Page 35

35

I t was well into the late morning hours when I woke up. My body ached, stiff and sore, as I slowly stretched. My shoulder didn’t hurt quite as bad as the day before, and my hand was mostly healed.

But I was glaringly alone in Remy’s massive bed.

I sat up, looking around, but he was nowhere to be seen. The bathroom door was open, but the light was off.

Sitting in the middle of the bed, I listened closely. I could hear voices downstairs, too far away to make out tones or words, but definitely multiple people.

Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I stood up, getting my bearings before going into the bathroom. After using the toilet, I washed my hands and quickly brushed my teeth and then my hair before inspecting my shoulder.

It throbbed and ached, which was probably to be expected since it was currently four colors of the rainbow. At least my hand was mostly healed.

I headed back into the bedroom, pausing to grab a hoodie Remy had discarded by his dresser. I managed to pull it on and opened the door, heading downstairs.

Larkin and Tate were sitting on barstools at the island chatting quietly, but they were the only ones I could see. As soon as my feet hit the landing, though, the door to the study opened and Remy came out. He quickly closed the door behind himself before meeting me in the middle.

He brushed my hair out of my eyes. “You were sleeping so deep, I didn’t want to wake you.”

“No worries,” I replied. I smiled when he leaned down and kissed me quickly.

“I have to get back in there,” he told me, jerking his head at the closed door. His brows creased.

“What’s going on?” I reached up to smooth away the worry, my fingertips lingering on his skin.

He shook his head, pressing his face into my touch. “Dante showed up this morning. Another shifter went missing. A female from the Brooks Ridge pack.”

My eyes went wide. “Seriously? What the hell?”

He shook his head, jaw tight. “I don’t know. Dante, Ryder, Rhodes, and I have a conference call with my dad and the Brooks Ridge Alpha in a few minutes.”

Worry curdled like old milk in my stomach at the thought of him leaving. “Are you going to have to leave?”

“I won’t leave,” Remy replied. “Not now. My dad will agree—with everything happening with Trace, we can’t leave the pack members here unprotected.”

“How’s Katy?”

“Good. Maren is with her now. I’m going to stop by later to see her. I might have her move in here while she’s recovering.”

I rolled my eyes. “She’ll love that.”

Remy made a face. “She’ll deal with it.”

“Rem,” Dante called, sticking his head out the study door. He flashed me a tight smile. “How’re you feeling, Skye?”

“Good,” I told him. I gently pushed Remy. “Go talk. Fill me in later.”

He quickly kissed me. “Make sure you eat something.” He turned and went into the study, closing the door.

I walked into the kitchen, smiling gratefully as Larkin got up to pour me a cup of coffee. In the few short weeks I had been at GPA, I had become addicted to caffeine. I took the mug from her, taking a tentative sip and bit back a moan of bliss.

This was perfection in a cup.

“How achy are you on a scale from one to ten?” Tate asked, a frown on her pretty face. Her dark hair was pulled back into a long ponytail and she looked super comfy in a pair of leggings and a soft sweater.

I took another sip. “A solid eight-point-seven.”

She laughed behind her mug. “Did you take anything?”

I shook my head and Larkin slid two pills across the counter to me, giving me a pointed look.

“I knew you wouldn’t take anything,” she muttered wryly.

I swallowed the pills down without question before sliding onto a barstool beside Tate.

“Another missing girl?”

Tate’s expression darkened. “Yeah.”

“Did you know her?”

She nodded grimly. “Yeah. Her name is Sage. She’s been with the pack for almost a decade. She came to us after her mate died. She’s quiet, kept to herself mostly. Our pack has about half the numbers of yours, but we’re so isolated in northern Alaska... We all know each other well.”

I reached over and covered her hand with mine. “I’m so sorry.”

“The guys are really worried. So is my dad.”

“Your dad?” I shot her a stunned look over the rim of my mug.

“Her dad is the Brooks Ridge Alpha,” Larkin explained. “What do you want to eat?”

I shrugged. “Food?”

Rolling her eyes, Larkin went to the fridge and started pulling things out.

“So, your dad is the Alpha?” I looked back at Tate.

She nodded. “Technically he’s my adopted father, but he raised me.”

“I had no idea you were adopted,” I said, surprised.

She grimaced slightly, her nose wrinkling. “I didn’t have the most... conventional childhood.”

“I’m sorry,” I said again automatically, knowing all-too-well how unconventional childhoods could royally suck.

