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58

REMY

S ixteen girls were still missing by our count when we left Norwood. We’d arranged for a lot of the girls and women to go home to their packs, but we still had a lot of girls who didn’t have a home.

Bringing them back to Blackwater with us was really the only option. At least for now.

Since none of the females had any kind of identification, we brought them back on our private plane. After a six hour, cross-country flight, the smell of their fear and anxiety was grating on my nerves.

Skye’s hand smoothed across my hand as the plane touched down in Blackwater once again. Hopefully we wouldn’t need the damn plane again for a while; I was sick of it.

“We’re home,” she murmured softly, her eyes scanning the small crowd waiting for us.

“Finally,” I muttered back, already unbuckling my seatbelt. My wolf grumbled, unhappy as the overpowering scents of fear reached a new height.

“They’re scared,” Skye said, giving me a small smile.

I nodded. “I know, but...”

“But the Alpha in you hates not being able to make them feel better,” she deduced with a soft laugh.

“Maybe this was the wrong call, bringing them back here.”

“You gave each of them a choice, Remy,” she pointed out, squeezing my hand as we stood up.

“I know. But some of them are just kids.” I glanced around at the new faces.

We’d brought back thirteen girls and women who had nowhere else to go after we raided the compound and set everyone free. The oldest was my mom’s age and the youngest was maybe two years old.

But one face was missing in the group I had hoped to bring home.

“You couldn’t force Sierra to come with us,” Skye whispered sadly. “She wanted to be on her own.”

“Her parents would want her back,” I replied.

When we’d found Sierra in the basement of the building, she’d looked nothing like the girl who used to flounce around Granite Peak Academy like she owned the place. Her long blonde hair had been hacked into uneven strands that hung limply around her blank blue eyes. Her skin was sallow and pulled taut over sharp bones, enhanced by a clear lack of nutrition.

Sierra had my life hell at one point, and she definitely wasn’t a friend to Katy, Larkin, or Skye, but the need to protect her was still strong. She looked utterly beaten down.

The only fight she had shown was when I said I was taking her home. She was adamant about not going to Blackwater, and she wouldn’t even look at Skye or me.

Skye and Katy had convinced me to leave her alone. She was eighteen now, and if she wanted to be on her own, then that was her right. Even if I wanted to force the issue, it was taken out of my hands when she managed to slip away during the chaos of corralling everyone and contacting packs and parents to collect the people we’d found.

Dimitri, Lulu, and Alexei had stayed behind with a group from Narodnaya to help with reuniting everyone and keep an eye on the now Alpha-less Norwood until we could figure out what to do with the pack.

Skye and I filed into the aisle, waiting for the door to open for us to disembark.

“I want to call a council meeting for this evening,” I told Rhodes as we paused by where he and Larkin were sitting. “We need to finalize everything that’s happened and figure out where to go from here.”

“No rest for the weary,” Larkin said with a shrug.

Rhodes simply nodded. “I’ll contact everyone.”

“I’ll talk to my mom,” Skye added. “We can have her bring in food for everyone.”

“Sounds good,” I agreed as the door pulled open to reveal the warm Washington morning sun. I exited first, making sure Skye was behind me, as we started down the stairs.

Skye’s soft gasp when we reached the bottom made me turn, but her eyes were staring at the crowd beyond me. A slow, gorgeous smile spread across her face, and she took off running with a laugh.

She ran across the tarmac and straight into the arms of my dad.

Relief hit me so hard and fast that I was dizzy. It had been weeks since I’d see him upright.

He laughed as he hugged Skye back. And a second later, Katy was pushing past me to run to him, too.

I took my time, watching for any signs of weakness or problems, but my worry disappeared when he grinned at me.

“Hey, kiddo,” he greeted, pulling me into a hug.

“Are you—” I cleared my throat, swallowing around the tangled of emotions. “Are you okay?”

“Doctors gave him a clean bill of health last night,” Mom said, leaning around him to hug me quickly.

“That’s awesome!” Katy cried, hugging him again.

Mom framed my face with her hands. “You did it, baby.”

I glanced over to where Skye was hugging her Mom and then to where Maren was reuniting with her parents, and lastly to my friends gathered around me.

“We did it,” I corrected.

“We’re proud of you, Remy,” Dad told me fiercely, hugging me hard enough to crack a rib.

“I called a council meeting for tonight,” I told him. “If that’s okay?”

Dad paused for a second and then nodded. “You’re the Alpha.”

I t was a strange feeling walking into the council room again. It was fuller than the last time, and now at least I had Skye walking in next to me. Everyone looked up as we entered, clearly the last to arrive.

I paused when I saw Dad standing behind the head of the table, his hands curled around the top of the seat reserved for the Alpha of the Blackwater pack.

It was strange; part of me wanted to be a kid again, but a bigger part of me had settled into the role of Alpha. Taking care of my pack and my people was a calling, and I wasn’t completely sure that I would be okay stepping back into the role of heir.

