“Wow,” I whispered. American packs had completely screwed everything up. No wonder our packs were struggling to thrive.
We had it all wrong.
24
Skye
“Warm and tingly?” I said, trying not to crack up again as Lulu explained what it was like when she tapped into her magic.
“Yes!” she insisted with a giggle, still on the couch in the same spot since Tate had left almost an hour earlier. “It’s … God, think of like your most intense orgasm. It’s like that. When everything detonates from the inside out and you’re left hanging in this suspended place of sheer bliss.”
My brain had zero trouble recalling that memory. I could feel the heat radiating off my cheeks as Lulu started to cackle again at my embarrassment.
Tate hadn’t come back, but Lulu had stayed to keep me company, telling me about her family, which had turned into talking about her magical abilities. When I asked how it felt, she scrambled to describe it.
“Oh, you’ve got it bad,” she teased, wagging a finger at me. “How long have you guys been together?”
I groaned. “That’s a complicated question.”
“Okay,” she drawled. “Explain it.”
“Remy and I met in the fall of last year. We bonded the first time our wolves saw each other. So, like, three weeks after I met him.” I rolled my eyes. It had been a whirlwind for sure.
“You second gens have it so easy,” Lulu proclaimed. “First time you see each other and wham! Instant bond.”
“Right, super easy to bond with someone you barely know,” I replied, sarcasm thick in my tone.
“Better than a lot of first gens. Sometimes it takes decades for them to bond. It’s so painful to watch sometimes.” She screwed her eyes shut and shuddered. “And it’s totally better than third gens.”
“Wait, they have those?” I asked, gaping at her.
“We’ve only had one pair on record that both mates were third gens,” she told me. “But that was freaky as shit. They bonded in human form as kids. Seriously, they were like seven years old.”
“How does that even work?” I demanded.
Lulu shrugged. “It was years ago, before I was born. My mama was a kid when it happened. It was actually really sad because the little girl died when she was twelve. Some freak accident when she was traveling with her parents and their train derailed in the ice. The boy was back in the village when it happened, but his heart stopped at the same minute hers did.”
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
“Yeah.” Lulu shook her head. “Like I said, freaky shit. Everyone assumed it was because of their bond, but still. Weird as hell.”
“There are no other third gens?” I asked slowly. If Remy and I had kids, it would be a third generation.
“None that have bonded with another third gen,” she replied. “If you had been pregnant? Your kid would be a third gen, but likely would bond with a second gen or first gen. Their bond would be like the one you have with your … Remy? Is that his name?”
I nodded.
“So, your kids would have an easier time finding a mate since the mate could be inside your pack or in a different one.”
“There’s a lot of rules for this mating bond,” I muttered.
“I’ll make you a chart.” Lulu winked at me as someone knocked on the door.
I stood up to open it, but Lulu waved me back down with a grin. She flicked her wrist as I sat, and the door swung open on its own.
I was still lifting my jaw off the floor when Nikolai stepped inside with a small smile.
“I see you two are getting on quite well,” he said, looking from me to Lulu and back. His brow furrowed. “And where is Tate?”
My eyes drifted to the bathroom that connected our rooms. She hadn’t come back out since disappearing into her room almost an hour earlier.
“She’s still taking time to adjust,” I said carefully.
“Of course,” he replied with a respectful nod. “Hopefully she’ll be more at ease when we take her home tomorrow.”
“It’s really happening? We’re leaving tomorrow?” My pulse ratcheted up several notches.
“Yes,” he told me. “I’ve just spoken with the airstrip and the storm has already stopped there. They believe they can have the runway cleared by early evening for our departure.”
“That’s—” I paused and stared at him. “Our departure?”
Nikolai frowned. “I believe you mentioned there was a war brewing in your pack?”
“I did,” I said slowly.
“If you think I’m sending my daughter into a warzone alone, you’re mistaken,” he went on, his gunmetal eyes gleaming. “I plan to accompany you myself.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I replied, not sure what his angle was exactly.
“It seems that your pack and mine have the same enemy,” he explained, his voice going lethally soft as he spoke. “The traitor sitting in my cell betrayed me as surely as he betrayed you. I would have the matter settled.”
“It’s still not your fight,” I pointed out.
“You’re my daughter,” he said simply. “What’s your fight will always be my fight.”
Well, hell.
I wasn’t sure what to say to that.
Thankfully, Lulu stood up. All traces of smiles and laughter were gone now as she stared at Nikolai. “Are you taking him with you?”
His eyes cut to her. “I am. He may have some value left.”
“I need to speak with him first,” Lulu demanded. “I need to know how he’s doing it.”
“Doing what?” I asked, my gaze darting back and forth between them.
Nikolai ignored my question. “I’m well aware. I’ve already asked Dimitri to meet you in the bunker so you can try to extract what you need to know before we leave. Your mother asked to be there as well.”
“Mama isn’t part of this,” Lulu answered coldly. She folded her arms across her body defiantly.
“I told her as much, but you know how she is.” Nikolai clasped his hands behind his back.
“Fine,” Lulu muttered, shaking her head. “I’ll handle her.”
