"You mean since Remy shot you down for the last time?" Katy said sweetly, arching a brow. "You had to find a new alpha to sink your claws into?"
"I said, enough," Remy repeated, glaring at both Sierra and Katy until each looked at the ground.
"Sorry," Katy muttered, sounding anything but. She folded her arms over her chest, sinking down into the couch.
Remy looked at Kyle. "Has something new happened?"
Kyle shifted, not happy but clearly willing to let the issue die. He traced the edges of one of the hardwood planks he sat on. "No, nothing." His gaze flickered up and I caught him looking at ... Larkin. Her cheeks were tomato red and she looked like she wanted to crawl under the couch.
Remy looked from Kyle to Larkin and then finally to Rhodes. They seemed to have an entire conversation without speaking before Rhodes finally nodded. I noticed him casually rest an arm along the back of the couch. The movement shifted Larkin towards him.
"Anything else?"
Silence reigned in the room.
"Okay," Remy said. "We're done. Let's go eat."
10
"Are you gonna finish that?" Rhodes didn't wait for me to reply before reaching across the table and swiping the last piece of bacon from my plate, popping it in his mouth. He had already finished his own plate of breakfast and part of Larkin's.
I arched a brow at him. "Help yourself, by all means."
"Thanks," he grinned wolfishly at me and winked.
"You're such a pig," Katy muttered with a grimace. She slapped the back of his hand as he reached for her bacon. "Try it again and I'll take your paw off."
Rhodes retracted his hand as if she was brandishing a knife. His wide eyes went to me and then Larkin before fixing on Katy. "That hurts, Kit-Kat."
"And stop calling me 'Kit-Kat' while you're at it," she continued with a glare that had no heat behind it.
"You love it," Rhodes teased. He rested a head on her shoulder. "And you love me."
Katy shoved him off her shoulder. "You wish."
He winced. "That hurts."
She grinned at him, sucking the last of her orange juice through a straw. "Truth always does."
With a loud sigh, Rhodes looked across the table to Larkin and me. "So, ladies, what's the plan for today?"
Larkin blushed adorably, fidgeting in her seat. I caught Katy's eye and she rolled her eyes with a soft smile. Clearly, she could see Larkin was deeply infatuated with the pack beta, but he seemed completely oblivious.
"Well," Lark started slowly, tucking her hair behind her ear, "Skye needs to get her class schedule and finish unpacking, then we're marathoning Stranger Things. She's never seen it."
Katy blinked. "How the hell have you never seen it?"
"We didn't have ..." I glanced at Larkin for help.
"Netflix," she supplied.
"Netflix," I finished with a shrug.
Katy looked appalled. "That's tragic."
"I'm in," Rhodes announced, raising a hand.
"Put your damn hand down," Katy snapped. "You weren't invited."
"Wasn't invited where?" Remy asked, sitting down on the other side of Rhodes. After the pack meeting broke up and we had all headed to the cafeteria for breakfast, Remy had said he needed to meet with a couple of the pack teachers.
Remy looked expectantly from Rhodes to me. His tray was loaded with food - bacon, sausage, eggs, toast, pancakes, and hash browns in addition to milk, juice, and coffee. Considering Rhodes put away almost the same amount of food, I supposed it was normal for guys to eat that much.
At Long Mesa, I hadn't been permitted to eat with the other students, which was fine by me. Any chance I had to avoid my classmates, the better.
"Rhodes thinks he can worm his way into our Stranger Things girl-time day," Katy replied.
Rhodes's jaw dropped. "What the fuck? You weren't invited either."
Katy barely spared him a glance. "Girl-time, Rhodes. I have a vagina and therefore a standing invite." She flipped her red hair over her shoulder. "Do you have a vagina?"
His eyes were sparkling as he opened his mouth to reply.
Katy held up a hand quickly. "And no, spending copious amounts of time inside one doesn't qualify."
He closed his mouth with an audible snap and looked at Remy. "Can you control your sister?"
Remy looked from his best friend to sister and then back to his food. "You're on your own, buddy."
