MEETING SKYE

MEETING SKYE

REMY

M orning was my favorite time of the day. I loved waking up when the sun was just starting to crawl across the mountains. There was something utterly peaceful at the dawn of a new day.

“Why the fuck am I up so early?” Rhodes muttered darkly, stomping down the stairs and lumbering to the kitchen to swipe the mug I had left out for him before he dumped the coffee into his cup.

I snorted in amusement as I glanced at him across the kitchen island. “Morning, sunshine.”

He flipped me off in response before swallowing a mouthful of hot coffee. He promptly hissed in pain and nearly dropped the mug the same way he did every morning. Then he went back in for more. It was amazing he had any taste buds left at this point.

One of these days I was going to make a cold-brew just to fuck with him.

Grunting, he scratched his chest and looked at me with sleepy eyes. “When does the new girl get here?”

“She got in last night,” I replied, glancing at my watch. I had texted Larkin to see if she could bring the newest pack member over before the others got here so I could get a read on her.

Having a new pack member transfer in wasn’t strange. But it was strange that she was almost eighteen and came with a single mother. Two unattached females, especially one who was almost legal, wasn’t something packs were ever too keen to lose, fucked up as it sounded.

Then again, Dad had hinted that the new girl and her mom had basically run from their last pack. He’d been cagey with the details, wanting to keep their secrets, but I still needed to know who I was letting into my pack.

“Think she’s hot?”

I glanced up at Rhodes and frowned. “What?”

“Do you think she’s hot?” He gave me a pointed look. “Because I can totally take over showing her around—”

“Don’t you get enough action around here?” I deadpanned. Honestly, I wouldn’t be shocked if there was a still sleeping girl upstairs in my best friend’s bed at this moment. It wouldn’t be the first time.

He grinned at me, his dark eyes alight with curiosity. “Just because you’re Mr. Relationship doesn’t mean I plan on following.”

“I guess I’m old fashioned because I like to know a girl’s name when I’m sleeping with her,” I muttered sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

He sighed dramatically. “I forgot a girl’s name one time and you’ve never let me live it down. You’re a shitty best friend.”

I smirked. “Did I hurt your feelings, sweetheart?”

“Fuck you,” he grumbled. “And I figured out her name. Eventually.”

“Whatever,” I replied, “but lay off the new girl.”

“You calling dibs? I mean, it’s fair, I guess. You’re the alpha heir. Might as well use your power for pussy.”

“Jesus,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair. “No, dipshit. I got the impression from my Dad that she’s been through some shit in her old pack. Her mom took her and ran from them. Just, go easy.”

He sobered instantly. “You think she’s okay?”

My best friend might have been addicted to sex—and not in a healthy way, if my assumptions were correct—but there was a reason he was my beta. Rhodes DeWitt was the best man I knew and loyal to a motherfucking fault.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “But I do know I’m already going to have a hell of a time keeping the assholes in the school from sniffing around the new girl and freaking her out the first couple of days.”

“Especially if she’s hot,” he agreed, dumping out the last half of his coffee in the sink.

I rolled my eyes again. “Yeah, dumbass. Especially if she’s hot.”

“What time should she be here?”

“Lark’s bringing her by any minute now,” I answered, watching him closely for any kind of reaction.

He swallowed hard, the fingers of his left hand twitching slightly. “Larkin is?”

I hid my smile. My best friend might have been down for fucking indiscriminately, but I knew it was only because he’d convinced himself he couldn’t have the one girl who held his heart.

“Yeah. Skye’s rooming with her,” I said casually.

“That’s … good. I mean, Lark’s great with new people.” He said the words with enough carelessness that anyone else might’ve taken them at face value.

But I’d known this guy since we were practically infants.

I set my mug down. “Rhodes—”

“Can we not?” he cut me off, his tone weary and eyes shuttered. “I really don’t want to rehash all the reasons it’ll never work before I’ve even had breakfast, man.”

I watched him for a beat and then shrugged, letting him off the hook.

“Cool,” he said, forcing energy back into his voice. “I’ll go wait for them outside. Give new girl—”

“Skye,” I corrected with a frown.

“ Skye ,” he rephrased. “I’ll give Skye a proper welcome.”

I snorted and shook my head, watching as he walked out the front door and closed it without putting his coat on, despite the fact that the Montana temperatures had dropped into the single digits last night.

I finished cleaning up our dishes since Rhodes did ninety percent of the cleaning in our cabin. The guy hated dirt and grime, and it was no surprise considering the way his dad lived. As a result, Rhodes was like a cranky mom when it came to cleaning.

I loaded the last of the dishes, kicking the dishwasher door shut with my shoe. I heard the low rumble of Rhodes’s voice and the softer hum of Larkin’s tone. A third voice joined a second later, and I tilted my head to catch it, feeling my wolf perk up.

Enhanced hearing was a gift that we all had, but the thick beams of the cabin muted her words so all I heard was the quiet whisper of her voice as she spoke.