I stared at them both. It was like they had completely forgotten I was even in the room.
Lulu gave me a quick smile. “Thanks for talking to me and letting me hang out. This was fun.”
“Uh, sure,” I mumbled. If anything, it was the other way around. Lulu had given me more insight into mating bonds in the last hour than Elias had in the entire last year.
Lulu turned and walked out the door, leaving me alone with Nikolai.
“What was that about?” I asked softly.
He smiled at me innocently. “Lulu doesn’t have many friends. I think she took a liking to you.”
My eyes narrowed. “Why doesn’t Lulu have any friends?”
His smile fractured slightly. “She’s made several choices that her people don’t agree with. It’s why she has chosen to live here with us instead of in town with the others.”
“What kind of choices?” I pressed.
“The kind that are hers to tell,” he answered cryptically.
Considering that was the same excuse I had given about revealing Mom’s secrets, I couldn’t really try digging for more information.
“I’ll have suitcases brought in here so you can pack,” he said suddenly, looking around the room.
“None of this is my stuff.”
“On the contrary, it all belongs to you,” he countered. “I bought it with you in mind.”
For the millionth time, my jaw went slack. “You didn’t even know I existed until a few days ago.”
“No,” he agreed, almost bitterly, “I didn’t. Not until Dimitri called me the morning of the explosion to alert me of your existence. I immediately began setting this room up for you.”
“How did you know what size I wore?” I asked incredulously.
“Dimitri.” He gave the explanation so simply, like it was totally obvious.
>
“Okay,” I said slowly, letting that go, “but I can’t just take this stuff.”
“Then who else should?”
“I don’t know,” I sputtered. “You can donate or give it to someone else? Almost everything in the closet still has tags—you can return them.”
“They’re yours,” he replied. “You may donate them if you wish, but I ask you not to donate the jewelry as it belonged to my mother and grandmother. Most of the pieces have been in the family for centuries.”
I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples.
Sighing softly, Nikolai crossed the room to me and put his hands on my shoulders. “Skye, this room and everything in it is yours. Consider it making up for all the birthdays and holidays I’ve missed.”
I opened my eyes to see him staring intently down at me.
“It is my greatest wish that you will one day come back to visit me. This room is yours whether you are here or in America. It will always be yours.”
I steeled myself against the rush of emotions that threatened to unmoor me. I could only nod, grateful and a little humbled at his kindness.
“Now,” he said brightly, stepping back and releasing me, “shall I escort you down to an early dinner?”
Nikolai wound up escorting me to dinner along with Tate. I had stuck my head into her room to see if she wanted to eat and let her know we would be leaving the next day.
The relief on her face almost brought me to tears.
She decided to join us, and I was glad I wasn’t going in without an ally when I entered the dining room to see it full of people I didn’t know.
“I apologize for not giving you a heads up,” Nikolai murmured, pausing beside me at the entrance. “My council wanted to meet you before you left.”
“Okay,” I said slowly, side-eyeing Tate to make sure she was okay with this.
Tate was an Alpha’s daughter, and it was completely evident that she was comfortable in that role when she straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin when the men in the room stood.
Nikolai led us to the head of the table, each man bowing their head in submission as we walked by.
Natasha was the only other female in the room, and she gave me a big smile as Tate and I joined the table. The seat to the right of Nikolai, Dimitri’s seat, remained vacant as we all sat down.
“Friends,” Nikolai said, raising his voice to be heard at the end of the table, “this is my daughter, Skye.”’
I awkwardly looked around the table, lowkey wishing I had worn more than leggings and a sweater to dinner as everyone stared at me. My hair was still scraped into the same messy bun from earlier.
Nikolai went around the table, introducing everyone to Tate and me. I silently prayed there wouldn’t be a quiz later since there were at least twenty men here, including someone from a European pack that was visiting.
Judging by how he nuzzled Natasha’s neck, he wasn’t just visiting the pack on business.
“And this is my beta, Andres,” Nikolai finished. “Andres is my mother’s brother.”
I looked at the man on the other side of Tate, to my left. He gave me a smile that was welcoming and warm, which was a pretty stark contrast to his inked skin that looked more intricate than Alexei’s did. Even his palms had been tattooed. The man was built like a tank and looked slightly older than Nikolai.
“You may call me Uncle,” he declared in a heavily accented voice. His cheeks were tinged red but I wasn’t sure if it was from the cold weather or the vodka he was throwing back. Either way, he beamed at me as he said it.
“Uh, thanks,” I replied. I ducked my head a bit. “Uncle.”
A second later, a salad was dropped in front of all of us by servers waiting in the wings. Half the table immediately dug in, switching to Russian as they spoke.
“Tate, darling, how are you?” Natasha asked, leaning forward.
“I’m okay,” she replied politely, taking a sip of her water.
“Is there anything you need?”
Tate smiled thinly before sipping her water. “Just to go home, which is happening tomorrow.”
“Of course,” Natasha said with a nod. “It’s been almost a decade since I’ve been to America.”
I froze, my fork hovering in midair. “You’re coming, too?”
“I am,” she replied, eyeing Nikolai. “Someone has to keep my husband in check.”
