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I'll worry about everything else tomorrow. Right now, it's all about Chase.
Chapter fourteen
Remy
Overall, the valley was dark compared to the mountains that surrounded it. The regions were high enough to block out most of the sun, causing there to be more shade than sun. There was a reason this was known as Death Valley. Due to the minimal amount of sun, nothing was known to be able to live here when it came to plant life. If it weren't for some greenery that did not require much sun to survive, this area would be more of a desert than anything. However, it was still a beautiful area. The rocks from the surrounding mountain were a range of colors. There was some red, purple, orange, and yellow. It was dependent on how much sun had peaked through as to which of the various colors could be seen, but with the green, it brought out the imagery of a rainbow. Though it had a dark-sounding name, it was still a beautiful area.
Lykos was back in the driver's seat and growled at the sign that signaled they had entered Death Valley. Bryan chuckled at the Alpha as Remy sat in the back and tried to hide her face and smile from the rearview mirror. Her father was in a sour mood from what happened in Redwood, so seeing her joining in on Bryan poking fun at him would not have gone over well.
"Unclench, Lykos. It could have been worse."
Lykos grunted. "That dumbass put my daughter at risk. I should go back with our pack and wipe his damn pack from existence."
Remy perked up in her seat and narrowed her eyes at her father. He didn't acknowledge her looking at him, though she could see he looked up briefly, so she leaned forward to get his attention. "I don't like the way you are talking, Dad. Just because the asshole lost control doesn't mean he deserves to die."
He looked at her in the mirror, his pale blue eyes almost illuminating, his Lycan peering through them. " Hospitality laws are in place for a reason. If an alpha doesn't abide by them, they deserve to be taken out."
"The Dark Dimension is sweeping through our kingdom, Dad. It is difficult to watch, but it is something we need to deal with. Killing everyone under the influence of it is not the way to go."
He grunted again. Remy took that as an agreement but also understood he was not happy about it and sat back in her seat. Her chest felt itchy, and there was tugging inside of the bonds the closer they got to the packhouse. Remy ignored it, as hard as it was, and assumed it was Chase reminding her that he was still there for her if she needed him. It was difficult to leave his bed just before dawn to escape to her designated room. It was needed so she could shower and get most of the scent of Chase and sex off her before Lykos would notice. As Chase said, his scent lingered on her, and to no surprise to her, Lykos questioned it. Bryan pointed out that the scent could have been from them staying inside the packhouse, and Lykos shrugged it off. Remy looked at Bryan, and he winked at her. Either he knew and would keep the secret, or he just didn't want Lykos's bad mood to effect the trip. Remy hoped it was the latter.
The pack seemed to be in the furthest section of the valley from how long they drove. Once they got to the heart of it, Remy noticed the cliffs blocking the sunlight were no longer there, and the valley turned into an open circle. There, she noticed the greenery was more plentiful. Many plants with colorful flowers and cactuses were everywhere, and red fruit grew from them. Remy remembered getting shipments of prickly pear from this area and several flowers for the floral shops in the kingdom. At least she knew this area held a purpose and was less likely to attack the way Redwood did. If the dark dimension had not touched this alpha, it could be a better meeting than they had before.
The house seemed similar to the one her pack had in terms of size. It looked like it was made from the rocks from the valley based on the colors of the bricks used to construct it. Remy noted how it had some reds, purples, and oranges within the bricks, and it stood just as many stories as theirs. Due to the bricks, it almost looked more like a schoolhouse than a packhouse. She remembered hearing this pack was close to the Great Plains pack in size but did not have as many powerful Lycans. This could cause issues with other packs wanting to attack to take over this land the more Remy thought about it. The less powerful the Lycans, the less powerful the pack overall.
Like Redwood, the Alpha stood on the porch and waited for them to leave the car. Remy's eyes widened at the sandy blonde Alpha with bright blue eyes who was yelling at her father in the halls during her welcome-home party. The mountain of a man seemed to be even more of a mountain than he had appeared that night now that she was closer to seeing him. The man standing next to him seemed to be considerably small in comparison. He was just a smidge shorter than the Alpha but much thinner. He still had a bulk of muscle, but the Alpha towered over him. The other guy had black hair and a beard trimmed short with green eyes.
