28. Remy

Chapter twenty-eight

Remy

Looking around the battlefield, tears welled in Remy’s eyes. It was difficult to see so many Lycans dead around her. These were the people who watched her grow up and were there for her when she needed them. Now they were gone after diligently protecting this territory, and they would need to be laid to rest. This was not something she ever had to grow up with, but since her return from the island, it seemed like she was constantly fighting for her life and witnessing death that did not need to happen.

Lykos and Tala gathered the pack around, Kodi’s pack remaining in their assigned rooms as they felt they were not permitted to leave due to confusion about who was friend or foe. Remy understood why that order would be given to them but was also angry that they did not engage in battle, which might have prevented their pack members from falling. While the pack gathered, Remy shifted back into her human form. Blood covered her body once again, the scent of cedar constantly wafting in her nose and making her stomach twist.

Levi sent his pack to attack ours. This is a declaration of war. If that’s what he wants, then so be it, but he didn’t need to send the entire pack here to destroy ours. There are laws about this! He could have challenged us for this territory.

Remy must have been snarling without realizing it because Tala walked over to her and hugged her. "This is not your fault. This was a long time coming. We should have put more people on patrol tonight."

"What do you mean?"

Lykos cleared his throat. Remy looked at him in confusion as if her question was being ignored. He bowed his head at her before addressing the pack.

"I received a letter from this pack, issuing a challenge for our territory. The date of the challenge was to be determined, but the Alpha decided an ambush would be better. I am taking fault for this attack happening while we were sleeping. With things becoming a living battlefield in our kingdom, I should have created a better patrol schedule and increased the number of people guarding our territory. This is my fault, and I have let you down as Alpha."

Bryan growled. "Bullshit, Lykos. You did everything right. You sent out a letter requesting the date of the challenge. Levi is the one who ignored Pack Law and ambushed us."

There was a collective agreement amongst the pack. Remy knew her father would not take that as the forgiveness that he should. He wasn’t like that. He would live with that until his dying day if he saw this as his fault.

"I still should have increased our guard. With our kingdom falling to those claiming the Old Ways are to return, I thought the amount we had would be enough. We have survived centuries with this schedule as our previous Alphas created, and I was arrogant to think it was foolproof. But now I will be increasing them moving forward. Tonight, we will gather the dead and honor them with a funeral. We will stack pyres in our ancestral space and give them all a proper send-off before we return to bed."

Giving their enemy a proper send-off made Remy’s lip curl in disgust, but it was the proper thing to do. It was the way to bring the souls to the Ancestral Realm of the Goddess so that she could greet them as they passed through the gates. These people were led by a homicidal maniac. It wasn’t their fault they had to agree to this idea and execute it on his orders.

Just because it is the right thing to do doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it, though.

The pack members who shifted all walked off to gather clothes and then got to work. It took a couple of hours to build the pyres and gather the bodies to place them properly. In total, ten Lycans from their pack were laid to rest, while Levi’s dead was twenty. There wasn’t a complete total because a few of the pack members got carried away with their kill, and pieces were missing from at least two bodies. There could be more, but the thought of searching and asking those questions didn’t feel like a necessary detail.

Lykos walked over to her and stood by her side as the family members of the fallen were saying their goodbyes. She could feel the tension in the air from him, and she wanted to make a joke about the situation, but none came to mind. It had been only a few hours since she drew on the power of the Moon Goddess to heal her brother. Lykos was already afraid of her ability to perform magic when no other Lycan could. Now, the mate who rejected her was sending his pack in to try to kill as many of their pack as they could to weaken Lykos before the challenge.

Yep. I should have never left the island.

"Levi mentioned reclaiming you once he is done slaughtering our pack in his letter."

It was a slap in the face to hear those words. Why would Levi send such a thing in a challenge letter? It wasn’t as if Lykos and she had an unstable relationship, and he would let this slide. Levi gave Lykos more fuel to wipe the floor with him in this challenge.

"That was stupid of him."

"I have also received word that Levi is behind some of the attacks from the other packs. He is doing what he tried to do here: ambushing to cut down the pack’s power, then killing the Alpha. Once they have no Alpha, he forces the rest of the pack to join him or perish. He wants to reclaim his Luna before he takes over every pack in his path, including Fenry’s."

Remy laughed. The sound was not of amusement but a laugh of rage she felt in her heart. She knew what Levi was doing. He was amassing as many under his rule as possible before attacking Fenry. If he had her by his side, it would be considered a win by a landslide. The power of a Meta was far more than that of an Alpha if it was with the right person. Remy was an Alpha’s daughter, bringing her dominance and power that matched his own. Add the power of a Meta to it? There was a reason Remy had no trouble playing the dominance games with other dominants. She knew her power, and her Lycan would not bow to anyone. She listened out of respect for her father for the time being.

But another thought occurred to her.

Why did he reject me if he planned all of this? Is this why he wiped my memory? Was he hoping that I would forget about being a Meta and lose part of my power? No. That would be a long shot. The beast would have always known how powerful she was.

