10. Remy
Chapter ten
Remy
The Dark Dimension had influenced the Lycan Kingdom without anyone realizing it. If Remy’s parents had told her more when she first arrived, she could have pointed this out sooner. There had to be a portal somewhere in the kingdom. There wasn’t even a way to tell unless they would alert the other packs to look. That was unlikely to happen because the packs were at each other’s throats.
The pack doctor came in and booted Remy and her mother from the room. Something about his heart rate levels was worrisome, and they were the ones causing it. Tala raised a stink about it but, ultimately, was overruled. Tala turned to Remy to tell her that she needed to settle within the pack and reacquaint herself so the pack wouldn’t get too worried. They all would have felt within the bonds that Lykos was injured. The problem with that magic was it was difficult for the Alpha to hide things like that from their people. Remy sucked it up that she would have to complete pack business but knew in her soul that it was best for the pack. The good news was, if the Alpha was good enough at it, they could put blocks in the bonds to hide enough from the rest of the pack not to cause alarm. Lykos must have been doing that to keep anyone who poses a threat to him from the room.
Many pack members just asked about what happened to Lykos. Remy was told to tell the truth but not the whole truth, just enough to ensure they couldn’t smell the lie in her words, which Remy was good at. She told him he was injured, but it was not sufficient enough to cause worry. He was healing and talking, which settled their curiosity about his injuries. Remy had to state they were attacked but wasn’t sure who attacked them. Again, the truth is that Remy believed it was another rogue pack that had resorted to the Old Ways.
What had Remy rushing through the meet and greets was feeling Chase closing the distance between them. Through the bonds, mates could sense when their other half was nearby. It could be refined enough to find precise locations like a beacon, which helped if mates were in trouble. Some said they could visualize the chord that kept the pair in contact and follow it until they found the mate. Remy wasn’t experienced enough to know how hers with Chase worked. She knew she could feel him approaching her territory and getting closer to her location.
The problem with Chase coming here was that she had kept her bond with him secret. That was part of the stipulations in the first place. Remy pulled on the bond and visualized it in her head. Now that she paid more attention, she noticed that he was sitting on the outskirts of the territory. She ran to where he was and found him on the other side of the territory line, leaning against a tree. There were a lot of bushes around the tree to give him cover if it wasn’t her who noticed him, which told her that he was still trying to live by the rules she had given him. She still frowned at him because someone could have easily been running along the territory line to guard it. Remy looked around to see if someone from the pack was nearby. The pack bonds indicated no, but she didn’t trust it as her bonds were out of whack.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked when she was satisfied that no one was around.
Chase smirked at her. His leaning against the tree made her feel like she had been set on fire. With his hands in his pockets and a nonchalant attitude on his face, he gave off the "bad boy" vibes that Remy tried to deny all her life that she was into. His dark-washed jeans and tightly-fitted navy blue T-shirt accentuated all the lines of the well-defined muscles he had within his arms, chest, and stomach.
"My mate was in trouble, and the bond between us told me it was quite dire. You were attacked, and then I felt nothing but stress and worry for the last several hours. How was I supposed to respond here?"
"By not showing up to my pack’s territory and possibly giving away our mate bond to people? I don’t want them knowing shit!"
He lifted his brow at her. "Not my first time hiding in the shadows, Sweet cheeks. Pack magic is a wonderful thing. You should get better acquainted with it."
Remy didn’t know if she should lift her lip and growl or smile at that. She kept her face neutral instead. "I’m fine. See?" Remy turned to show herself off, "No cuts, bruises, or any other injury. You can go now."
Chase shook his head. "I don’t think so. That’s not going to settle my Lycan down in the least. We sent power through our bond to keep you safe from whatever was happening. I want to know the details, and I won’t be leaving until I do."
Remy groaned. "What the fuck do you want me to do? Strip down in the woods to show you every part of myself. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like something I want to do here."
The smile on his face made Remy want to smack it off. Chase’s hubris, thinking that was an option, was not helping her settle down. His arrogance in looking at her made Remy think he had her pegged. She would not give in to what he wanted just because he was her mate. That title was going to be earned, not given.
"I think you missed what I just told you. I want details of the attack. But if you want to strip down to show me that gorgeous body of yours, I won’t argue."
The fight she had to have with herself not to smile at that was annoying. His challenges were making her like him more. He was an Alpha himself. He wouldn’t just roll over on her, and she liked that about him. She hated submissive men.
"No strip tease happening today. Sorry," she said and flashed him a smile.
Chase laughed. "If you come here, I can make the same bubble we had before to redirect onlookers. Since you want privacy, and no one knows about us yet."
At first, Remy was reluctant. She and her father were just attacked, and she didn’t know who issued the order to do so. Lykos believed it was another pack but was too busy fighting for his life to keep track of the scents. Remy was in the same boat and didn’t keep track of the scents. She did know it wasn’t Chase, but it could have been his pack. Not every individual would smell like him. The combined scents of the pack members could create their own scent, which would cling to them.
