7. Remy

Chapter seven

Remy

Sitting inside the car, Remy wished she were back on the island for at least the tenth time since she returned home. She had forgotten how much her stomach hated being inside of a car. On the island, they didn’t exist. From what she understood, this was one of three kingdoms with cars; other kingdoms had fancier ones than the Lycans. Remy preferred running on four feet, which was still a luxury to everyone else in the kingdom. Lycans rarely ran on all four paws because of their wolf’s structure. Lycans mostly stood on two feet and used their front paws to run only when absolutely necessary. Front paws were used in battle instead.

It turned out that her father wanted to leave immediately, and they jumped into their car soon after discussing their plan, including which packs they needed to visit and the best course of action to make their trip easy. The first pack on the list was the Silver Ridge pack. That did not help Remy’s stomach settle in the least. On one hand, she couldn’t wait to see Chase again and to know if he could follow through with the stipulations she gave him about their bond. On the other hand, she did not want to test the waters this soon, and in front of her father no less.

Thinking about Chase reminded her of how he pleasured her to seal their deal. Remy had to banish the thought away so her father wouldn’t smell arousal coming from her and ask her about what she was thinking. That led to her mind bringing up the image of the three gold bonds attached to her, and Remy remembered how she wanted to ask her father which Alphas were present last night.

"There were other pack members outside our own at my party last night, right?"

Lykos seemed to be taken aback by her random question but kept his eyes on the road. "Yes. Why?"

"During the ceremony, I noticed some people I didn’t recognize in the crowd. They were still out of place after feeling everyone connected to me again. Who were they?"

Lykos nodded, telling her she had chosen the right approach. "Chase Monroe, now the Alpha of Silver Ridge, brought his Beta along, too. Draken, I believe his name was. I’m not too familiar with his Beta."

That made sense to Remy, too, since she didn’t know who Chase was or how he became Alpha. The Alpha she knew who ran the Silver Ridge pack was not nice. The last thing she heard about the Silver Ridge pack was that it was falling apart. Many Lycans wanted to leave the pack and go elsewhere. She still didn’t recall him being higher up in the hierarchy before she went to the island. Lykos mentioned that there were a lot of change-overs right before she left. It could have been that the spell that kept the memory of her ex-mate locked in a box could have spilled into other memories before that day, too. It was not like she had an iron-clad memory and could recall every detail of her life the moment she needed it.

"Then there was Myles Damascus and his Beta Asher. He may have brought his Gamma, too. He isn’t the most trusting Alpha and is known for bringing his top five everywhere because he expects bloodshed wherever he goes."

Remy looked at her father, "Does he cause it?"

"Not usually. Several Alphas have gone a little crazy since you’ve been gone. A lot of packs have had to start over and move around. As I said earlier, there have been a lot of disputes. Some have turned into small war zones."

"The Dark Dimension."

Remy thought the only answer to that riddle was that the Dark Dimension had been opened somewhere inside her kingdom. If the Lycans couldn’t control themselves, it had to be them going berserk from the dimension leaking into the kingdom.

Lykos was silent for a moment. "Maybe; though I still believe people are also unhappy with what they have."

Remy clicked her tongue at him, "I saw it a lot on the island, Dad. All within the last few weeks. It hurt the dragons the most, but there were still cases of others, too. We aren’t immune to it."

"I haven’t heard about anything like that to fit the bill. It is something we can look into, though."

"Were there any others?"

"I’m pretty sure I saw two others, but they didn’t stay long. Bryan mentioned that Jake and Myles showed up, ate some food, and then left. I hate to say it, but that sounds like them. Those two are pushing us to hand over a piece of our land, ten acres, to each of them."

Remy snorted. "Seriously? That’s a lot of our land to give away. If we gave away that much to each person who asked, we wouldn’t have any left."

"Try explaining that to two hard-headed Alphas."

Remy gave him a look. "Like you aren’t a hard-headed Alpha."

Lykos lifted a finger at her. "Point taken. However, I wouldn’t demand land from another Alpha, so I just expect those guys to roll over and show their bellies."

That was a sign of submission to Lycans, something an Alpha would rather die than do.

