“You’ll get him when I see Maren.” Remy’s chin lifted a notch in defiance.
“Fine,” Damien snapped. “We’ve arranged transport back to Windale. Buses for your pack members.”
Remy and I both looked at Griffin, who nodded. The buses were safe then. At least we didn’t have to worry about the bus being blown up or some shit by Norwood while we drove the twenty minutes back to where Griffin lived.
“Kace will head back with your pack,” he added, gesturing to his friend.
Remy glanced back over his shoulder and gave Rhodes a nod.
“All right,” Rhodes spoke up, looking to the others, “let’s head out.”
Remy and I started to follow them towards the bus, but Damien stepped in front of us. I stopped abruptly to avoid touching him in any capacity.
“I arranged for all of us to have a more comfortable ride.” He gestured to the limousine parked near the buses.
Remy shook his head. “Enjoy your ride then. We’re good with our pack.”
“I’m afraid I must insist,” Damien said evenly, all friendly pretense slipping away. “We have matters to discuss.”
Griffin sighed. “Just go with it, Remy.”
“Exactly, Remy,” Damien added, all smiles again. “It’s just something a tad more comfortable for Alphas so we can chat.”
“So Griffin’s coming, too?” Remy asked, arching his eyebrows.
Damien’s smile tightened, realizing he’d opened himself up to that loophole. “Of course.”
Griffin grinned at Remy. “Awesome.”
I turned and met Nikolai’s gray eyes. I gave him a strained smile. “Dad, you should come, too.” I looked at Damien innocently as he started to frown. “Since this is about Alphas.”
Nikolai stepped around me and smiled benignly enough at Damien. “More luxurious accommodations sound wonderful.” He tucked my arm into his. “And I can never say no to spending time with my daughter and her mate.”
Damien looked from me to Nikolai, barely masking the sour look puckering his face. “I’m glad to have you join us.”
“Lead the way then,” Nikolai added, his gaze sharpening as he dared Damien to say anything about him inviting me.
Damien might have set up this private ride, but with Griffin and my dad now included, he was outnumbered, and he knew it. The anger simmering in his gaze as he looked at me let me know he wasn’t happy about it.
I grinned back, not giving a shit.
52
Remy
The limo was a tight fit for all of us. I herded Skye in first, making her take the bench seat facing backwards before I slid in next to her and casually laid an arm around her shoulders. Nikolai and Griffin sat on the seat along the wall, a buffer between us and Damien and Trace as they sat on the last seat.
Trace’s eyes lit up as he saw me and then moved his gaze to the girl at my side.
My girl.
I resisted the urge to pull her onto my lap in a totally possessive show that would have made my wolf preen at claiming her visibly in front of other Alphas.
“Skye, you look amazing,” Trace started as the car began to roll forward. His gaze turned hungry, and I balled the hand at my side into a fist, cracking my knuckles with the force.
“She does, doesn’t she?” Nikolai chimed in as he smiled at Trace before looking at Skye proudly. “She seems to have found her place with her mate.”
Damien flinched while I hid a smile. Skye and I had filled him in on Damien’s demand on the plane. The cold rage Nikolai threw off at the revelation made me wonder if he would break Damien’s neck the way he had Allan’s.
So far, though, he seemed happy just antagonizing Damien.
“They’re young,” Damien scoffed. “The idealism of children is often broken by maturity.”
“They’re bonded,” Griffin said, frowning.
Damien barely spared me a glance. “A bond that will be broken by the defeat and death of Remy.”
Skye snarled softly next to me, and I stroked my fingers across her shoulder comfortingly. Damien was trying to provoke us.
“Is that how you justify casting your wife aside to take my child as your own mate?” Nikolai countered, the deceptively calm tone sending ripples out into the atmosphere of the car.
Griffin scoffed. “Seriously? Skye’s a kid.”
Damien’s eyes narrowed. “She’s of age. Besides, I’m attempting to forge an alliance.” He looked at Nikolai briefly and then out the window. “One my uncle was supposed to secure between our packs.”
Nikolai grinned back. “Well, you’re failing all over the place, aren’t you? First with your useless uncle, and then with your pathetic attempts at alliances. If your current allies are as strong as Long Mesa, I’m not even sure what chance you possibly have. And that’s not even mentioning the absolute cock-up of your untrained elemental wreaking havoc on a captive female population that you’ve stolen.”
Damien growled back.
“Elemental?” Griffin asked carefully, looking confused.
I sighed and shook my head. “Long story.”
“Maybe if you would have shared your full methodology with my uncle months ago, this entire war could have been avoided,” Damien snapped.
“You’re a liar,” Skye said plainly, her nose wrinkling. “Elias had nothing to do with your greed or you kidnapping women and girls. Or your fucked up auction that you’ve set up to entice men to join you.”
Damien glared at her, the first crack in his armor. “When you’re mine, you’ll learn how to control your mouth.”
“She isn’t yours,” I shot back, barely fighting the urge to shift in this moving cage and settle this now.
“Not yet,” Damien agreed, inspecting his nails for a moment. “Though I suppose you’ve given her free rein the way your father did with your mother.”
I smirked. “Skye’s her own person. She can do what she wants.”
Which apparently included things like letting an elemental tap into her like a well until she collapsed from exhaustion.
“She’s a female,” Damien hissed, derision an oily curse on his lips. “She has no place other than in a bed or raising a child.”
Nikolai laughed loudly, the sound bouncing off the ceiling of the car. “You really are an absolute fool, aren’t you?” He leaned forward, eyes flashing with warning. “This is why the Narodnaya pack and the European packs will never align themselves with yours. It’s why I sent men to decimate the origin pack you hail from.”
Damien glared back, openly hostile. “Then I suppose that puts you in a rather troubling situation, doesn’t it? When I marry your daughter, you’ll have to declare war on her as well as Norwood.”
“I’m declaring nothing,” Nikolai said smugly, inclining his head at Skye. “That call will be my daughter’s.”
Trace chuckled. “Letting her make the decisions for you?”
“It’s her right as Alpha to make her own choice.”
Trace was still laughing, but Damien went utterly still and slightly ashen at the revelation.