“Thanks,” she murmured, tracing the bottom of her mug. “My parents... They actually never wanted kids. They were mostly lone wolves, but oddly enough were mates. Like you and Remy are. They just didn’t like being tethered to a pack, conforming to pack laws. I was an accident, but one they realized pretty quickly they could cash in on.”

A tendril of dread curled low in my stomach.

She flashed me a weak smile. “I don’t remember them much, to be honest. From what I gathered, they kind of sucked as parents. And as people. When they had a daughter, they saw me as a winning lottery ticket or something.”

“Shit,” I murmured, wincing on her behalf.

“They spent the early part of my life trying to arrange a marriage for me. They would get a family on the hook, get the family to send them... a down payment. Like some twisted dowry or something. Anyway, they would get the money, and then disappear. They did this for years, before they finally got sick of running around the world with a kid.” She shrugged one shoulder. “I was six when they decided to just marry me off for good and be done with it.”

“They sold you?” I whispered, horrified.

“Yeah,” she replied simply, then smiled. “But it backfired. They sold me to my dad. They only told him he would be getting a future mate—they didn’t bother telling him I was a little kid. When he went to the meeting, he was so pissed off, he threatened to drag them in front of the Council and have them executed. They took off but let me behind. He adopted me.”

“But your dad was still willing to buy a mate,” I said after a second.

She shook her head. “He wasn’t. My dad was part of a network of shifters trying to eradicate the trafficking of females. The goal was to buy the female and set her free or offer sanctuary. My dad already had a mate who was back in Brooks Ridge.”

“And she adopted you, too?”

A sad look crossed Tate’s face and she sighed. “She would have. She was actually pregnant when he brought me home. There was a complication in the last month of her pregnancy. She and the baby died. I only knew her for a few weeks. After that it was Dad and me.”

“That’s unreal,” I said, amazed. I glanced up at Larkin, who was making something on the stove. She gave me a terse nod. She knew this story already.

“My dad raised me by himself for the most part. But he did get help from Dante and Ryder’s parents. They were all really close, so the three of us grew up together.”

“What happened to your biological parents?”

Another shrug. “They’re still out there, I guess. Still being miserable excuses for shifters. No way did they bother to come after me once my dad got involved.” Her lips curved into a wicked smile. “They literally pissed their pants when he started yelling. I remember the smell of it as they ran away.”

“I’m glad,” I said with a grin.

“Me, too,” Larkin agreed, sliding an omelet in front of me. She pointed at me with the spatula. “Eat the whole thing or I’m telling Remy.”

I picked up the fork and took a huge bite, chewing loudly for her benefit. After I swallowed the chunk of egg and cheese down, I pointed my fork at her. “How did the movie go last night?”

Tate’s eyes lit up as she looked at Larkin. “Movie night? You and Rhodes?”

Lifting her cup of coffee, Larkin gave a delicate sniff. “There’s nothing to tell. All we did was watch a movie.”

I arched a brow. “Is that all?”

Larkin set her cup down, bending at the waist suddenly and dropping her forehead to the counter. “No,” she whined. “I might have fallen asleep on him and woken up when he carried me to bed.”

Tate and I started cracking up.

“Why don’t you just tell him you like him?” I asked through my giggles.

Larkin lifted her head, her eyes narrowed into thin slits. “Because I have been pining after Rhodes DeWitt for years, and I’ll be damned if I have to spell it out for the idiot.”

Tate smirked. “You could always do what I did—just kiss him and see what happens.”

I turned to her quickly. “Is that what happened?”

“Something like that,” Tate said with a giggle.

Shaking my head, I looked at Larkin. “You know he’s like a lost puppy when you’re ignoring him, right?”

“Serves him right,” she grumbled, but I could see the smile she was hiding.

“I still think you should talk to him,” I argued, eating another bite.

Larkin threw her hands up with a sigh. “Not everyone can have an instant bond with their mate, Skye!”

“Oh, so he’s your mate now?” I asked innocently.

With a growl, Larkin dropped her head back to the counter. “I hate you,” she muttered.

Tate and I were still laughing when the door to the study opened. Four teenage males all paused outside the door looking at us.

“Are you okay, Larkin?” Rhodes asked.

Tate and I exchanged a look and started laughing even harder. My fork fell against the plate with a loud clatter.

Larkin lifted her head, glaring at us. “You guys suck.”