hope you don’t mind. They’re all offering whatever support you two need here.”

“See?” Michael pointed out. “This is why we have a couple hundred new bodies inside the pack lands wanting to move in.”

“We just established they don’t have to be physically near us for that,” Skye said, flustered and nervous as her eyes darted to me.

I tried not to let my frustration show. She hated being under any kind of microscope.

“People don’t have to be next to movie stars either,” Katy replied, rolling her eyes, “but they still stand in lines for hours to meet them.”

“That’s not helping, Katy,” I muttered, watching as panic started creeping into Skye’s expression.

Rhodes grimaced. “But she isn’t wrong. You two are unlike anything shifters around here have ever seen. I mean, you have Norwood and their unwavering, patriarchal ideals.”

“Good word choice,” Katy murmured with a nod.

Rhodes rolled his eyes. “Thanks. On the other side, you and Skye are showing the world what a true, united pack looks like. And that looks pretty fucking awesome.”

I met Skye’s eyes and returned the smile she offered.

Dante’s phone started to ring and he glanced down at it. “It’s Griffin. I’ll be back in a minute.”

I nodded as he headed out of the room.

“We don’t even know that another bonding... wave,” Skye made a face at the word, “will happen again.”

“Pretty sure it will,” Lulu said softly. She had kicked off her shoes and pulled her feet up onto the couch.

“You mean what happened the last few nights isn’t the end of it?” Skye asked.

“Probably not. The stronger your bond grows to each other, the more likely it will cause more people to bond. And the more packs that join, the more chances there are for people to find their mate.” Lulu gave a half-hearted shrug. “But what’s happening as a result of your bond is a good thing.”

“I know,” Skye replied quietly.

“What about when this is over?” I asked. “I plan on letting the packs reform with their own Alphas. Won’t they lose that connection?”

“People may not want to leave if that’s the case,” Michael said. “At least, not the ones who really want a bonded mate.”

“I don’t know,” Lulu answered honestly. “It’s kind of a unique situation. Most Alphas aren’t too keen on giving up their pack or part of their pack. What you two are doing has never been done.”

“See?” Nikolai tossed me a smug look. “That settles it. You two will simply be Alphas to all packs across the globe.”

“That’s not funny,” Skye said with a grimace. Her eyes jerked to mine. “Neither of us want that.”

“It’s not even a matter of want,” I said calmly. “It’s not possible. There’s no way one or two Alphas can keep the peace with thousands of shifters in a single country, let alone multiple continents. We can’t be everywhere at once, and people need to have their own leaders that they can rely on.”

“Are you saying you don’t want to be Alpha?” Nikolai questioned.

I couldn’t stop from glaring at him. “I’m saying I don’t want to be Alpha to everyone. There’s a difference.”

“There is,” he agreed. His expression changed in a begrudging look of respect. “And usually you don’t find an Alpha who can make that distinction, especially at your age.”

“So,” Dimitri said calmly. “What’s our next move?”

Dante stormed back into the room, his eyes narrowed and face pale. “Our next move is to get to Windale.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. Whatever he was about to say wasn’t going to be good.

“What now?” Katy demanded, growling a little.

Dante’s eyes caught mine. “Damien and Trace are headed for Windale with a massive army.”

Cold seeped into my bones, turning them to lead. “They know Griffin joined us.”

“Yeah,” Dante replied. “And if they take Windale, they’ll have more ground than we can ever cover. Windale’s too connected to the middle of the country and Canada. Griffin joining us meant we had just under half the continent on our side. With the other packs, it would have been a no-brainer.”

“Damien would have to surrender,” Rhodes mused. “He’d never have the numbers to beat us in an all out war.”

“But with Griffin’s pack, and the other’s they currently are aligned with, he will. He could drag this fight out indefinitely,” Dante finished grimly.

“We’d never get Maren back,” Katy whispered.

“How soon until the rest of the planes can get here?” Skye asked Nikolai.

“Another two days? Perhaps a day and a half if we push things,” he replied. “But we’d have to get them off the ground in the next few hours.”

Skye and I exchanged a heavy look before she turned to her father. “Do it. We need them.”

Nikolai nodded and spun, stalking from the room with his phone in his hand.

Dante hissed out a breath. “Damien will be in Windale by tonight. Remy, if we lose Griffin...”

We might never recover from that. Norwood would control two-thirds of the country’s shifters.

“How far is it to Illinois where the Windale pack is?” I asked absently.

“By plane? Seven hours,” he replied.

“We sent our plane back a few hours ago,” Lulu added softly. “To bring back another group.”

Which meant the only plane we had was the Blackwater one that held a max of forty-four people. We would have to fly commercial and hope that our pack war didn’t catch the attention of any humans or charter a flight, which would also have its own set of complications.

I rubbed my jaw. “And driving?”

“A day, at least.” Dante’s lips pulled tight.

That wasn’t an option.

Nikolai stormed back into the room, his dark eyes burning. “We have another situation.”

“What now?” Skye asked, dread in her tone.

“Norwood has gotten to some of the packs in Europe, Asia, and Africa. They’re causing issues for us trying to fly our allies out and causing chaos back home. “

“Dammit,” I hissed.

Skye stared at him. “I thought we had their support.”

“No,” Nikolai gritted out, “I have the support of my allies, which is slightly more than half the packs in those three continents. But there’s over forty packs spread across those lands and not all of them are amenable to our ways. And our allies can’t afford to send people to help at the risk of their own packs falling.”

“Translation?” Dimitri added. “We have our own enemies, too. And it looks like they’ve decided to back Norwood by causing holy hell on the other side of the world.”

“Well, that’s fucking awesome,” Rhodes sighed, his jaw clenched.

“Even if we leave now, we won’t make it in time,” I realized, the truth sending a shockwave down my spine.

“And we won’t have the people we need to match up to theirs,” Skye added quietly.

Everyone was quiet for a minute, and then Katy exploded.

“Dammit!” She dropped onto the edge of the other couch with a choked sob, and Skye quickly sat beside her.

“There might be another way,” I said quietly.

“How?” Nikolai demanded.

I exhaled. “Damien wanted a truce. That’s why he called a few days ago. Him going to Windale right now is only because we took Long Mesa.”

“You can’t give him what he wants,” Skye said sharply. “Even if we agree to stand down or whatever, what happens to all the women they’ve taken?”

“It won’t be enough,” Lulu added. “He’ll get more desperate when he doesn’t get the results he wants.”

“This is probably less about Long Mesa and more about those buses of people,” Dimitri commented. He gave me a wary look. “You two are changing the entire game. He can’t compete with bonded mates by offering up child brides to the highest bidders.”

“So, we don’t call a truce,” I said calmly, keeping my tone even as my heartbeat thundered. “We make it a challenge.”

Skye lifted her head slowly. “A challenge ?”

I stared back at her. “Winner gets control of all the packs.”