"Dude," Rhodes pressed, "what about bro code?"
"Nothing compared to the blood between siblings," Katy retorted smugly.
Watching them bicker was fascinating. Remy didn't seem phased at all by the way they were sniping at each other, and despite some of the barbs having some sharp points, there was an undeniably comfortable vibe between Rhodes and Katy that kept me from thinking they were actually mad at each other. The way Remy smiled indulgently at them made me think he knew they were just trying to get a rise out of each other as well.
"Right, Skye?" Rhodes demanded.
I blinked and realized the four of them were staring at me. Clearly, I missed the question. "Sorry, I missed that. What?"
Rhodes tsked lightly, wagging a finger at me. "You gotta pay attention, Skywalker."
I frowned. "What?"
"Skywalk - don't tell me you haven't seen Star Wars either." Rhodes threw up his hands, exasperated. "It's only the greatest film trilogy ever made."
Katy frowned, propping an elbow on the table and resting her chin in her hand. "Which trilogy? Episodes four through six? One through three? Or the newest?"
Rhodes looked disgusted. "I thought we agreed to never speak of the complete fuckup that was episodes one through three."
Larkin cleared her throat and leaned towards me. "I've never seen them, either."
Rhodes' head whipped around, his long brown hair flying in his eyes. He shoved it back impatiently. "Are you kidding me? How the hell did I not know that?“
Remy groaned beside him. “I told you not to tell him that, Lark.”
Larkin shrugged, holding her hands up in surrender. "Sorry?"
Rhodes slammed a fist down on the table. I caught my cup of water before it spilled. "This is a travesty. That's it - I'm vetoing the Stranger Things marathon and we're watching Star Wars." He fixed Katy with a stare. "Episodes four through six."
Now I was confused. "Wouldn't you need to watch episodes one through three first?"
Rhodes pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath. "No, Skye, we don't."
"Technically episodes four through six came out decades before episodes one through three," Remy explained to me. He held up a hand when Rhodes started to protest. "But Rhodes doesn't acknowledge episodes one through three because they're shit."
"Oh," I said slowly, still not getting it entirely.
"Trust me," Remy said with a knowing grin, "just let him have this if you want him to shut up."
Larkin giggled beside me and I cracked a smile at him. It felt good to laugh with my pack.
"I'm not spending the day watching movies that didn't even know what CGI was," Katy announced. "You guys can go watch your oldies-"
"Classics," Rhodes growled.
"Whatever. We'll watch something else." Katy smiled at Larkin and me.
"But Skye and Larkin haven't seen it," he argued.
"And God willing, they never will!" Katy snapped back.
Rhodes was just ramping up for another argument when a body dropped into the empty chair beside me, startling me. I spun on my chair to stare at the newcomer, only to see him staring back at me with a lazy smile.
He was gorgeous with dark skin and onyx eyes. His teeth were brilliantly white, his lips smiling wide. He was clearly muscular and, judging by the look in his eyes, used to getting his way.
A beta, at least.
"You must be the new girl I've been hearing about," he said, his voice rough and playful.
I caught Remy, Rhodes, and Katy all stiffen across from me.
&
nbsp; "Aren't you sitting with the wrong pack, Trace?" Rhodes asked, his normally warm voice icy enough to send chills down my spine.
I moved back and felt a tremble. Larkin was literally shaking next to me. I could see her eyes transfixed on the half-eaten tray of food in front of her as she shook. She was fucking terrified of this new guy.
Remy was frowning as he watched Larkin. His gaze slid back to Trace and narrowed.
I turned, feeling my wolf stirring in me. We seemed to agree on one thing - protecting Larkin from whatever this threat was.
"I just came over to say hello, Katherine," Trace snapped. He looked back at me, his dark eyes assessing as they raked over me.
I met his heated gaze and, for once in my life, I didn't flinch back. I didn't look away. I lifted my chin a notch. His eyes widened a fraction. I had surprised him, and judging by his growing smile, he was enjoying the challenge.
