Chapter 57

57

SKYE

B y the time we landed in upstate New York, I was slightly calmer. I’d barely looked at Elias as he was brought on the plane. The airstrip we used was as close to the facility as we could get, but it was still another hour drive to reach the edge of the woods where the building was.

Elias had given Remy a little more information that he had on the facility that Damien had been using to house all the women and children, but he still maintained that he was unaware of the seedier side of the facility that Maren had told us about.

Part of me still wanted to believe that the old man who had helped me so much wasn’t a complete monster, but now, looking at the gray building behind layers of fences and barbed wire, I was having doubts.

“It’s like a ghost town,” I murmured next to Remy. My eyes scanned the area, looking for movement or people, but everything was just... vacant. The towers where guards would have sat were empty.

He frowned beside me. “Maybe you should hang back.”

“What? No way,” I said, shaking my head.

“We don’t know if it’s safe,” he insisted, turning to face me.

“Does any of this look familiar, Mare?” Ryder spoke up.

Maren shook her head. “No, but I was unconscious when they brought me in and took me out. The building kind of looks familiar? But I never saw the front.”

“Elias.” Remy’s voice snapped across the group of us assembled and moments later Elias was shuffled forward.

“Where is everyone?” Remy pressed, turning to the older man.

Elias looked around. “The guards don’t appear to be here.”

“No shit,” Rhodes muttered.

“I don’t know,” Elias added with a frown. “When I was here, Damien had this place completely locked down. We should have run into the first wave of people a mile ago. He had a perimeter for his perimeter.”

“That isn’t the case now,” Dante commented, looking around at the trees we had driven through.

My eyes followed his, seeing a few of the wolves we had sent ahead to scout the area before we arrived on the periphery.

“Maybe it was evacuated?” Tate suggested, peering around from her spot between Ryder and Dante.

“There’s definitely people in there,” Lulu said quietly, moving forward with Dimitri on her heels. “I can sense them.”

“Any idea of how many?” I asked.

“A lot,” she answered, her attention still focused on the building. “Some of them are really vibrant and bright. Others almost feel cold and oily.”

“What? Like their aura or something?” Katy frowned.

“Or something,” Lulu replied offhandedly.

“What about the other elemental?” Nikolai spoke up from behind us.

“Too many souls in the way,” Lulu told him. “It’s a huge melting pot of energies and I can’t get a clear read.”

“Souls?” I repeated.

“There’s a lot of fear, though,” Lulu went on, ignoring my question. “It’s in everything, even the ground. Like an oil spill that’s tainted everything in the area.”

“Makes sense,” Maren replied softly, shuddering. “It’s scary being back here.”

“You’re safe now,” Tate said fiercely, taking the hand Katy wasn’t holding.

A gray wolf emerged from the treeline, heading towards us. When he was a few feet away, Alexei shifted into his human form.

I immediately looked at the ground, not wanting an accidental view of his junk. I felt Remy chuckle beside me.

Even though I was curious to know how far down Alexei’s intricate tattoos stretched, I wasn’t interested in him.

“We’ve been here for a few hours,” he told us, pausing several feet away. “No one has entered or left since we arrived. The lights came on, like they were on a timer. There’s no other wolves except us in the woods. All the scents we found were old.”

“So they abandoned ship before we arrived,” Nikolai inferred.

“You think it’s safe?” Remy asked.

“One way to find out,” Dimitri muttered, walking forward and pushing open one of the gates. It swung open easily enough.

“Doors open,” he called over his shoulder, leading the way as we all followed cautiously behind. Lulu tried to catch up and pass him, but he held her back.

“Could you, for once, act like your life matters?” he snapped, irritated.

“Could you, for once, leave me alone?” she snarled back, jerking her arm out of his hold. She stomped away from him.

Remy and I exchanged a look as Dimitri growled in her wake.

“They have a complicated relationship,” Nikolai murmured behind us.

I shot him a glance over my shoulder. “Clearly.”

Lulu made up the stairs and slowly pushed open the front door. Before she could step inside, Dimitri shouldered her out of the way and went in first.

“ Very complicated,” Remy whispered for my ears only.

We all filled the small lobby inside the entrance, pausing in front of the locked gate that separated the lobby from a long corridor.

“If I may?” Elias asked, slipping between us and approaching the gate. He laid his palm on the scanner beside the door and a second later it clicked open.

“Where is everyone?” Remy demanded, looking around.

“Top floor is research,” Elias said quietly. “If your elemental is here, that’s where he’ll be.”