“Truthfully, she’s simply run out of men on this continent to charm,” Nikolai returned, leaning back in his chair and shooting her a smug look.
“I disagree,” the man to her right said with a chuckle, draping an arm against the back of her chair. His fingers tangled in her hair. His white teeth gleamed against olive skin as he grinned.
I frowned, trying to remember his name.
“Paolo comes from a pack in Italy,” Natasha chimed in. Her eyes slid to him, but the look and vibe she was giving off was cold and distant.
I set my fork down carefully as my wolf went on alert. Something wasn’t right.
“It’s a beautiful country,” he told me, his eyes bright as they wandered over me, a little too interested in what he saw.
I resisted the urge to shudder. Even Tate stiffened.
“It truly is,” Natasha agreed. “Paolo’s pack has been there for decades. He’s part of the council in his pack.”
Paolo grinned, his fingers dragging across the back of Natasha’s neck. “But Russia has many beautiful things in it as well.”
Natasha smiled, her lips tightly pressed together. Her eyes moved to Nikolai and they exchanged an unreadable look.
With a laugh, Nikolai set his fork down. “Paolo transferred packs from … where was it? An American pack originally, right?”
Paolo’s fingers stilled for a second against Natasha before moving again. “Unfortunately my pack was one of the ones that was lost. Our numbers dwindled, and I left for Europe. I was fortunate that the Alpha of my pack took me in.”
Smiling, Nikolai rested his elbow on the table and leaned in towards me. “Did you know, little wolf, that almost every American pack comes from a pack in Europe or Asia? The packs here got too large or fractured due to disagreements and new packs formed in the Americas.”
Paolo’s smile disappeared.
I forced myself to stay calm, waiting for whatever was about to happen.
“Paolo is part of the Nortosce pack in Italy,” Nikolai went on, still grinning as he talked to me. “You’re a clever girl, sweetheart. Can you guess what pack originated from the Nortosce pack?”
My mouth went dry, and Paolo paled.
Natasha removed his hand and laid it on the table as conversations stopped around us, plunging the room into an arctic silence.
Nikolai’s smile twisted into a grimace. “Ironic that Paolo requested to see you after learning my daughter was here, isn’t it, love?”
Natasha shrugged and drank from her wine glass. “Not at all if he were sent here by his Alpha to watch Skye.”
“I-I-I wasn’t,” Paolo interjected, stumbling to get the words out. “Bellezza, you must know how I feel for you.”
“I know how your dick feels,” she remarked with a snort. “And believe me, it’s not overly impressive.”
“So not only is he here to spy on my daughter, but he can’t even please my wife,” Nikolai mused, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully.
“I am not a spy!” Paolo’s voice cracked as he looked wildly around.
Natasha rolled her eyes. “For God’s sake, Paolo, you called your Alpha while I was in the bathroom. Do you truly think me that stupid?”
Paolo’s wide eyes jumped around as he tried to come up with an excuse that could get him out of this. Finally, he turned to Natasha.
“Tasha, you know how I feel about you in my heart,” he said desperately, grabbing her hand. “In my soul.”
She calmly extracted her hand from his grasp. “And you know how my pack feels about traitors.”
Paolo shoved his chair back from the table.
<
br /> “Don’t be an idiot,” Nikolai snapped, the first hints of his fury slipping through his calm façade. “Tell us what we wish to know and it will be quick. There’s no getting away.”
Tate’s hand crept onto my thigh until I grabbed it in my own, lacing our fingers together and squeezing.
Paolo’s chest heaved as he struggled to breathe, looking like a wild rabbit caught by a pack of starving wolves.
“The real reason for your visit,” Nikolai demanded.
Paolo swallowed, his eyes darting to me as his shoulders drooped. “My Alpha sent me. He was approached by his cousin, Damien Valois. They wanted to know if Skye Markham was here.”
My breath caught and Tate’s fingers strangled mine in an iron-clad grip.
“I was to find out when she was leaving,” he went on, voice wobbling as he continued speaking. “Norwood wanted to intercept her in transport. To make the Blackwater Alpha agree to their terms.”
Air whooshed out of me as rage ignited. My wolf snarled to the surface at his admission.
They wanted to use me to hurt Remy.
No fucking way.
Nikolai studied him for a long minute before turning to Andres. “How fast can we be in Nortosce?”
Andres’s eyes glittered at the thought of impending violence. “We have allies in Northern Italy and Greece that will assist us. We can be there within hours, Alpha.”
“Very well.” Nikolai drummed a finger on the table. “Tell our allies to go to Nortosce and depose the Alpha of his pack and his head. Spare the innocent.”
Andres looked down the table, nodding at two men. Moments later they stood up and stalked out of the room without another word.
Nikolai watched them go before looking at his beta. “How many do we have ready?”
“Two hundred now. We can have a thousand in America by the end of the week, possibly more if the Italian and Greek packs can handle Nortosce quickly.” Andres leaned back in his chair.
“Skye,” Nikolai said, dragging his gaze to me. “Would your mate object to my bringing an army to aid his pack in getting rid of the Norwood threat?”
Legacy (Blackwater Pack Book 3) Page 20
