19. Remy

Chapter nineteen

Remy

Sleep escaped Remy the entire night. With a dark circle under her father’s eyes, it was clear that sleep did not come to him either. At some point, Bryan entered the room in his Lycan form and slept at the bottom of the bed. Through the pack bonds, he was too tense about the previous situations at the other packs to sleep and wanted to protect her and Lykos.

He’s a really good second to have. Bryan was loyal to her family and would lay down his life for them. This was proof of that. There were times when Remy thought Bryan would petition to have his own pack, but it never happened. He was too happy in their pack to move on. He and his mate loved her family too much to want to be away from them. All of them considered each other siblings to one another.

They were going to need a lot of food to increase their energy so they would be able to shift if needed. Thankfully, hospitality laws dictated that they receive as much food as needed.

There was a broad range of breakfast items waiting for them downstairs. Piles of pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage were laid out on a table with various flavors of syrups and juices. The three of them did not hesitate to pile all the food their eyes beheld onto a plate before sitting down. Remy had several waffles piled on top of one another, and she found a strawberry syrup to pour on top of them. She did the civilized thing of cutting pieces of the waffles to bring them to her mouth instead of just eating them off the plate with no utensils. The waffle had a hint of vanilla that complimented the strawberry syrup. It was sweet on sweet, but Remy had no complaints. When she experienced the savory taste of the sausage and the waffles, it created the perfect combination of sweet and savory. She washed her food down with the tartness of orange juice and did everything in her power not to moan with pleasure. The food was absolutely delicious, and she had eaten three platefuls of waffles and sausage before her Lycan told her she was in good shape. Usually, she would need mounds of bloody meat to bring her well to total capacity, but carbs could do the job, too.

Levi wasn’t in sight. The pack’s Lycans were in and out of the room. Many looked their way, but no words were spoken. When she was done, Remy took her plate to the sink. Due to the open floor plan the home seemed to have, it was next to the eating area. She noticed the submissives who normally worked the kitchen lift an eyebrow when she did.

I guess this pack doesn’t know manners.

Says a lot about their Alpha.

A woman walked over to Lykos and bared her neck at him, avoiding meeting his eyes. The action of the woman let them know she was one of the submissives and wanted to show respect for the Alpha in the room. The woman looked frail, as if she didn’t eat often, but her deep brown hair looked clean. Her brown eyes stayed glued to the floor as if lifting her eyes would result in being punished. She stated Levi was waiting for them in his office. Lykos thanked her, gulped down the last of his orange juice, and then looked at her and Bryan.

"Let’s do this."

The submissive led the way to the office. Remy caught whiffs of fear and sex from her and looked over at Bryan, who was walking next to her and behind Lykos. He had the same look on his face as she did. This submissive was having sex with Levi, and yet he was doing something to her that made her fearful of him. Remy wanted to grab her arm and demand that she tell her what was happening. As an Alpha, she needed to care for those less powerful than her. It was ingrained in her to do so. However, it would break Hospitality Laws to follow through with that action. It made Remy’s skin crawl, knowing that something was not right within this pack, and she had no power here to do anything about it. They were outnumbered. Now was not the time to force a Lycan to tell them their backstory and why they reeked of fear.

Levi’s office was massive. It looked as if he had converted a space that should have been a living room into this office space. The room was decorated in darker tones than the rest of the house. It was bare on the walls but still somehow felt welcoming. The Alpha’s desk was in the back of the room with two chairs in front. There was also a cream-colored couch with dark green pillows for extra seating.

The Alpha sat behind the desk with the same menacing scowl he wore when they showed up. Remy felt his power fill the room as his eyes locked on hers. She almost allowed herself to laugh in his face, feeling it crawl against her skin. It did not compare to hers or her father’s, so they could walk into the room with little effort. Bryan stayed by the door, and it was a power tactic to show Levi they would not be blindsided as they had been previously. Lykos mentioned that morning how he bumped into Levi when going to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and he mentioned hearing about them being attacked. Remy told her father how the one Lycan that got away smelled of cedar. She didn’t have to say much else because Levi smelled of cedar, too. All packs shared a similar scent, and cedar was everywhere in this territory. Due to that information, it looked like Lykos was going on the offensive by showing they didn’t trust him.

When Remy and Lykos sat down, Levi crossed his arms over his chest. The severed bond couldn’t tell her a damn thing, but the expression on his face told her everything. Levi wasn’t happy that his scary tactics were doing nothing. Remy smirked. It brought her some joy, knowing it bothered him that he was not more powerful than her. It did not help his case that they killed several of his Lycans, depleting his power and making this attempt more laughable. That was the real reason he knew about them being attacked. The pack bonds would have told Levi when life left his Lycan’s bodies.

