Dimitri winced. He rubbed his temple with a groan.
Natasha sighed dramatically. “How are you even my child?”
“Wait, what happened at the Summit?” Lulu asked curiously, leaning forward.
I gave Tate a hard look. Apparently details of my sex life were going to be openly discussed again. Awesome. It never got any less awkward.
“The first time Remy and I were together was at the Summit,” I said softly.
Lulu’s head tilted to the side. “But you said that you two bonded in the fall.”
“We did,” I replied, huffing a little. “But we didn’t do that until the Summit.”
“Why on earth would you wait so long?” Natasha asked incredulously.
“Because I spent my life with sex being used as a weapon to belittle, punish, and hurt people,” I snapped, my patience running out as I struggled to keep from blushing. “I wasn’t ready, and Remy was willing to give me all the time I needed.”
Natasha held her hands up innocently. “I didn’t mean to offend.”
“But you know how abnormal that is, right, Skye?” Lulu asked, drawing my attention back to her. “To have the wherewithal to wait? Especially for second gens? The Conclave usually turns into a freaking orgy because the second gen bonds are so strong.”
Natasha grinned. “It is always a fun night.”
“Tasha, maybe we can curtail the commentary until a time when our son isn’t ready to crawl under a seat from embarrassment?” Nikolai murmured.
“More like jump out of the plane,” Dimitri muttered, a disgusted look on his face.
Lulu waved everyone off, focused on me. “Seriously, Skye. You two waiting is like … damn. Your animal instincts should’ve overridden wanting to wait for any reason.”
I threw up my hands in frustration. “I didn’t even know shifters could bond until I went to Blackwater. It’s not like I had a checklist to follow of what mates do when they bond.”
Nikolai reached across the aisle and touched my arm. “No one is blaming you, sweetheart. You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Of course not,” Lulu agreed firmly. “But it’s just not normal to be able to control your wolf for that long, especially when you’ve just bonded. We’re talking a crazy amount of hormones and pheromones and … regular moans.”
Natasha hid a grin while Dimitri rolled his eyes.
“It wasn’t just me,” I said stubbornly, squirming a little in my seat. “Remy put zero pressure on me. He was fine with waiting. I’m the one who made the first move.”
“A fact that makes me like him a little more,” Nikolai remarked with a half-smile.
“Okay, but back to this bonding wave,” Lulu said, leaning forward with bright eyes. “What does that mean?”
“Right after we … you know,” I said emphatically, cringing inside, “twelve pairs of mates bonded in our pack.”
“And three others at the Summit,” Tate added.
Lulu whirled on Dimitri. She slapped his shoulder. “Did you know and not tell me?”
His jaw dropped open. “I was dealing with a lot of shit, Lu. Bombings and traitors and finding out I had a sister.”
“You should have told me,” she insisted. “Especially when you found out Skye was a Dashkov.”
He leaned down until their noses were centimeters apart. “And I told you I had other stuff going on.”
They stared at each other for a minute before, surprisingly, Lulu backed down and turned her face away from him.
“Skye, this is huge.” She smiled at me, looking genuinely happy and excited.
“Elias was pretty excited when it happened. Remember? He asked if he could study you and Remy,” Tate pointed out.
Dimitri snorted. “He wouldn’t shut up about it. Probably jerked off thinking about it.”
“Okay, ew,” I said, grimacing. Tate shook her head in disgust, the corners of her mouth pulled down.
Lulu reached for my hand on the table. “Skye, I think he might talk to you. You might stand a chance at getting us more information. We need to know exactly what Norwood is doing.”
I bit my lip, hesitating. I glanced at Nikolai, not sure why I needed his input. But I wanted it, all the same.
“It’s your decision, love,” he said gently. “But it may give you a few more answers or help us. You know what’s at stake.”
“I’ll do it,” I said immediately, picturing Maren. I had to find out where she was.
“You don’t have to,” Tate said softly from my other side.
I swallowed hard and looked at her. “I think he knows where Maren is, Tate.”
Her hazel eyes went wide.
“Can we do it now?” I asked Nikolai.
His lips pressed together for a moment before he nodded. “We should land in less than