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A t some point I should have probably changed into actual clothes, but I was too content in my flannel pajama bottoms and one of Remy’s t-shirts to bother. Besides, I wasn’t leaving the cabin today.

I had slept in, long after Remy got up for the day’s meetings, pressing a kiss to my shoulder as he slid out of our bed and started to get ready. My body needed rest, and I still felt cracked open and exposed after everything that had happened the day before. Hiding in the cabin seemed like a great idea.

It wasn’t until I felt the familiar hunger pangs rumbling in my stomach in the early afternoon that I got up and headed downstairs. Remy had left a note on the table by the sofa, attached to a room service menu, telling me to order something to eat, but I felt weird knowing that Gabe would likely be footing the bill.

I grabbed an orange and a banana from the bowl of fruit in the kitchenette area towards the back of the first floor and spent the time texting my mom before she headed into the cafe to work the closing shift.

I tossed the phone down beside me on the couch and reached for the tv remote, figuring I could watch an hour of mindless shows and escape into someone else’s problems for a while.

Which was, of course, when my phone rang.

Snatching it up, I couldn’t be mad when I saw it was Larkin requesting a video chat. I swiped my finger across the accept button and grinned when her face filled the screen.

“Hey!” she cried, dark eyes glimmering with warmth. “How are you? How’s Remy? How’s the Summit? Tell me everything.”

“Let her answer one question at a time, Lark!” Katy’s face appeared beside Larkin’s.

“I miss you guys,” I sighed, settling back against the couch cushions.

“Where’s Tate?” Katy asked.

“Her dad and Dante had a thing this morning. She went with them.”

“You didn’t feel like going out today?” Larkin pressed, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully.

My eyes dropped. “I was tired. Yesterday was... rough.”

“Mom said that you saw your uncle,” Katy said, her tone bitter. “How are you doing?”

“I’m okay,” I replied carefully.

“And yet you look like you’re anything but,” Katy countered, reading me almost as easily as her brother could.

I exhaled and pressed my lips into a grim line before speaking. “Something happened yesterday.”

“Something good?” Larkin’s voice was hopeful.

“Something... I don’t know,” I admitted.

Katy’s eyes narrowed. “Do you need us to come down there? Is it Remy? He’s my brother and I love him, but I can also kick his ass. Or I can make Dad do it.”

“No,” I said quickly. “It’s not Remy. Well, it is kind of Remy. But don’t call your dad. He was already mad enough after it happened.”

“Quit with the vague and spell it out,” Katy demanded.

“We all went for a run yesterday,” I started, “and you know how Remy and I can read each others’ thoughts?”

Larkin nodded. “Because you’re bonded.”

“Right,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair. “Except it was more than that. Preston was in the woods—”

“And Remy killed him?” Katy jumped in.

“What? No.” I huffed out a laugh.

“That’s unfortunate,” she sighed, eyes rolling to the ceiling.

“Let her finish,” Larkin chided, slapping Katy’s arm.

“I had this... flashback of a memory,” I went on, ignoring the dark pull of the memory. I didn’t want, or need, to unpack that all over again. “Anyway, Remy saw it.”

Larkin frowned at me. “What do you mean he saw it?”

“Like he could see my memory,” I explained. “He saw what I saw, felt what I felt...”

“Oh, shit,” Katy murmured. “And you’re sure Preston’s not dead?”

I rolled my eyes. “He’s not dead.” I hesitated. “But Remy went after him. It took your dad, Dante, Luke, and Nero to stop him.”

“I’m surprised it didn’t take an entire shifter army to stop him,” Katy replied, her dimples flashing as she grimaced.

“He kind of... almost challenged your dad,” I said softly.

Larkin and Katy exchanged glances.

“He did what ?” Katy asked quietly, her mouth hanging open.

“Gabe tried to get him to stop, and I thought Remy was going to bite him at one point,” I added, a shiver of fear skittering up my spine.

“Holy shit,” Larkin breathed.

“But everything’s okay now?” Katy asked, eyes wide.

“Yeah. They talked it out last night, but...”

“But?” Larkin prompted.

I pulled my knees up, resting my chin on them and balancing my phone in one hand. “It was close. I don’t want to be the reason Remy and Gabe fight. Ever.”

The corner of Katy’s mouth kicked up. “Dad and Remy butt heads sometimes. They’re both Alphas, so it’ll happen. I promise this won’t be the last time they fight about something.”

“Gee, thanks,” I said, sarcasm dripping from my words as I shook my head. “I don’t know, guys. This just seemed like something else. Remy wasn’t backing down.”

They exchanged another glance.

Larkin had stayed fairly quiet, waiting until a moment to ask a very Larkin-question. “How do you feel about Remy seeing your memory?”

The humiliation burned through me again, not quite as fresh and potent as yesterday, but still stinging. “I hate it.”

“Why?” Larkin’s tone was soft, coaxing the words out of me. A non-voluntary therapy session with my two best friends wasn’t what I had planned today, but it wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened.

