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49

SKYE

I pulled my feet up onto the couch as Remy picked up the phone in his office. Katy sat to my left, just as anxious as I was. Rhodes, Dante, and Will had filed in and closed the door. Rhodes perched on the arm of the couch beside me. Dante leaned against the door, and Will had dropped into the empty armchair.

“Ready?” Remy asked.

I wasn’t sure if he was addressing us or himself. Either way, I gave a slow nod, my head sinking to my chest and barely rising under the gravity of the moment.

Rhodes’s hand settled comfortingly on my shoulder as Katy leaned against my side. Remy picked up the phone and started to dial, putting it on speaker mode the way we had discussed.

“Alpha,” Damien’s cool voice greeted, seemingly calm and patient.

“Damien,” Remy replied, ignoring the formalities.

Damien chuckled, not giving into the slight. “How can I be of service?”

I grit my teeth, resisting the urge to start biting my lip.

Remy leaned forward, steepling his fingers in front of his face, elbows braced against the edge of the massive desk. His dark eyes found me as he spoke. “I heard you’re planning on heading into Windale.”

Damien’s chuckle turned into an outright laugh. “And if I am?”

“I have another offer,” Remy replied, his tone firm and even.

“I don’t see what you could possibly have to offer that I would want,” Damien drawled.

Lie.

We all knew there was plenty he wanted.

A smile ghosted over Remy’s lips. “How about Blackwater?”

There was a heavy pause before Damien spoke. “You have my attention.”

“I think we both know where this is headed, Damien, so let’s save both our packs the headache,” Remy answered. “I’ll meet you in Windale in two days. One last challenge to see who controls the packs.”

“I must admit, I’m surprised,” Damien said slowly. “When last we spoke, I offered you a truce and you refused.”

“I did.”

“How do I know this isn’t some ploy to save your friend, Griffin?”

Remy’s jaw flexed. “It absolutely is.”

Another cold laugh came from Damien. “You Holts. So adorably loyal.”

“Do we have a deal?” Remy ground out.

“I’ll accept your terms with one condition,” Damien replied.

Remy stayed quiet, waiting for the axe to drop.

“Your mate must attend,” Damien informed him.

Remy’s eyebrows slammed down as he frowned. “My mate has nothing to do with this.”

“But doesn’t she?” Damien countered. “I’m fully aware of her heritage and the control she wields in Europe. When you fall, she will join us. Willingly.”

It felt like insects were crawling up my spine.

Remy’s eyes narrowed into thin slits. “Skye isn’t part of this deal.”

“Yes, she is,” Damien countered coldly. “I’m assuming she’s sitting beside you? Let’s leave the decision in her hands since your pack is so adamant that women be given the same rights as men.”

I stood up slowly, shaking off Rhodes and Katy’s hands, as I went to Remy’s side and leaned against him. His arm circled around my waist, anchoring me to his side.

“I’m here,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm even as my heart beat frantically in my chest.

“Skye,” Damien greeted. “Good to hear your voice.”

“Define willingly ,” I demanded, hung up on that word.

“You will bind yourself to the Norwood pack if your mate should fall,” Damien explained, and there was no hiding the glee in his voice. “A marriage should do it.”

Remy’s low growl filled the air.

“And who am I marrying?” I asked. If he said Trace, I would throw up.

Damien laughed again. “Why me, of course.”

Okay, that was actually worse.

My fingers dug into Remy’s shoulders before he could go off.

“Last I checked, you were already married,” I pointed out, pointedly ignoring the looks of astonishment and fury from my friends.

“We can both agree that you would be a trade up in the mate department,” Damien said, almost clinically. “My wife is old and has only given me one heir. She’s of no use to me.”

So, I was what? Just there for breeding potential? Gross.

My wolf hated the very thought of someone else touching me to the point I felt physically ill.

“And if I say no?” I asked softly.

“Then I killed all your friends in Windale and take you by force when I attack Blackwater,” he replied, a smile in his voice.

Remy’s growl turned into an all-out snarl, and I slapped my hand on the mute button.

“Remy—”

“No,” he bit out, his eyes more wolf than human as he looked at me. He stood up, the chair rolling back into the wall as he towered over me.

“He’s right, Skye,” Rhodes said firmly. “No fucking way.”

I framed Remy’s face with my hands. “Baby, I need you to trust me.”

I could feel his teeth grinding together beneath my palms.

“He can’t have you,” Remy gritted out slowly, his chest heaving. His hands clamped onto my waist hard enough to bruise. Like I might slip through his fingers and into Damien’s hands if he wasn’t touching me.

“He won’t ,” I said softly, begging him to relax a bit. “Are you going to lose?”

He blinked slowly at me through a fog of rage.

“Are you going to lose?” I repeated gently, sweeping my thumbs across his cheeks.

“No,” he answered finally, his eyes calmer as they searched mine.

“Then we tell Damien what he needs to hear to make this happen,” I went on, my tone low and soothing. “I’m yours .”

