Chapter 29

29

I zoned out for the rest of the afternoon session. More complaints were lodged, mostly boundary and territory disputes, but my mind was still reeling from everything that had happened earlier.

Watching my uncle unapologetically hurl accusations at my pack while Preston and their allies glared daggers at Gabe and Remy had shaken me more than I expected. Ever since Linden had stood up, the deep baritone of his voice scraping against my nerves, I had been fighting to keep my wolf under control. Even after he sat down, she still wanted out.

She wanted to defend our pack, our Alpha, and our mate.

It was draining trying to keep her under wraps while wrestling with all of my human emotions at the same time.

By the time Vincent adjourned the meeting for the day, I needed out of this room and away from all these people. Everything in me felt raw and exposed.

“You okay?” Daniel asked me, leaning over as people around us started to get up.

“Yeah,” I mumbled, wishing like hell I could leave, too, but I waited for Remy.

“Your uncle is an asshole,” Tate said, shooting a dark look at his back as he left the room with his Norwood friends and Preston.

“Yeah,” I repeated, lowering my eyes. My hands ached from twisting and knotting them together over and over. I had cracked and snapped every possible knuckle and bone in each hand multiple times. Slowly, I stretched my fingers out, trying to get blood flowing again.

Dark boots entered my vision a second before Remy squatted in front of me, balancing effortlessly on the balls of his feet.

“Hey.” His warm voice slid over me, an instant balm for the jittery, anxious parts of me that wouldn’t seem to settle. The wolf in me lay down, finally relaxing.

He took my hand in his, pulling me into his side as he tugged me up to my feet. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, moving us through the crowd of shifters until we were outside.

I blinked around the bright sunlight, the pressure in my chest loosening now that we were outside and I could breathe.

Remy guided us toward the path that led to the cabin. It seemed most people leaving the first day’s meeting were more inclined to stand around and talk, but he didn’t stop to talk even when a few guys called out to him. He moved us forward with a singular purpose, not stopping until he had closed the door to our cabin behind me.

I leaned my back against the door, closing my eyes as sweet relief sank into my bones. There was a beautiful calm knowing the world was closed off from me now.

Remy braced a hand on either side of me, caging me in, but not touching me. He was waiting for me to say something first.

“I’m okay,” I muttered, opening my eyes to see his warm chocolate eyes staring intently at me.

A small quirk of his brow was the only indication he gave, but it was enough to tell me he wasn’t buying it.

Neither was I.

Seeing Linden, watching him spew his lies, and seeing the belief on the faces of strangers had been more emotionally and mentally draining than I thought possible. I had convinced myself that I would come here, tell my story, and everything would be fine.

But I was starting to see now how completely unrealistic that expectation was. Stupid, childish naivety.

I wasn’t okay.

With a sigh, I turned my head and kissed the inside of his wrist before ducking under his arm to restlessly pace across the floor.

“I’m not okay,” I finally said, impatience and frustration lacing my words. I spun to see he was leaning against the door now, watching me with a maddening calmness.

I ran a hand through my hair, nearly ripping out a chunk when I hit a tangle. “I hate him. I hate him so much.”

“I know.”

My hands slapped uselessly at my sides as I dropped them. “I mean, what the hell is he trying to prove? Why can’t he just leave us alone?” My jaw clenched. I didn’t need Remy to provide the answer to the question. “Because he’s a narcissistic asshat, that’s why.”

Remy nodded slowly.

My hands curled into fists. I wanted to punch Linden right in his smug mouth.

My wolf rumbled inside of me.

No, I wanted to shift . I wanted to let the beast in my heart out to end all of this. To end him.

I wanted him dead.

An unwanted image of Bella flashed before me. I could see the girl sitting in my room, crying because she missed her dad. The girl who couldn’t understand why the man who was supposed to protect her wasn’t.

The unfairness of it all draped over me like a wet, fifty-pound blanket.

All of the fight left me in a rush. My legs gave out, and I fell back onto the couch.

Remy pushed off the door and walked across the room, sitting next to me before lifting me up and settling me on his lap. A strong hand smoothed down my back as I snuggled into him, leaching up the comfort he offered like a sponge.

“I hate him,” I mumbled against his chest.

“Me, too,” he agreed quietly, his lips against my hair.

We stayed that way as the wolf in me quieted and my breathing evened out. Until the front door opened and Gabe walked in.

“How are you doing, sweetheart?” he asked, his gaze sweeping over us.

“Okay,” I said. Feeling Remy tense under me, I added, “Better now.”

Gabe dropped himself into the chair across from us, kicking his feet out. “We have time before dinner if you two want to get in a run. Burn off some of that energy.” He rubbed his chest. “Hell, I could use it.”

I sat up. “We can do that?”

Remy’s chest rumbled as he chuckled under me. “Sure. As long as we’re going as a group.”

