29. Remy

Chapter twenty-nine

Remy

Relief spread through Remy as her mate’s voice told her he was there to save her. Dozens of Lycans rushed in from all sides and immediately jumped into battle with the enemy opponents still standing and those that had just joined in from Levi’s newcomers.

Hell yeah! That’s what I am talking about!

Remy jumped into action and rushed toward a brown and gray Lycan charging into the heat of the battle. It was a fury of claws and teeth as she swiped at the Lycan’s neck. It moved in time, but she lunged forward and knocked the Lycan to the ground. The neck was bare in this position, and she swiped at it until she saw bone.

Who’s next?

From the looks of it, the battle balance was turning to a win. Remy had to breathe in the air before she charged at an opponent to know if it was a friend or foe. When she smelled cedar, she attacked. The last one was quite large and knew more about fighting than the other Lycans she had faced. Every time she jumped toward him or swiped at him, he ducked and lunged at her. It became a dance between them for quite a while. The difference was she knew how to fight better than the people he was used to facing. Remy noticed how the Lycan moved, and he seemed to have the same three moves. Lunge and swipe with his right, then his left, and then he would go for the neck. He repeated this pattern until Remy had it down pat. She evaded the first two strikes, and when he swiped low, she swiped down at his shoulder. Fur and flesh flew off him, and his blood spilled down his chest. He did not expect her to land a blow and paused to take in her movement. With the pause, Remy swiped with her left, knowing he would duck, and she came upward with her claws and got him in the bottom of his snout. She sank her claws through the top and yanked downward to release them. The Lycan didn’t move as it tried to think through this moment to get her back. Remy dived into his chest and knocked him to the ground. He used the momentum to roll her, and she was on her back.

Ugh. Forgot about that move.

The Lycan managed to lock her arms under its thighs and didn’t allow for much movement. Remy shifted into her wolf form and kicked her legs to knock the Lycan off her. Her claws weren’t long enough to cut through its fur but still allowed her to escape from under him. It faced her again and lunged. She dodged in time and used her speed to get around to its back. She jumped onto its back and brought him down to the ground. It tried to roll, but Remy grabbed its neck with her jaws. Clenching as tight as she could, Remy felt her canines dig into the bone. She threw her head from side to side, breaking its neck in the process.

When she got off the Lycan’s back, she turned to find her next Lycan to fight. A sonic boom radiated through the bonds, and she felt a bond snap. She threw back her head and howled to the moon from the pain inside of her heart. The mournful howls of the pack joined her, and Remy felt her control over her wolf falter. She was on her hands and knees, tears falling from her eyes onto the ground. Her body shook with rage and heartache as the tears continued to fall. Her sobs were heard like an echo before more joined her. Warm arms pulled on her until she was coaxed into a lap. The scent of amber and oak surrounded her, and she laid her head on her mate’s shoulder.

He can’t be... dead... He can’t be...

She lifted her head and surveyed the land until her eyes found what she sought. The black and gray Lycan was laid on the ground, blood coating the grass underneath him. His blue eyes didn’t glow in the night anymore. Her mother’s silver hair covered her father’s chest as her body shook from the sobs. Remy got to her feet and ran to her mother. She dropped to her knees and pulled her mother into a hug. Tala’s wails could be heard throughout the area, and the pack slowly circled around them. Remy tried to say something to improve things, but she knew there was nothing she could say to improve this. She hugged her mother tighter as her own tears streaked down her face.

Chase’s voice was heard around them, telling the pack members to assemble more pyres and clean up the mess from the battle. Remy couldn’t move as her mother mourned the death of her mate in her arms. Her mind was clouded with thoughts of how this could be. Before she entangled herself with the last Lycan, it looked like everyone was doing well with the fight. Her father was still standing. She wasn’t sure how any wolf could get the better of him. Lykos was one of the best fighters in the kingdom.

How did he lose?

Chase was now standing over her and her mother. She could feel the uneasiness in their bond. He didn’t want to do what he was about to do.

"Rem... We need to put Lykos on his pyre. Is that okay?"

Tala wailed in Remy’s ear again at those words. She hugged her mother tighter again and petted the back of her head. Remy choked as she tried to tell Chase to give them a few more minutes. He must have understood what she wanted through the bonds because he told her he would return and leave them to mourn.

Lykos’s body reverted back to its human form. She could see the claw marks at his throat, and down the length of his body, whoever he fought with managed to open up just about every artery they could find on him. Remy growled at the sight of the fatal wounds. She hated that someone was able to best the great Lykos Howell. There was no chance in hell that it was even just one. There had to be at least two of them tag-teaming the Alpha to bring him down.

But that doesn’t matter right now.

"Mom, we need to move him."

"Ho-ho-how ca-ca-can this b-b-b-be? How?"

"I wish I knew, Mom," Remy choked.

"I lo-lo-lost him. Ho-ho-how ca-ca-can I-I-I move on?"

Remy cried once more. She didn’t have the answer to that question. She wasn’t even sure how she would move on from losing her father. How was she to explain to her mother and his mate how to do so?

No one ever prepares for losing the ones they love during fights like this. No child ever thinks their mother or father could lose during a fight because, to them, their parents were the most fierce and powerful people on the planet. Today, Remy was reminded just how untrue those things were. Her father fought with all his might to ensure the safety of his people and for his pack to keep their territory. In the end, his strength and power weren’t enough. However it happened, it still did. The gut-wrenching pain of understanding was what made her heart clench as if it were being ripped in two.