A shuddering sigh hunched his shoulders as he nodded. “Okay.”

I reached past him and took the phone off mute.

“Deal,” I replied evenly, my eyes still locked on Remy’s.

“Wonderful,” Damien crowed. “May the best Alpha win.”

“I’m sure he will,” I said evenly, my gaze never leaving Remy’s.

Remy swallowed and grabbed his chair, sitting down once more but pulling me onto his lap. He cleared his throat. “Griffin has agreed to host the challenge in Windale. He’s agreed to cede his pack to whoever the winner is.”

“A wise decision,” Damien replied. “I would hate to rip apart the very thing I seek to claim.”

“So, we have a deal then?” Remy ground out.

“I suppose,” Damien agreed nonchalantly. “Oh, but that was only part of my condition.”

“What now?” Remy demanded.

“So impatient,” Damien tsk ed, his tone utterly patronizing and annoyingly condescending. “My son.”

“Trace isn’t my problem,” Remy replied curtly.

“But his happiness is mine,” Damien lamented with another chuckle. “And he’s taken a particular fondness to someone from your pack.”

Oh, no.

My head snapped up in sync with Remy’s as we stared at Rhodes.

“I believe her name is... Larkin?”

Rhodes jumped up, but was immediately held back by Dante and Katy. Will stepped in as well to help wrangle the beta who was seconds from shifting and losing control.

“Bring her as well. I don’t want my son to have to wait for us to come and collect her.”

“Larkin isn’t part of this,” I snapped, feeling the same spike of fear Remy must have when Damien looped me into this mess. It was one thing to gamble with my own life, but it was a whole different thing to include someone I loved.

“I’m making her part of this,” Damien shot back. “She comes as well, unless you’re withdrawing the challenge? In which case, I’ll have my men in Windale by nightfall.”

I pushed Remy’s hands off of me and quickly went to stand in front of Rhodes. His dark eyes were practically feral.

“No, Skye,” he seethed through clenched teeth. He shook his head viciously at me.

“Trust us,” I pleaded gently.

“Skye—”

“Please, Rhodey.” I grabbed his shoulders. “You know we won’t let anything happen to Larkin.”

I saw the very second he accepted it. He sagged slightly against Katy and Dante. After a second he gave me an almost imperceptible, limp nod of his head.

I turned back to Remy with a slow nod.

“Fine,” Remy snapped. “But since you’re negotiating the terms, I’m adding in another one.”

“Do tell,” Damien inquired.

Remy’s eyes flickered past me. “We all know what’s going on in Norwood. We know about the facility you have and that you’ve taken women and children.”

“Have I?”

“Maren Lopez. We want her back.”

Katy’s soft gasp made my heart clench.

“I don’t know—”

Remy scoffed. “Don’t bullshit me, Damien. We know you have her, and we want her back. As a bonus, I’ll even bring Elias Samuels with me. I hear he’s kind of important to you.”

“Very well. We’ll see you all in two days,” Damien replied and hung up.

Remy slammed a fist down on the disconnect button, snapping the flimsy plastic encasing the phone into pieces that went flying in various directions.

Stunned, we all stood there silently.

“You two are our best friends,” Rhodes said slowly, his voice shaking. “If you fuck this up...”

“We won’t,” Remy replied firmly as I helplessly nibbled on my lower lip.

Oh, God. What had we done?

Rhodes spun and stalked from the room, ripping the door open hard enough that it crashed into the wall. A framed picture of Gabe and Mallory on their wedding day fell down, the glass cracking.

“You made the right call,” Will offered. “We’ll protect Larkin and Skye.”

“I know,” Remy answered, his voice somewhat detached.

Dante touched Will’s shoulder. “Let’s see if we can calm him down.”

Nodding, Will followed Dante from the room as Katy stood up and walked over to the fallen picture. She gingerly picked it up and traced the cracks.

“Thank you,” she whispered, looking up at Remy with tears shimmering in her eyes. “For thinking about Maren.”

Remy nodded and braced his elbows on the desk, lowering his face into his hands.

Katy shot me a worried look.

“Go,” I mouthed, jerking my head at the door. I watched her leave and close the door before I looked back at Remy.

I’d never seen him look so stressed, so defeated.

“Tell me we just did the right thing,” he begged softly after a moment.

A fissure opened up in my heart, threatening to crack wide open.

“We did,” I assured him.

He finally looked up at me, his dark eyes filled with worry and pain. “Skye, if we’re wrong, then I lose you. Rhodes loses Larkin. Katy loses Maren.”

I quickly made my way to his side, threading my fingers through his hair when he pulled me close and pressed his face against my chest.

“If we lose, then we all lose,” I replied brokenly. “Not just us, but everyone in our pack.”

“What if I can’t do this?”

I tightened my fingers in his hair and made him look up at me. “Remember what you told me? You’re not alone. You don’t have to carry this alone.”

“We don’t have much time,” he muttered, pushing the chair back and standing up.

I tilted my face up. “Then we better get to work.”