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Remy shook her head at him, and Chase laughed. Chase sat across from Remy and allowed Lykos to sit at the head of the table. Bryan sat across from Lykos. They thought this was weird, but Chase insisted they feel comfortable and at home there. He did not want them to feel any more threatened today if he could help it. He was also an Alpha. He understood that the Lycans inside of them would need to feel safe, or they would be on edge until they were. If that were the case, they could blow up on anyone who looked at them the wrong way at any second.
However, this allowed Chase to play footsie with her under the table under her father's nose.
Remy shot him a curt and sneering look, and Chase looked back at her and winked. He knew exactly what he was doing and was enthusiastic about teasing her. She wanted to yell at him but couldn't do so with her father sitting there. Chase won this round, but he didn't fight fair.
Damn him.
"So, tell me what happened, if you don't mind," Chase inquired, leaning forward to show that he was listening intently.
"Dimitri wants part of my land," Lykos started. "Due to most of the packs starting to fight amongst themselves over the territory lines, I thought it would be good to offer him a choice, a way out of this madness. One of those choices was part of my land so he could grow more of his trees for lumber. He did not like the amount offered, said it wasn’t enough, so I offered to allow some of his people to work for us so he could have people bringing home a paycheck. He considered this an insult and decided to fight us for the affront. I don't know what got into him. Dimitri is known to have a short fuse, but nothing like this kind of brutality. He is usually a reasonable man, if not terribly blunt. If he didn't like something, he would just state that he did not like it and then have a discussion about it. This time, he was willing to break hospitality laws and attack us instead of discussing it civilly."
Remy already knew why Dimitri reacted the way he did. The corrupting influence of the dark dimension was certainly coming into play here. However, her father did not know that she had already told Chase about the dark dimension. She understood he was likely trying to keep that close to the chest so as not to cause panic. Chase was another Alpha, but he was someone Lykos had not had many conversations with since he was newer to his role than other Alphas, so it wouldn't be wise to rock the boat any more than it already had been, especially with her father and Bryan coming down from an agitated state.
"I don't quite understand it either. I was hoping the people would settle down soon. I even thought it had something to do with the full moons lately. Maybe younger Lycans have grown into their beasts but haven’t gained that much control yet, but that doesn't seem to be the case," Chase added.
"We thought the same thing," Bryan told him. "But it isn't that. We watched and waited for the full moon to pass to see if things calmed down. Unfortunately, I fear it might be something darker. I have known a lot of these men for years. I have traveled with Lykos to every pack over the last decade. I know everyone likes him. I never thought any of them would be like this."
"Agreed. I don't know what is going on," Chase said.
"How is your pack fairing amid this madness? Are you having as much trouble as the others?"
Chase shook his head. "No, none of mine are experiencing anything like that. I am having compliance like normal. No one is arguing with one another. I hope that remains the case."
Lykos looked at Remy. "I wonder why he is so different?"
Remy thought about it. She didn't know the differences between Chase's pack and the others. Was he more loyal to them? Did they appreciate him being so grounded? Could he alone be the reason why everyone in this territory is so lax? An Alpha's negative emotions can trickle down to the rest of the pack if he is not careful. If he holds in rage long enough, it could make the rest of the pack feel that way, too. From what she could see, Chase wasn't the kind of person to be like that. Mischievous and daring, sure, but he was not hot-tempered and willing to fight with everyone just because he wasn't getting his way.
"Maybe it is the temperament of the Alpha? With things going on right now, it's the pack following the Alpha, isn't it?"
Lykos made a noise, "Not really. It's pack members fighting amongst themselves and packs fighting with other packs. It's less of a coordinated rage and more of a disconnected madness."
Remy growled in frustration. "I really don't know then."
The Dark Dimension was affecting everyone on the island, too. Every species eventually had someone lose control. It was mostly just those with animal counterparts.
But what was the common denominator? Who was not affected?
Remy couldn't figure out who was being affected more than the others. What was the common thread among those who were and weren't?
I wonder if Kaida ever figured that out.
"Can you tell me some things about your pack? How many people do you have now? Are they all mated? Are they all happy kinds of people?"
Chase looked at her with his head tilted to the side. She wondered if that's how his Lycan looked when he did that. "I have about forty Lycans under me now. Many of them mated. Probably more than half, but no to them all being mated. We do not have anything but laid-back Lycans here. I honestly don't think a single pack has what we have."
Lykos made a face. "I would say the same. I have a little more than you do as for members, but most of ours are mated as well. Could that be a factor?"
Remy wished she could tell him that Kaida was mated when the Dark Dimension took control over her, which meant the dimension couldn't be the reason behind these changes if she were taken over, either. So, what else could it be?
Remy sighed. "I don't know. I guess people are just not happy with how things are anymore."
The men grunted. Remy hated it when men did that, especially in sync.
Lykos sighed. "If that is the case, we can't help things along here. We'll just have to fight these people until we figure out the root cause. The Lycan kingdom will be drenched in blood if it is just about pack territories."
Remy hated that her father was right. He knew better than anyone here that the kingdom's future would now change. If it was the Dark Dimension, she wasn't sure how to combat it. She didn't have the magic or power the way Kaida did. Kaida was fighting a war within her own kingdom, unable to come to help her. Until that was settled, she was on her own.
Lykos and Bryan retired to their rooms. After they were fed, they needed rest to recharge the wells of their magic so they could shift again. Their tour of the packs wasn't over, and if any of them followed Redwood's example of handling the dispute, they needed all the energy they could get.
