I held up a hand in protest. “I’m not your heir. And I’m barely your … daughter.”
“I know Dimitri told you of your place in this pack,” he said softly, watching me for any sign that I was on board. “Your bloodline grants you more power than you know in our pack.”
“Why?” I asked, shaking my head. “I’m no one.”
“You’re a direct descendant of the first Alpha. Females have always led the Narodnaya pack.”
“You’re leading the pack,” I refuted. “And you’re clearly not a female.”
He smiled. “Only because it has been over two hundred years since there was a female born into the Dashkov line.”
I glanced down at the space between us. “I’m not interested in leading your pack. I want to go home to my mate. To my Alpha.”
“He could come here,” Nikolai replied easily. “The pack would welcome him as your mate.”
“Remy can’t leave Blackwater,” I said, shaking my head. “And I can’t leave Remy. Our pack is on the verge of a full blown war with Norwood. I’m not leaving them.”
A dark scowl twisted his features. “The doctor’s pack.”
I nodded. “Dimitri told me that you’re planning to question him tomorrow. I want to be there.”
“That may not be for the best,” he replied, his lips twitching in a suppressed smirk.
I lifted my chin. “I’m going to be there. Elias didn’t just screw you over. He lied to me. Betrayed me and my mate. I want to know why.”
Nikolai appraised me with calculating eyes until he finally dipped his head in acquiescence.
“Very well, little wolf.” He stepped back with a grin. “But first, shall we eat?”
13
Skye
Nikolai and I were the last ones in the formal dining room. The room was massive with a table stretching the length of the room that easily sat thirty people, yet only four were already sitting. The elaborate gold and crystal chandeliers illuminated the room, and the ruby red carpet with gold accents looked like something from a movie or a picture. Dark had fallen outside, so I could only imagine the landscape that lay on the other side of the dark floor to ceiling windows.
Dimitri and Alexei were on one end of the table, smiling and laughing easily. I recognized the man and woman seated across from them as the two that had been in the room when I first met Nikolai.
The man was generically good looking, fit with a strong jaw and nose that had clearly been broken more than once. The dark hair around his temples was graying, and he was laughing easily at something Dimitri said.
The woman, however, immediately zeroed in on us when we stepped into the room.
Not us.
Me.
She was staring at me with curious blue eyes, her blonde hair falling in soft waves down her back. She lifted a champagne flute to her lips, the delicate column of her throat working as she swallowed. She set the glass down and watched as Nikolai and I approached.
“Hey,” Dimitri greeted with a smile that he quickly smothered. “How’s Tate?”
“Talking to Dante and Ryder,” I answered softly. “She’s not doing great.”
His lips pressed into a thin line. “If there’s anything we can do, let me know.”
“You can get us on the first plane home,” I said bluntly.
The soft laughter of the woman across from me snagged my attention, but she was grinning at Nikolai.
“Oh, I like this one, Nik,” she said warmly.
Nikolai gave her a tight lipped smile before glancing down at me. “Skye, this is my wife, Natasha.”
Wife, not mate. Interesting.
“Hi,” I said, trying to smile at her.
Natasha stood slowly, moving around her chair to stand in front of me. Her icy gaze moved slowly over me, missing nothing. “I suppose that makes me your wicked stepmother.”
I met her gaze and held it, not entirely sure what the proper reaction to that was.
Whatever I did, Natasha seemed amused. She grinned at me after a beat with a wink. “Truthfully, it’s wonderful to have another woman around. All these men all the time can become a little tedious.”
“Might I remind you, darling, that it’s usually you who invites all the men around?” Nikolai replied dryly. If he was annoyed by that, he certainly didn’t look it. He smirked at her, almost indulgent.
Natasha waved him off with a sigh. “I have needs, Nik.”
Dimitri groaned, scrubbing a hand down his face. “Mama.”
Rolling her eyes, Natasha turned to her son with a reproachful look. “Dima, certainly you’re old enough to understand that women enjoy sex as much as men. I didn’t have