to mask them from anyone Long Mesa might have on the roads, watching for our arrival.
Addie and Skye told us that Long Mesa ruled by brute strength over their pack, but the victims far outnumbered the ones who loved to inflict harm. Only forty or so people might offer any kind of resistance. Addie was particularly emphatic that most people would likely be hiding in their houses when we arrived.
We were stacking the deck with our numbers, and it left Blackwater slightly more exposed than I wanted. But the new pack members had almost all agreed to stay and fortify our borders while I was gone, including the new group from Europe that immediately pledged themselves to Skye upon landing. Michael and Will would oversee things since Rhodes, Dante, and Ryder were coming with me.
Rhodes glared at me from several yards away while he argued with Larkin.
I hadn’t been able to say no when Larkin and Katy made their case to come, too. In truth, I knew I couldn’t be next to Skye at every second, and if she needed support, Larkin and Katy would be the best thing for her. Tate coming was a foregone conclusion. If Dante and Ryder were going anywhere, she was going, too.
It still bugged me that we hadn’t taken the time to memorialize Luke, but things seemed to keep taking precedence. Tate didn’t seem too bothered, but I wasn’t sure if that was because she was focused on what was going on or she was trying to delay the inevitable.
Skye and Addie broke away from where they were talking to the others as the car arrived carrying Linden.
Lulu, Dimitri, and Alexei exited the black SUV and opened the backdoor to haul Linden out.
He blinked against the bright sunlight, and then his eyes locked onto Skye and Addie.
I was moving towards them with Nikolai before I realized what I was doing.
“You know, this all could have been avoided if you’d just kept your fucking legs shut, big sister,” Linden sneered.
Addie’s shoulders stiffened, and I had to clamp a strong hand on Nikolai’s shoulder when he tried to lunge forward.
“You’ve lost, Lindy,” Addie said softly, stepping forward. “Everything you did to break me didn’t work. After today, Long Mesa will cease to exist.”
He grinned at her. “Maybe. But you know what will exist? The memory of every single person who forced those legs of yours apart and ripped into you. Every time you—”
His words ended with a strangled garble, his eyes going huge as he clawed at his throat with bound hands.
Lulu calmly stepped in front of him. “That’s quite enough out of you. Next time you try to talk, I’ll start breaking each of your vertebrae until you’re squirming on the ground like the pathetic snake you are.”
Glowering, Linden let out a low growl.
Smirking, Lulu snapped her fingers. The audible crunch hit my ears a second before Linden cried out, his knees sagging.
“Next rib will puncture a lung, asshole,” Lulu spat, glaring at him. “Be nice, or I’ll pull your intestines out of your ass and let your sister use them as a jump rope.”
It was hard not to be a little amazed, watching the petite woman completely cow an Alpha that had reigned with terror and violence.
Lulu tossed her dark hair over her shoulder and smiled at Addie. “He’ll behave now.”
“Good,” Addie murmured, unconsciously brushing against Nikolai’s shoulder as he stood beside her.
“We should get him into the plane,” Alexei remarked, jerking his chin at the other airplane.
“Can we wait a minute?” Skye asked before turning to me. She was hiding something. And judging by the way her eyes snapped to the entrance of the airfield and the car driving through it, that something was on its way here.
My brows lifted. “What’s up?”
“Zara texted Mom. She and Bella wanted to see him before we left,” Skye admitted. “I think they both need a little closure. They were already on their way here, but if you don’t think it’s a good idea, they’ll just drive home.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea?” I countered.
After a second she nodded. “I think they both need this to move on.”
“Okay,” I agreed, trusting her judgement as the small compact car pulled to a stop.
Zara emerged first, her shoulders squared and head high as she glared at Linden. Bella was slower to get out, her head ducked and hair hanging down to block her face. She hugged her arms around her waist, and I realized how little she really