Prey (Blackwater Pack Book 2)

by Hannah McBride

  I got off the bed.

  “Want some company?”

  27

  Neither of us spoke as we collected what we needed for the shower. When Remy left to grab our suitcases from the hall, I had pulled his discarded shirt on.

  The idea of walking around topless in the bright late afternoon sun felt … weird.

  I slowly dug through my suitcase. By the time I had pulled out everything I needed for the shower, Remy was already standing under the spray.

  My hands were shaking, nervous excitement morphing into giant butterflies flapping around with steel-tipped wings that almost shredded my resolve.

  I set my clothes on the counter beside his. The sheer domesticity of it was reassuring.

  His back was to me as he stood under the spray. The glass doors were warped and distorted by water droplets and steam, but there was no denying he was absolutely beautiful.

  My gaze lingered on the tattoo covering his shoulder. I absently toyed with the matching pendant at my throat. The moon and star image that was a symbol of his family and his pack.

  My family. My pack.

  The stark reminder was all I needed to steady my nerves.

  I quickly shed my clothes, crossing the bathroom floor and opening the glass door to the shower to step inside with him.

  Holy hell.

  The sudden surge of lust made my knees weak as I blatantly checked him out. The hard contours of his muscled back tapering down to a trim waist and beyond that?

  An ass I really could study for days.

  “Are you done objectifying me yet?” he asked.

  My eyes snapped up to see he was grinning unashamedly at me over his shoulder.

  Heat flooded my face, and I prayed he would write it off as just the steam from the water making me red.

  His nostrils flared slightly, and I knew there was zero shot of him thinking my reaction was due to the temperature of the water.

  His heightened wolf senses could scent my arousal as clearly as I could.

  Reaching around him, I grabbed the bottle of shampoo from his hands and squirted the liquid into my palm. I had to stand on my tiptoes, but I massaged the shampoo into his scalp, raking my nails across the sensitive skin.

  My reward was a full body shudder from him as his head fell back to give me more access.

  “God, that feels good,” he muttered, his voice husky and deep in a way that had me pressing my thighs together.

  I maneuvered him back under the spray, washing the suds from his dark hair.

  He turned to help me, and I kept my eyes on his face even as something brushed against my abdomen.

  I wasn’t ready to look down quite yet.

  We finished rinsing his hair, my fingers lingering even after the last of the bubbles swirled down the drain.

  He blinked his eyes open, watching me curiously.

  I rocked up to my toes again, tugging his hair to pull his mouth down to me.

  The slick slide of my body against his under the water was a whole new feeling. His hands slid across my back and down to cup the flesh of my butt, pulling me closer.

  My legs turned to jelly when I felt him pressing against my stomach, hard and hot and heavy.

  I slid a hand down the front of his chest, letting my nails drag across one flat nipple.

  He sucked in a sharp breath, his hips jerking against me. I smiled against his mouth and he turned us, pressing my back against the shower wall and out of the direct line of the showerhead.

  My hand lingered for a second at his hip before following the natural curve of his body. I dragged a single finger down the length of him, and he tore his mouth from mine.

  “Skye,” he gasped my name, his brown eyes unfocused as he rested his forehead against mine.

  Fighting a grin, I took him in my hand, exploring and mapping the textures and feel of him.

  “Fuck,” he muttered, his eyes squeezing shut when I added more pressure.

  I glanced down and swallowed hard, my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth. My fingers didn’t even fit around him, and I wondered how the pieces of this particular puzzle were supposed to fit together.

  Then again, judging by the way my core ached and clenched, I was also more than a little excited to find out.

  I watched my hand slide up and down his length, taking note of what caused his breath to catch and his body to shiver.

  Licking my lips, I looked up at him through wet lashes.

  He had a hand braced by my head against the wall, the other hand was holding the nape of my neck in a borderline death-grip.

  Not letting myself overthink it, I slid down to my knees.

  His eyes snapped open. “Skye—”

  I cut him off when I licked the length of him, sucking his tip into my mouth almost curiously. I slid my palm up the front of his thigh, using him for balance as I worked more of him into my mouth.

  I wasn’t entirely sure what I was doing, alternating sucking, licking, and kissing him until his hand slapped against the marble of the stall wall so hard I wondered if he cracked the stone.

  “Shit.” His chest heaved.

  I smiled around him, using my tongue and lips to drive him crazy. My tongue mapped the vein that pulsed on the underside of his length, and I noticed his entire body tensed when I sucked harder on his tip. I tried to pay attention to the way his body reacted, using the bare basic knowledge I had picked up in some of my favorite romance novels to make this good for him.

  I lost track of the time. It slipped by as quickly as the water going down the drain in the shower as all of me focused on him, until finally his hand touched my aching jaw.

  “Skye, I’m going to …”

  It was a warning I didn’t need. I lifted my hand, adding it to the mix as I worked him harder until he came with a hoarse groan that I felt in my soul.

  He reached down and pulled me up roughly, my back hitting the cool tiles a second before his mouth covered mine.

