“Running away from this won’t fix anything,” Dante argued.
“He’s right,” Nikolai agreed, nodding. “If anything it will make you look weaker.”
“He can’t fight with a broken arm,” I snapped, whirling around to glare at my father. I needed someplace to put all this fear and anger churning in my gut, and he was unfortunately about to be on the receiving end.
“If I may?”
We all turned to see Elias standing near us.
The old man cleared his throat. “Remy doesn’t have to fight.” Elias looked at me. “There are ways around it, especially since it’s a rebuttal challenge from an heir, not a recognized, true Alpha.”
I sucked in a gulp of air. I was Remy’s mate. I was an Alpha now.
“I’ll do it,” I said quickly.
“What?” Katy gaped at me.
“No,” Remy shot back. “I can do it.”
“You can’t do it,” I argued, pointing at his hand.
“Neither can you,” Nikolai said calmly.
“Yes, I can,” I insisted, gritting my teeth and glaring at my father. “I can take Trace. I almost did before at Granite Peak.”
He took my hand. “You can’t. Skye, when I gave you the Narodnaya pack, you stopped being a member of the Blackwater pack.”
My breath caught. “What?”
“You can’t answer a challenge to a pack you aren’t a part of,” he finished gently. “Sweetheart, you can’t be the one to step in.”
Remy sighed behind me, completely relieved as the news rocked me. I wasn’t part of Blackwater anymore?
That felt inherently … wrong.
“But this is one of the reasons Alphas have a beta. A second in command.” Nikolai looked over my shoulder to …
Rhodes.
“Precisely my thoughts,” Elias mumbled. “Rhodes could fight on behalf of his Alpha. It is his right and duty as a beta.”
“I’m in,” Rhodes said instantly, not seeing Larkin go pale next to him.
Remy swallowed, looking gutted at the idea of risking his best friend. “Rhodes—”
“Skye’s right,” Rhodes cut him off. “You can’t fight Trace like this. It’s me or we give up.”
“Trace is an Alpha,” Tate murmured, covering her mouth with her hand. “Rhodes, you’re … not.”
“But Trace is also a bitch and a mediocre fighter,” Rhodes pointed out. His gaze dropped to Larkin. “And I definitely have a score to settle with him.
“Not for me,” Larkin whispered, shaking her head. “Don’t you dare do this for me. I can’t be the reason you get hurt.”
“So little faith in me,” Rhodes commented quietly, a sad sort of smile on his lips.
Larkin’s shoulders dropped. “I didn’t mean—”
He silenced her with a fast kiss. “Trust me, baby girl. Okay?”
She nodded back at him, sniffling a little and blinking back tears.
“We still have a few hours,” Griffin pointed out. “Or you can accept the challenge and set the date for later on. You have a week after a challenge is issued to meet it. Remy will be healed in a few days.”
“No,” Nikolai said quickly. “That boy made his challenge in a moment of childish anger. He didn’t think it through. Don’t give him any time to prepare.”
“You think they should do this now?” Katy demanded.
“He’s right,” Dimitri agreed, his gaze flicking to Rhodes. “Are you ready now?”
Rhodes nodded, not a trace of unease or worry in his eyes. “We do this now. End it now.”
Remy sighed, still reluctant. “If you’re sure.”
“I am,” Rhodes replied honestly. “Go accept the challenge. I’ll kick Trace’s ass and we can all go home.”
“Okay,” Remy agreed quietly. He moved away from us and back towards Damien’s body until he stood over it.
“Ready to do this?” Trace snarled, stepping forward.
“I accept your challenge,” Remy told him in a firm voice that carried to the spectators. “But my beta will fight.”
Trace’s smirk slipped. “What?”
Remy lifted his injured arm. “I’m unable to fight, so my beta will. Now.”
Something like panic started creeping onto Trace’s face. “Can’t I bury my father first?”
“No,” Remy said flatly. “You wanted this challenge and now you’ve got it. As the responding pack, we can set the timing and we choose now.”
