Chapter 25

25

K aty was supremely pissed off to be on janitorial duty for a week. When she kept complaining, Remy offered to make it two weeks. I had to hide my giggle, watching as he treated her like a parent instead of a brother.

Sierra and Ainsley got a strong warning to remember pack loyalties. Watching Remy put the fear of God into those two was definitely the highlight of my morning. Watching them scurry away from the cabin, tails tucked between their legs, was a close second.

Katy was still sulking on the couch. She glared at Remy as he shut the door after them.

“What?” he demanded. His eyes narrowed. “You can’t freaking hit people, Kit-Kat.”

“I know,” she muttered back with a dramatic sigh. “But this took so long we all missed breakfast.”

My stomach growled on cue, and they both turned to look at me. Remy shook his head with an amused smile.

I shrugged. “Sorry. I’m hungry, too.”

“Wow. Bonded less than a day, and he’s starving his mate,” Katy chastised with a roll of her eyes.

I pressed my lips together, choosing to ignore the way the word ‘mate’ caused my stomach to flip.

“I’ll make breakfast,” Remy announced with a chuckle. He looked at his sister. “Why don’t you go get Rhodes and Larkin? They’re probably hungry, too.”

Katy pulled herself off the couch and pointed at Remy. “I want waffles.”

He rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

“And bacon!” she called, heading for the door. “And eggs!”

“Got it!” he yelled back, exasperated.

“With cheese!” Katy hollered as she slammed the front door shut.

“So demanding,” Remy muttered, heading for the kitchen. He glanced back at me. “Help me?”

I followed him into the open space, sliding onto a barstool at the center island and watched him move with purpose to the fridge, pulling items out and setting them on the island.

“You realize I’ve never cooked before, right?” I asked, resting my chin in my palm as I watched him.

He looked up at me and paused with a frown. “Seriously?”

I nodded, stretching my arms out in front of me, loving the feel of the muscles in my shoulders working out the tension I was carrying from earlier. “No need. Everything we got was microwavable or it was, like, chips or something. I don’t think our oven even worked.”

His brows rose curiously, but there was an annoyed tick in his jaw I couldn’t miss. He reached into one of the cabinets in the island and pulled out a set of pans.

“Come here.”

I slipped off the stool and walked around to him.

“Time to learn to cook,” he told me, handing me a skillet with a grin.

I smirked, testing the weight of the skillet in my hand before setting it on the counter. “I think I like the idea of you cooking for me. It could be the entire basis of our relationship.”

His gaze heated. “And I’m happy to do it for you, but you need to learn to fend for yourself.” He went to the fridge and handed me a carton of eggs.

“I’ll have you know I can open any kind of bagged snack in under thirty seconds. Chips, pretzels, even those goldfish things don’t stand a chance against me,” I joked as I set the eggs on the counter, a little embarrassed I had no clue what to do with the eggs. My limited experience was eating them the last couple of weeks.

Remy laughed loudly, setting my discarded skillet on the stove and flicking a knob. I heard the gas whoosh as the fire caught. Once he had the pan heating, he grabbed a large bowl from an overhead cabinet.

He set the bowl down and opened the carton, pulling out an egg. “Let’s start with the basics.”

He tapped the egg firmly on the side of the glass bowl. I watched, fascinated, as it cracked. He slipped his thumbs into the crack, dumping the contents into the bowl. He picked out another from the carton and handed it to me.

I took it in my hands, the delicate shell cold against my fingers. I glanced at him dubiously. “I just hit it on the side?”

“Tap it,” he corrected, leaning a hip against the countertop and giving me room to work. “Go lightly. You can always tap a couple times to crack it. You don’t want to smash it.”

Gently, I tapped the egg on the side of the bowl the way he did, but nothing happened.

“Try a little harder,” he encouraged.

I added a little force and the egg started to split. I grinned up at him. “I did it!”

He chuckled and nodded, moving his hands over mine. He gently moved my fingers to show me how to pry apart the shell and dump the egg into the bowl.

I smiled down into the bowl, the two yellow lumps bright and sunny against the white of the bowl. I set the shell aside and wiped off the slick residue with a towel.

Still laughing softly, Remy kissed the side of my head. “Can you crack the rest while I start on the waffles and bacon?”

I nodded quickly, already reaching for another egg.

By the time I finished cracking the dozen and a half eggs, Remy had the waffle batter made and bacon halfway done. My stomach kept growling as he added a new scent to the mix. The smell of food cooking was almost better than the actual food.