"Mom, I wish I knew the answer," she began, "but I don’t know that one. I do know this." Remy pushed her mother gently back so she could look into her eyes. The green and red eyes of the Luna stared back at her. The spark of life her mother always had was gone, making the words she was about to say more potent than she could have ever imagined, "I will make the person who did this regret the day he chose to fuck with us. I will bring Levi to his knees, rip his heart out, and present it to him. I promise you, Mom... Daddy’s death will be avenged."

A flicker of the spark Remy was used to seeing came through Tala’s eyes. She gave Remy a nod and slowly got to her feet. Remy watched her mom look down at Lykos before tilting her head back and howling again. A chorus of howls joined her as they mourned the death of the fallen Alpha. Remy looked at her father and felt the sting of his death within the bonds before tilting her head back and joining in the howls.

I meant what I said. I will avenge him.

Chase walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulders. He handed her a pair of garments to put on and then one to Tala. Remy assessed the damage the battle had taken on the pack as she wore the clothes.

Half of the pack was dead.

Remy shook from the loss of adrenaline, and her knees wobbled as the fight cleared from her muscles. Chase held her up and wrapped his arms around her. He rubbed her back and cuddled her into the crook of his neck. Remy felt Tala slowly walk away to address the pack of what was to happen next. The tears came back as she replayed the battle through her mind, and the severed bond where her father used to be twitched with pain. The death of an Alpha lingered until a new one was to take over.

I can’t even think about that right now, and I doubt Mom can either.

"I just want to crawl back into bed and wake up from this nightmare," Remy told Chase as she breathed in his scent.

"I know, love, I know. I wish I could take this pain from you. I don’t know what to say to make this better."

"There is nothing you can say to make this better."

He nodded and hugged her tighter. "I know that."

"I don’t get it." Remy stepped back to look at Chase. "How did he lose?"

"Three jumped on him and got their moves in before Bryan and I could help him. We took two of them off him and finished them off, and then the next thing we knew, he was on the ground. Bryan finished with his guy first and took out the one over your father. He must have gotten neck wounds while on top because they weren’t there before. When Bryan was finished, another jumped on him."

"Jeezus."

Chase looked around, puzzled. "I am trying to understand how this many Lycans were here for this. It was at least two packs’ worth of people. No one I know has this many people under him."

Remy growled. "Levi. He somehow accumulated all the packs taken over by the Dark Dimension. I don’t know how many he has, but I know that, if he managed to get several of those packs to join him since we left a few days ago, he definitely could have amassed the kind of power to pull this off."

Chase returned her growl. "So there is an Alpha out there with an ample amount of freaking people under him, and we don’t even know the number?"

Remy looked around and smiled. "Well, he is about fifty Lycans short of what he thought he had, so it can’t be that much."

"I love seeing this side of you. So bloodthirsty," Chase joked.

She smacked him on the chest, smiling. "Stop it."

"I will once you lose that smile," he said, wagging his eyebrows.

She shook her head at him and looked around to find her mother. She needed to know what was happening and if her mother was okay. Tala was quickly found putting together a pyre. Remy let go of Chase and jogged over to her mom. Tala didn’t look up at her as she continued to put wood together.

"Mom, can I help?"

Tala looked at her. The puffiness and redness was still in her eyes. The determination in the pools of green told Remy that Tala wanted to build the best pyre she could for her mate. The same determination filled her heart because she wanted that for her father. Kodi walked up to them with a handful of wood in his arms. The redness in his eyes surprised her. Men normally didn’t showcase their emotions at the deaths of their packmates, even if they were family. It made Remy smile a little, knowing her brother was back. He didn’t care how men were supposed to look in front of the pack. He told her quite often growing up that men needed to show their emotions more to prove they were still human. Hiding emotion gave the Lycan too much power, which was not a good thing.

"Only us three will build his pyre. I do not want anyone else to touch it."

Remy nodded and searched for wood. It took a few hours, but yet again, her pack was around pyres that filled the area. A breath caught in her throat as she tried to bring herself to announce that the pyres’ lighting would start. Tala grabbed Remy’s hand and gave it a squeeze. Remy was on Tala’s right and Kodi to the left. Chase stood next to her in front of the entirety of the packs. Remy could see Chase’s pack members sprinkled in with theirs, and it looked as though they were equal to what they had lost now.

She looked at Chase inquisitively, and he could read the question she was pondering as if he could read the exact thought inside of her head. "I lost some pack members, too. We all lost some pack members today."

Remy squeezed his hand and looked at the ocean of people surrounding them. Tala cleared her throat and stood straighter as she spoke to the few who remained standing.

"We have lost great people today. Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, daughters, sons, and friends. We are gathered here under the Moon Goddess’s light to say our goodbyes before they enter her warm embrace. They have all fought diligently today, and we emerged as the victors with their strength and determination." Tala looked over at Chase. "It is also because of the nobility of the Silver Ridge Pack that they came to our aid tonight, and we owe them a great amount of gratitude for their efforts."

There was a chorus of murmurs that Remy knew were "thank you," but then she could hear everyone’s soft cries as they said goodbye to their loved ones.

"I call on the moon’s power to lift the spirits of our fallen to the Moon Goddess’s embrace."

A beam of the moon’s light came down over them all. Remy felt the warmth of the power as the moon’s light touched her. She looked up at the moon, and she could feel a presence of power and purity sweeping across them, giving them all a feeling of closure and love as the goddess called the fallen to her. Tears ran down Remy’s face as she saw the light flickering inside the moon’s beams. She sensed that the spirits of the fallen were making their ways upward, and she couldn’t help but feel that her father was on his way to peace.

Rest easy, Dad. I love you. I’ll make you proud.