Prey (Blackwater Pack Book 2)

by Hannah McBride

  The heated look in his gaze almost had me sprinting to haul him … somewhere with a lot less people.

  Another emphatic cough from Katy pulled my attention off of him.

  I scowled at Katy. “Thanks.”

  “For protecting your virtue? You’re welcome,” she replied smartly, a smirk on her lips.

  “How do you know my virtue isn’t long gone?” I challenged.

  She gave me a blank stare. “Is it?”

  “No,” I huffed, the lack of time Remy and I had spent together provided little time for more than kissing. Something my wolf and I were both getting frustrated by.

  “See?” She smiled. “I saved you.”

  I couldn’t even really be mad because for a second, I saw the sparkle of the old Katy. The Katy I hadn’t seen in weeks, since before Maren disappeared.

  As quickly as that flash appeared, Katy shut it down and headed back towards the house.

  “How are you?” I asked, following her to the porch and settling beside her on the wooden stairs. I absently picked up Remy’s discarded book and fingered through the worn pages before settling it back on the step beside me.

  “You mean since my girlfriend was kidnapped, and I have no idea where she is, what is being done to her, or if she’s even alive?” Katy deadpanned. She rested her arms over her knees. “I’m great.”

  I reached over and touched her ankle. “Hey. I didn’t mean it like that.”

  She sighed heavily. “I know. It’s weird because I have moments when it’s almost like I … forget,” she admitted, closing her eyes and shaking her head. “Dax says something stupid or Dad makes a corny joke, and I start to laugh. Then I remember that Maren is still gone, and we have no idea where she is.”

  “I know you love Maren,” I started slowly, trying to choose my words carefully, “but she wouldn’t expect you to stop living. And she definitely wouldn’t want you to stop being happy.”

  “Could you be happy if Remy was gone?”

  The idea was so abhorrent that I jerked away from her. Ice water filled my veins at the thought. I would have a better chance breathing through concrete.

  “Exactly.”

  Now it was my turn to heave out a sigh. “Sorry.”

  Katy leaned her shoulder against me, dropping her head against my shoulder. “What sucks is, I know you’re right. Maren wouldn’t want me to be depressed or angry. I mean, I definitely wouldn’t want her to be moping around.”

  I rested my cheek against the top of her head. “Easier said than done, huh?”

  “Way easier,” she muttered.

  “I’m here for whatever you need,” I promised, threading our fingers together and squeezing her hand.

  “Unless my brother steals you first?” she retorted with a small smile.

  “I’m here for you tonight,” I replied formally, “not Remy.”

  “Right,” she drawled slowly. “So, you’ll be sleeping in my room and not sneaking into his?”

  “Absolutely,” I answered with a decisive nod.

  A small giggle escaped her. “Still scared of being caught by my parents?”

  “Oh no,” I replied quickly, lifting my head. “I’m scared of your parents catching us and telling my mom.”

  Her shoulders shook with silent laughter. I smiled and laughed with her as the door opened behind us.

  “Hey, um, you guys might want to come in,” Sam said, sticking his head out the door.

  We both turned to look at him.

  Sam was usually the more relaxed, easygoing twin, but right now he looked tense and … angry.

  “What’s going on?” Katy asked as we got to our feet.

  Sam hesitated. “Just come in here.”

  I shot Katy a puzzled look as we headed inside.

  Once inside it was clear that Sam wasn’t the only tense one. Everyone was gathered in the kitchen, and every pair of eyes swung towards us as we walked in.

  No, swung towards me.

  I looked at Remy first, then Mom, and finally Gabe. Each expression was more severe than the last.

  Worry started to creep in, fisting a cold hand around my heart and squeezing.

  “What’s wrong? What happened?” I barely managed to get the words out of my dry throat. I shifted my attention back to Remy. I could feel the waves of rage radiating off of him.

  Jaw clenched, Gabe exhaled hard, but met my gaze. “I just got a phone call from one of the Council members leading the Summit. Your uncle has filed a formal grievance with the pack.”

  My jaw dropped. “What kind of grievance?”