“I’m going,” Lulu said sharply, starting towards the stairwell.

“Would you wait a damn minute?” Dimitri snapped, grabbing her wrist. He immediately dropped her arm with a hiss, moving back.

“Touch me again and I’ll fry your whole arm,” Lulu said coldly.

“Everyone calm down,” Remy ordered, stepping between them. “We need to split up and take sections.”

“I’m the elemental, so I’m going to the top floor,” Lulu insisted.

“I agree, but you shouldn’t go alone,” Remy shot back. “Nikolai, why don’t you go with her?”

My father nodded, giving Dimitri a look before moving to Lulu’s side.

“I’ll go, too,” I offered, joining them.

Remy’s lips thinned for a second, clearly not liking me going anywhere without him.

“Alexei, can you have your men cover the exits? Just in case?” Remy turned to the still naked shifter.

“Of course,” he replied, clearly not bothered by his nudity. He turned to go give them Remy’s order, shifting as he headed back outside.

“What else are we looking at?” Remy looked at Elias, brows raised.

“The main level is mostly offices,” Elias stammered. “Second floor is where the younger girls were. And the nursery.”

My eyes slid shut for a second. They had a fucking nursery here.

“Third floor is where the women are,” he finished quickly.

“And the others not chosen for Damien’s fucked up mate assignments?” Dante folded his arms across his chest and glared at Elias.

Elias looked down. “There’s a door to the basement level across the courtyard. I was never permitted to go in there. Damien said it was for storage.”

“And you just took his word for it,” Tate scoffed darkly.

“I realize now how truly misguided he was,” Elias added.

“You didn’t realize that when he set up a nursery to take children from their mothers?” Rhodes chimed in, shaking his head.

Elias actually looked affronted. “These children were not taken from their mothers; they were given to the pack at birth for the Alpha to find them the best suitable match.”

“Tell that to Kit and Jayla,” I muttered. “Or Maren.”

Elias frowned at me. “Damien made a gross misstep when he started abducting young girls, but our pack has left mate pairings up to the Alpha for generations.”

“And the girls in the basement? Was that just for funsies?” I shot back, irritation spiking.

“I told you that I didn’t know—”

“Okay, enough!” Remy’s voice cut through all the dissent. “This isn’t solving anything. Right now we need to focus on freeing the women and children locked up in here. We’ll break into teams, and everyone will meet back here in thirty minutes. Got it?”

When we all nodded in agreement, he broke us into groups.

“Hey.” Remy grabbed my hand before I could go upstairs.

“I know,” I said with a tired smile. “Be safe, no risks, yell if I need help.”

He rolled his eyes. “You forgot one thing.”

“I did?”

He kissed me hard and fast. “I love you.”

“Love you,” I murmured, turning and jogging up the stairs with my father and Lulu. I was winded by the time we reached the fourth floor landing.

“Stay behind me,” Lulu told us as she opened the door to the fourth floor.

“If you insist,” I mumbled, closing the door gently behind us.

We walked silently through the hallway, checking inside doorways. I was shocked to find a few surgical rooms scattered amongst the offices and rooms full of filing cabinets.

We turned the last corner in the hall and froze as one when something dropped in a room ahead of us.

My father gently tucked me behind him as we slowed our approach towards the last door on the left.

“Dammit,” a low voice muttered. “Shit, shit, shit . Where is it?”

Lulu rounded the corner, slipping silently through the slightly ajar door. We followed her inside to where a person was crouched in front of a filing cabinet. It had been ripped open, like the three drawers above it. Papers were everywhere.

“Stand up slowly,” Lulu told him.

He whirled around with a gasp, shoving his hands out in front of him. Whatever he tried to do never happened, and he frowned, looking at us.

“You’re like me?” he demanded, his pale blue eyes jerking around the room.

“I am,” Lulu replied. “How about you put your hands down and we chat about what you’ve been doing here?”

“They all left,” he said, shaking his head. “They’re gone, and they promised to let us go if I did what they wanted.”

“Us?” I echoed, easing around Nikolai.

“My family,” he replied, blinking at me. His gaze sharpened with interest. “You’re one of them. Are you next?”

“Next?” I paused and Nikolai pushed between us.

“Next for the treatment,” the boy snapped impatiently. “They haven’t brought me a new girl in days.”

“They left days ago?” Lulu asked.

“I don’t need your help!” he yelled, glaring at Lulu. He advanced towards me even as Nikolai started growling. His steps were stopped when he promptly ran into an invisible wall. He pressed his hands to it curiously.

