AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Remy tried to smile; she really did. Instead, it came out looking like a grimace. Lykos chuckled and patted her shoulder before shoving her into the fold. Remy was thankful that she was still wearing her trusty boots. Otherwise, she would have fallen right on her ass with her wearing a black jean skirt, which would have been a problem. She shot her father a look, who was no longer even looking in her direction. Instead, she watched her parents instinctively fall into dancing with each other, perfectly in tandem, like they were teenagers again. Remy snarled in their direction before the song changed to a real upbeat one that she recalled playing on the island in one of the nightclubs. Allowing the music to wash over her, Remy relaxed and moved her body to the beat.
It didn't take long for some of the pack members to grab onto her hands and pull her further into the sea of bodies on the dance floor. Most of the faces she recognized, one being Bryan, and he twirled her around for a moment before returning to his mate, Bella. Their son was her age, and one of the transfers out of the pack was into another one that needed a new second in command. Bella hugged her for a moment, reminding Remy of the warm way Bella always hugged her while growing up. Bella was one of the taller females in the pack, which Bryan lucked out with. Bryan was over six feet, and Bella fell perfectly under his chin. Because Bella always wore her brunette hair back in a ponytail, her warm brown eyes always watched out for everyone, mainly for Remy, because she had a tendency to get into trouble. If Kodi didn't distract her parents so she didn't get caught, Bella did. Sometimes, it was a full-time job for both of them, but Remy never heard a complaint.
Grief flooded through Remy's heart at the thought of Kodi again. Her movements slowed down as she took some deep breaths to keep herself from crying. The dryness of her throat had her pushing through the crowd toward the table of refreshments. A bowl of punch was toward the right end with a ladle inside and cups all around. Cherries, oranges, lemon, and lime wedges were floating on top of the punch along with some ice cubes, and she could smell the fruits meshing together in harmony before she grabbed one of the cups and the ladle from the bowl. Remy ladled the red punch into a cup and downed the sugary liquid with a fierce gulp. There was a faint hint of alcohol on her taste buds, and Remy contemplated downing the whole bowl so she could get buzzed. It was difficult for them to get drunk, but as long as she drank enough over a short period, Remy knew she would get the desired result.
Yeah, let's not relive my sixteenth birthday. The last time I tested this theory, I nearly died in the middle of a field.
Let's not forget you nearly took out the Beta.
The edges of Remy's mouth turned up at the memory her wolf mentioned. No one expected Remy to wolf out and start wailing on the Beta when he tried to tell her she’d had enough and needed to go home. Her parents were away dealing with pack business with a neighboring territory, so Bryan was in charge. He thought Remy was sound asleep in her room but did a bed check. It had only been a few weeks after Kodi was killed, and Remy wasn't handling it very well. Bryan tracked her down and later regretted it. Bryan had to spend a few hours in the infirmary to heal from the wounds she inflicted on him. When her parents returned the next day, Remy thought Bryan would have told them. Instead, he said that Remy had spent the night in her room.
We never thanked him enough for that.
Well, we are back home now. We can thank him while we are here.
The beat turned up again, calling Remy to get back into the thicket of the dancing, and she didn't hesitate to answer. Everyone cheered when she returned, and she was guided into the middle of the dance floor. As the song intensified, her body swayed along to the music, pushing out the memories that were flooding back to her now that she was home. A large shadow covered her body from the streams of light coming from the sides of the room, and Remy looked up to find one of the most gorgeous guys she had ever seen standing over her. He offered his hand to her and waited patiently for her to take it. There was no chance she would take his hand before sizing him up, so she took a moment to take him in. His shaggy brunette hair fell across his dark chocolate brown eyes. With his height well over six feet, his broad-shouldered, muscular body screamed Alpha before the wave of power hit her like a freight train. Just like her father, this guy's presence filled the room and caused several of her family's Lycans to turn their heads and stare. This guy didn't waver once and continued to stare at her with his palm up for her to take it. His chocolate eyes were full of heat as they connected with her’s. Remy fought the two options of declining the guy to continue dancing with her pack or taking this guy's offer to dance with him instead. Remy found turning this sexy ass guy down revolting since she had no idea who he was or if she would see him again. The odds of running into him again would be slim if he weren't a neighboring Alpha. She continued to weigh her options and assessed whether or not this guy was trustworthy enough to dance with so she could forget her stupid ex who left her face down in the sand with no memory of him or why he rejected her.