“It was embarrassing,” I finally replied, my voice barely above a whisper. “It was humiliating and... God, I wanted to forget that it ever happened. I hated that he saw how weak I was.”

“You heard what you just said, right?” Katy jumped in.

“Huh?” My brows knit together.

“You said, ‘how weak I was’, Skye,” she clarified. “Not how weak I am . You used past tense.”

“Because you aren’t weak anymore,” Larkin added. “And that wasn’t weakness; it was survival.”

Tears pricked the back of my eyes, hot and insistent. God, I missed these two. Everyone needed a best friend, or two, to remind them of how much they didn’t suck. Maybe I never had friends growing up, but the ones I had now made up for it in spades.

“And it wasn’t weak to go a thousand miles away to confront the people who literally held you down your whole life.” Katy’s eyes flashed with heat as she spoke. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about, Skye.”

“Did Remy make you feel like you should be ashamed?” Larkin asked pointedly.

“No.” He had been his always amazing, ever supportive self.

“Don’t let a memory trick you into forgetting who you are,” Katy said fiercely, “or how far you’ve come.”

My eyes closed, emotion swamping me in the best way possible.

“You guys are amazing.” My voice cracked as I looked at them through the screen.

“We know,” Katy replied smugly.

I swiped under my eyes, blinking back tears.

“How are you guys?” I asked, needing to get the attention off of me. “How’s Blackwater?”

“Quiet,” Katy said, her smile only slightly forced around the edges.

I wished I had news to report about Maren, or any of the missing girls, but I hadn’t heard anything.

“Any idea when you’ll have to testify?” Larkin asked, her arm wrapping around Katy’s shoulders.

“Not yet,” I replied. “Linden made a big fuss yesterday in the afternoon about how we had been kidnapped.”

Katy rolled her eyes. “What an asshat.”

“Gabe actually decided to file a human rights violation against Long Mesa.”

They both went quiet.

“That’s pretty serious, isn’t it?” Larkin’s gaze flicked from me to Katy and back.

“It’s very serious,” Katy answered, her usual playful snark completely vanished. “That’s basically saying Linden isn’t fit to run his pack.”

“Yeah.” I winced. “He wasn’t too happy about it.”

“The Alpha Council will have to investigate a claim like that. There will be a formal review,” Katy went on. “Your uncle could even lose his pack.”

“I’ll have to testify at that, too,” I murmured.

“You can’t just do it once?” Larkin’s nose wrinkled.

“No,” Katy said firmly. “They’re different types of violations. Skye and her mom leaving the pack was more about protocol not being followed. At the end of the day, the worst that could happen is Blackwater is fined or the shifters in question are returned to their former pack.”

A wave of nausea rolled over me, my mouth going dry. “Oh. Is that only the worst that could happen?”

Katy’s unfocused gaze, lost in thought, cleared. She gave me a guilty shrug. “Sorry. I just meant from an objective point of view. You, your mom, your aunt, and your cousin all have a justifiable reason for leaving Long Mesa. Your stories are consistent, there’s documented evidence—”

“There’s what?” I cut her off, surprised.

Katy frowned. “Your mom, Zara, and Bella all had their injuries and scars documented by our pack physician when they came to Blackwater. It was included along with the videos of their testimonies for the Council. I assumed you did, too.”

Other than the small scar on my leg, and the one on my hip, I didn’t have any visible scars from my time in Long Mesa. But I had been checked out by the pack physician before I headed to Granite Peak, and of course there were the records from my fall.

Our bodies were maps of scars that told our stories.

I hadn’t even thought about evidence, but clearly Gabe had covered all the bases, giving us the best case possible.

“That’s smart,” I finally said.

Katy nodded. “Dad and Remy didn’t want any chance of you guys going back. It’s probably why they filed the violation charge against your uncle. It’s a serious issue that could strip Linden of his Alpha rights and his pack.”

“If the Council agrees,” I said with a sigh, rubbing my forehead with my free hand. “I’ll have to testify at that hearing, too.”

“Tell them everything,” Katy said. “I know you hate it, Skye, but tell them every single detail. If they believe you, they’ll look into the pack. They’ll send people to interview and monitor Long Mesa. Your uncle won’t be able to hide all the skeletons in that place.”

“You think?”

“It happened once before,” she replied. “It was like ten years ago, but an Alpha had his pack removed from his charge. The man who testified at the Summit convinced the Council to investigate, and they found out everything he said was true and more.”

“Your dad and Remy will be in the room,” I said slowly.

“And they love you,” Katy countered heatedly. “They’ll have your back no matter what you say.”

“We all will,” Larkin added, flashing me a supportive smile.

“Skye, you can shut down Long Mesa for good,” Katy said. “And you said that they have something to do with the missing girls. If the Council takes over, they might be able to find them. We could find Maren.”

Something that dangerously felt like hope fluttered in my chest. “We could find them all.”

“Exactly,” she said, leaning back in triumph.

“You’re freakishly good at this,” Larkin said, looking at Katy.