The air crackled around us, charged with energy. I could hear conversations dying off at tables around us as people turned to watch us.
I swallowed hard and Trace tracked the movement, sensing my unease, but thinking he was the reason for it.
He wasn’t.
I just wasn't crazy about everyone looking at me. I was aware enough to still feel Larkin shuddering beside me, and that was all the fuel I needed to keep the staring contest going.
"Stop." Remy finally snapped, getting to his feet.
Trace and I blinked and turned to him at the same moment. Now I swallowed again, but for a whole other reason.
Remy was furious, his brown eyes hard and unyielding. All his muscles were coiled, ready to attack. He looked like an avenging angel coming down to smite the guy next to me.
Beside him, Rhodes and Katy were perched on the edge of their seats, ready to stand united with him.
Trace slowly got to his feet beside me. "Relax, Rem. No disrespect meant."
"This is over," Remy spat. "Go back to your own pack and stay away from mine."
Trace smirked at him. "I'll stay away, but you might want to tell your pack to stay away from me. I mean, that was your bitch who woke up in my bed this morning, right? Not sure why you let Sierra go. The things that girl can do-"
"Do I look fucking interested?" Remy asked coldly, ice dripping from his words. "Sierra can do whatever she wants with whoever she wants. She's made it quite clear she's not staying with the Blackwater pack. She's all yours."
Trace shrugged, pushing in his chair. "We'll see. She's fun to play with, but not exactly mate material."
"Still not sure why you're telling me this," Remy replied coldly, crossing his arms over his massive chest.
Trace took a step back, still grinning. "Gotta keep my options open, ya know?" His gaze slid behind me. "Larkin, I almost missed you over there. How've you been?"
Now I stood up, Rhodes and Katy getting to their feet as well. I folded my arms over my chest, glaring. A shiver tripped up my spine, my wolf begging to come out because of course now would be the time she wanted to make an appearance.
I was starting to think she only wanted to play when there was a chance of ripping someone’s throat out.
Trace blinked slowly and looked at me, blocking Larkin. He nodded once, lips pressing together as his smile faded. "Nice to meet you, new girl. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around soon."
11
No one seemed to really care about eating after the run-in with Trace. We picked at our food, trying to make small talk before Rhodes eventually decided we should go back to the cabin for a binge watch of something yet to be determined. In the meantime, I had to go pick up my schedule and finish unpacking. Katy offered to come with us, and we cleaned up our trays while Remy and Rhodes talked quietly, saying they would meet us later.
I liked Katy, but I had been hoping to get Larkin alone to see what was going on. I made a mental note to ask her when we were alone in our room.
As we left the cafeteria, I caught Sierra sliding onto Trace's lap and wondered if she knew she was as temporary as Trace made her out to seem. Or maybe he told her one thing and everyone something else.
Cassian used to do that all the time with Bella.
I'd lost track of how many corners I had turned to see him all over some other girl from our pack. I would see him with Bella almost immediately afterward, ever the doting boyfriend. He would make comments to me, touch me in some way that made me want to bathe in bleach, and then go right back to Bella. Hell, sometimes Bella would even walk in on him tormenting me and they would walk off together, hand in freaking hand.
Granted, Bella was younger than he was by almost two years, but still. It was disturbing how easily he could go from predator to prince.
I never understood how he could do that. Maybe because he didn't have a soul.
The entire time at Long Mesa, I never had anyone to stand up for me. Mom would try to shield me as much as possible, but at the end of the day, she couldn't protect me, especially when I was at school.
Rationally I knew Remy was the alpha here at school for my new pack, so if anyone was going to defend Larkin, it should be him. But I was tired of watching assholes like Cassian and Trace do whatever they wanted simply because they were born genetically superior.
Trace wasn't touching Larkin again if I had any say in the matter.
"So, who exactly was that guy?" I asked as we made our way down the hall, forcing myself not to react when Larkin flinched. I knew what she probably wanted was for us to forget the whole thing happened, but I needed more info.