“My father gave you the extra time you requested for your challenge,” Trace shot back, eyes bright with what looked a lot like worry.
Remy shrugged one shoulder. “That was his right as the responding party. We don’t want to delay this.”
I had been so busy watching Remy and Trace that I’d missed Rhodes shifting. I jolted as I felt his fur brush past my hand as he padded slowly to Remy’s side.
A shudder rolled through Larkin and I wrapped an arm around her.
“It’ll be okay,” I whispered, not sure if I was trying to reassure myself or her.
Katy closed in on Larkin’s other side, winding an arm around her waist so she was supported on either side by us.
Griffin moved between Remy and Trace, looking at Trace. “Do you accept or withdraw your challenge?”
Trace’s eyes flickered around nervously for a beat. He was screwed either way, and he knew it.
“I accept,” he finally said, a small tremor in his voice. But a few seconds later he was stripping and shifting.
Rhodes’s brown coat looked golden in the late morning sun. The black tipped brown fur of Trace’s coat looked muddy and dirty by comparison, but both wolves were pretty evenly matched size-wise.
Remy came back to my side and grabbed my hand. “I hate this,” he muttered. “It should be me.”
“Rhodes has this,” Katy said from Larkin’s side. Her gaze jerked to where Maren was still being held. “He has to win.”
“Death or submission means the other wins,” Griffin told them before getting out of the way.
I half expected this to start the way I had seen Remy fight; with Rhodes watching and calculating, but Rhodes wasn’t Remy. He lunged first, surprising me and definitely surprising Trace who barely managed to dance out of the way of his jaws.
Larkin trembled and covered her face with her hands, peeking from between her fingers.
Rhodes didn’t quit; he never gave Trace a chance to recover and constantly kept him moving as Rhodes stayed on the offensive. The more Rhodes advanced, the clumsier Trace got.
He was cracking under the pressure.
When Rhodes backed him towards his father’s body, Trace hesitated and it cost him.
Rhodes snarled and surged forward, his sharp teeth finding purchase on Trace’s ribs. I flinched as Trace yelped, the high-pitched cry scraping against my eardrums.
“That’s it,” Remy murmured, his eyes glued to his best friend.
Now Trace was even more unfocused as he moved around, clearly favoring his right side. Rhodes got in several more shots: a swipe across Trace’s face, another bite to his left flank, and in one humiliating moment, he grabbed Trace’s tail when Trace turned to literally tuck and run. Rhodes dragged him backwards into the fight.
Trace yipped again, sliding on the grass and his wide eyes unfocused as Rhodes kept coming after him.
With a vicious growl, Rhodes leapt at Trace and knocked him to the ground, rolling Trace under his body.
With a sharp whimpering cry, Trace rolled over.
My jaw dropped and I squeezed Remy’s fingers. “Did he just—”
“Submit? Yeah,” Remy finished for me with a bitter laugh. “He quit.”
Looking up, I could see the disgust on the faces of a lot of people from Norwood as Trace gave up. Some looked concerned, but a few also looked relieved.
Rhodes backed away from Trace, who was still on the ground.
“Norwood submitted,” Griffin announced. “Blackwater wins.”
Remy let me go and headed
for the middle of the clearing. He gazed at the Norwood members, and then his eyes zeroed in on Maren. “Let her go.”
The men holding Maren released her suddenly, abruptly. She stumbled forward before breaking into a run and running straight to Katy with a sob. A second later, Tate was joining their hug as Dante and Ryder waited for their own chance to hug Maren.
“It’s over,” Larkin whispered. “It’s actually over.”
“Not quite,” Lulu said quietly, filling the empty space Remy had left. “We need to free those women, and I need to find that elemental they were using.”
Griffin joined Remy and arched a brow. “Any other challengers?”
I held my breath and waited. Challenges were almost entirely issued by Alphas unless it was a lower pack member trying to wrest control and power of a pack. Technically any of the men across from us could challenge Remy, which meant he or Rhodes would have to keep fighting.