"Levi knew I was a Meta Wolf when he rejected me. Why would he do that if this was his endgame?" she asked aloud, hoping her father would know the answer.

Remy tried to regain the memory of the rejection for the first time in a long while. The bright white wall was still in place. A flicker in the brightness gave her hope that it would collapse if she pushed it hard enough. The pain started in the center of her forehead. She felt her face scrunch up from the pressure but still tried to remember. The pain seared through her head, making her eyes water in the process. She relented just in time for her father’s hands to grab her by her shoulders to keep her upward.

"What did you do?" His voice sounded frantic.

Remy groaned from the pain. "I was trying to remember him rejecting me. It didn’t work."

"Did you hear what I said?"

She shook her head, making the pain radiate again. Her fingers found her temples, and she began to rotate them clockwise.

"I said he planned to do all this without you present. Once he was crowned the new Lycan King, he planned to return to the island and reclaim you."

That was a solid theory. If that were what he planned, that would keep her away from her family and give him more of an edge over his plan. Lykos was stronger right now due to her being amongst his pack. Without her power, he would still be a tough opponent, but if she wasn’t present and he grew his pack’s numbers enough, they would at least be equal. Remy ruined that plan by a long shot, so he rejected her, breaking her pack bonds and leaving her father weaker, and then he slowly built an army. He could be why the Dark Dimension was in the Lycan Kingdom in the first place. The idea of him bringing the coven into the kingdom and unleashing the hell that was consuming it all slowly by infecting every pack was starting to make sense.

That is why the fucker did all of this. He wanted me out of the way to kill my father, take over as many packs as he could to amass so much power he could beat Fenry, claim me to add to his power to ensure that he would have more than enough power, kill Fenry, and then rule the Lycan kingdom. This fucker had a plan from the moment he met me. That is why he led me to believe he would claim me! It was a false pretense to win my trust before fucking up my life!

The pyres were all built, and the bodies were laid out, waiting for the flames to burn through the wood and set them ablaze. Remy found herself growling as the scent of burning flesh hit her nose. None of these people deserved to be killed the way they were, and now their families are laying them to rest.

I will make Levi pay for this, Remy told herself as she watched the families of the fallen on their knees and sobbing in front of the pyres.

Her parents were to do their Alpha duties and console the pack members while they mourned. Remy was to join them, but she couldn’t move her feet. Her heart was broken for the family members, and she felt it was her fault. If she had killed Levi after recognizing him as the one who left her for dead, these lives may have been spared. If she had reached out to Kaida sooner, maybe the Dark Dimension’s hold would have been broken on everyone it infected, and none of the lives that were taken since her return would have happened.

She felt his presence linger behind her for a few minutes before Remy sighed, growled, and turned around. Kodi was standing with his hands in his pockets. He always did it when he had a lot on his mind. Deep feelings of betrayal bubbled inside her as she stared at her brother. He had been alive all this time and never thought to tell her or his family that he survived. The thought of punching him in his lying face crossed her mind. Her body reacted before she could think it through. Kodi caught her hand, spun her around, put his arms around her, and held her with her back against his chest.

"I KNOW!" he growled into her ear. "I fucked up. I should have told you I was alive."

Remy leaned her head forward and slammed it backward. Kodi anticipated it and moved himself out of the way, so the back of her head just hit his chest instead. When that didn’t work, she tried to stomp on his ankles, and Kodi moved, evaded her blows, and pushed her forward as he let her go. She caught herself before her momentum caused her to fall into the mourning families. She charged at him again, this time missing him entirely.

Ugh, I forgot how good he was at fighting.

Kodi taught Remy how to fight. He never wanted her to be at the mercy of a man or a crazed female, so he taught her from a young age. The standard in their pack was to start training around puberty. It was so the kids could live a carefree life for a while before having to throw light training into the mix, then more hard-core training throughout their teens and then adulthood.

Turning her body as fast as she could, Remy swung her fist, only missing Kodi by an inch. He pushed out his Alpha power, hitting Remy like a wave, but just like a wave that only had ankle-deep water, it washed over her but didn’t make her submit. She was still tied to more Lycans than him, so he didn’t equate to her power. Remy smirked, pulled on her own power, and let it loose. Kodi stumbled when the wave of her power struck him. The strain on his face and the sweat on his brow told Remy he was using all his strength to keep himself upright. Remy’s Lycan gained interest, and she could feel her presence add to the power. She knew her eyes were glowing, making Kodi grimace.

"Jeez. When did you get this powerful? I haven’t been gone that long."

"Right after you left."

Kodi shook his head with a smile on his face. He dropped his power and looked at her. Remy kept her power going for a moment longer. She felt the rest of the pack looking at them but didn’t care. She wanted Kodi to tell her why he stayed away from them. She could’ve had her brother home this entire time, but he didn’t tell them.

"Why? I need to know why," she told him.