“Luke and a few others agreed,” Gabe confirmed with a nod at us.

“Then it’s safe enough for you,” Remy finished.

“We’ll order something for dinner when we’re done,” Gabe added. He gave me a small smile. “But I think we could all use some time outside.”

It had been weeks since I was able to run with Remy. Too much had been going on, and my wolf definitely missed his.

She was practically clawing at my skin to get out.

Remy’s hand tightened around my hip for a second. “Let’s go.”

I was off his lap and heading for the back door that led towards the woods. Once I was outside, I stepped around the corner to a secluded area against the house and didn’t waste any time stripping my clothes off, letting them pool around my feet.

It only took a second for my bones to shift and reform, the warm sensation of my human body giving way to wolf form zipped through my veins.

Inhaling deeply, I let the aromatic scents of springtime, woods, and fresh air fill my lungs.

Remy was just coming outside as I walked around to the back door, my paws sinking into the soft earth. He chuckled at seeing me, pausing to stroke the star on my forehead.

“Feel better?” he asked.

I would feel better once I was running, my legs eating up the ground until my limbs were ready to give out. It would be better still with him at my side.

Gabe came out behind him, and I turned when they both stripped off their shirts.

Three wolves approached from around the side of the house. I immediately recognized the deep russet color wolf as Dante and the smaller white and gray wolf as Tate. Luke was the third, easily as big as Dante with a slate gray coat that looked like a winter storm on the horizon.

When two additional white and tan wolves approached, my ears flattened against my skull.

Nero and his wife.

My eyes closed, the familiar sound of Remy’s voice in my head soothing.

His large body bumped mine, his tongue coming out to lick at my muzzle a moment before Gabe approached us, his eyes brilliantly bright and blue against his ebony coat. He and Remy could have been twins except for the eye color and the shock of white on Remy’s forehead that perfectly counterbalanced my own dark mark.

I leaned my weight against Remy as Nero and his wife approached. I sniffed the air, committing their scents to memory. They were friends, allies. But there was something curious about the female’s scent that caught my attention.

Is she pregnant?

Remy’s head swung to look at me, surprise in his eyes. I don’t know. Nero never said anything if she is .

With a low bark, Gabe took off for the trees leaving all of us to follow.

We spent the better part of two hours running through the woods, letting our wolves play and run until, exhausted, we all collapsed in an open meadow.

With a deep sigh, I closed my eyes, resting my head on my paws, the sun-warmed grass my new bed.

You seem better, Remy noted, his body pressed to mine. We had laid down away from the rest of the group, and I would have been perfectly content for them to head back and us to stay out here for the rest of the night.

Today sucked , I admitted, opening my eyes to look at him.

I think a lot of days are going to suck this week, he answered, his dark eyes studying me.

I huffed out a breath. But we’re together.

He nudged me with his nose. Always .

I started to doze off when Remy stood up. I glared up at him, mildly annoyed at the disruption.

Time to go . He inclined his head to where his dad and the others were gathered, waiting for us.

With a low grumble, I pushed myself up onto my feet, stretching and taking another slow, deep breath.

An oddly familiar scent clung to the breeze that whispered past my nose. It was a small tickle, a long lost memory that was slowly being dragged up to the surface.

And then suddenly, brutally, I placed the scent. A low whine scraped up my throat before I could stop it.

Preston.

I knew the scent of his wolf. It was burned into my senses.

Judging by the faint trace of his scent, he was easily half a mile or more away, but it didn’t stop the full body shudder that rippled down my spine. Or the crushing memory of the last time I encountered his wolf.

It had always taken me longer to shift than the rest of my pack In Long Mesa. The broken bond that linked me to my wolf had been smothered by years of fear and self-preservation.

My grandfather had always had the pack shift together before a run. It led to a lot of fights and humiliation, but that was the Markham legacy.

The last run I had been part of, I had been the last to shift. My body trembled and fought the change every step of the way until I thought I would pass out. My mother had been chased and herded away from me by the pack until I was left alone, naked and shaking in the dust, begging my wolf to just cooperate for once.

The whole pack moved on.

Except Preston.

He stayed by my side, his cold eyes watching me with morbid fascination, nostrils flared as he inhaled the stench of my fear.

When I tried to twist away, pathetically attempting to hide my nakedness from him, he circled me, not giving an inch. I had closed my eyes, trying to ignore him and focus on the shift, crouched in the dirt to hide as much of my body from his calculating gaze as I could.

Then I felt his tongue, rough and wet, lick the side of my face. I jerked back, my hand blindly slapping his muzzle away.

And he bit me.

His jaws latched onto my calf, his stronger body pulling me down to the ground with a sharp jerk of his head. Snarling, he loomed over me, his empty eyes suddenly sparking to life as he tasted blood.

My blood.