“Now what?” I asked, turning to watch as he poured a cup of batter into the waffle iron. He closed the lid and came around to me, a weirdly wired contraption in his hand, which he passed to me.

“Now you whisk.”

“Whisk?” I repeated, eyeing the instrument carefully.

He took it from me and demonstrated, whipping it around the bowl a few times so the egg yolks started to break apart and mix together.

“Got it,” I said, taking over. I concentrated on whisking as the timer on the waffles went off.

I heard Remy moving behind me as he pulled waffles off the griddle and ladled more on. A second later, the smell of warm waffles wafted under my nose.

I glanced down to see Remy holding a piece of the hot dough in front of me. Without thinking, I reached forward and grabbed it with my mouth, my lips grazing his fingers. Remy groaned and pulled his hand away.

“Keep that up and I’m going to burn something,” he promised as he moved behind me, shifting my hair to the side to press his lips against the side of my neck.

I damn near dropped the whisk. My head tilted to the side instinctively to give him more access.

How the hell did I crave his touch so much since the bond happened twelve hours earlier?

His mouth lingered for a second, his teeth scraping lightly against the delicate skin of my neck. I pressed back against him with a delicious shiver.

“Shit,” he swore, moving back away from me with a laugh.

I glanced over my shoulder at him. “What?”

“My sister is going to walk through the door any minute.”

“Ah,” I said with a knowing smile as I turned back to the task in front of me. “I’ve already gotten the ‘no PDA with my brother’ speech.”

“Which is pretty freaking ironic considering she and Maren are the queens of PDA,” he retorted, removing the bacon from the pan it was frying in.

“They’re cute,” I defended, putting down the whisk when I was satisfied the eggs were fully mixed together. I turned and watched Remy move easily around the spacious kitchen.

He jerked his chin towards the fridge. “Can you grab the juice and some cups? Cups are in the cabinet next to the fridge.”

I opened the fridge, my eyes going a little wide at how packed full of food it was. Shaking my head in disbelief, I gathered apple juice and orange juice and set them on the counter before reaching for the cups.

Remy pulled another waffle off the griddle, laying it on the thick stack he already had on a plate.

“Okay, come back here.” He grabbed the bowl of eggs off the counter and moved back to the stove.

I approached warily, eyeing the empty pan on the stove like it was a snake about the strike.

“Get over here,” he said with a laugh, reaching out to snag me around the waist and drag me to him. He moved me so I was in front of the stove, and he was behind me again.

He guided me through dumping the eggs into the pan and told me to let them cook for a minute before starting to use the spatula to scramble them. I watched the eggs starting to cook curiously, but my body was hyper-aware that Remy was still right behind me.

After a few seconds, he slid his arms around my waist and dropped his chin onto my shoulder.

With a sigh, I leaned back into him, resting my free hand on top of his. The only sounds were our breathing and the eggs sizzling. My eyes slid closed as I relaxed against him, once again the warm feeling of safety covering me like a fuzzy blanket. I snuggled deeper against him, a smile ghosting across my face when I felt his lips on the shell of my ear.

“I could get used to this,” he admitted quietly, his breath tickling my ear.

“Me, too,” I answered honestly. Whatever this was, I was definitely on board.

I could practically feel my wolf smirking in satisfaction, as if she knew I would eventually come to that conclusion.

The peace of the moment was completely shattered by the front door flying open and bodies streaming inside.

Remy and I looked over as one to see Katy was back with not only Larkin and Rhodes, but also Maren, Dante, Tate, and Ryder. The latter four were staring at Remy and I with wide eyes.

Ryder grinned, waving a finger between us. A teasing look started spreading across his face, his eyes bright. “What’s this?”

Remy rolled his eyes and let me go reluctantly, taking the spatula to finish the eggs.

Katy groaned again, glaring at me. “Seriously, Skye? We talked about this. I can’t see this shit every day.”

“Then get out of my house,” Remy shot back, but there was no heat in the statement.

“You two are together?” Tate asked, looking at me curiously. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She whirled and held out an expectant hand to Ryder.

“Pay up.”

He groaned, shaking his head.

Tate grinned at me over her shoulder. “I bet him you two had a thing after we saw you dancing together last night.”

My jaw dropped, and to my surprise Remy chuckled.

Dante clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Sorry, dude, you know I can’t control these two.”