“What is this?” he whispered, gently poking the wall. It rippled every time he made contact and then smoothed back into invisibility.

“A shield,” Lulu said slowly. “What’s your name?”

“Jack,” he replied after a second.

“Jack,” Lulu repeated. “How old are you, Jack?”

He glowered at her and folded his thin arms over his chest. “Sixteen.”

“Why are you here?” Lulu’s tone was soft and lilting, trying to calm him down.

His head tilted to the side. “Is this a trick?”

“No trick,” she assured him. “We’re not like the others.”

His eyes narrowed again. “No. You’re different. Your magic is like mine but not. What are you?”

“A friend,” Lulu said calmingly, brushing off his question. “What were you doing here, Jack?”

He stared mulishly at us, his dark hair falling in his eyes. He was tall, but thin and young, probably a couple of years younger than I was. But there was something about him that just seemed... off.

“Elias sent us,” Nikolai said suddenly.

Jack relaxed instantly and even smiled. “The doc? Why didn’t you say so?”

“Must have slipped our minds,” Lulu murmured.

Jack looked at me again. “Are you sure she isn’t for me?”

“Quite sure,” I spoke up. “I’m not here for... what are you doing?”

“Making them better,” he said plainly, innocently even. “I help them. And if I help enough, I get my family back.”

“Your family?” Lulu looked at him curiously.

Jack waved a hand behind him at the filing cabinets. “They’ve been gone for days now, and the doc longer than that.”

“So, they took your family to make you help?” I hedged.

He nodded. “Yeah. I thought maybe I could find my family in the files.”

“Why didn’t you leave with them?” Nikolai asked with a frown.

Jack laughed. “Because I’m a boy. They only took the girls.”

My back stiffened. “Took the girls?”

“I saw them through the window,” Jack added. “They used the vans.”

“Shit,” I muttered, meeting my dad’s eyes. “Damien’s beta must have taken some of them when they realized Damien won.”

“I thought he was in Tennessee,” Lulu hissed.

“He probably called ahead and had someone closer take them,” I replied. My shoulders sagged as I realized we were too late.

“Or some of them went rogue with the Alpha gone and decided not to wait for his pathetic auction,” he agreed bitterly. “You should go tell Remy.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “You guys okay here?”

“I think Jack is mostly harmless, but he’s definitely confused,” he replied, frowning. “We’ll meet you downstairs with the others.”

“Okay,” I said, turning to go. I made my way to the stairs and headed to the second floor where Remy said he was going. It was definitely more chaotic here, and scared girls were starting to line up along the wall. They gave me curious stares as I walked by.

“Rhodes!” I called, spotting him and Larkin coming out of a room. Larkin was carrying a little girl who looked no older than three. She had her thumb tucked into her mouth and tear stains on her pale round cheeks.

“Where’s Remy?” I asked.

“Down the hall with Katy and Maren,” he told me, a dark look on his face. “They just left these kids here with some bottles of water and crackers. Some of them haven’t eaten since yesterday when their food ran out.”

I flinched, looking around at the many faces of the girls standing around before giving my attention to the one in Larkin’s arms. “Is she okay?”

Larkin rubbed a hand down the girl’s back. “She will be.”

“You guys find anyone upstairs?” Rhodes questioned.

“Yeah,” I replied grimly. “But apparently a bunch of girls were taken from here at the last minute.”

“Fuckers,” Rhodes swore, snarling a bit.

The little girl jumped in Larkin’s arms, her wide brown eyes staring up at Rhodes with fear. She sucked her thumb harder.

“Rhodes,” Larkin hissed, shooting him a reproachful glare.

“Hey, I’m sorry,” he apologized sweetly, lowering his tone and bending his knees so he was eye level with the girl. He slowly reached out and brushed a blonde curl from her eyes. “Let’s go see what we can find for you to eat, okay, sweetheart?”

The little girl watched him with big eyes and then slowly extended her arms to him.

Rhodes stiffened, looking at Larkin. “What do I do?”

Larkin rolled her eyes. “Hold her.” She passed the toddler into Rhodes’s uneasy arms. He held her stiffly for a moment, but seemed to relax when she burrowed her tiny head against his chest and closed her eyes.

“What now?” he whispered, eyes huge as they swung from Larkin to me and back.

“Don’t drop her,” I suggested, going in the direction he said Remy was.

“Not funny!” he yelled at me as I walked away.

“Not trying to be,” I retorted as I headed down the hall in search of Remy.

I found him in a room with Katy and Maren and half a dozen girls ranging from preteen to early teens. One of the girls was openly sobbing and Maren was trying to comfort her. Katy was trying to extract another girl who had a death hold on Remy.