Remy tried to recall what Myles looked like. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t pinpoint why it did. An image of a sandy blonde man yelling about pack lines came to mind, and the wheels in her head finally started turning. When it dawned on her who that was, a growl filled the car, and Lykos nearly slammed on the brakes.

"What was that all about?"

"Was Myles yelling at you in the hallway during my party?"

Lykos pulled the car over to a shoulder on the road and turned to face her, "How do you know about that?"

"I saw it."

He glared at her, and Remy stared back at him. She wasn’t going to feel guilty for overhearing the conversation. If he wanted privacy, he could have brought Myles into his office or done what Chase did by using pack magic to close them inside a soundproof bubble. Lykos frowned.

"Yes, that is Myles. He is the most vocal over this territory line debacle. It is someone we will have to talk to on our little tour here."

"Did he think bringing that up while you were celebrating your daughter’s return home was a good idea?"

Lykos sighed. "Myles is a complicated man. His temper is one of the worst I’ve seen on a Lycan. No one knows how to talk to him, and people just want to have actual discussions about all of this so it doesn’t turn into a war. Well, at least some of them do."

Remy felt anger bubbling inside of her, "He mentioned the Old Ways. For someone who doesn’t want to turn things into a war, I’m baffled on why he would bring the Old Ways up."

"Threats are sometimes the best way to make negotiations go faster. Little do people know, I am not fond of threats. There is a reason why this territory has been ours for many generations. We have quite a few dominant people inside our pack and around fifty members, including children. As you know, each person feeds power into an Alpha inside his pack. The more people you have, the more power the Alpha will receive."

"And the more dominant Lycans within the pack, the more power fed to the Alpha. Yes, I know."

"People forget that sometimes. If this territory dispute continues, it will lead to a war. I’m hoping that I can at least convince our neighbors to agree to an Alliance Treaty. Our pack will help those allies, so they do not starve, or help in other ways they need right now. That will strengthen our allies, and this whole thing will go away without violence."

"If they don’t agree?"

"Bloodshed it is," Lykos told her before pulling the car out of park and turning the steering wheel to bring it back onto the road.

Movement caught Remy’s attention from the corner of her eye. Branches, trees, and bushes were blowing, and no sign of wind made them do so. She could not catch a scent with the windows rolled up, but there was no need to. A dozen or so Lycans in their beast form surrounded the car. Lykos threw the car into park and clicked the button to release him from the seat belt.

"We are under attack! Remy, shift now!" Lykos yelled. At the same time, Remy noticed the beasts that surrounded them start to rush toward the car.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

Remy unfastened her seat belt and pulled onto the handle to open her door. Her father was still changing into his Lycan form inside the car, and she needed to keep every Lycan from the car until he finished. Her changing into her Lycan form was quicker, and she was very thankful for that when she jumped to the side as a Lycan lunged for her and hit the car instead. Remy shifted into her Lycan form, dug her claws into the opposing Lycan’s brown and gray fur, tossing the body over the railing into a ditch on the other side. She noticed the top of the railing had some frayed metal, and the Lycan’s shoulder and neck grazed over it. Blood sprayed everywhere as a gash opened along its body before it disappeared. Even if it weren’t dead, it would take some time to heal before it could get back into the fight. Another jumped on top of her, sending Remy to the ground. She felt the canines of the opponent dig into her shoulder. Remy roared before throwing her body forward into a roll, making her opponent let go of her shoulder and leaving them laid out behind her. Remy turned herself and dug her claws into the dark Lycan’s neck and ripped them across the muscles to tear them open. Lycans were fast healers, but healing the veins before bleeding out would still be hard.

Two more were heading toward her when Remy looked up to assess the situation. She heard the car door burst open, and she was relieved to hear her father roaring before the sounds of slamming bodies into each other. She had to focus on the two charging at her, and Remy decided to jump on top of the car. The two Lycans slammed into the car, and she swiped her claws over their face. They howled in response and began to swipe at her. Remy noticed that she managed to cut into their eyes, and blood covered them, giving her the advantage since they couldn’t see. Remy swiped closer to their necks to do the same as she did with the one she killed, but it was difficult with her being on top of the car.

Maybe I need to draw some of them away from here?

That could lead some way away from your father, so it is more of a fair fight.

