“Thanks, Dad.” I smiled at him as I sat back down.
Nikolai cleared his throat from where he sat on the edge near Mom. “If I may?”
I nodded. “Of course.”
He stood up. “As most of you know, I am the Alpha of the Narodnaya pack in Russia. What you may not know is that many years ago, there was a strong bond between all the packs. Your annual Summit to discuss affairs was an international one. I propose we keep these newly reestablished lines of communication open.”
“We won’t argue with that,” Dad said, folding his arms over his chest. “We know your support was invaluable this last week.”
“We’ll need someone to act as a liaison between the packs, so I propose someone who can easily call two packs home.” He looked at Skye. “My daughter.”
Skye sat up straighter and made a small, surprised noise. “Me?”
“Yes, you,” he affirmed with a chuckle. “I’ve spoken to my friends in Europe and Asia. They agree that my daughter would be able to advocate for their interests on a daily basis.”
“I agree,” I added quickly, drawing her attention.
“Rem, are you sure?”
“Never been more sure.” I took her hand and kissed it.
“Remy and Nikolai are right,” Dad confirmed. “You’re the best choice, sweetheart, provided it’s what you want.”
She caught her lower lip between her teeth, thinking for a moment before smiling slowly. “Yeah. I would love that.”
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Rhodes commented.
I nodded. “Then we better get started.”
59
Skye
It took a week after returning from Norwood for things to start to feel sort of normal again. Several packs had reformed and broken from Blackwater, but there was still a good amount of people who stayed, including most of the former Brooks Ridge pack.
William Lodge offered to step in and take over as acting Alpha of Norwood for the interim, he and his wife, along with Sierra’s parents, went to New York. Remy said they likely went to Norwood hoping they would find Sierra.
Ainsley stayed behind with Kyle and Konnor’s family to finish out the school year.
Dimitri, Lulu, and Alexei had finally returned to Blackwater from New York, but it wasn’t going to be a long visit. Just overnight and then they were returning to Narodnaya with my dad. Natasha had gone home on a plane a few days earlier, but made me promise to come and visit soon.
Tomorrow my dad and my brother would be gone. Now it was just one last family dinner.
I looked across the table at my dad, swallowing around a mouthful of chicken that my mother had made.
Weird or not, my dad had been staying with Mom while Remy and I had moved into the cabin. It was only temporary until our house was built.
A small thrill tickled my stomach at the thought.
Our house.
Pretty soon Remy and I would have our own home, which sounded crazy but felt totally right.
But it didn’t change the fact that Mom would soon be alone, and that thought kept me up at night. At least until Remy realized I was awake, then he did his best to tire me out so I had to sleep.
It usually worked.
I glanced at Mom and she gave me a tight smile.
“Food taste okay?” she asked.
“It’s great,” Dimitri said across from her, grinning.
“It’s amazing you can taste a damn thing the way you’re choking it down,” Lulu commented dryly, rolling her eyes. She smiled at Mom. “It’s really great, Ms. Markham.”
“Addie, please,” Mom corrected sweetly.
“It is fantastic,” Dad agreed warmly, taking a sip of wine.
“Remy will be sorry he missed it,” I added. He had been called into a last minute meeting before dinner. Some packs were still squabbling over territory lines, so Remy and Gabe had been trying to play peacemakers.
“It’s fine. It gives us time together,” Mom said dismissively. She looked at Dimitri. “Are you sure Alexei didn’t want to come?”
“Alexei’s a bit of a loner,” Dimitri replied. “He’s probably enjoying the solitude, but we can take him back a plate if there’s enough.”
“Of course,” Mom answered automatically. “I think I’ve gotten used to cooking for a lot of people at the new construction site. I’m going to miss it even.”
I slowly turned to look at her. “You’re quitting the cafe?”
Mom’s fork froze halfway to her mouth and clattered down. “I … Well …” She shot a quick glance at my father and then looked back at me. “Maybe.”
“Maybe?” I repeated. “How do you maybe quit your job?”