Katy snorted, her brown boots clicking down the polished marble tiles and echoing off a row of large, shiny blue lockers. "That was Trace Collins, heir apparent to the Norwood pack and overall dickhead extraordinaire."
"The Norwood pack was the ones you guys mentioned this morning, right?" I asked, thinking back to when one of the twins had brought them up.
Katy nodded. "Yeah. Norwood and Blackwater don't mix well." She scoffed. "Well, unless you're Sierra, then you mix well with everything and everyone."
Something Trace said still wasn't sitting right with me. "Trace mentioned something about Sierra and Remy?"
Katy stopped cold, and I worried for a second she might be ready to vomit. "No. No fucking way. Sierra chased Remy for years, ever since we were little. Bitch wouldn't take no for an answer. She had the nerve to show up in Remy's bed last year, naked, after the Spring Formal. Rem basically threatened to throw her out of the school and her family out of the pack if she tried anything like that again. The next week she was glued to Trace, saying how they were going to be mates, and she was done with Blackwater after she graduated."
"So, in the meantime, she's still part of our pack?" I frowned. That didn't seem right.
Katy nudged me with her shoulder as we resumed walking. "Look at you calling it our pack," she teased.
I tried to back pedal. "I didn't mean-"
"No, no," Katy cut me off, "I'm happy you see us as yours. You're right - it is our pack, and unfortunately, until Sierra turns eighteen and reaches the age of majority, she's in the pack unless her parents decide to leave."
"Do you think they will?"
I had almost forgotten Larkin was walking with us until she spoke up. "No. I've met her parents. They're really nice and love Blackwater."
"They are amazing. They do a lot of work outside of Blackwater, working with other packs and helping keep the treaties in place. They're basically Blackwater pack ambassadors," Katy admitted. "Who knows how the hell the birthed a creature like Sierra."
Katy paused in front of a door and waved an arm at it with a flourish. "Behold, the office!" She pushed open the door, introducing me to the woman at the front desk who printed out my schedule.
The whole process only took a few minutes. We started to head for the cabin when Larkin mentioned she left something in our room and we changed course for the dorm.
Katy reached over and plucked the schedule from my hands. "Let's see what you've got. Pre-calc, English, social studies, e
arth science ... Looks like you're in most of my classes." She squinted at the schedule. "You took an extra English lit elective? Intentionally?"
I shrugged as we walked outside into the bright fall sunlight. "I like to read."
"You and Remy have that in common," she muttered. "Pack studies and intro to shifters." She passed the paper back to me. "At least you'll be with Larkin and I most of the day."
I glanced at Larkin. "I thought you were a junior?"
"Larkin's a genius," Katy teased with a wink. "She'll be graduating with us in the spring."
Larkin ducked her head. "I like school."
"She finished all the math courses here when she was a freshman," Katy continued. "She's had to take online college courses the last couple years. Statistics and shit like that."
Larkin shrugged, a half smile on her lips. "Math makes sense. I like numbers."
"Numbers I get," I admitted, "but when they start throwing letters into the mix, it gets confusing."
"Every letter has a numerical value. It's a puzzle to figure out what it is," Larkin replied firmly.
Katy linked her arm through Larkin's and smiled at her. "You are such a nerd."
The campus was coming alive as we walked. Groups of teens were hanging out on the lawn, enjoying the sun burning off the last of the cold morning airing. Ten or so had a pickup game of soccer going. I recognized a couple faces from the meeting this morning. A few lone shifters were reading in different spots around the area.
We made it back to our room, and I stopped short when I came inside and saw three large boxes sitting on my bed that hadn't been there before.
"Oooh!" Katy squealed, brushing past me to look at the boxes. "What'd you get?"
"I don't know," I replied, confused. I looked at Larkin, who had joined Katy.
Larkin held up the smallest of the three. "They all have your name on them."
"Can we open them?" Katy asked.
"Sure," I answered, watching as she ripped open the top of the cardboard box. A piece of paper fluttered to the ground.
Larkin picked it up. "There's a note for you." She passed me the paper.
Sanctum (Blackwater Pack Book 1) Page 9