Kodi frowned and bowed his head. "After I realized Morgana’s influence had faded, I didn’t think it would be wise for me to return home. Lycans aren’t the forgiving type. I didn’t come home at first because I was enthralled by her. Then, when I could, I figured you all had moved on."

Remy stepped forward until the distance was closed and put her hand on his shoulder. He didn’t move, not even to look at her. Kodi felt ashamed for not returning home. The scent of his shame came off him right after, confirming her thoughts. He hated himself for not coming home or telling his family he was alive. Remy wasn’t sure why she started this argument.

"You thought we would move on from your death? Are those your thoughts or the ones she put into your head?"

The look he gave her was telling. She hit the nail right on the head.

"Kodi, I-"

A howl in the distance broke her focus. She turned in the direction where the howl came from, and Kodi followed her gaze. In the tree line, there were dozens of Lycans standing in a row. Remy’s stomach dropped at the sight of them.

Oh, my gods... There is another wave of this shit!

Another howl from the one in the middle of the line broke the silence that fell through their territory. No one was ready for this. None of them had eaten or gotten much rest. If they could survive this wave, Remy wasn’t sure how many would still be standing.

There was no time before the leader of the Lycans came sprinting toward them. Without the time to shift into their Lycans, Remy was the only one battle-ready with the ability to shift as fast as she could. She shifted to her four-legged form and ran toward the leader. If this was Levi, she wanted to battle him head-on, right here and right now. The closer she got to him, the more she was disappointed. It wasn’t Levi, but the Lycans charging toward her pack smelled like him.

This asshole thinks he will win. I need to show him just how wrong he is.

Remy leaped at the same time the ringleader of this hunt did, their bodies colliding in mid-air. His arms had more leverage, but Remy was faster with her movements. He tucked her close to his chest as they fell to the ground. Remy scratched the length of his torso with her back claws. She felt blood run down her paws before she rolled off him and gained her footing. Before the Lycan got to his feet, she looked to where her family was and sighed quickly, seeing them in their Lycan forms. The remnants of them pulling on pack magic to change quickly spread through her bonds, not feeling them before as she was in battle.

Now, the Lycan got to his feet and lunged. Remy jumped to the side in time and lunged herself to wrap her jaws around her opponent’s left ankle. The sickening crunch of its bones rang in her ears before she let go. The Lycan went down onto its fours, giving Remy the leverage to jump on its back. She snapped her jaws to squeeze the life out of his neck, but the Lycan rolled to flip her off. Remy hit the ground, and the wind knocked out of her lungs. As she gasped for air, the Lycan jumped on top of her. Remy shifted to her Lycan and swiped at his face, managing to rip into his eye. The Lycan howled at the pain, allowing her to swipe at its neck while it was bared toward the sky. Blood rained down on her, but she ignored it. This Lycan could heal these wounds fast while the thrill of the hunt was in the pack bonds. She swiped again with her other hand, making the wound deeper than before, and the blood now poured out of the wound. At the rate it was going, the Lycan would bleed out. It fell to the side, too weak to make another move against her.

Is Levi sending his weak first to wear us down?

Even though Remy felt her judgment was correct about Levi sending his weaker Lycans before showing up himself, the fight was long from over. There were more Lycans this time than last, which was hard enough to face. Remy shifted back to her four-legged form and sprinted toward her pack to give them a helping hand.

Quickly, it became apparent that this was going to be a rough battle. In some cases, two were facing off with one of her pack members. It was more one-on-one, but the stronger Lycans of the pack were battling more than they could handle. Kodi was facing two at once, but he could keep up with them. He was matted with blood, but he did not appear to have that many wounds. Bryan was fighting three, Lykos was fighting four, but Tala jumped in where she could with Lykos as she fought a single Lycan.

He is underestimating the females. What a dumbass.

Remy tackled one Lycan who was fighting with her father. She took it to the ground and bit its throat. It was too distracted by her sudden hit to fight back until she ripped a piece from his neck. He backhanded her, making her dazed for a moment before it tried to swipe at her. Remy rolled away and heard her father whine. She turned to check on him. He was on the ground with a Lycan on top of him, but her mother ripped the Lycan away before it could do any damage. That’s when she felt the claws rake against her side. Remy howled in pain and felt the blood run down her fur. She turned to the Lycan and snarled. It stood a few feet away from her, taking her in. It leaned its head back and took a whiff of the air. It was to take in if she was male or female. When it realized she was a female, it charged toward Lykos.

Oh no you don’t, furball!

Remy collided with its body, taking it to the ground again. This time, she shifted into her Lycan form and started swinging her claws left and right at its throat.

This. Is. What. You. Get. For. Under. Esta. Mating. A. Girl.

Once she heard it gargling on its own blood, Remy moved on. Lykos was managing a one-on-one, so Remy surveyed the grounds. Bodies were once again littered throughout her pack’s territory, many of them pack members. Only some were in the other packs. They were winning this fight.

Fuck. How can I turn the tables?

A chuckle rang in her mind, making Remy growl at first until she heard his voice.

The calvary is here, Sweetcheeks.