  “He’s claiming that Blackwater kidnapped you, your mother, Zara, and Bella. He’s filed a petition to be heard by the Council to have the four of you returned to Long Mesa.”

  20

  Everyone was staring at me, their expressions a mix of horrified concern and fury as the news that my uncle had decided to lodge a formal complaint with the Council sank in.

  A slow shudder rippled through my bones as I realized this meant that there would be an inquest, and there was also now a chance I would have to return to Long Mesa.

  Everything in me slowly went numb.

  Killing Cassian hadn’t ended whatever twisted past I had with Long Mesa. Linden would never let us go, and now that he had lost his wife and daughter, he likely looked like an even bigger idiot than when his sister and niece managed to get away.

  I shoved down the wave of nausea threatening me and focused on the people standing around me.

  The people that I loved and who loved me back.

  The people Linden would target to hurt me.

  Panic swelled at the idea of being taken away from here. Of being taken away from my family.

  My hands started to shake as the sudden urge to shift came hard and fast. My wolf wanted out. We both needed to run.

  Almost as if he knew where my thoughts had veered, Remy closed the distance between us and pulled me into his arms.

  Safe. We’re safe, my wolf sighed. The burning sense of terror slowly seeped away as Remy crushed us against him.

  I wound my arms around his back, my fingers fisting in the material of his shirt as I buried my face against the hard wall of his chest. I focused on inhaling his scent, letting the thundering of my heart beats slow and sync with his.

  I lost track of the moments we stood there together. After a while, I looked up.

  Mallory had moved next to my mother and had wrapped an arm around her shoulders, supporting her. Gabe looked calmly at us all, but I could see a muscle ticking in his jaw. The same tell Remy had when he was holding back anger.

  Dax, Sam, and Katy all seemed content with openly showing their anger in matching expressions of rage.

  This was my family.

  “Does Aunt Zara know?” I asked woodenly, looking over at Gabe.

  He pressed his lips together. “I called Michael. He’s telling Zara and Zoe both what’s happening.”

  “So, what now?” I asked. I let go of Remy, but he simply maneuvered me in front of him, wrapping his arms around my chest and anchoring me to him.

  Mom drew in a deep, shaky breath. “We’ll all need to write formal statements to the Council and detail why we left.”

  Gabe rubbed his jaw, nodding, but still not happy.

  “Can we write letters, too?” Sam offered.

  Gabe gave him a supportive smile. “It’s not a bad idea. We can also have members of the pack who are willing to document what an asset you have all been to Blackwater.”

  “But you don’t think it’s enough,” Mallory said softly, reading her husband easily.

  “No,” he admitted, frustration lacing his words. “I think we’ll need someone who can come and be a witness. The Council will have questions. If we want to shut down Linden once and for all, we’ll need someone to give a detailed account in person of what happened. Of the practices Long Mesa uses as pack law.”

  “Zara can’t leave Bella,” Mom said softly. “Bella is still too fragile, and if th
e Council decides in Linden’s favor, whoever witnesses will have to go with him immediately.”

  I lifted my hands, wrapping icy fingers around Remy’s forearms as my legs went wobbly.

  Mom swallowed and raised her chin a notch, her eyes meeting mine. “It has to be me.”

  All the air rushed out of my body. I was dizzy as it occurred to me that I could lose Mom.

  She was doing a good job of hiding it, but I could see the terror in her eyes. The hell I had endured for almost eighteen years didn’t match what she had survived. And at the heart of it, everything she went through was because her family had abandoned and betrayed her. At least I’d had Mom on my side.

  No one had protected her.

  “This is bullshit!” Katy exploded, pacing to the sink. She whirled around, dark eyes wild as she looked at all of us before landing on her dad. “Shifters switch packs all the time!”

  “You’re right,” Gabe agreed evenly. “But there are channels and processes in place for changing packs. Unfortunately none of those were observed here. Linden is within his rights as Alpha to demand them to return.”

  My stomach swooped precariously. A full body tremor rocked me, and I felt Remy tense behind me.

  “You mean because they’re females and basically broodmares to be whored around,” Katy spat bitterly.