The pain that ripped through me was enough to trigger my shift. Seconds later, I had shifted and ran as fast as I could from him to catch up with the pack.

It took me a second to shake the memory from my brain, but I could still hear the deep throated snarls and growls.

But not from Preston, from the wolf that was beside me.

I blinked slowly, my breath catching as I realized Remy was snarling beside me, his entire body vibrating with fury.

Rem—

He was gone.

One second he was in front of me, the next he was lunging into the trees at an impossibly fast speed.

I scrambled to catch him, my adrenaline spiking as I fed off the rage driving him.

Remy! I shouted his name, desperately trying to get him to turn around as Gabe and the others caught up.

Gabe barely glanced at me as he ran past me, Dante, Nero, and Luke hot on his tail. We broke through another clearing, and I could see Remy racing ahead of us.

With an impressive burst of speed, Nero closed the distance between them. My heart lodged in my chest to see him hurtle through the air and slam into Remy.

They tumbled several feet, giving the others enough time to catch up in time for Remy to snap his jaws at Nero.

I slid to a stop, Nero’s wife and Tate bumping into me. I pressed against the bond, trying to reach Remy, but all I could feel was rage and hate.

Remy was still snarling even as the others surrounded him. When Gabe approached him, he bared his teeth at the Alpha.

With a warning bark, Gabe leveled Remy with a glare that had me shaking from several feet away.

Remy didn’t flinch, matching his Alpha’s stare.

He was all but openly challenging his father now.

Shit. This was bad. Beyond bad.

I slowly approached, dropping to my belly and crawling the last few feet with a low whimper.

Look at me , I begged, stopping just short of Gabe. Remy, look at me.

His dark gaze turned to me, the slight flick of his ears the only indication he was paying attention.

I edged forward a few more inches. What the hell is going on?

The growl in his chest loosed into a low whine of distress. His gaze sharpened, focused on me.

Skye .

Relief surged through me. Yeah, hey.

His posture drooped, his head finally lowering in deference to his father.

We need to get back. Now. His clipped tone stung and only made me more confused.

Frustration filled the hollow void the relief exposed. What is going on?

His only answer was a sharp bark. His gaze met and held mine.

Okay , I agreed, relenting for now. Let’s go.

All the playfulness was gone on the way back. We made the journey back to the cabin in silence. Once the cabins came into view, Nero and his wife peeled away from the group to head for their place.

Dante and Tate headed for their cabin next door to ours, but Luke hesitated as Gabe nudged Remy towards the backdoor.

I headed towards my clothes, confused as hell, as I shifted and started pulling on my clothes.

I came out from the little alcove of trees and slammed into Remy. He was only wearing his jeans and hadn’t bothered with his shirt. His dark eyes were wild as he dropped to his knees and grabbed my leg.

“Remy, what the hell?” I grabbed his shoulders for balance as he lifted my leg, shoving my jeans up to expose my calf.

His fingers ghosted across the flesh, his mouth flattening when he found the small little scar just above my ankle.

His eyes flashed dangerously as he looked up at me. “Preston did this?”

“What...” My mind struggled to catch up.

Yes, that tiny little scar was from where Preston had bitten me. The bite mark had healed almost completely except for where one of his canines had dug in. The scar that was left was barely the size of the point of a pen.

“How did you know that?” I asked, my voice shaking.

“I fucking saw it,” he hissed, standing up to his full height.

I blinked. “Babe, it was a memory. I didn’t mean to tell you—”

With a growl, he stepped closer, his hands landing firmly on my hips. “No, Skye, I fucking saw it .”

Off balance, I grabbed his forearms to keep from stumbling back. “I don’t get it. How could you see that?”

“I don’t know,” he ground out. “But it was like your memory was my memory. I saw what he did, felt how scared you were.” His fingers flexed against me, his grip almost bruising as Gabe came around the corner, fully dressed and holding Remy’s shirt in his hand.

“What the hell was that?” Gabe demanded. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

I sucked in a sharp breath. I had never heard Gabe so angry.

Remy didn’t even bother turning to look at his dad. “Can mates see each others’ thoughts?”

Gabe met my gaze over Remy’s shoulder.

“Yes. They know what each other is thinking. You know this,” Gabe snapped.

“Not thoughts,” Remy replied, finally turning. “If Mom pictures something, a memory or something, can you see what she sees?”

Gabe’s frown turned into confusion. “No. The mental link is auditory, not visual.”

Remy looked back at me, a fine tremor rippling across his body. “Then how the hell did I see that?”

“See what?” Gabe asked slowly.

“Remy saw my memory. From when I was in Long Mesa,” I whispered, realizing what had happened.

Remy saw my memory and connected it to Preston’s scent. He was going after Preston because he had hurt me years ago.

“That’s not possible,” Gabe said, shaking his head in bewilderment.

I took a deep breath. “I think we need to call Elias.”