“Don’t,” Remy told me softly, his gaze cutting to me.
I rolled my lower lip between my teeth. “I hate this. I hate that you’re here. That you have to deal with this because of me.”
“Stop,” he said sharply. “Skye, none of this is on you. Or your mom.” He glanced back pointedly at Addie.
“Your uncle, Allan, Damien … they all made their own choices. Long Mesa knew Stone Valley was part of our pack now. They did this intentionally, probably thinking we wouldn’t retaliate.” He huffed out a breath. “Babe, this is more about me than you. Damien’s pushing. He thinks I’m too young for this.”
“And are you?” Nikolai spoke up curiously.
Remy smirked and glanced over his shoulder. “Want to stop the car and find out?”
“Perhaps another day,” Nikolai said dismissively, but there was no denying the tiny smile painted on his lips. Like Remy had passed some sort of silent test.
“We’re almost there,” Alexei called from the front seat.
My heart lodged in my throat as I looked around the plain, cinder block walls that surrounded the main part of Long Mesa. The main gate was around the next bend.
“Breathe, baby,” Remy told me softly, looking out the window. “Just keep breathing.”
Alexei turned the car, following the one in front and slowed to a stop. The first car was paused, idling outside the open gate.
I frowned and leaned forward between Dimitri and Alexei until Remy pulled me back.
“Those gates are never open,” Mom said quietly.
“They probably know we’re coming,” Lulu remarked, glancing around.
Remy’s sharp eyes darted around, looking for potential threats.
The radio chirped to life from the front seat.
“Looks like no one’s home,” Dante said, his voice crackling through the line. “What’s the plan?”
“Where would they go?” Dimitri murmured, also looking around.
“They’re cowards,” Alexei snarled. “Fucking pussies ran like puppies.”
“No,” Mom said, shaking her head. “They wouldn’t do that.”
“Then where would they go?” Nikolai asked her.
“In town,” I replied. “The fountain.”
A shudder rolled through me hard enough to rattle my teeth, and I wanted to be sick.
The fountain was in the center of the crumbling town, and it was where all challenges and punishments were met out. The fountain itself no longer worked, but it was heavy and cement, and shackles had been attached to it over the years.
I had seen people executed there. I had seen men and women held down and raped there. People had been chained to it for days, weeks, until their bodies gave out from exhaustion, thirst, or hunger.
Mom had been tied there once, about three years earlier. One of Linden’s visiting friends said she was “less than hospitable” when he and his three friends visited her. Her punishment had been to be chained, naked, to that fountain for four days. A day for each man she hadn’t pleased.
During that time, anyone could do whatever they wanted to her. She’d barely survived. I tried to sneak out and get her food and water or break her chains, but Cassian, Preston, and Marc had guarded me the entire time. Anytime I tried to get to her, one of them was there, waiting.
My stomach rolled, my breakfast threatening to make a reappearance, as I remembered those four days. The first night I had managed to somehow fall asleep, but I woke up to Cassian’s hands prying my legs apart. His cruel hands stabbed, petted, and slapped at me until I thought for sure he would rape me in my own bed.
But he never did.
I wondered why he never actually took things that far. He could have, and probably no one would have cared. But he always seemed to stop before things went there. He even pulled Preston and Marc off of me a few times.
The only reason I could assume was that he loved keeping me in a constant state of fear. He got off on my tears and my begging; not the actual act.
I spent those four days that Mom was chained up in my own version of hell, terrified to sleep and hiding in a ball on the floor of our closet, listening to the sounds of Shane screaming and crying since he was the only omega in the house that could be used.
Once she’d been freed, I had carried her back to the house. It had taken some of her wounds a month to heal, and even then, she still bore many of those scars. But the worst part was that she stopped speaking for nearly two weeks. I had never felt more frustrated or helpless or alone than when I watched her simply stare blankly at the wall for those weeks.
“She’s right,” Mom replied, drawing in a trembling breath. “They’ll be at the fountain, waiting for us.”
I looked back and swallowed when I saw the same fear reflected in her eyes.
“What’s the fountain?” Nikolai growled, seeing the terror that was like a mask on both our faces.
I licked my lips slowly. “It’s where they punish people.”
Panic sliced through me so quickly I thought I’d been stabbed in the side. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t go there. I couldn’t be back here. The weight of everything was crushing my chest, and I couldn’t suck in a breath. Black spots started dancing in my vision.
I was vaguely aware of my seatbelt being unclicked and then Remy was pulling me onto his lap. It took another minute for the soft words he was murmuring to break through the haze of my fear.
“You’re stronger than them, Skye. Don’t let them win. Come back to me, baby.” His hand stroked down my hair and back, his touch soothing and comforting. “Breathe, sweetheart.”
“I’m okay,” I whispered after a second, keeping my head tucked against his chest.
“We’re going back,” Remy said quietly. “Alexei—”
“No!” I sat up quickly, shaking my head. “No. You’re right, Remy. I am stronger than them. They don’t get to win.”
His dark eyes looked less than convinced. “Baby, I’m taking you home and then I’ll come back. You don’t need to be here for this.”
I steeled my spine, shoving away the last of my anxiety. “I’m an Alpha, too, right? I’m not running.”
Sighing, he rested his head against mine. “Skye, this is too much.”
“You’re right,” I agreed, “but all those women that are being held prisoner in New York don’t have a turn around and try again option. Long Mesa is one of Norwood’s strongest allies. We take them out and we hurt Norwood.”
He still didn’t look sure.
I turned my head. “The fountain is in the middle of town. Go straight and you can’t miss it, Alexei. Let’s go.”
His blue eyes met mine in the rearview mirror.
“Yes, printsessa,” he replied, obeying my order.
A muscle in Remy’s jaw ticked as he realized Alexei would do what I said, even if it meant delivering me to the devil’s doorstep. If he wanted to control me, he should’ve put me in a car with Rhodes or Dante.
Dimitri lifted the radio to call the first car. “Head straight through town. They’ll be meeting us by some fountain in the middle.”
“Copy,” Dante replied, and the first car started rolling forward.