A man stepped forward from the pack and stared hard at Remy for a moment before slowly lowering to one knee. One by one, the rest of the Norwood pack followed suit until they all submitted to Remy. To Blackwater.
I finally exhaled the breath caught in my chest.
56
Skye
“Katy and Maren will be here in ten minutes,” Larkin said, ducking her head into the room where I was sitting with my father in the Windale Alpha house. She flashed us both a tired smile.
It had been a long twenty-four hours since the challenge ended and we were all feeling it.
“Okay,” I replied as Larkin moved out of the doorway to the formal living room Nikolai and I were sitting in.
“How is Katy’s girlfriend?” he asked gently.
I sighed. She was doing okay, but there was no denying the last few months had taken their toll on her.
After winning the challenge, and Norwood finally standing down, we actually had space to breathe for the first time in months. Maren had been sort of out of it when we brought her back with us, and she’d been holed up with Katy for most of the day.
After Trace surrendered, Remy and Lulu had bound him to his wolf form. He’d slunk off into the woods with his tail between his legs. The doctor from Windale had set Remy’s arm and stitched up his shoulder. I had stayed up most of the night, watching him sleep next to me, to reassure myself he was really okay.
That we were all okay.
Damien’s body had been cremated and would be returned to his widow when we went to Norwood tomorrow. Everything was happening fast now, faster than I could keep up with.
Which was why I was a little grateful that my dad had grabbed me to talk for a few minutes. There was something we needed to settle between us.
“I won’t keep you,” he told me quickly. “I just wanted to see how you were faring this morning. Yesterday was rather taxing.”
I snorted. “That’s an understatement. But I’m okay.”
“And Remy?”
“He’s good,” I said with a smile. “Doctor thinks he’ll have the cast off by the end of the week. The break was clean, so it’ll heal fast.”
“That’s good news.”
I fidgeted for a second. “I need to give you back your pack.”
Sighing, he nodded and rubbed his jaw. “I had a feeling this was coming after what I said yesterday.”
I looked down at my hands, not wanting to see any disappointment in his eyes. “Blackwater is my home. They’re my pack. I know you gave me Narodnaya to get the other Alphas to agree to help—”
His hand covered mine. “I was happy to do it. And I would be happy still to see you rule Narodnaya. You would make a magnificent Alpha.”
“I won’t ask Remy to give up Blackwater,” I said quietly, lifting my eyes. “And truth be told? I don’t want to give it up either. That pack saved me when I was a scared kid on the run with Mom. My friends and some of my family are there.”
He smiled at that. “I understand, little wolf. But you will always have a home with me.”
“I know,” I replied, feeling the prick of tears sting the backs of my eyes. “I had no idea I would find you or Dimitri.”
“You’re welcome in our home anytime. I’ll even send the plane for you,” he added with a wink. “And your room will stay yours.”
I drew in a cleansing breath. “So, how do I give you back your pack?”
“Well, I could challenge you.” He grinned at me, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
A laugh burst from my chest. “I think you’d win.”
“Perhaps,” he allowed with a small smile.
“But really. How do we do this?” I asked, a little unsure about the proper protocol to surrender a pack.
“Do what?” Remy asked, his frame mostly filling the empty doorway. He gave me a soft smile and sat down beside me.
“Give my dad his pack back,” I said.
Remy nodded slowly at me. We had talked about this last night, and he knew I was planning to give up Narodnaya. He grabbed my hand in his and squeezed supportively.
“There’s no need for formal protocol,” my dad told me. “Just … give it back.”
“Okay,” I replied with an amused chuckle. “I give you your pack back.”
“Our pack,” he corrected.
“Our pack,” I agreed. Blackwater was my home, but there was no denying the pull that my wolf and I felt for Narodnaya.
He dipped his head in acknowledgement. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to send some of the men ahead into Norwood. I don’t want any surprises when we arrive tomorrow.”