I moved forward and opened the door as Rhodes was talking.

“—now you have some asshole telling you that you have to wake up at this ungodly hour and entertain the pack with stories of your life.”

“That’s alpha asshole to you,” I corrected smugly on instinct as I smiled at Larkin before turning my gaze to the girl beside her.

She looked up, the rising sun giving a halo effect around her dark hair, but it was her eyes that caught my attention. They were vibrant green. The type of mossy color usually seen in pictures of the Amazonian rainforest. There was a sharp intelligence in them and hints of something darker that she kept hidden.

My wolf pushed against me for dominance and I allowed myself to inhale deeply, catching her scent on the slight breeze.

She smelled like citrus and … fear.

So much fear that it was cloying and acidic in my mouth.

I almost flinched as I felt my wolf thrash against my chest, aching to get out and …

I paused.

Protect. He wanted to protect her.

The small girl with almost feral eyes made me want to hug her and protect her from the world.

She stared up at me, and I almost missed the tremor that rippled through her body. She was scared, but she wasn’t rolling over. She had fight and spirit.

I liked that.

“You wish, dude,” Rhodes shot back at me, turning to give me a look and hesitating when he read something on my face. He closed his mouth as I came to the railing, bracing my forearms against it and leaning.

“You must be Skye,” I said slowly, feeling my wolf start to settle now that she was within arm’s reach.

She lifted her chin, almost defiantly, and it was all I could do not to grin at her. She was clearly cold, out of her element, and dangerously skinny, I noted darkly, but she was a fighter.

Whatever she and her mom had escaped hadn’t broken her.

“I’m Remy,” I added.

Her pupils dilated as she kept looking at me before she answered in a husky whisper, “Hi.”

I could feel her fear rising the longer we kept eye contact, and she could have yielded and ended it, but didn’t. That was interesting.

Giving her a break, I looked at Larkin. “There’s coffee and hot chocolate inside.”

She flashed me a smile and tucked her hand into Skye’s, pulling her up the stairs.

Skye jolted at the initial contact, but then relaxed and let Larkin lead her inside. She was fine until she got near me, but then her spine stiffened and she shot me an anxious look, like I might attack at any second. I turned my head and watched them go into the cabin.

“Well, she’s hot,” Rhodes said from the bottom step once the door was closed.

I swung my head around to glare at him, feeling a growl rumble in my chest.

He held up his hands innocently. “Dude, chill. I meant it in an observational way. As in, the guys around here will be all over her.”

Irritation crawled under my skin.

“Shit,” he muttered, rubbing his jaw as he watched me. “Do you like her?”

“I just met her,” I replied flatly, still wondering why I was fighting my wolf on wrapping her in cotton and protecting her from the world. “And clearly she has issues.”

“And you’re a fixer.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” I demanded.

“Rem, I love you,” he replied with a shrug, “but you’re a guy who likes fixing problems for people. It’s the alpha in you. And couple that with a pretty girl—”

I couldn’t hold back the warning growl that ripped from my throat this time.

“—who clearly needs help, and that’s your Remy-kryptonite, dude.”

“She needs help,” I said through clenched teeth, annoyed that my beta could read me as easily as I read him.

Fucker.

“And we’ll help her,” he answered firmly. “I’ll drive you to whatever pack she came from that made her look like that .” He waved a hand in the general direction of the door. “No one should look that afraid of their own shadow or that skinny. Jesus, I’m halfway tempted to tell you to screw the meeting and get the girl a burger.”

I was tempted to agree.

“Let’s get the meeting over with and get some food into her before she blows away with the next wind,” he finished, coming up the stairs.

I pulled my phone from my pocket, opening the group chat I had with the other alphas on campus.

“What are you doing?” Rhodes asked.

I tapped out a message and hit send before pocketing the phone. “Making sure the others know she’s off-limits for a few weeks until she gets settled. The alphas will relay it to their packs.”

His brows shot up. “Pretty presumptuous of you, isn’t it? What if she’s like Sierra and wants attention?”

That felt … wrong. It wasn’t the vibe I got from Skye at all.

“And you know Trace will love you telling him something’s off limits,” he added.

My jaw clenched hard enough to crack a tooth. “Trace can fuck a fencepost wrapped in barbed wire. He’s not getting anywhere near Skye.”

Rhodes simply lifted his eyebrows. “That was graphic.”

“You know what I mean,” I huffed, still picturing those damn green eyes. They were haunting.

And gorgeous.

Fuck.

I couldn’t have a thing for the new girl. She obviously needed a safe place to sort her shit out.

Blackwater could give her that.

“Besides, I have a feeling she wants to be left alone,” I replied, forcing my tone neutral.

“She wants to be left alone?” Rhodes pressed. “Or you want all the guys around here to leave her alone?”

I met his gaze evenly, not willing to budge. “She needs time.”

And so did I.

Time to figure out why the hell the idea of another guy with her made me want to punch something.