I growled softly, not liking anyone touching my mate. I tried to shove down my wolf’s need to stake our claim on him until the girl wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her head into his chest. He gave me a helpless look, his hands outstretched on either side, not touching her or encouraging her.

“Okay,” I said sharply, helping Katy pull her away. “Hands off.”

The girl stared at me unhappily, her frustration turning to irritation as Remy pulled me against him like a shield.

“I was only trying to say thank you,” she whispered, head down.

“Say it with words,” Katy told her.

The girl whimpered at Katy’s tone and shrunk deeper into herself. “Alphas need to be shown appreciation and respect.”

“And you need to learn not to touch what isn’t yours,” I replied curtly. “Touch my mate again without his permission and we’ll have a problem.”

“Go wait in the hallway with the others,” Katy ordered, snapping her fingers and pointing to the door.

The girl stared at Katy in horror, her violet colored eyes wide on her pale face. “You can’t speak that way. He’s an Alpha. He, or his men, give commands.”

Katy gave her a look. “He’s my brother . And I’m about done with you.”

“Katy,” Maren said, tugging at her arm. She looked at the girl. “It’s okay, Quinn.”

Quinn turned her worried eyes to Maren. “We were told to stay here. If we leave, Alpha Damien will be angry.”

“Alpha Damien is gone,” Maren told her gently. “Remy is our Alpha now.”

With a gasp, Quinn dropped to her knees, head bowed.

Dropped. To. Her. Knees.

“Forgive me, Alpha Remy. Forgive us all for not showing proper respect.” She slowly outstretched her hands.

“What is she doing?” I asked quietly.

Maren blinked back tears. “She touched an Alpha without permission. She’s waiting for punishment.”

“Punishment?” Remy repeated, the word strangled.

“Usually a broken hand for a touching offense,” Maren murmured.

I stared at Quinn. She wasn’t even fighting what she assumed would be punishment. She was simply resigned to it.

“Get up,” Remy told her.

Quinn looked up hesitantly.

“Go wait in the hall,” Remy added, his tone still gentle.

Quinn got to her feet and walked away with a bewildered look.

“That was awkward,” Remy grumbled.

I turned and arched a brow. “Yeah.”

Maren turned to us. “She was from Norwood. She’s been raised here since she was a baby. Her ultimate goal was landing an Alpha or someone on the council. It’s what they’ve drilled into her head.”

“I get that,” I replied, my tone softer, “but she doesn’t get a pass for groping Remy without consent.”

“What Skye said,” Katy agreed.

“Besides, we’ve got bigger problems,” I sighed, looking at Remy. “We found the other elemental. He’s a kid, but he told us that they used vans to take away a group of the girls here a few days ago.”

Remy turned his attention to Maren. “Did you notice anyone from here missing?”

“Jayla,” Maren answered. “She should have been in here with these girls or across the hall with Kit. She wasn’t in either room.”

“Could she be in one of the rooms upstairs?” Katy asked.

Maren shook her head. “No. Only adults were on the third floor.”

“So, people are still missing,” Remy groaned, shaking his head in disgust.

“Yeah,” I replied softly.

“Maybe Elias has a list of all the people who were here?” Katy suggested. “We can see who’s missing.”

“Not a bad idea,” Remy replied as his phone started to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket and frowned at the screen. “It’s Dante.”

He tapped the answer button and lifted the phone to his ear with a short, “Yeah?” He listened for a few seconds and then added, “Okay. See you in a few.”

“What’s up?” I pressed as he shoved his phone back into his pocket.

“Dante found the basement,” he answered quietly. “There’s quite a few people in there. He’s bringing them up, but... it’s more than we thought.”

“Sierra?” Maren asked.

Remy nodded. “He said she’s there. She doesn’t look so good. Apparently they were left without food and water when everyone packed up a few days ago. We need to finish up and get everyone out of this place.”

“I’ll find Elias,” Katy said, giving me a tight smile and leaving with Maren.

“What are we going to do with all of these people?” I asked quietly, looking out into the hallway where girls were lined up, waiting for more instruction.

“I don’t know,” he replied honestly, “but we’re not leaving them behind.”

“Some of them might want to go home to their families,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, but some of them came from families who handed them over to this place when they were infants.”

“Who could do that?” I wondered quietly. “Who could just give up their child?”

“I don’t know,” he said again, this time sadder. He reached for me and pulled me against his side. “But we’ll figure it out.”

“We always do,” I added, leaning into him.