They married because it made the most sense at the time,” he replied. His mouth curled into a rueful smile. “Besides, Mama has had her fair share of lovers in their marriage.”
“That’s … weird,” I said after a second. Alphas weren’t exactly known for their ability to share.
Dimitri smirked. “North American packs are different from European packs. Hell, than most packs on every other continent. Most of the Alphas I met at the Summit are small, simple minded men that haven’t learned how to merge their wolf with their man. They spend years battling their wolves into submission.” He snorted and shook his head. “It’s no wonder they have the biggest issues with declining birth rates.”
“How so?” I narrowed my eyes, admittedly curious.
“Females give life,” he said plainly. “Smothering them isn’t helping. In our pack, females are treated as equals. More than equals, honestly. They’re to be respected and admired. Feared and protected.”
A ghost of a smile drifted across my face. “Katy would love that.”
He frowned. “Katy?”
“Remy’s sister,” I said softly. Pain knifed in my chest, my heart bleeding out. “She’s one of my best friends. Her girlfriend, Maren, is one of the females who went missing from our school.”
Disgust curled his lip. “Fuck. I’m sorry, Skye.”
“Do you know where she is?”
Before the world had literally exploded around us, Dimitri had hinted he knew more about the missing shifters than he had told.
He hesitated. “I don’t. I’m sorry. We know women have been missing from the American packs recently. We suspected Damien Valois was behind it, and Elias was helping him in some capacity.”
“The Norwood Alpha.” Dread twisted my frayed nerves into knots.
He nodded.
I leaned back in my chair, looking out the window. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and he was killed in the explosion, too.”
Dimitri sighed quietly. “Skye, the reason I was looking for Remy was because I knew something was about to go down.”
My head snapped around, strands of dark hair that had pulled free of my ponytail fell into my eyes. I pushed them back so I could see him. “You knew about the explosion?”
His jaw clenched, the muscles in his neck pulling taut. “I didn’t know it would be that bad, but I overheard Elias on the phone that morning. He was talking to Damien. Damien and his son left the conference early in the morning. Elias was planning on leaving, too. They had a plane waiting for him and your uncle and that Preston kid.”
I couldn’t hold back the chuckle of complete loathing that exploded from me.
Because of course Damien was behind this. Norwood hated Blackwater. Damien hated Gabe, and Trace hated Remy.
It was a vicious cycle that had left more collateral damage than I could count.
The only people I could possibly hate more than Damien and Trace were my uncle and Preston.
Which was why it made total sense that they were all friends and allies.
“So, my uncle’s alive.” That left a bitter taste in my mouth.
“He is,” Dimitri agreed, watching me carefully. Likely waiting to see when I would shatter.
“Elias?”
He snorted, his lip curling in disdain. “The doctor is also alive, last I checked.”
“Preston?”
Dimitri frowned. “Him I don’t know about. Hopefully in pieces spread out on that mountain in Wyoming.”
“He didn’t leave with my uncle?”
Now he grinned at me, a calculating glint in his eyes. “No. I didn’t bring him along for the ride.”
It took a moment for his words to register, but when they did, I sat up and looked around the plane with wild eyes.
It was still us, the four men I didn’t know, and a currently unconscious Tate across the aisle from me. Panic and fear sent my heart galloping.
“Relax,” Dimitri told me with a laugh. “They’re in the back, and even more sedated than Tate.” He jerked his head behind me.
I twisted in my seat. There was a door at the rear of the plane, two of the men I didn’t know sat in front of it.
“Why did you bring them?” I asked, slowly turning back to face him.
“Because Elias screwed us over, and he’s going to pay for that.” One of his large hands curled into a fist.
The dark look of fury that passed his face set me on edge.
“How so?”
“I told you before that he came to our pack?”
I nodded, remembering him mentioning that.
“My father,” he paused, “our father, has spent the last two decades working with the packs in our region, and the Romani in the area, to figure out the issue with the declining birth rates.”