“You’re coming with us?” Remy asked.
Nikolai paused where he was standing now. “If that’s all right with you, Alpha?”
“Of course,” Remy replied instantly. “I just assumed you would want to head home.”
“My pack still has some outstanding business,” Nikolai said vaguely. “And Lulu needs to meet the elemental that the pack has been using to manipulate the wolves there.”
“Okay,” Remy agreed, shrugging. “I won’t say no to the extra help.”
Unease prickled up my spine. “You think we’ll have a problem?”
His dark eyes met mine. “I think I’m not taking any chances. There are bound to be a few who resist the idea of me being Alpha. And the deal Damien was offering was lucrative for a lot of people. They won’t be happy to see that end.”
My eyes narrowed. “He was offering women and children as mates to the highest bidder.”
“And there’s a lot of people who still think he was onto something,” Remy pointed out. “Winning this war isn’t going to magically change everyone’s minds.”
My face twisted into a scowl.
“Your Alpha is right,” my dad added gently. “Even in Europe, we struggle with this. Yes, we’ve had a lot of success, but there will always be a few outliers who seek to dismantle and uproot our work.”
“Not everyone is a good person,” Remy finished sadly, his lips pressed together.
No need to tell me that; I was well aware of the depravity of people.
Sighing, I nodded.
“Any word on how the packs are doing where you live?” Remy asked.
“Holding their own, as expected,” Nikolai replied. “These petty squabbles between packs are annoying and time consuming, but no true threat. And I suspect after you finish dismantling what’s left of Norwood, they’ll fall easily enough.”
“If you need to go home,” I started softly, hating the idea of him leaving already, but knowing he had a duty as Alpha.
“Andres is handling things. Your uncle is very capable,” he assured me.
I huffed out a quiet laugh. “It’s kind of nice having an uncle who isn’t completely psychotic.”
My father winced. “Well, I can’t assure you he’s entirely sane, especially when there’s vodka involved, but I’m not concerned.”
I giggled and leaned against Remy.
Nikolai glanced out the window. “It appears your friends are here. I’ll give you all
your space and check in later.”
Remy stood up and extended a hand to my father, which he accepted with a smile.
“Thanks again for your help,” Remy told him. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”
Nikolai’s gaze flickered between us. “All due respect, Alpha, but I believe the two of you would fare just fine without me. When will we depart for New York?”
“Soon,” Remy replied. “We’re refueling the plane now. I just need to have one last meeting with my council before we leave. Hopefully Maren can tell us what we’re walking into.”
“You’re welcome to join us,” I added.
“No. Alexei should have his people close to the northern pack boundary by now. I’ll check in with him to see if there’s any movement we need to be concerned with.” My father gave me a warm smile. “I’ll see you soon, little wolf.”
Remy smiled at him, and I stood up as he walked out the room.
My mate turned to me, his eyes narrowing as his arms slipped around my waist to draw me close. “You look exhausted.”
I frowned at him. “Wow. Way to make a girl feel good.”
He rolled his eyes. “You know you’re gorgeous.”
Now it was my turn to roll my eyes, but I couldn’t stop the blush that crept across my cheeks.
“Seriously,” he said, ducking a bit to look me in the eye, “did you sleep okay?”
“I didn’t sleep much,” I admitted. My fingers lightly touched the cast on his left arm. “I mostly just watched you. Yesterday scared the hell out of me.”
His gaze softened. “I’m fine, baby.” He leaned into me, his nose brushing mine a breath before his lips did the same.
“I know,” I insisted weakly. “I just … I don’t know. I just needed to remind myself that you were still here with me. That we had really won.”
“I am and we did,” he said softly.
I rolled to my toes and kissed him, running my fingers through his short hair as his palm flattened against the small of my back and pressed me closer.
“See, Mare? Some things never change,” Katy deadpanned from the doorway.
I twisted away from Remy instantly and ran to Maren, hugging her tightly.
Legacy (Blackwater Pack Book 3) Page 47