His gaze was on Lykos. "I believe you are here to discuss some sort of alliance." His rough voice wasn’t pleasant to her ears. It wasn’t how he sounded when they first met, and Remy wondered what had happened since then to cause that.

But I don’t care enough to ask or want to give away that I remember him.

"That’s the plan."

Levi looked at Remy. The disdain in his eyes had her wanting to lift her lip in disgust, but she somehow managed to keep her face straight. She needed to keep herself together so he didn’t know she knew who he was to her. He made her forget for a reason.

"I heard you were on the island of rejects."

Because you put me there.

"Yep, I was."

"Where is your mate? Shouldn’t you be with him instead of here playing as if you are second in command instead of that Lycan behind you?"

Sitting in front of me, trying to bait me into spilling the secret you don’t even want to be revealed.

"Don’t know. My friend, the new Dragon Queen, destroyed the barrier and set us all free."

Some of his facial muscles ticked but didn’t stay long enough for her to know what emotion was currently running through him. A flash of anger showed in his eyes, which made Remy happy.

"That’s not possible."

Lykos laughed. "I said the same thing, but clearly it is. But discussing how my daughter is home is not why we are here."

Remy watched Levi force himself to look away from her and at Lykos. He was trying to figure out if she had broken the magic that held her memories as the magic had broken in the barrier. He was probably thinking Kaida was the one who broke the confines of the magic that kept her memories prisoner. Maybe the person who put the spell on her did not tell him that he should never touch or see her again to keep the spell in place. Magic can be very specific like that. She remembered Adrien getting ticked off due to the spells she needed not responding because she didn’t have the exact ingredient in her cauldron while making her famous potions. There were times when the things she needed didn’t come in with the shipment to the island, and it wasn’t something she could grow.

"I agree. Let’s get to the real reason why you are here. I assume you want an alliance to save your ass from the attacks. A real Alpha would face the issue head-on and rid it themselves."

Remy rolled her eyes and felt her father’s body grow tense. Levi had no idea what it was taking to keep their territory, which, unlike the Lithic Mountains, seemed to be the most sought-after territory in the kingdom.

"We’ve already suffered many attacks on our property and during our travels. Due to this nonsense, we are being attacked left and right. It is happening all over the kingdom and is not strictly our concern. I know Fenry is also having this issue."

Levi scoffed. "Then why isn’t Fenry doing the same as you?"

"People think Fenry is weak when he is not. Others want my territory because of its profitability, so we are getting hit the hardest."

Levi leaned back in his chair, his arms still crossed over his chest. "So, how will an alliance help you with that problem? It sounds like you will call upon my pack to help fight them off. That could lead to my people getting killed for your cause. I lose power from these deaths, making it more apparent that you hold more power over me."

"How is it none of you Alphas understand that you also benefit from an alliance?" Remy snapped.

Levi narrowed his eyes at her. "I don’t believe you have any power to be involved in this conversation."

Okay, this guy is on my last damn nerve, and I am done remaining silent.

Remy growled. "I am the future Alpha of my pack, so I have more than enough power to be involved in this conversation."

Levi smirked. It looked wrong on his face because of how fixed his muscles were to hold a scowl simultaneously. "Only a man can carry the position of Alpha. You are the future Luna of A pack. From what I understand, the only descendant of the Great Plains who would ascend to Alpha of the Great Plains pack is dead."

Lykos growled. "Watch it, Levi. You are treading too close to a subject you know nothing about."

Levi looked at Lykos. "Your son is dead. The laws state that no female may carry the title of Alpha. Unless the laws have been changed in the last week since the Dragon Queen took over in another kingdom and it has influenced our leaders even to make that decision. I am discussing something I know everything about. It is something every Lycan is taught so they are not killed by our king. The only way Remy here could take over your pack is if her mate would bond with her and then kill you. Considering I smell Chase Monroe, Alpha of the Silver Ridge pack, on her, I can deduce that he is her mate now. He is an Alpha of his own pack. If he wants yours, he must challenge you for the title."

Damn it. I should have just completed the damn bond with Chase. Everyone can smell him anyway because of how strong our bond is.

"Chase would not challenge me for the title. He is quite happy where he is, and with his alliance with our pack, he does not need my title to thrive."

Levi laughed. It was harsh on her ears, making her blood run cold. He was enjoying this. He thought he knew more than they did, that Chase would challenge her father because he wants the title or something. As much as she wished she could say that was false, Remy still didn’t know everything about Chase since they had spent very little time together. From their bond, she could feel he wasn’t a heartless person. If he were, he wouldn’t have rushed to her after feeling her being attacked through their bond.