“Have a seat,” Dad said, smiling, as he patted the seat and moved back to stand near Mom and Nikolai, who sat to the side. Observing, but not technically part of this.

Skye squeezed my hand, encouraging me to sit in that seat once more, even if it was just to give it back to its rightful owner.

I sat slowly, watching as Skye sat to my left. Then I drew in a deep breath to begin.

“If I may?” William Lodge cut in first from the end of the table, raising his hand.

I stiffened, steeling myself for whatever he was about to say even as I nodded for him to continue.

“I was wrong.”

I blinked, not sure I had heard him correctly.

Lodge leaned forward, bracing his forearms on the edge of the table as he looked me in the eye. “When you first sat down as Alpha, I had a lot of doubts. Even after the challenge, I had my doubts. But I’ve seen what you’ve done this last week. You and your mate.”

Several heads started nodding in agreement and Rhodes flashed me a grin from where he sat to my right.

“Maybe we got too comfortable,” Lodge went on. “Maybe we thought Blackwater was untouchable, but you... kids have handled everything a hell of a lot better than I think us adults could have.”

“He’s right,” Michael chimed in from beside Rhodes with a smile.

“I may not be happy that my Ainsley is now bonded to two knuckleheads,” Lodge added as several people laughed, “but she’s found her mates. This pack is thriving because of you both.”

Skye and I exchanged smiles. She reached across the table and threaded her fingers through mine.

“I agree,” Dad said, coming forward and looking at me. “Which is why I’m not going to be stepping back in as Alpha.”

“What?” The word was out before I could finish thinking it. All my brain could process was shock.

Smiling, Dad clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Blackwater is your pack, son.”

Skye’s wide eyes looked up at him. “But what about you?”

“I still have some healing to do, but I also realize that we can’t undo what happened this last month and the role you both played,” Gabe said gently, smiling at her. “You saved this pack and a lot of people. You rescued even more. I think we all feel confident moving forward with Blackwater under your leadership. Both of yours.”

“What about you?” I asked.

“We’ve been giving that some thought,” Michael said, smiling slightly. “What happened in Wyoming opened up a big void in our world. We have a lot of packs that are leaderless, and we can’t support them all long-term.”

“I know that,” I stated slowly. “The goal was never for Blackwater to be a single pack. The plan has always been to give the packs back their autonomy now that Norwood isn’t a threat.”

“But who oversees that?” Katy looked around curiously after posing the question. “Do we leave it up to the packs?”

“We think it should be mostly pack decisions, but we’re also aware that packs want guidance. There will still be issues with packs that need to be settled,” Michael replied. “Which is why I brought up to your dad and his council the idea of him taking over and forming a new shifter council for North America.”

I looked at him in surprise. “Really?”

He nodded slowly. “At first I wasn’t crazy about the idea, but after talking it over with your mom and my council, I think it makes sense. It’s going to take awhile, and it will mean I need to travel a lot to oversee the packs.”

“Which is why we also think you need to consider expanding your council,” Michael finished, looking at me. “We’re happy to help but it would be best if you start appointing your own fulltime council.”

I frowned. “I won’t ask anyone to defer college or finishing school to help.”

“Nor do we expect you to,” Lodge added. “We’ll all stay and help, but with the caveat that in a few years, we’ll be transitioning out to make way for your council.”

Dad gave me a look. “And that includes you, Remy. We’ll make it work.”

I looked down at the table for a second before looking at Skye, then Rhodes, followed by Katy, Dante and Will. They all nodded and smiled at me.

“I would be honored to continue as the Blackwater Alpha,” I finally answered.

Several people clapped in response, and I stood up to hug my father.

“I’m proud of you, Rem,” he said quietly in my ear.

“Thanks, Dad.” I smiled at him as I sat back down.

Nikolai cleared his throat from where he sat on the edge near Mom. “If I may?”

I nodded. “Of course.”

He stood up. “As most of you know, I am the Alpha of the Narodnaya pack in Russia. What you may not know is that many years ago, there was a strong bond between all the packs. Your annual Summit to discuss affairs was an international one. I propose we keep these newly reestablished lines of communication open.”

“We won’t argue with that,” Dad said, folding his arms over his chest. “We know your support was invaluable this last week.”

“We’ll need someone to act as a liaison between the packs, so I propose someone who can easily call two packs home.” He looked at Skye. “My daughter.”

Skye sat up straighter and made a small, surprised noise. “Me?”

“Yes, you,” he affirmed with a chuckle. “I’ve spoken to my friends in Europe and Asia. They agree that my daughter would be able to advocate for their interests on a daily basis.”

“I agree,” I added quickly, drawing her attention.

“Rem, are you sure?”

“Never been more sure.” I took her hand and kissed it.

“Remy and Nikolai are right,” Dad confirmed. “You’re the best choice, sweetheart, provided it’s what you want.”

She caught her lower lip between her teeth, thinking for a moment before smiling slowly. “Yeah. I would love that.”

“We still have a lot of work to do,” Rhodes commented.

I nodded. “Then we better get started.”