It was not Chase or his pack. The scent coming off him and his pack was different from that of those who attacked us.
At least you were paying attention.
Remy stepped over the territory line and in front of Chase. She felt the swelling of the magic that Chase drew from and the bubble that surrounded them like the one from the party. Chase gave her a nod to tell her it was in place, and she could start talking. The only problem was she didn’t know where to start and what she wanted to say to him. He may not have been behind the attack, but he was someone who wasn’t packed under her father’s sanction. Keeping details close to the chest would be a good thing to keep her pack and father safe.
"I don’t know the attackers. My father and I were driving outside of the territory. We stopped to talk about some things, and then they ambushed us. They must have been waiting for us because it was shortly after we stopped that the attack started."
Chase growled. "They ambushed you? Cowards."
She smiled. "Yeah. They ambushed us. I made some follow me while my father was changing into his Lycan. I hoped to get more than what followed me so that the most attention would be directed away from the car, but that didn’t happen. We took out most of them. I ran when I saw the first opportunity to get out of there. My father is back home, and we are both fine."
Chase leaned his head to the side. "He suffered nearly fatal injuries."
Damn, this stupid bond. "He is healing and not in any fatal danger."
"Because of you. You were smart to get out of there. For all you knew, more were headed your way. These kinds of attacks are how Alphas in the Old Days would win over Alphas who were more powerful than them. So, it is a lesser pack that coordinated this."
"My pack is the second strongest in the kingdom. Of course, it was a lesser pack."
Chase smirked. "I would suggest you look into each pack of the kingdom. There may be alliances forming to overthrow others. I wouldn’t put it past them to do that in order to get their desired result."
You don’t know everything, Remy reminded herself. There is more at play here.
The mental block she put up between them hid that knowledge. The Dark Dimension was in the kingdom and could spread to each pack. The problem she now faced was whether or not to alert Chase of that happening so he could keep his pack safe. He was abiding by their rules. He showed up to check on her. He proved to be a mate who would complement her instead of one that would try to overpower her. But was that a ploy?
"I will look into that." Remy sighed. She should make him aware of the Dark Dimension—maybe the whole kingdom should be warned. “There is something you should know. It will affect your pack, too, if this is what I think it is."
He lifted his eyebrows. "Oh yeah?"
"My first mate rejected me. I was sent to the island where rejectees go, and the only reason I am back is because that the barrier that kept us there has been broken. A friend of mine has this crazy, powerful dragon that knocked out the barrier. She broke it to get me and three of our other friends home to alert our kingdoms of this dark power that was infecting people on the island."
The look on his face told Remy that he was struggling to believe her. Out loud, this story did sound ridiculous. If someone were telling her about it, she wouldn’t believe them either. Hell, she struggled to believe Kaida at first with everything that was happening, but this was important. She needed Chase to believe what was happening so the Dark Dimension would have a harder time infecting his pack.
"If I didn’t see it for myself, I wouldn’t believe it either. It’s called the Dark Dimension. Someone opened it, and part of it opened on the island. It caused people to go berserk and lose control over their magic and animal counterparts. If she hadn’t destroyed the portal, it would have been worse. The good thing was that only a bit of it spread through the island. We think most of it was gone before I left, but we aren’t sure. I came home, and then all this happened. I am speculating that the Dark Dimension has gotten into the Lycans here. It would explain how, and why, they are going nuts and attacking people over property lines that they have been happy with for hundreds of years."
"Let’s say I believe this theory. What does this all do to us? How can we defeat it?"
Remy shrugged. "I wish I knew. I know it feels similar to what I experienced on the island. The dragons were affected the worst. They were destroying the island because of the ones that went berserk, and my friend and her mates had to bring them back. Kaida’s dragon had powerful magic that seemed to counteract it. We don’t have that here."
"What about having her come here? She’s a dragon, right? That means she can fly here and help us out."
Remy shook her head. "She has her own battles to face right now. The Dragon King was becoming a problem. The mate who rejected her came back to tell her his suspicions, and I’m pretty sure that means they have to take their kingdom back." Chase stared at her. "Her original mate was the prince."
"She has multiple mates?"
Remy rolled her eyes. "Yes, but that isn’t what you should be focusing on."
"I think that is something concerning here. That makes her more powerful, right? So, we have this overpowering lizard within our realm. What if she chooses to take over the other kingdoms?"
Remy scoffed at him, "Kaida would do no such thing. If you knew her, you’d know that, too. That girl puts everyone else ahead of herself. She was taking on that dimension alone because her dragon knew it could help. She was infected, too. Her mates were what saved her. There is no concern about her taking over anything but her kingdom, and that’s only because they need her. She is an ally!"
Chase looked at her respectfully. "You are friends with a powerful dragon. No wonder I felt you were more powerful than what meets the eye."