  We took our time finishing in the shower. Remy washed my hair, and we took turns soaping and rinsing each other’s bodies. That led to a lot of touching that had him pressing me against the wall and using his hand to wring another orgasm out of my body.

  He pulled a giant fluffy towel off the shelf near the shower and wrapped me up in it like I was a glass doll that needed to be protected. He wrapped another towel around his waist before carrying me out of the shower and setting me on the counter.

  Stepping between my legs, he used a third towel to dry my hair as best as he could. I watched him as he took care of me, feeling more loved and cherished than I ever had before.

  He started to step away to hang up the damp towel, but I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him back to me.

  My cheek rested on his damp chest, the steady thump of his heartbeat a lullaby that I wanted to fall asleep to.

  His arms came around me instantly, his lips touching the crown of my head before laying his cheek against it.

  “I love you,” I said softly, my fingers dragging up and down the still wet skin of his back.

  I could feel his smile.

  “I love you, too, babe,” he replied before kissing the top of my head again.

  I snuggled into his chest, letting the sweetness of the moment sooth my heart. Tomorrow would be hard. The next day would be harder. But right now, everything was right in my world.

  Remy tilted his head to the side. “My dad’s back,” he murmured, not letting me go. “We need to leave soon.”

  “I know.” I focused on the rhythmic beat of his heart pumping a second longer before letting him go.

  He smoothed my hair out of my eyes and leaned down to give me another searing kiss that ended way too soon.

  I slipped off the edge of the sink and we both dressed quietly. Since I wasn’t going out, I opted for a pair of yoga pants and Remy’s discarded shirt. When I reached for my hairbrush, he beat me to it, silently brushing through the wet tangles in my hair until I was boneless under his touch.


  He pressed a kiss to the side of my throat when he was done. “Ready?”

  “Yeah,” I said with a nod, taking the hand he offered.

  We left the bathroom and headed downstairs.

  Gabe was already waiting in the living room for us, scrolling through his phone. He glanced up as we came down, but didn’t comment on the fact that we both had clearly just stepped out of the shower. Since there was only one shower upstairs, the odds of us taking separate showers wasn’t likely.

  I ducked my head, letting my wet hair cover my flaming cheeks.

  “Luke said they’ll be over in a few,” Gabe told us.

  I sat down on the couch, Remy perching on the arm of it beside me.

  Gabe gave me a smile. “Tomorrow marks the official start of the Summit,” he began. “There will be a formal commencement in the main lodge that all of us attend. You and Tate are welcome to come, too, but you’ll have to sit in the gallery. Or you can hang out here.”

  “No, I want to go,” I said quickly. “I think the more visible I am, the less people will think we have something to hide.”

  “Your uncle will be there,” Remy reminded me, touching my shoulder.

  “I know.” I nodded, resolved. “He needs to know I’m not hiding, too.”

  “I think that’s smart,” Gabe agreed. “We’ll take you and Tate to the gallery, and one of us will get you when it’s over.”

  Sensing his hesitation, I leaned forward. “And that’s it?”

  Gabe’s mouth flattened. “Your uncle, and any other Alpha, can make a motion for the Council to hear their concerns or issues in the afternoon. It’s up to you if you want to be there. You can sit in the gallery again, but you won’t be able to say anything.”

  “So, no flying off the handle when he starts spouting his lies?” I asked with a smirk, rolling my eyes.

  “You can stay here at the cabin instead,” Remy offered, but we both knew it was pointless.

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. “If Linden wants to lie about what happened, he can lie to the Council while I’m sitting there.”

  The corner of Gabe’s mouth hooked up in a smile I had seen Remy give me dozens of times. “Good for you.”

  “How will the testimonies work?” I asked, pulling my knees up to my chest and resting my chin on them.

  “Once Linden makes his complaint in person with the Council,” Gabe explained, “they’ll decide how to handle it. There is always a slight chance we can argue tomorrow and the Council will dismiss his accusations.”

  “But I’m guessing that won’t happen,” I finished for him.

  Remy’s hand stroked my wet hair. “Probably not.”

  “The Council will decide when they want to meet with you. Probably later this week,” Gabe replied. “They’ll make their final decision by the end of the Summit.”

  “No pressure,” I muttered, trying to ignore the tiny chance that I could be leaving here with Linden and Preston instead of Remy.

  “We’ll be with you the whole time. You have the support of more packs than you know.” The encouraging smile on Gabe’s face melted into something more serious.

  “There’s something else I want to ask you, but we’ll only move forward if you agree.”

  “Okay,” I said slowly, shifting my attention from Gabe to Remy, but he seemed as much in the dark as I did.

  “Luke and I were talking,” our Alpha began, his words measured and sure, “and we think it would be beneficial to file our own grievance with the Council on your behalf.”

  My brows rose. “On my behalf?”

  “On behalf of you and your family,” he amended. “That includes your aunt and cousin. We would file a shifter rights violation complaint against Long Mesa and Linden.”

  I leaned forward. “What would that do?”

  “It would make the Council investigate the pack,” Remy interjected slowly. “A violation claim is pretty heavy. Most Alphas agree that the Alpha has final say in their pack. To file a complaint like this would mean questioning Linden’s ability to control a pack.”

