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I probably imagined that everyone was watching us as we headed for the main lodge, but it felt like dozens of pairs of eyes were on us as we walked.

The sunlight was blindingly bright, the promise of a beautiful spring day lingering in the mid-morning rays that fell across the lush property.

I walked up the stairs, my hand in Remy’s and Gabe on my other side, like I was heading for the executioner’s block. Dread and nerves weighed down my steps until the only thing that kept me moving was sheer will.

We wound down the hallway towards the individual meeting rooms, rounding a last corner where Linden waited with two men I recognized from the Alpha Council.

I squared my shoulders, lifting my chin as I readied for battle even though everything in me screamed to run, run, run .

Linden’s eyes, the same brilliant shade of emerald as my own, glittered with unspoken threats and promises.

The older of the two Council members frowned as we approached. He turned, his shoulders hunched with age as he rested heavily on a cane in his right hand.

“Alpha Gabriel,” the man started, his deep voice rough and worn from years of use, “you know you are not permitted at this inquest.”

Gabe inclined his head politely, but I got the feeling he was grinding his teeth to keep from replying. “Of course. I simply wished to escort my pack member to the meeting. You can understand my son not wanting to leave his mate’s side.”

Linden scoffed under his breath, but held back a reply.

Remy squeezed my hand once. “I’ll see you when this is over. I love you,” he murmured in my ear, brushing a kiss against the side of my head.

I wanted to turn my head and capture his lips with mine. I wanted to mark him as mine in front of these men, in front of my uncle, so there was no question where I belonged.

Instead, cotton filled my mouth rendering me unable to speak. I simply nodded.

The younger Councilman opened the heavy wood door to the meeting space, waving me inside. “Miss Markham, if you please?”

I drew in a slow breath, willing my nerves to steady as I walked inside.

The room had a wall of windows, filling the room with bright light. A long, rectangular table took up the bulk of the space, eight chairs around it.

The door shut behind me with a heavy thud, and I flinched at the sound. It took everything in me not to get up and make sure it wasn’t locked. To make sure I wasn’t trapped.

“Please sit,” the younger man encouraged, sitting at the head of the table along with the older Councilman.

I walked around to the side where the windows were and sat in one of the seats.

Linden sat across from me, his green eyes narrow as he looked at me with what seemed to be genuine concern.

I clenched my teeth as my wolf growled in my chest, prowling at the surface angrily, waiting for an opening to tear this man apart.

Down, girl .

The older man cleared his throat. “I am Louis Clouder, Miss Markham. I have been selected as the senior Alpha presiding over this meeting. This is Tobias Zale.” He gestured to the younger man beside him. “He is one of our alternates and will likely succeed me on the Council next year.”

“Shoes that will be hard to fill, Alpha Louis,” Linden said smoothly, angling his head in deference to the older man.

Tobias smiled politely at me. “This meeting is to determine if you, Skye Markham, had cause to abandon your birth pack. Your uncle claims you were forcibly removed from his charge, along with your mother and other family members, by the Blackwater pack.”

I snorted, shaking my head.

“I will remind you that you are bound by Pack Law to speak the truth to the Alphas present in this room,” Tobias added, ignoring my sound of protest. “Failure to provide wholly and accurate truth may result in punishment, not only for you, but also those you seek to protect with your lies.”

Translation: tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth or Blackwater could pay the price.

“I promise to speak only the truth,” I vowed softly, giving a single nod of affirmation.

“Alpha Linden,” Tobias said, changing his focus to the man across from me. “I remind you that you, too, are bound by Pack Law.”

Linden gave me a slight smirk, barely hooking one corner of his mouth up, before he turned and addressed the Council members seated at the far end of the table that would observe the exchange.

“I am fully aware of the importance of complete and total honesty,” Linden said, so sincerely that I almost believed him. “I vow to speak only the truth.”

He lied as easily as he breathed.

Louis nodded once. “As the aggrieved party, you may begin, Alpha.”

“Thank you for sitting in on this meeting, brothers,” Linden began, his tone firm but yielding. He inclined his head in deference. “I appreciate your treating my claims with the proper attention they deserve. We will need the support of the Council now more than ever.”

I glared at him. God, he was such a pompous asshole.

Linden looked at me, his expression the picture of warmth and worry. “Skye, sweetheart, I’m so relieved to see you looking well. We worried the worst had happened when you were taken from us.”

My jaw dropped in outrage. I was unable to stop from responding. “When I was taken ?”

He made a clicking noise against his teeth, shaking his head sadly. “My sweet girl, we’re here to bring you home. Those brutes in Blackwater will pay for what they’ve done to you. Skye, you can come home now.” He spoke slowly, clearly articulating every single word like I had suffered a concussion or something.