Remy was not about to tell him that it was most likely the fact she was a Meta Wolf. She already gave him more information than she planned on telling him.
Chase reached out and stroked her face. Feeling his touch sent a wave of relaxation through her and made her lean into his touch. She quickly straightened herself to show him she was still reluctant about their bond. He smiled at her.
"I also came here to propose something. After feeling that attack through the bonds, I knew I couldn’t just sit in my own territory. I can’t have my mate that far from me when shit is sitting on the fan waiting to fly. My Lycan was going nuts until we saw that you were okay."
Remy gave him a look to go on. Chase held out his hands to her. Remy took them. Lycans were prone to touch, and she couldn’t fight the urge to follow through. The stress of the attack was still high inside of her, and feeling his touch settled some of it. If she continued to be stressed, she would be in the infirmary with her father for high blood pressure.
"What do you want?"
Chase laughed instead of getting angry. It was nice to see how he enjoyed her attitude and didn’t have an immediate response to make her stop. Remy wouldn’t have stopped anyway. It was who she was, and she refused to change for a mate.
"I propose an alliance between our packs. This would create a bridge between us and strengthen both of our packs, merging as one but living in two separate areas. More territory, more power, and less chance of these enemy packs being able to overthrow us."
Remy took a step back and dropped her hands from his. That wasn’t at all what she expected him to say. There were many benefits to doing this but also disadvantages. Merging two packs was a great way to gain power. It was something packs had done in the olden days to keep other packs from being able to wipe them off the board. However, she was not at liberty to agree to such a thing. She may have been an Alpha in her own right, but she was not the Alpha of her pack. This would need to be relayed to her father, and the bond between them would need to be completed.
And I am not ready for that.
"Chase, I appreciate the thought behind this, but I am not the one to be asking about it. I am not the Alpha."
"I know that. But your father is. This would increase his and mine’s power, making it so other packs couldn’t get to either of our territories."
"This would also mean I would have no choice but to complete my bond with you now and move. I can’t move away from my pack right now, not after being attacked like I was. I need to be here."
Remy rambled on and wasn’t sure why. She didn’t want Chase to know why she was hesitant. The best defense was ensuring no one knew the pack’s struggles. It could allow others to make it so they could easily take over. That was the last thing her pack needed right now.
Chase held his hands back out to her. From the bonds, Remy could read that he was not angry with her for what she felt or said. He felt more concerned than anything. He was worried about her safety and wanted her worries to disappear. Remy didn’t take them. Surprisingly, Chase put his hands back in his pockets with no anger within the bond.
"That’s fine. It was just an option. One that you can mention to your father if you wish."
There was something about that statement that Remy didn’t like. This whole plan felt a little off. Was Chase offering this to keep her safe, or was it so he could gain power? "If the packs merge, there is no room for two Alphas, Chase. Who would benefit from this more? Us or you?"
Chase looked taken aback, "I think you are missing the point I was trying to make. I want you safe. If that means I yield to your father, then so be it. Natural power comes into play here."
"That would mean you would challenge him to figure out who had more natural power and would run the pack."
Chase sighed. "I understand you were just attacked, Remy. You feel like everyone is the enemy right now, which I get. I would, too. However, I am your mate. I would not want you to feel threatened, nor would I do something to break you or your family apart. I will not challenge your father to take the position of Alpha. I will yield if we align ourselves and packs, which would lead to a merger. The only position challenges that may happen are for the pack’s top ten. I would most likely assume the role of Beta, though I am unsure who is more dominant between me and Bryan. It would not be to the death. I would make sure of that."
Remy felt her Lycan relax more than she did. The Lycan was more of a bullshit meter than her, and the wolf inside of her was satisfied with Chase’s explanation. There were no lies in what he told her. Everything he stated was genuine. However, she was still not ready for this.
"I don’t think I am ready to complete the bond between us, Chase. Not without knowing more about my rejection. I have no memory of it. I want more answers before I can move on to a new mate."
She heard the growl, and then it was cut off abruptly. Chase was fighting his own Lycan after her reveal. She could feel it in the mate bond as well. He wasn’t happy about her not knowing about the rejection.
"Let me know how I can help. My pack and I are at your service. Pull on our bond if you ever need me."
Remy nodded at him. She didn’t trust herself to speak. Chase was healing parts of herself she didn’t know were wounded. He did his best to make her trust him and feel safe within their bond. That was something she didn’t have last time. She felt that in her soul.
Chase kissed her forehead, making Remy sigh. She bit her tongue before she asked for more. She needed to get back to the pack and settle some people as she had been asked.
"Stay safe, Sweet cheeks. I’ll wait for your call."
With that, Chase walked back through the woods, and she heard a car door open and shut. The rumble of the engine told her he had pulled away. She whined at his absence, but she chose for this to be a strained conversation. That didn’t mean she had to like her choice.
I need to see him again. But first... I need to figure out who attacked us.