"If you believe that an ambitious Alpha who took over his pack from the previous Alpha won’t challenge you, you are not the Lykos Howell I’ve grown up hearing about. You are the most feared Alpha outside of our king for a reason. You have power! You have a devoted pack! Your pack knows they should stay with you because of your power and continue your line’s ascension to rule over them! Everything any of us would kill for. Many of us have been killed for our positions. Your pack is one of the only ones in our kingdom that has a history of father-to-son ascension to the title, so, if you don’t think a young Alpha who has taken over his own pack from the previous Alpha won’t do the same to you, you should not be as feared by the rest of us."

Lykos laughed back at him. Remy felt through the pack bonds that her father was enraged by what Levi thought. The thought of him not being able to read people was something many people underestimated about Lykos. They believed he was in his position of Alpha simply because his Lycan was powerful and had fifty under him to give him more of a boost. Lykos was powerful and had a devoted pack because he could read through the pack bonds and knew his people well enough to understand their needs and provide those needs. Levi had no idea how to do this; otherwise, he would not have said what he did. He must have ruled over his pack by commanding the pack to be loyal if he thought this way.

"You are so young. So naive. There are many ways to have a devoted pack to you, and it is quite clear that you don’t know any of them. Do you really think that my pack is loyal to me only because of my power? That’s not at all why my pack is devoted to me. If you spent any amount of time within my pack and home, you would know that. Being an Alpha is not about power. It is about having people under your protection, and you are to provide them with everything and anything they need to thrive under your care. Any person in a leadership position should understand that logic before entering it. Do you think the rulers of the other kingdoms do not know this? There is a new ruler in the Dragon Kingdom because the previous one did not care for his people in the best way. If he did, there wouldn’t have been a person who would have been able to dethrone him or even would have wanted to dethrone him. The young woman who took his position noticed he was not the best fit for that kingdom and did something about it. Chase Monroe killed his Alpha to take over the pack because that Alpha did not care for his people! That is why I am not in any way, shape, or form worried about Chase wanting to take over my pack. He knows that I care for my people. He now cares for his people, and that pack is thriving under his rule. How you don’t know why the new Alphas have taken over their packs is beyond me."

Remy wasn’t aware of that, though she had an excuse. Chase took over the pack while she was on the island. The Alpha before him wasn’t the most pleasant man, so it made sense why he did what he did. She just didn’t know that was why Chase did what he did. He took over the pack after seeing that Alpha was no longer fit to rule it. Lykos was right. Levi didn’t understand those things.

Levi’s face twisted into the unnerving smile Remy was afraid of earlier. It was less a look of amusement and more of a snarl to show teeth. The corners of his mouth were upturned, and his face expressed joy, but one could call bloodlust joy as well. "Ha, you think that you provide. You don’t. Your efforts of ’progress’ and ’equality’ for lesser members of your pack add filth to the pack bonds. Calling it anything else only prolongs your reign’s inevitable ruin. Women cannot be Alphas. The weak cannot have a say over the strong, and the strong shouldn’t lend an ear, heart, or mind to those who don’t have the strength to seize it for themselves. You claim that you are advancing and moving your pack into the future—a lie like the purity of your can’t-be-alpha Remy. There is only one way forward: through tradition. Strength is the only way to keep the pack bonds healthy. And there is only one way that guarantees a future for the Lycans: through the Old Ways."

Remy snarled at his response, "You’re dumber than I thought. The Old Ways does nothing but create chaos. Have you seen what is happening out there? Our kingdom is falling into shambles because people believe killing one another to get what they want is the best way to handle things! We are not what Lycans once were! We are not the beasts that live inside us who cannot control themselves and only thrive by living on our instincts. If you believe that we cannot evolve into something more than what we are right now, then you are not worthy of being an Alpha."

"Like you deserve the title? You couldn’t even keep your mate by your side and were sent to that island to die," Levi spat.

Remy threw her head back and laughed. Lykos snarled and began to jump to his feet before Remy caught his hand. He looked down at her, but she shook her head and smiled at him. Levi said the perfect line for her to make her move. She didn’t need to hide what he had done anymore. Lykos already knew, but Levi didn’t know that.

"Wow, and I was hoping you’d be smarter than this. You should have never allowed us to be face-to-face ever again. The spell would have stayed intact if you had. I know you are the dumbass who rejected me."

Levi smiled, and Remy’s stomach twisted to see it. "No, no, no," he said as he placed his hands on the desk and slowly got to his feet. "You are the dumbass for coming here."

The sounds of approaching feet and paws caught her attention. Levi had called on his pack.

And we are trapped in this house with them.