just a means to an end since she wasn’t here to slap Remy in person. Basically I was her extended arm and hand.”
Ryder snorted. “What’d you do?”
“Something stupid,” I sighed, rolling my eyes.
“Sounds about right,” he agreed with a chuckle.
Katy reached across the table and poked my shoulder. “Don’t do it again.”
“Do you guys need anything else from me?” I asked, stepping back. “I want to swing by the med center to check on Dad before I head back home.”
“Tell Mom I’ll be by later,” Katy said, her shoulders dropping. It was easy to forget for a second that Dad’s life was literally hanging in the balance, especially with so much going on around us. “I think Addie is planning on bringing her dinner, but I’m hoping I can convince her to come home. Spend one night in her own bed.”
I nodded, but knew there was zero chance of Mom leaving Dad’s side. I didn’t leave Skye for three weeks.
“I’ll catch you guys at home,” I said, the words easily rolling off my tongue even though technically it was only home to Katy and me. It didn’t matter; Larkin and Ryder were as much my family as Katy, Dax, and Sam.
They were already debating different things on the map as I walked away, veering towards the food tent on my way to my truck.
Addie smiled at me as I entered. “How are you doing, Remy?”
“Okay, I guess,” I responded with a shrug, shoving my hands into my pockets. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
I watched as she stiffened, almost like waiting for a blow.
“Is Skye okay?” Her voice shook as she forced the words out. “Did Nikolai—”
“She’s fine,” I assured her quickly, but my mind tripped over her almost-question. “What did you think Nikolai would do?”
Addie wiped her hands on her apron and stepped around me, going outside the tent until I had to follow.
“He wouldn’t hurt her,” she promised me. “But I do wonder if he’ll be able to charm her. I often thought about the life she might have had if I had been able to get into contact with him. If he had raised her outside of Long Mesa.”
“Probably would have saved her a lot of pain and heartache,” I admitted quietly. “But then you guys never would have come here, and I wouldn’t have her. Any choice that didn’t end with her and me together isn’t something I’m willing to think about.”
She smiled, nodding slowly. “She loves you, Remy. So much. And you know, she once said the same thing to me. Any road that didn’t end end you wasn’t one she wanted to travel.”
Pain flared in my chest, so sharp it rocked me back a step. The absence of the girl I loved was like a hole being carved in my heart by a rusty spoon laced with acid.
God, I missed her. I needed her back.
I cleared my throat, refocusing my mind. “I spoke with Paul Warren today.”
Her eyes went wide. “The Stone Valley Alpha?”
I nodded. “He’s agreed to join us.”
She blinked in surprise, her hand rubbing absently at the spot where her neck sloped into her shoulder. “I never thought … wow. He knows I’m here, right? Because the way things ended the last time I saw him weren’t good.”
“He knows,” I said. “I also reminded him that his pack and his son never had any claim to you since you were bonded. That means more than any pack treaty or marriage agreement.”
“But I wasn’t bonded when the marriage was supposed to happen,” she admitted quietly, the pain in her tone undeniable.
“Because you broke the bond,” I finished for her. I still didn’t understand how anyone could break their bond. It just seemed untenable.
Something must have shown on my face because her shoulders hunched and she seemed to curl into herself.
A shudder rippled through her before she looked at me. “I didn’t break my bond, Remy. It was broken for me.”
“What?” I whispered the word, trying to figure that out.
Addie lifted a shaking hand and waved me off. “I can’t talk about this right now, Remy.”
My jaw dropped. “Addie—”
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly and walked away.
18
Skye
My hand was already blindly reaching for the phone I had left on my bedside table before my eyes even finished opening. Weak sunlight spilled through the narrow gap between the ornate drapes of the windows across the room, indicating it was early morning.
I rolled onto my side as my fingers closed around the phone and pulled