  “Linden’s been so busy making us play defense, that he may not be prepared if we shift to offense,” Gabe added.

  “Wouldn’t it look like we were filing our own complaint to get even?” I asked.

  Gabe sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Maybe to some, but it would be another layer the Council would have to sift through before making a judgement about the four of you having to go back. The more we can expose Linden, the better.”

  Fear slid into my stomach, oily and cold. “I thought we all agreed the Council wouldn’t make me go back because Remy and I are bonded.”

  “You, no,” Gabe allowed. “Your mom, aunt, and cousin are a bit trickier. I’m optimistic the Council will see things our way, but there’s always a chance that they won’t.”

  Remy’s hand settled between my shoulder blades as I struggled to pull in air.

  “You think they’ll make them go back?” I could barely choke out the words.

  “I think I want all of our bases covered and then some,” Gabe said in a firm tone that gave me some comfort. “But it might mean you would have to answer more questions. The abuse you endured … you would have to detail what happened.”

  “Aren’t I doing that any way?” I frowned.

  Remy cleared his throat. “Since we would be filing the complaint, we would have to be in the room with you when you’re questioned.”

  Soundlessly, my head turned to look at him.

  Oh.

  An elastic band looped once, twice, three times around my heart, squeezing until I felt dizzy.

  Remy would know, in graphic detail, what had happened.

  A bitter taste filled my mouth, and I realized, too late, that I had bitten down hard enough on the inside of my cheek to draw blood.

  “Forget it,” he said quickly, looking at his father and shaking his head.

  “It’s not your decision, son,” Gabe told him gently, his blue eyes still holding steady on me.

  I swallowed down the crushing wave of panic that threatened to unmoor me from my anchor. From Remy.

  There was so much he knew, but so much more he didn’t know. So much more I was still embarrassed to reveal. Humiliation burned through me, the flames of my shame incinerating me to ash and cinder.

  “Even if we win,” I spoke slowly, the sound of my voice foreign to me, “even if Mom, and Zara, and Bella are safe … What would happen to Linden if we didn’t file the complaint? If we let it go?”

  “He would go back to his pack without any of you,” Gabe answered.

  My hands curled into fists. “But there would be no repercussions? No punishment for what he did?”

  Gabe shook his head, his mouth pressed into a thin line.

  Linden had done unspeakable things. The punishments he doled out for the smallest of pack infractions were cruel and excessive by any standard. Jesus, he had killed Maisie and Shane.

  After all of this was over, Linden could go back to Long Mesa and enslave new omegas, if he hadn’t already.

  Unless I stopped him.

  “I’ll do it,” I whispered, staring at my shaking hands. I was cold. Why was I so cold?

  “You don’t have to.” Remy’s tone was low, his words vibrating with anger.

  “Yes, I do,” I replied, unfurling my hands and blindly reaching for him. As always, he was there, his hand finding mine with a sureness that reeled me back in.

  I looked up at him through glassy, blurry eyes. “I can’t let him do this to anyone else.”

  The pain twisting his features morphed into a beautiful kind of fury, his dark eyes flashing as he turned into an avenging angel. My avenging angel.

  “Okay. Then we’ll do whatever it takes to stop him.” He lifted my hand to his lips, kissing my hand with infinite gentleness. “We’re in this together.”

  “We’re here if you need anything, honey,” Gabe assured me warmly as the front door opened.

  Tate came
in first, followed by Dante and Luke. She came to me and dropped into the couch cushions with a grin. “Did you check out the room service menu? We’re ordering all the things. I’m craving cheese.”

  My stomach growled. “Food sounds good.”

  Gabe stood up, and then Remy, who paused and leaned over to kiss me.

  “I have my phone if you need me,” he said, his dark eyes searching mine. “No more accidental run-ins with former pack members, okay?”

  “I’m staying on this couch and eating my weight in carbs,” I vowed, trying to shake off the shadows that still lingered.

  He grinned and gave me another kiss. “I’ll see you when we get back.”

  I leaned into Tate, watching as my heart walked out the door.

  28

  My stomach quivered with nervous energy as I stepped inside the main hall the next afternoon. Alphas and others wandered around, some talking, some sitting at tables that were spread out around the large space. At the front of the room was a raised dais with tables and chairs for the Council.

  The morning had been spent listening to the chair of the Council introduce the members, take pack attendance to see who was participating, and outline the program of events that would take place over the next two weeks including current issues, such as declining fertility rates and shifter displacement as packs started to dissolve.

  We had been dismissed for lunch, but I could barely concentrate on eating knowing that the afternoon session was when Linden could, and would, lodge his formal complaint against my pack.

  It was like waiting for the tap of a finger on the first domino in a line.

  Once Linden filed his complaint, Gabe would file ours and there would be no going back.

  After we finished eating, Remy and Dante led Tate and I behind a sectioned off area that was barely half-full. If it was anything like the morning session, the gallery would fill up with shifters who were attending the Summit, but not Alphas.

  Several were betas and deltas, a few random lone wolves. Surprisingly, there were quite a few females. Most of the women sat together, their conversations stopping when we entered.