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As she pulled herself out of her thoughts, posing more questions than answers, Remy could see her brother's new home come into view. Nestled in the heart of the woods, a self-built home stood as a testament to craftsmanship and the allure of nature. It looked to have been constructed with hands that cherished the touch of raw timber, and it was a cozy sanctuary where the scent of fresh-cut wood lingered in the air. The exterior, clad in locally sourced logs, blended seamlessly with the surrounding trees. It looked like an apartment building, completely rectangular, with a window for each room. There was a single piece of stone, still rugged and raw, as if it were picked up from the woods and placed in front of the house; that was the step up to the door.
Inside felt a little different than an apartment building. It was like the rest of the pack homes she knew with shared rooms like a living room, kitchen, and a rec room on the main floor, and the rest of the floors were large bedrooms with bathrooms for each couple or individual. The decor was simple, with a neutral color scheme of whites, beiges, and grays on the walls with a similar hardwood to the wood that created the home. Wood and stone decorations were throughout the rooms, and some potted plants were growing in the corners. Soft, warm lights gave a welcoming ambiance, and the open floor plan created the feeling that the home was larger than it looked.
Kodi walked them to the back of the home where his office was built. From what Remy could see, it was the smallest room on the floor, but offices didn't really need to be big. It needed to be a place where the Alpha could run the business and pack. This was no different. Kodi had a desk and a few wooden cabinets to store his files. Remy smiled to see how his office was set up just like Lykos had set up his.
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
There were wooden chairs leaned up against the wall that folded out. Remy admired the craftsmanship and noticed that Kodi's desk was also wooden. This pack had a carpenter in its midst. If Kodi needed help bringing money to this pack, Remy knew exactly where to start.
Remy chose to sit between Lykos and Bryan so she would be directly in front of Kodi. Something told her this would be the best placement, and she would not ignore her instincts. Kodi looked at them from behind his desk. Now that they were in better lighting, she could see the lines on his face and the bags under his eyes. He hadn't lived an easy life since he had been away.
"I'm sure you are wondering how I am even alive."
That's putting it lightly.
"You could say that. Why wouldn't you return home, son? Why wouldn't you let us know you were alive?"
Kodi frowned. "I didn't have much choice in that, Dad. I want to explain everything, but I need you all just to listen right now so I can get through it all. Can you do that?"
Remy nodded and peered at the men next to her. They stared at Kodi for a few seconds before reluctantly nodding, too. She wanted to scold them for acting like this. She didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize the possibility of having Kodi back into their lives. They could gain another alliance here if he were already an Alpha to this pack. Lykos and Bryan were angry, which she could understand, but they needed to put that anger aside to have that option available to them.
"What you felt that night was true. My heart stopped beating during that rogue attack. There were too many of them, and I couldn't win. Four of them were on me at once, and my throat was ripped out. When my heart stopped beating, I saw a light that reminded me of the moon's radiant shine. I knew for sure that I was dead, and I was headed to the Ancestral Grounds. Then I felt a rope around my soul and was yanked back down here. My eyes opened, and I wasn't on our territory. I was here, in this part of the woods. A small cabin used to be here, and the person who resided in it brought me back. A Witch was in our kingdom and disguised these woods and her presence here too well. While driving through those woods, I know you wondered about this road. It wasn't always there because she hid it from us."
That information was not what she was expecting. Sure, a Witch was exactly what she thought of when she discovered Kodi had died but was still here. However, she didn't think they would have a cabin in the woods disguised from every Lycan in the kingdom.
"She was there that day. I don't know how, but she controlled those rogues. While the attack was happening, she saw me, and she fell head over heels for me. When she found me in the battle, she witnessed the attack that killed me. It was her who brought me back and then brought me here. She healed me entirely. It is all me in here. My soul, my thoughts, everything. But she had me under her command for a while, too."
A Witch that can control Lycans? I didn't know that was a thing.
Witches are powerful creatures. You've seen what your friend can do.
She mentioned Witches having abilities...but nothing like that.
Looks like we need to do some research on Witches.
Or I can send her a letter requesting details on Witches' abilities.