“Are you out of your mind?” I hissed, slapping my hands on the table. My entire body shook with rage. “I ran from you . Because you are a monster. Growing up in the Long Mesa pack was hell.”

Sighing in dejection, Linden looked down the table at the other men, shoulders hunched. “You see how they’ve poisoned my own niece against me? They’ve taken my sister, and they’ve corrupted my niece. I beg the Council to have them returned to my protection along with my wife and daughter before they can be abused and brain-washed even more.”

My gaze swung down to the men sitting silently. “My uncle is the monster. He and my grandfather whored out my mother to the pack. To their friends. They would have done the same thing to me, just like they did to every other omega in the pack.”

Both men turned wide eyes to my uncle, who simply dropped his head.

“This is most distressing,” he finally whispered. Lifting his eyes, tears shimmered in the green depths. “Is there no limit to their manipulation? To their cruelty? Skye, sweet child, we are your pack. Your family . We would never do what they’ve done to you. No Alpha would betray his pack in such a way.”

I looked at both men, completely stunned. “You can’t be buying this act!”

Neither of them spoke, but both looked at my uncle with... understanding?

Hell no.

“They have taken my sister, my wife, and my daughter. They murdered my chosen successor when he tried to free his mate.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I exploded, ready to flip the table right here and now. I was barely maintaining control over my wolf right. “ Cassian ? Cassian was never my mate.”

“We heard about the death of your young successor, but there have been conflicting stories,” Louis commented, finally joining the conversation. A deep frown settled into the hard lines of his face. “You are claiming that the Blackwater pack murdered him?”

Before I could splutter out a coherent response, Linden was already talking.

“Cassian finally learned the truth of his mate’s whereabouts from the Norwood pack, one of our allies in the North. He went and was able to save Skye. He was murdered by Remington Holt when Cassian and Skye attempted to flee for their lives to meet the convoy I had arranged to bring them back home. In his jealous rage, Remington nearly killed Skye as well, shoving both her and Cassian off a cliff. It was all witnessed by Trace Valois. He is here and will make a statement of confirmation.”

I was going to lose it any second. I hadn’t actually expected Linden to tell the truth, but this story was so far beyond anything I ever thought he would dream up.

Tobias looked at me. “Is this correct?”

“Not. Even. Close,” I ground out between clenched teeth. I slowly got to my feet across from my uncle. “Let’s start with Cassian being my mate .” I spat the word. “Cassian was your daughter’s intended mate. Until he and his friends gang raped her. Then your wife and daughter ran for their lives and sought sanctuary in Blackwater.”

The men at the end of the table glanced at each other, and I saw the first cracks of unease beginning.

Good.

But I wasn’t even close to finished.

“Cassian came to my school and attacked me. He knocked me out and kidnapped me. He tied me down and laughed about what he and his friends did to your daughter. About what they were going to do to me.”

I kept my eyes locked on Linden’s the whole time. Slowly the concerned uncle was giving way to the vindictive Alpha.The concerned warmth in his eyes chilling to a bitter frost.

There was the monster I knew. Now I just needed the Council to see it, too.

Narrowing my eyes, I leaned forward. “ I tackled Cassian off that cliff and went over it with him because I would rather die than ever go back to Long Mesa. The only thing that saved me was my true mate. Remy got me off that mountain. He stayed by my side for weeks as I recovered.”

Straightening, I folded my arms over my chest and glared at him, letting them all see how deep my hatred ran. “The only reason you want my mother back is so you can keep whoring her out to your friends.’” My gaze swung to the men, their mouths now agape.

“ That is what Long Mesa does. They abuse omegas, they allow and even encourage violence amongst pack members. I grew up in a shack just for omegas, surviving off whatever food scraps the local grocery store was throwing away because they were spoiled or expired. I listened to men and women being attacked and brutalized every single day, all with the knowledge that I only had days until that was my fate as well.”

I finally looked back at my uncle. All pretense of the loving Alpha was gone. Pure hatred glittered in his eyes.

“You’re a monster. And you will pay for what you’ve done to us.”

Linden got to his feet, nearly toppling his chair. “You ungrateful little bitch.”

“You sadistic asshole,” I hissed back. “I’m going to make sure every single shifter knows who you are and what you’ve done. Cassian told me that you had a hand in all the missing women from the packs.”

That caught the attention of the Council members.

Tobias leaned forward, eyes wide. “Is this true, Alpha Linden?”

Linden seemed to suddenly remember that we weren’t alone. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, calming down before he glanced at the other men. “You see the ways they have manipulated her? Brainwashed her into betraying her own pack?”