“Control my ass,” Ryder shot back. He gave Tate a firm look. “All I saw was two friends hugging when we came in.”

Katy snorted, making her way to the kitchen. “More than that.”

“Katy,” Remy warned, turning to look at her.

Katy instantly looked guilty. “Wait—are you guys not telling people?”

“Telling people what?” Ryder pressed. He shoved Rhodes’ shoulder. “What gives?”

Rhodes ignored him and moved to sit next to Larkin on the couch.

Remy frowned and looked at me. I shrugged. I didn’t know the Brooks Ridge group all that well, but it was obvious that Remy, Katy, and even Larkin trusted them. That was enough for me to trust them.

“Last night...” Remy rubbed the back of his neck with a laugh. His gaze flicked to me. “Skye and I—”

“Got engaged?” Ryder interrupted with a grin. His eyes gleamed as they settled on me. “Are you pregnant?”

Tate reached over and slapped him on the chest a second before Dante cuffed him on the back of the head.

“She’s only seventeen,” Katy told him in exasperation. Female shifters weren’t fertile until they were at least twenty. Fertility usually happened between the ages of twenty and twenty-five. Unlike humans who had monthly cycles, shifters had two a year and apparently, they were hell on wheels.

Yet another thing to look forward to.

“Ow!” Ryder yelped, rubbing the back of his head where Dante had hit him.

“Continue, please,” Tate said sweetly. “Ignore this ass.”

“You love my ass,” Ryder muttered.

Dante reached out to hit him again, but Ryder danced out of the way with a laugh.

Rolling his eyes, Dante looked at us, but his gaze zeroed in on me. “They’re bonded.”

My eyes went wide. “How did you know?”

“Holy shit,” Ryder whispered, looking at us with wide eyes. “For real?”

Dante gave me a small shrug. “You guys... smell kinda different.”

That caught my attention. “Excuse me?”

Dante gave Remy a look. “Your scents. They’ve changed. They’re kind of... mixed. It’s subtle, but it’s there.”

“Wait, wait,” Tate said slowly. “You two have barely known each other for more than a couple weeks. And you’re teenagers—that never happens.”

“True bonds know no time or place,” Maren said sagely, leaning against Katy.

“Can we back up to the part where I smell different?” I asked, still stuck on that for some reason. What did he mean I smelled different? Good? Bad?

“You still smell awesome,” Rhodes assured me with a wink as he walked to the fridge. He pulled out a bottle of water and twisted off the cap.

“Like peaches and flowers or some shit,” Ryder chimed in, catching the water Rhodes tossed him. “But also like Remy. Dante’s right; it’s not strong, but it’s there.” He flashed me a shameless smile. “He’s marked you, girl.”

I rolled my eyes. “Awesome.”

Remy plated the eggs, ignoring the current conversation. “Are we all eating?”

“Hell yes,” Ryder said, already reaching for the plate of waffles. “It’s second breakfast.”

“Second breakfast?” I echoed.

Tate groaned and shook her head at me. “Don’t get him started.”

“Hey!” Ryder pointed at her. “Don’t mock the sanctity of second breakfast, Tatum. It’s the second most important meal of the day.”

A fter second breakfast, or regular breakfast for some of us, Remy and Dante excused themselves and went into the study to talk about pack business, but not before they ordered Rhodes and Ryder to handle dish duty.

I went out onto the deck with the girls and our drinks, the late morning sun warming us even though the air had a distinct chill.

Tate sank into an Adirondack chair and pulled her legs up. “I love mornings like this.”

Katy hummed her approval as Maren sat down, half on the arm of the chair and halfway on Katy’s lap. Katy looped an arm around her girlfriend’s waist.

I watched Larkin curiously as she sat down slowly in another chair across from them. She had been extremely quiet during breakfast, so much so that Ryder even noticed she seemed off. Thankfully no one pushed the issue with her.

I wrapped my hands around a mug of hot chocolate I had brought with me and sat down on the end of a lounge.

“I’m only going to ask this once,” Tate said softly, looking off the deck and towards the woods at the edge of the property. “Are you okay, Lark?”

Larkin sighed. “Yeah.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Maren coaxed, her large brown eyes soft and concerned. She cocked her head, a curtain of shiny black hair falling down around her shoulders.

“No,” Larkin whispered, pulling her knees to her chest.

“All right,” Tate replied, willing to let Larkin have her privacy. “But we’re here if you need anything at all.”