"I am pretty sure it was a Love Potion. Often, she would tell me when I wasn't drinking enough and hand me a cup for me to drink from. Not once did I question it. I just drank it and was overwhelmed by how much I loved her. I marked her as mine, and we lived here for about a year before I became irritable. We all know that Lycans are pack animals. It's difficult for us to be alone. I may have had her, but it wasn't a pack. I remember telling her this, and she said we would build a pack then. A powerful pack that will one day rule the kingdom. It was a feasible dream, and it seemed we could achieve that. I don't know what she did, but she called the Lycans that live here today."
Kodi paused and stared at the wall behind them. Remy could see his breathing labored a little; memories unfolded in his mind, and the scent of fear filled the room. Remy shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her Lycan rising to the surface to ready herself for battle if something went wrong. She so desperately wanted to jump across the desk and hold him. Remind him that they were there now and would help him through anything he needed help with. Not knowing exactly what he went through yet would be a bad idea, though. Her touch could trigger a deadly response.
"I remember being out in the woods. Morgana led me out there, told me she knew how to bring Lycans in need to us, and brought me to an altar–a stone altar I knew I had never seen before during my runs was in the middle of the woods. A circle of trees provided an opening, and she told me it had to be done during a full moon. When the moon hit its peak, and I shifted after feeling that pull, she could weave the magic from my beast into the spell and call to any Lycan that needed a home. At the time, I wanted a pack so badly that I agreed to do it. I shifted that night; all I felt was her magic pull on mine. There was a flash of light, and I could see the wisps of her magic pour into the woods. Over a few days, Lycans came to the home. All rogues who were searching for a place in our kingdom." Kodi looked at Lykos, looking past him so his gaze wouldn't meet the other Alpha's. "I watched you for years to learn how to be an Alpha. I can't tell you how thankful I am for that because I knew how to bring these people together. I completed the ritual and made these people my own. After they all came here and I made them into a pack, Morgana used her magic to create that home. Luckily, we have found a couple of people with a talent for carpentry. They made a lot of furniture for the home. Morgana also manipulated ingredients with magic to create them so we could live here comfortably."
Remy glanced around the room. There were no pictures of Morgana anywhere that she could see, and there were no pictures of anyone in the home, and she wondered why that was. She wanted to ask, but the promise of just listening was still in order. If Kodi didn't answer that question by the time he was done, she would ask him why there were no photos of her anywhere when she was the reason his pack was even a thing.
"Things were great over that year. The pack was coming together and thriving in their new home and lifestyle. There were bumps along the way, like any other newly formed pack. Many people needed to establish their place in the pack so we could iron out the true hierarchy. But as the pack started to get settled, I noticed Morgana was becoming unhappy. I gained power from the pack as all Alphas do, and even though she was having me drink that water all the time, I still wasn't pining after her all day, every day. I was tending to the pack like I should be. She was giving me that damn water so much that I slapped it away. She looked so surprised by that, and I felt her magic swell up as if she were going to attack me. I looked at the woman I had loved and cherished for the past two years and saw her for what she truly was. She was a Witch, using her magic to keep me in her thrall. The moment I stopped being under that spell, she was willing to use that magic against me in an unsavory way. I beckoned her to me, apologizing for my neglect, and kissed her like always. When I felt her relaxing against me, I did the only thing I could think of doing." Tears formed in his eyes, and Kodi wet his lips. "I snapped her neck."
Kodi bowed his head in shame. Remy could feel that he never wanted to kill her. The effects of the love potion only enhanced what he really felt. Morgana enjoyed his undying love and devoted attention. She grew jealous when he stopped having all the time in the world for her. Kodi did the only thing he could at the time. He was responsible for that pack, and Morgana would be a problem if he didn't do what he did.
Lykos sighed. "You did what you had to do, Son. You put the needs of the pack ahead of yours. Morgana would have taken out the pack to keep you to herself."
Kodi looked up and met her father's gaze. Remy could see his eyes were still the same shade as their mother's. She smiled at him but then noticed a streak of black passing through his eyes.
Chapter twenty-three
Remy
Remy's stomach dropped to her feet when she saw the blackness in her brother's eyes. A growl crept up in her throat at the idea that Kodi was under the influence of the Dark Dimension. She sniffed the air again, trying to find a trace of the dimension in her vicinity. There was no sure way of how the Dark Dimension took over a person. On the island, she did know they needed to breathe in the black mist that seeped into their dimension. A look around the room told her there was no mist in there.
