“And yet here you are,” I retorted bitterly. “You’re keeping his secrets and helping him. Spying on me. Did you know Damien sent someone to try and kidnap me to force Remy to back down yesterday?”
Elias frowned. “Remy survived?”
I lunged forward, but Lulu grabbed me before I could put my hands around his throat. My body vibrated with rage as I settled back into my chair, seconds from shifting and ripping his damn throat out.
“Tell me about the elementalist you found,” Lulu commented softly. “We know you’re working with one.”
His eyes shifted to her. “I already told you, I won’t betray my Alpha.”
“No, you’ll just betray people who were your friends. People who trusted you,” I responded in disgust. “You’ll betray the people you’ve spent your life trying to save.”
“I truly believe in what Damien is doing, Skye,” he said with a grimace. “I know his methods seem troublesome—”
“Troublesome?” I interrupted with a hollow laugh. “He’s kidnapping women and children. He killed dozens of men. He’s forced his way into packs, taking their people and giving them no choice. That’s a little more than troublesome, Elias.”
“What is his system?” Lulu asked quizzically. “What can he possibly hope to gain by this?”
Elias studied her for a minute, seeming to try and decide how much of his Alpha’s plan was safe to unveil.
“I told him how Narodnaya is organized,” he finally said. “The lunar wolf cycles. I especially emphasized how vital a role women played. How they were respected and protected at all costs.”
I snorted. “And obviously kidnapping them was the next logical step.”
His eyes narrowed. “What you call kidnapping, others might call liberating.”
“And how are these little girls being liberated, Elias?” I demanded.
He exhaled through his nose slowly. “We have a facility where we’ve been keeping the women and girls.” He met my gaze. “Unharmed. This isn’t like Long Mesa, Skye. They’re not being abused.”
Thank God. I closed my eyes, the weight of his reassurance enough to make me want to cry.
Katy had been terrified Maren was being abused the way Mom and I had been. At least that wasn’t happening.
“They’re being trained,” he added.
My eyes snapped open, and Lulu frowned. “Trained how?”
“You’re right. We found an elementalist. One who was connected to earth. When I explained what you were doing, she said she could do the same. We focused on using what you were doing with the lunar cycles on those of age.” He looked down. “But there have been complications.”
“What kind of complications?” I ground out.
“Women have died. Their bodies got … frozen in their shift. Their hearts gave out under the stress.”
“What moon phase did you use?” Lulu whispered.
“All of them,” he replied honestly. “We needed to prove it could work.”
Her mouth gaped open in horror. “You fool. You stupid, old, manipulative fucking fool.”
I tensed, bracing for Lulu’s wrath as her chest heaved. She was furious. Dangerously, lethally furious.
And it was all aimed at Elias.
“Did it ever occur to you that there’s a reason we don’t do this monthly? You have to have the right lunar phase, which any true earth elementalist would know! That’s why they’re dying. We also don’t force participation. It’s all voluntary. The human has to want to be one with their wolf.” Lulu looked ready to reach across the table and choke him.
Elias dipped his head. “I will relay that information when all of this is over to Damien. We will make the necessary adjustments.”
“You’re not going to win this,” I replied coolly, folding my arms across my chest. “Remy did survive, and he’s Blackwater’s Alpha. And not just Blackwater. Other packs that don’t want Damien as their leader are joining us. Nikolai isn’t coming to America just to bring me home. He’s bringing me an army.”
For the first time, Elias looked nervous.
“Damien is going to lose, and I’m going to free those women and girls he’s planning to auction off.”
Surprise and confusion twisted his features. “Auction? No, Skye. He’s planning on placing these women with a genetically compatible mate.”
“No, Elias,” I replied tartly, “he’s planning to auction them off. Nikolai has someone inside the pack. Terms of the auction are already being discussed openly.”
A snort from across the aisle caught my attention. Linden was still managing to smirk despite his mouth being magically glued shut.
“You have something to add?” Lulu asked archly, lifting a brow.
His mouth fell open suddenly.
“Speak,” she ordered, snapping her fingers like he was a dog she could bring to heel.
He glared at her, working his jaw. “I don’t take orders from those beneath me.”
Lulu rested her elbow on the table and propped up her chin on her hand. “Did you know that I could start snapping your bones with a single thought? I could break a rib so it pierces your lung or your heart. Maybe crack open that thick skull of yours. Or demolish every tooth in your foul mouth until you’re choking on your own blood.”
He glowered for another second before turning to Elias. “She’s right, old man. You’re a fucking fool. Of course he’s selling them off to the highest bidder. War’s expensive, and men are willing to fight if they know they’re getting a shiny new toy at the end of their battle. The girls will fetch a higher price since they’re … untried. Damien was sure to keep them intact for his friends.”
My stomach lurched dangerously, and I could see Lulu looked just as disturbed as I felt.
“No,” Elias stammered, shaking his head. “He wouldn’t—”
“And I’m the one you shut up?’ Linden snarked with a chuckle. “Damien was right. You really are blinded by devotion to your precious cause. Those girls will be passed out like fucking party favors. Every Alpha who was aligned with him before the Summit knew this. It was part of the fucking reason we joined. He’s taking the women and girls from every pack he controls. At the end of this war, he’ll have most of the female shifters in North America. His to assign to whatever mate he chooses.”
Linden turned his glare to me. “Including you. Although, part of the deal I made was that you and your mother be returned to Long Mesa along with my wife and daughter at the end.”
“Do you even hear yourself?” I whispered. “Your wife. Your daughter. Your sister and your niece. Does family mean nothing to you? What the hell made you so damn twisted inside?”
“My father made it abundantly clear how much more valuable my darling sister was. Our entire childhood was him picking her over me. He always doted on her, coddled her. He was even going to make her mate Alpha of our pack,” he spat, venom dripping from his words.
“So, this was all because Daddy liked her more? You’re a jealous asshat who decided to lash out because you couldn’t hack it as a real Alpha?”