The problem was when Remy felt the tugging once again inside of her chest. With the two men standing there, she had no idea which one held the bond inside her that was trying to tug her towards them. One thing was certain, though—someone here was a mate of hers. Remy immediately wanted to jump back into the car and drive home. It was becoming a mess running into mates during this tour of packs. The last thing she wanted was for her family to find out that she had not just one mate but several. It wasn't standard practice, and she wanted to find out why she had more mates than usual. If it were anything like Kaida, it could be due to her being a different Lycan than anyone else in the kingdom. Throughout her life, she had done research about being a Meta Wolf, but, like Kaida, nothing ever specifically stated that she would need multiple mates just because of her power. She didn't toss out that idea because she didn't fit the bill exactly, but it still made her want to find out why she had multiple.
One was bad enough after he rejected me. Chase is already proving to be more than I can handle with his uncanny ability to get me to do anything he wants.
I haven't heard you complain about the things he wants yet.
Shut up. I just need to keep my shit together so my dad doesn't end up losing his. He is on edge enough as it is, and now I am possibly mated to an enemy pack. If he finds out, this isn’t going to go over well.
Death Valley was another pack that did not seem to like the Great Plains pack very much due to their wealth and size. Her memory of what went down at the pack house only proved her point further that this path was not high on her list of having a mate within. Not only was Death Valley known to be where a lot of plant life could be as valuable as the crops that her family grew, but it was also full of hot-tempered Lycans who didn't exactly play by the rules.
Lykos did not seem as worried about being here as Remy did. He stepped out of the car and waited for Remy and Bryan to get out before walking toward the alpha with the poise of someone who had leaked confidence. As soon as they stepped in front of the stairs, the Lycan Alpha looked at Remy. He scanned her as if he were assessing who she was and why it was a big deal for her to be in his presence. Remy did her best not to fidget underneath his gaze. She didn't want to give away to him the fact that she knew he was a possible mate of hers. The other Lycan seemed to shift from one foot to the next for a second; if Remy had blinked, she would have missed it.
Then he looked back at Lykos. "Alpha Lykos, while you are here, we extend our hospitality to you and yours."
Lykos bowed his head. "We accept your Hospitality, Alpha Myles, and extend our promise to abide by it."
"My cook has prepared a brunch for us, so please come inside so we can dine and talk."
With another glance thrown her way, the Alpha narrowed his eyes at Remy before turning on his heels and walking inside the house. She didn't know his problem, but she didn't like his attitude. If this were a glimpse into how this meeting would go, she would need to have her wits about her, just like at Redwood.
I can't imagine this going the same way.
You have more hope than I do.
While inside, Remy noticed how it was decorated to match the colors of the surrounding areas. The decor had more of an orange and yellow theme, and Remy preferred it over the last pack house. This home appeared to be lived in through all of the decorations, and she even noticed some children's toys lying about inside the few rooms they passed before getting to the dining area. She could hear the commotion of other pack members throughout the home and took note of how it was more casual talking and some laughter. There was even some pitter-patter of children's feet running above them, which brought a smile to Remy's face. It was always good to hear happy children inside the pack. That meant there was no overwhelming urge to stay quiet because their leaders would become angry. If this pack was as hot-tempered as she was led to believe, it at least told her that they kept it out of the sight of the children, which made Remy's heart clench with happiness. She hated it when children were made to feel locked in a box instead of allowed to be who they were.
Maybe this will go better than last time after all.
The dining area had a large table with many seats around it. The hardwood floor had an orange tint, so whoever decorated the room had a deeper orange wooden table with a lighter shade of white painted on the walls. The home smelled of garlic, onion, and red meat, making Remy's mouth water. She could smell the scent of burning oil and wondered if somebody was also frying up chicken. If that were the case, they would definitely be eating well here. It was also a statement that this place was better off in terms of money to have a better meal plan with more expensive meats.
Like last time, the two alphas sat at either head of the table with their betas at their respective rights. Remy took this as a signal to just go with it and sit on her father's left, even though he had been wanting her to sit on his right to show that she was to be the future alpha of the pack. Lykos didn't trust this Alpha at all. The food was brought out to them by a few submissives who did not look anyone in the eyes and craned their necks to show their submission. Their jaws were clenched, and their hands were white, knuckling the plates they held. Remy paid a little more attention and noticed the power emanating from the five of them in the room. If she were a submissive walking in here, Remy would have done the same thing. This much power in a small space would choke someone without the same power level. Remy inhaled a deep breath and focused on pulling back her Lycan. The submissives showed her that the beast was more on edge than she thought.