Fuck it. What's the worst that can happen?
Instead of taking his hand, Remy turned her back on him and started moving her body to the beat again. She heard a throaty chuckle behind her before feeling his presence behind her. Throwing her hands in the air, Remy managed to turn her head just enough to check if it was the hottie. Sure enough, it was, and he winked at her as he followed her lead. With some swaying of her hips, moving of her arms, and bopping of her head to the beat, Remy fell back into the rhythm and lost herself to the music. She twirled around to face him, and Hottie waited for her to make the next move. Remy gyrated her hips into him, and Hottie put one of his legs in between hers, matching her energy. They moved in sync and continued their dance through another song. Remy danced around him, with him, and finally…he grabbed her hand to twirl her.
Remy stopped abruptly as the world fell away, and they were the only ones on the dance floor. Hottie stared down at her with the same shocked expression but quickly became satisfied before he emitted a low growl. Breathing did not come easily, and the stitching inside of her soul began to form. This stranger's amber and oak scent wrapped around Remy before she could process what was happening. She stepped back before a bright, white light overtook her vision, and a memory tried to surface. Pain radiated through her head as she remembered feeling this before, the beginnings of a mate bond forming, before hearing a deep-throated growl. She gasped at the air before the white light disappeared. The hot guy stood in front of her, his body language showing how he was ready to pounce on the entity that was causing her pain as he scanned the area with his eyes. Remy wanted to run, but that would only trigger this guy to chase after her. No one runs from Lycan. That only makes the animal counterpart kick into overdrive and consider the person running as prey. She gritted her teeth before straightening herself and glared at him.
A playful smirk was on his lips, but this guy didn't move a muscle. The bond continued to stitch inside her, bringing his scent around her and a sense of safety, but Remy didn't feel safe at all. She entered her mind to draw on the little snippet of the memory that finally came to her after all this time. She needed to know if this was the mate that rejected her and left her for dead. The memory wouldn't come easily to her, only allowing her to feel the bond forming and the pain from the rejection. A little more of a push, and the blinding light returned. Remy focused on the scent of that mate while being wrapped up in the scent of the current guy. The scent of bergamot and cedar wood slowly filled her nose before the pain overwhelmed her once more. Remy nearly crashed to her knees, but a pair of strong hands caught her under her elbows. The hottie scanned her body with concern in his eyes. Remy looked around and noticed her pack was staring at her, too. She flashed her pack a smile and waved the hottie off.
"I got too hot! I think I need to step out for a minute or two. I'm fine!"
Remy pulled herself away from the hottie, feeling her Lycan inside of her whine as she screamed Mate! That is our mate! It took more power than she thought it would to ignore her Lycan and push through the crowd toward the punch bowl again. The hottie followed her out, and Remy rounded on him before he could get too close.
"What?" She spat.
The guy leaned his head to his side, clearly confused at her reaction as the mate bond reached out to him. This wasn't the mate who rejected her—this guy was someone else. The Moon Goddess chose Remy for a second chance.
But I don't want a second chance...
"I am Chase Monroe, Alpha of the Silver Ridge Pack."
Remy clenched her fists at her sides. The Moon Goddess had given her a new mate—an Alpha mate—and this was definitely not what she wanted. "Good for you," she said.
Chase smirked at her. "And you are?"
Remy smirked back. "I am Remy Howell, daughter of Alpha Lykos of the Great Plains Pack. I did not ask for another mate, nor do I want one. So, you can take your sweet ass back to the Silver Ridge Mountains and forget I exist."
Chase chuckled. "Oh no, Sweetcheeks. You're not getting rid of me that easily."
"Oh yeah?" she challenged.
"Oh yeah. You're mine."
We'll see about that.
Chapter three
Remy
The blood started pumping inside of her ears at the words he wasn't going anywhere. Remy kept her eyes on Chase as he continued to stare into hers. He was challenging her just as much as she was challenging him. Hearing her heart race just from how he looked at her, Remy's legs squirmed to run in the other direction.
What if he is like the other one? What if he is pretending to feed into this mate bond to make me leave my territory again and be rejected again?