  “Katy,” Mallory said sharply, her eyes flickering to the twins.

  I wasn’t sure how much Dax and Sam knew about what happened in Long Mesa, but I doubted it was all the details everyone else in the room knew.

  Sam grabbed his twin’s sleeve and tugged. “I think that’s code for we need to go.”

  Dax frowned. “What?”

  “Why don’t you guys go back outside,” Gabe told them, his request definitely more of an order than a question.

  “We want to help,” Dax argued.

  “I know,” Gabe agreed with a grim smile. “But right now I need you to both go outside while we talk about this.”

  “Let’s go, dude,” Sam said as he headed for the door. He paused and met my gaze. “You’re one of us, Skye. They can’t take you away.”

  A sudden lump of emotion formed in my throat. I struggled to swallow around it.

  “Thanks, Sam,” I managed.

  Dax looked at Remy instead of me as he followed his twin out. “If you want me to drive down to Long Mesa and kick their asses with you, I’m in.”

  That brought a smile to my lips that lingered even as the boys left the room. Seconds later the front door opened and closed.

  “I’m surprised Linden is doing this,” Mallory finally said, shaking her head. “He has to know we would fight it. Doesn’t he see that all he will do is shed light on the darkest facets of his pack?”

  “This isn’t just about four female shifters leaving his pack. His sister and niece escaped,” Mom countered. “His wife and daughter deserted him. He sent his successor back to retrieve Skye and he not only failed, but died in the attempt. He has to be feeling the pressure from the pack.”

  I closed my eyes, the memory of killing Cassian still fresh in my mind. I turned and pressed my face into Remy’s shoulder, and he kissed the top of my head.

  “I agree,” Gabe replied, folding his arms over his chest. “Linden is trying to reestablish his dominance before his status as Alpha is challenged.”

  “By letting the shifter world know about the shit that he lets go down on his watch?” Katy snorted derisively.

  “He’s not the only type of shifter who thinks the way he does,” Remy said, his voice a deep rumble sending vibrations through my back.

  Katy rolled her eyes. “Trust me, we’re well aware that some packs see females as property that can be sold and traded like a bag of sugar. But what that guy has done is so far past fucked up—”

  “Language,” Mallory chided offhandedly, but she didn’t seem too upset that Katy was swearing a blue streak.

  “She’s not wrong,” Gabe told his wife with a shrug. “Linden and his pack are fucked up. The problem is, it looks like he’s been getting other packs on board with his way of thinking.”

  “Wait—what?” The words tumbled out of me. “What does that mean?”

  Remy’s arms tightened around me for a second. In the moment of silence that lingered, I sensed he and Gabe were trying to figure out how to explain.

  “We’ve been doing some looking into the Long Mesa pack,” Remy started, turning me around so he could see my eyes.

  I stepped back, and his hands slid down my shoulders and grabbed my hands between us. “You’ve what?”

  “After what happened at Granite Peak with Cassian and Trace, we started wondering exactly how connected the packs were. It seems your grandfather had been working on alliances with packs across the US and parts of Canada and Mexico. A lot of them have taken to … adopting some of the ways of the Long Mesa pack.”

  “You mean the omegas?” I whispered, horrified.

  Remy nodded slowly, his dark eyes unreadable.

  “You … you never mentioned any of this,” I muttered, taking another step back and out of his hold. I ran a shaky hand across my face.

  He let me go without a fight. “I know. I should have.”

  “We haven’t told anyone,” Gabe added firmly. “We decided not to mention it until we knew how many packs Linden was allied with. Only a few packs know about our suspicions, and we’ve kept it quiet while we’ve looked into it.”

  Gabe looked at Mallory, his mouth flattened into a grim line. “Norwood has been funding a lot of their expansion techniques. Damien’s involved in this in every way, Mal.”

  Damien Valois. Trace’s father and the Norwood Alpha.

  Because of freaking course.

  Mallory paled, looking away. “God dammit, Damien,” she whispered, shaking her head. “I thought we were past this.”