Remy shifted her form onto four legs, leaped out of the car, and dashed into the woods. While on four legs, Remy would be faster than the other Lycans, so she kept herself at a pace that could ensure she would lead some astray. Looking back, she noticed four Lycans chasing her. That left five for her father to handle, and she hoped that wouldn’t be too many.

These woods were not the ones Remy grew up running in, so she had no idea where she was going. She tried to think of the map her father showed her of pack territories to see if she could run to a pack house for help. If she remembered correctly, these woods were not really owned by any pack.

Through the pack bonds, Remy tried calling on anyone she could feel relatively close to where they were to bring reinforcements. Pack bonds could be felt at decent lengths so they could call on others. The only problem was they had driven for at least two hours. None of the pack was nearby, and they were too far away to call on them to help.

We are on our own.

The best thing she could do was deal with these Lycans herself and circle back to help her father. Remy changed course and ran under a large bush. Once on the other side, she ran back in the direction she came in to get behind the Lycans that were after her. Two were still on the path she had taken, and they ran past her as if they were only driven by the scent she left on the ground. Any Lycan should know how to keep their wits about them in a fight like this. They still needed to look around while tracking someone to ensure another wasn’t waiting.

These Lycans must be rogues. Pack training teaches you all about that.

Then we have an advantage.

After they were a good distance in front of her, Remy jumped back onto the trail and chased after them. With her speed, it didn’t take long, and she was on the back of a silver and blonde wolf, much smaller than the white and gray partner. Remy bit down on the back of the neck and shook her head rapidly until she heard a snap. The Lycan went down, throwing Remy forward and onto her side. Before she could get to her feet, the white and gray Lycan jumped on top of her. A swipe from its claws connected with her stomach, and Remy could bend just enough to grab its arm into her jaws. She bit down and heard its bone snap. It roared at her before it slammed its other paw onto her head. Remy’s head bounced off the ground, and she saw stars. Her vision blurred, and Remy was expecting more blows while she was vulnerable, but she didn’t feel the Lycan on top of her anymore, which she found weird. The Lycan must have thought it knocked her out because, when her vision cleared, she could see her opponent moving its arm around to reset the bone while it was trying to heal. It would need to be reset, meaning broken again, if they didn’t do this before it healed.

Snooze, you lose, fucker!

Remy got to her feet and took off before the Lycan noticed that she had come and could escape. She was still in her wolf form, using her speed to her advantage. As she ran, Remy heard the two other Lycans join in behind her, telling her they were there for backup and realizing she was escaping. Remy could feel her father’s chord reaching out to her for help inside the pack bonds. She pumped her legs harder to get to him faster and came out of the woods to find two of the five Lycans dead on the ground, two others trying to heal their broken legs to get back into the battle, and then her father in battle with the last one. Her father’s coat was mostly black like hers, but it had hues of gray and some white on his stomach and paws. She could see the gray and white was matted with blood, an open wound on his side, and she could see the white of bones within the gash. His movements slowed, and he did his best to evade the attacks. The brown and black Lycan her father was facing did not seem in as bad of a shape and was lunging in to swipe at Lykos before jumping back.

The only option Remy could think of was to ram her body into the Lycan to save her father. She quickly did so, and the Lycan went down to the ground. Remy heard the Lycan’s skull crack against the asphalt, and its movements slowed as it was dazed from the collision. While turning toward her father, Remy could hear the howls from the Lycans she had left in the woods. Remy would need to get her father into the car and drive back home if she wanted them to survive this. With one look, Remy knew there wasn’t a chance Lykos could get to the car by himself. Remy would have to use the more hand-like paws to grab onto her father and heave him toward the car. She was thankful he was fighting close to the car, making it a little easier. Remy opened the door to the back seat of the four-door car, picked up her father, got him into the seat, shut the door, shifted into her human form with tattered clothes hanging off her from all the changing, and started the car. In the tree line, the three Lycans came up over the hill and stopped to assess what was happening. Remy threw the shifter into gear and turned the wheel as far left as she could to steer the car into turning around. The Lycans were on the road by the time she turned the car fully around. Remy pressed on the gas, heard the tires squealing against the pavement, and then it kicked in just before the Lycans could throw their body into the car. Thankfully, the Lycans were not faster than a car, so Remy managed to put enough distance between the car and the attackers and began to relax.

What the fuck?