He leaned back in his chair and looked down the table at the men. “Of course I have no knowledge of the missing female shifters. I, myself, have four missing females from my pack. Perhaps Blackwater has more females in their hold than we know.”

My jaw dropped at his insinuation.

Both men watched my uncle with a new skepticism that wasn’t there a few minutes ago. I sank back into my chair, my legs turning to jelly as my adrenaline rush started crashing.

Louis slowly stood up and cleared his throat. “I can assure you, Alpha Linden, there will be a formal inquest into everything brought up here today.”

Tobias got up beside him, his eyes on me. “For the interim, we will not be ordering Skye or any other pack member who has gone to Blackwater to return to Long Mesa.” His eyes went soft around the edges.

Linden slammed a fist down on the table hard enough to make all three of us jump. “You will send my blood back to the pack that stole her? That corrupted her?”

I folded my arms over my chest, lifting my chin a notch. “No, they’re letting me stay by my true mate’s side. Where I belong. Thankfully that happens to be far away from you.”

My uncle snorted derisively. “ True mate ? Please. She’s an infatuated child. We all know true mates bond later in life. They’re too young to be bonded.”

“And yet we are,” I replied, unable to stop the triumphant smile on my lips.

Linden’s gaze swept me slowly, deliberately, before he arched a brow smugly. “I see no claiming mark on you.”

Both men at the end of the table shifted their attention to me once more, their gazes more curious than condemning.

I shifted in my seat, not wanting to give away that I was more than a little clueless about a claiming mark.

My silence was all the fuel my uncle needed.

He smothered a smile. “Unless it is in a place we cannot see?” There was no missing the mocking in his voice.

My eyes narrowed.

“You do have the mark of a claimed, bonded mate, don’t you?” Louis asked me, tilting his head to the side as he studied me carefully.

Curiosity and uncertainty cracked me.

“What are you talking about?” I winced at the edge of uncertainty in my tone.

Grinning, he leaned forward. He knew I had no idea what he was talking about, and now he was going in for the kill.

“Everyone knows true mates claim one another. Mark their mate. It’s unavoidable in the heat of... passion.” Linden sneered at me. “If you were true mates, you would bear your mate’s mark.”

I forced myself to take even breaths, to keep my head up even when I wanted to look away in embarrassment. He couldn’t mean what I thought he did, right?

His eyes glittered like emeralds in sunlight. “My sweet girl, I don’t think you’ve been claimed. Likely because he isn’t your true mate as Remington would have you believe.”

My jaw dropped. “Of course he’s my true mate.”

Linden leaned back, hands up in surrender. “Prove me wrong. Show us your mark.”

Tobias cleared his throat, getting my attention. “He does have a point, Miss Markham. All bonded pairs claim their mate. It’s an unavoidable act during the consummation of the bond. Surely you and your mate have,” he had the decency to look embarrassed, “consummated your bond?”

Louis’s brow wrinkled. “She must have.” Then he chuckled softly, knowingly, in a way that made my skin crawl.

My body was shaking. This wasn’t happening.

“We haven’t done... that ,” I whispered.

The men at the end of the table exchanged glances, and it was all the opening Linden needed.

“See?” he declared loudly. “Proof that they are not bonded mates. They have manipulated and brainwashed my niece into thinking she’s bonded to their alpha heir as a way to usurp my pack’s authority and claim.”

“Because we are bonded,” I snapped, but I realized no one was buying my argument.

“How long have you and Remington been bonded ?” Linden made the words sound dirty, laughable.

“We bonded shortly after I arrived at Granite Peak. In the fall,” I answered quickly.

Apparently that was the wrong answer because now the two men at the end of the table started whispering to each other.

“That has been nearly five months,” Linden told me triumphantly. “True mates can barely wait a day once bonded before claiming their mate. You expect us to believe that you and your mate have waited half a year?”

“Yes,” I ground out.

He snorted, glancing at the men with a knowing look. “Because teenagers are known for their restraint.”

Louis chuckled again as he nodded at Linden, but Tobias still seemed on the fence, his eyes studying me calmly.

“So, Remy’s not my mate because he hasn’t forced me to do something I’m not ready to do? Something that scares the hell out of me because of what happened in your pack?” I hissed, digging my heels in.

These assholes had no idea who Remy was, or what we were to each other.

But it was also becoming clear that maybe I didn’t know exactly what Remy and I were to each other either.

There was no way he didn’t know about this claiming mark thing.

Linden sank back down into his chair. “Dear girl, if you were his true mate and he yours, no one would force you to do anything. You wouldn’t be able to control yourselves. It’s our basic, wolf instinct.”

He looked down the table at the two men. “Remington Holt is not her true bonded mate as defined by pack law. I demand my niece be returned to my pack immediately before they can further corrupt her.”