  “Damien will never be past it,” Gabe replied darkly, his blue gaze electric as he watched his mate. “He’ll never be over losing you.”

  “But joining Long Mesa because of a grudge he started decades ago? Funding and encouraging their depravity?” Mallory swept a hand out. “This is way past a childhood crush gone wrong, Gabe.”

  “He was in love with you,” Gabe ground out.

  “He was a fool,” Mallory retorted, dark eyes glittering. “And he’s an even bigger fool now for allying his pack with Long Mesa.”

  I lifted my eyes to Remy’s. There was something more he wasn’t saying. Something dark swirling behind his gaze.

  “You’ve been trying to figure out who else is helping them kidnap the females,” I finally said, the truth dawning slowly.

  Remy nodded slowly. “We don’t have all the proof we need yet. We’re working on getting as many facts as we can before we go to the Council. Because of what Cassian told you, we know Norwood is involved, but there has to be more than that.”

  Gabe cleared his throat, drawing my attention. “What Linden is doing in Long Mesa is the tip of the iceberg, but he definitely isn’t the one in charge. For a while we thought it was the Norwood pack. We’ve had both packs monitored by a few people we know. Linden has made several trips to New York, and Damien has been seen in New Mexico.”

  “They’re working together?” I demanded.

  “We don’t have concrete proof,” Remy replied honestly. “But it looks like it, yeah. We figured out Norwood was involved since the girls on campus went missing after they left. It makes sense that Norwood would use what they know about the campus to help the kidnappers get in and out. The only thing that doesn’t make sense is that females were going missing last year before anything happened at GPA.”

  “Except the ones who went missing from school are a lot younger,” I pointed out. “Before this, it was adults. Why are they taking kids?”

  Gabe sighed and shook his head. “Honestly? It looks like female shifters have been going missing longer than we originally knew about. This may have been going on for years, and it looks like several packs are involved. Alli
es of Norwood and Long Mesa, most likely. But there still seems to be a piece of the puzzle we’re missing.”

  Remy nodded at his dad. “We’ve been working with our own allies. Trying to figure out what it all means, but we keep hitting walls.”

  “You never said anything,” I murmured, feeling a little stung that Remy hadn’t said anything to me about any of this.

  His lips thinned. “I know. I didn’t want to bring up Long Mesa until I knew more. I wish you could completely forget about them all together, Skye.”

  “So, those assholes took Maren?” Katy snapped, cutting off our conversation. “Is that where she is?”

  “We don’t know that,” Gabe replied firmly. “We believe Norwood and Long Mesa have had a hand in arranging the abductions, but we don’t have proof, and we don’t know why.”

  Mom gave me a terrified look. “Forced matings?”

  I curled my hands into fists to stop them from shaking. “Maybe.”

  “If they were forcing mates to be together, we would have seen some of them by now,” Mallory argued.

  “But no one can place any of the missing women with either pack,” Remy muttered darkly. “It’s like they disappear. There’s no trace. They’re just gone.”

  “They can’t just disappear,” Katy said, her voice shaking. She stalked across the room to stand in front of her father. “Who took Maren?”

  He settled his hands on her shoulders. “We don’t know, sweetheart. But I promise we’re working on it as fast we can.”

  She waved a hand wildly. “Then go demand the Norwood Alpha tell you who it is! Tell the Council so they can order him to tell you!”

  “It’s not that simple, Katy. Damien Valois is smart and connected. He’s been careful. We don’t have any concrete proof, and we need it if we’re going to lay a claim like that at his feet.”

  She wrenched out of his hold. “Yes, it is! You can make them give her back, Daddy!”

  Mallory stepped up and tried pulling Katy into her arms, but Katy wasn’t having any of it.

  “No!” she yelled, pulling away from her mother.

  “Honey, if we tip our hand too soon, there’s a chance they’ll cut all their losses and cover their tracks. We can’t make any accusations until we have absolute proof. No one wants Damien to go down more than I do.” Gabe was infinitely patient as he tried to explain what was happening to his daughter, but his expression darkened as he talked. “We need to bring an airtight case to the Council.”