“Why are you guys so close?” I asked curiously. “It doesn’t seem like a lot of the packs here mix that well.”

Maren scoffed and took a drink of her coffee. “They don’t. There’s definitely major pack divides.”

“But not between Blackwater and Brooks Ridge.”

Tate shook her head. “No, our packs have been allies for decades, and it carried over into GPA. Honestly, the original purpose of the school was to unite the packs. In reality, it exacerbated a big rift between two sides.”

“Norwood and Blackwater have always had an antagonistic relationship at best,” Katy added. “What happened with my parents just made it more public.”

“And more ugly,” Larkin chimed in.

Katy nodded. “But even still, there’s basically two groups in GPA.”

“Blackwater and Norwood,” I concluded.

Tate nodded. “Some packs are more loyal to one than the other. For example, the way we are with you guys? That’s how the Calgary pack is with Norwood.”

“Why the divide, though?” I asked. “I mean, I get that what happened with your parents years ago played a part, but you said they were divided before that?”

“It happened decades ago,” Maren told me. “It goes back to when the packs started to realize that fertility rates were declining steadily, and females were becoming more scarce.”

I wanted to roll my eyes, but the reality was everything in the shifter world seemed dominated by the fact that fertility was an issue and packs were starting to fade into the sunset as birth rates dropped. Males vastly outnumbered females, and it seemed like it wasn’t only the southern part of the country that was feeling the strain.

Katy grimaced, her nose wrinkling in disgust. “Half of the packs from GPA, and even several northern packs not attending GPA, believe females should only be mated to upper pack members. Keep the bloodlines strong or some male bullshit. But ultimately the pack Alpha has final say on who mates with who. Some think all mates should be arranged by the Alpha.”

“But not Blackwater?”

Tate shook her head. “Or Brooks Ridge, or quite a few other packs. They believe a female should choose her mate.”

“Or mates,” Maren said, winking at Tate, who grinned back.

“It pretty much boils down to the men telling the women folk how life is going to be,” Katy drawled in an exaggerated accent.

“Yeah,” I said slowly. “That’s how it was in my old pack, too. But worse. Women have no rights in a lot of the southern packs. They’re commodities to be traded. Alphas pretty much order all marriages and matings. If a female can’t bear a child, she’s completely expendable.”

Larkin shook her head sadly. “I can’t imagine growing up like that. I mean, I know I’m on the bottom, but our Alpha is a good man. He wouldn’t ever order us to do something like marry someone we didn’t want to be with.”

“Elias mentioned something about believing the fertility issue was a direct relation to the Alpha female of the pack,” I said, trying to remember what he had told me. “Something like the happier the female, the better the pack morale, which might increase the birth rate?”

“And the likelihood of true mate bonds happening,” Tate added. “If you look at the statistics, he’s right. When the Alpha female, or Alpha’s mate, is the most secure in her role and her mating, there’s a trickle down effect into the pack. Like throwing a rock in a pond. The ripples spread.”

“So, all we have to do is convince a group of men that women should be in charge of their own happiness,” Katy said with a bitter laugh. “Seems easy enough.”

Tate made a face. “The Summit will definitely be interesting this year. A lot of issues are being discussed, but the fertility and mating issues are the top agendas, according to Dante. It sounds like several different factions have ideas for how to control it.”

My stomach bottomed out. Control and the Summit. Those two things were all I needed to remind me of what I had left behind. Linden and Cassian would absolutely be at the Summit, likely pressuring packs to convert to their way of thinking.

As my anxiety ratcheted up, my wolf whined inside of me, nudging me to find something to calm us both.

“I’ll be back,” I murmured, setting my cup on the table beside me and heading for the door before I could overthink what I needed.

I stepped into the kitchen, the sounds of a video game coming from the main room. Rhodes and Ryder were hurling insults at each other, completely absorbed in whatever was happening on the screen.

I glanced over at the study; the door was partially open now. I walked towards it, feeling better every step of the way as I closed the distance to what I needed.

I never imagined I would be a girl who would need a guy, but something about Remy calmed me and my wolf. Right now, I needed that calm the way a junkie craved a fix.

Remy was visible through the partially open door, hand braced against the desk as he leaned over a paper. A dark expression marred the strong lines of his face, his jaw tight with strain.

“That makes twelve,” he said darkly, presumably to Dante. “Twelve shifters that have gone missing this month alone. What the hell is going on?”