Katy actually looked down, suddenly almost shy. “I’m thinking about majoring in pre-law next year,” she replied.

“You should,” Larkin and I said together.

“I want to.” Her expression clouded. “But I can’t focus on school until I know what happened to Maren.”

“I know,” I replied softly. “I’ll do my best.”

“I know you will,” Katy replied, smiling slightly at me.

A text message notification at the top of the screen snagged my attention.

“Hang on,” I said, opening it and pausing the video chat.

TATE: Get ready. We’re going out tonight when the afternoon session is done.

I typed back a quick reply as Larkin and Katy kept talking.

ME: Where?

Text bubbles danced on my screen for several seconds before her reply came through.

TATE: There’s a club about an hour away owned by a shifter the guys know. It’s safe. Remy said we could use a night of fun.

I closed out the text messages and clicked back onto the video chat.

“Everything okay?” Larkin asked.

“It was Tate,” I replied, still a little confused. “She said we’re all going out tonight, so get ready.”

“Going where?” Katy asked as I got off the couch and started for the stairs.

“A club?” I shrugged.

“Did you even bring any club clothes?” Katy demanded.

I made a face as I reached the top step. “What are club clothes?”

She groaned loudly. “Show me what we’re working with.”

It took Katy almost thirty minutes to decide I should wear a pair of dark skinny jeans and a black tank top. It took another fifteen minutes for her to walk me through how I should style my hair, even going as far as to use Larkin as a hair model for what was to be a simple, but sexy, braided bun.

In the end, I showered and bit the bullet, using the obnoxiously loud hair dryer in the bathroom on my dark hair. After several braid attempts, I gave up and let my hair hang down my back. I shoved an elastic in my pocket in case I wanted to pull it up later.

I opted for the jeans and tank top, tugging on a black leather jacket Zoe and Michael had given me for Christmas. I had started pulling on my boots when I heard the front door open and close.

A few seconds later I heard footsteps on the stairs and then Remy was walking through the door.

He paused as I finished zipping up the inside of my last boot, looking up at him. My lips curved into a happy grin.

I stood up, but even with the added inches of the heel on my boots, Remy was still several inches taller.

“Is this okay?” I asked, not sure I was wearing appropriate club attire.

His gaze heated and he licked his lips. “You look hot.”

A warm sensation licked through my veins.

“New plan,” he said softly, coming into the room and snaking an arm around my waist. He nuzzled his nose against my throat, his teeth nipping my collarbone. “Let’s stay in.”

I wound my arms around his neck, tilting my head back to give him unfettered access to any part of me his lips wanted to touch.

“I like that plan,” I conceded easily.

A notification chimed on his phone and he groaned, his forehead dropping to my shoulder.

“I told everyone I would drive,” he muttered, reaching into his pocket for his phone.

My arms fell to my sides. I sat back down on the bed as he stepped away, typing out a message before putting his phone on the dresser.

“Who’s going?” I asked, trying not to stare when he grabbed his shirt behind his head and pulled it off in one fluid move. He turned and pulled a clean shirt from a drawer. The tattoo that matched my necklace rippled over the muscles of his shoulder as he moved to put the new shirt on, effectively blocking my watch party.

“Tate, Dante, and Griffin,” he replied. “A friend of Griffin’s owns a club about an hour away. Dante and I have gone with him the last few years. It’s safe. Nero and Allie might meet us there later.”

“Griffin’s the guy you met with when we arrived, right?” I asked, trying to remember when Remy went to meet him. “And Allie is Nero’s wife? The tan wolf from yesterday?”

He nodded at me and glanced at his watch. “I said we would meet them at the car.”

“Your dad isn’t coming?”

He gave me a wry smile, heading into the bathroom. “He and Luke are going to stay here and meet with some of the other Alphas.”

I waited until he came back out from the bathroom before getting up.

He hesitated in the doorway, leaning against the frame and watching me with serious eyes. “The Council approached us earlier this afternoon. They scheduled your hearing for tomorrow afternoon.”

I sucked in a sharp breath, the unexpected news hitting me like a lead blanket.

“Hey, come here,” he said, crossing the room and pulling me against his chest.

My arms slowly lifted and went around his waist. I squeezed my eyes shut and held on.

“You’re going to be fine,” he vowed quietly, his hand smoothing down my back.

“Are you going to be there?” I asked, blinking up at him.

His mouth twisted into a frown. “No. It will be you, a couple members from the Council, and Linden.”

“Great,” I muttered, ducking my head back down.

“If you want to stay in, we can,” he said quietly, his lips brushing my forehead. “I just thought you might like a night out to get away. We can go out and celebrate your birthday.”

My birthday.

I had forgotten tomorrow was the day I turned eighteen. The day I was supposed to become an omega.

I supposed there was some sort of poetic justice that it would be the day I told my uncle to go to hell.

“We can do whatever you want.”

I considered what he was offering. No matter how tomorrow went, odds were I wouldn’t feel much like celebrating by the time I got done facing off with Linden.

“A night away from here sounds good,” I answered finally.