Requiem (Blackwater Pack #5)

Chapter 4

4

DIMITRI

Yetta Usari was a bitter old hag that was about as useful as tits on a snake. I had plenty of reasons to hate the woman, but walking into Dalia’s and seeing the way Lulu cowered away from her own damn mother made me see red.

From a glance, it was easy to see how Lulu favored her mother. They both had the same mocha complexion and ebony hair with slim, petite frames. Yetta’s hair was pulled up into a tight bun while Lulu’s fell in glossy waves down to her back. She used that hair to hide herself from the world when she was nervous or embarrassed or upset.

Like right now.

Her head was bowed, her shoulders curled in on herself as she bore the brunt of whatever shit Yetta was throwing.

Seeing Lulu clearly distraught did fucked up things to my heart. It made me homicidal in a way that didn’t make any kind of logical sense. My wolf snarled and snapped, wanting to hurt whoever was hurting our girl.

Fuck me.

I shook my head to dislodge that thought before it could really take root. I’d been down that what if road a few times, and there was nothing at the end except pain.

Lulu’s gaze flicked up, her silver eyes catching in the buttery lights of Dalia’s as she listened to her mother. A second later, her body flinched as if absorbing a physical blow, and she clenched her jaw. Those gorgeous eyes dropped again and heat swelled in my chest.

I’d been standing at the table before I’d even realized my feet were moving, demanding an explanation from Yetta about why Lulu was upset. Sometimes life did that—sped up to warp speed and a moment was over before I’d ever fully processed it starting.

But then there were other times when the world slowed to a crawl. When every detail became earth-shatteringly crystal clear. I’d only had a few of those moments, and as the wall behind us exploded into splinters, that was one of them.

One second I was sitting beside Lulu, my hand on her leg, and in the next heartbeat, I was grabbing her arm and throwing her onto the floor. I covered her smaller body with my own, shielding her from as much of the blast as possible.

The world roared, plaster and splinters of wood raining down and pelting my skin. I felt the cuts break open and blood seep out for a fraction of a moment before my shifter healing kicked in and sealed the wounds shut.

No, not just shifter healing. I mean, yeah, shifter healing was a real thing, but mine had always been a little more. Ever since a tiny little elemental risked her life to save mine a decade ago and bound us together.

The quiet that followed the massive boom was somehow even more ominous, and then it was shattered as people started to scream.

My head snapped up, looking for casualties or injuries from my pack, but unwilling to leave the woman beneath me.

“Are you okay?” I demanded, looking down at a shell-shocked Lulu.

“I… What the hell happened?” Her gray eyes were wide with confusion.

I grabbed her shoulders, giving her a gentle shake as I gritted out the demand once more. “Lu, are you okay?” I swept my hands up and down her arms, looking for injuries. Seeing none, I framed her face with my palms.

“I’m okay,” she managed with a trembling nod. “Are you okay?”

“I’m good,” I assured her.

“Holy shit… Oh, no. Mom!” She wrenched away from me and turned to where Yetta had been knocked to the floor by the blast.

Lulu crawled across the dirty floor as I stood, surveying the mess.

It looked like the explosion had come from the kitchen. Everyone in the dining area seemed okay, just shaken up and maybe a few cuts from flying debris.

“Lulu.” I dropped to a crouch beside her, ignoring her mother altogether. Yetta could’ve been a ground zero for the blast, and I would’ve thrown a fuck you very much all the way to hell party.

Lulu turned and looked at me, the stunned expression from earlier gone and the woman I knew back in control. “What’s wrong?” Her gaze raked over me before locking back on my eyes.

“I need to see if everyone in the back is all right. Can you help everyone here get outside?” I balled my hands into fists instead of plucking her off the ground and walking her ass out of here the way I wanted.

She nodded. “Mom and I will make sure they’re okay.” She hesitated, reaching out to brush my hands with hers. “Be careful, Dima.”

I gave a terse nod even as my heart gave a painful squeeze at the sweet nickname that only a few people were allowed to use. “You, too. Yell if you need me.”

She lifted her chin a notch, her gaze sweeping the room. “I’ve got this.” She started to stand, helping Yetta as she did.

Yetta looked somewhere between terrified and numb as she let her daughter pull her to her feet.

Clenching my teeth, I spun away from the chaos happening as people started to leave the restaurant and went towards the gaping hole where the kitchen door had once been.

Stepping over the threshold, I was immediately assaulted by the stench of smoke and chemicals.

One of the kitchen staff, an older shifter, stumbled toward me while helping a middle aged man.

“Fire?” I asked, helping him regain his footing. I winced when I looked at the second man, noting the red welts on his forearms. “You’re hurt.”

“Burned a bit,” he admitted through gritted teeth.

“Is the fire still burning?” I looked around for flames, but didn't see anything.

The first man coughed and nodded wildly, waving a hand to the far wall where the ovens were lined up. White powder shimmered in the air, coating the kitchen in a thick film. “Rocco here was hurt trying to put out the fire. It came from the dessert oven, it took a moment for the automated fire system to kick in, though. I was in the walk-in refrigerator when it happened.”

“Do you need help getting out?” I asked them.

“No, sir,” the first man gulped. “I’ll get Rocco outside.”

“Anyone else back here?”

He shook his head. “No, just me since it’s before the dinner rush. Ms. Dalia was in her office, but that’s near the front.”

I gave a terse nod. “Okay. I’m going to double check, but you should go.”

“Yes, sir,” he replied, despite being decades older than me. He helped Rocco out of the kitchen area.

At this point, I was used to the deferential way other pack members treated me. It was a hierarchy thing in the pack; the assumption was I would take over the Narodnaya pack when my father ultimately stepped aside.

But that was decades away from happening, and right now, I needed to make sure everyone was safe.

I quickly searched the kitchen along with the walk in freezer and refrigerator units. Satisfied no one was there, I was about to leave when I spotted a small curl of smoke coming from the base of one wall.

My eyes narrowed as I stepped toward it, but a second later, a flame licked out from behind the wall.

Shit.

Shifter abilities were plenty, but I wasn’t fireproof, as Rocco’s arms could attest. Besides, I could hear the mournful wail of the small fire company that kept the pack and coven lands safe from just this type of disaster.

I jogged out of the kitchen and through the now-empty dining room to the front door. I pushed through the door, keeping my hands away from the jagged glass panes that had shattered in the explosion. The firetrucks pulled up alongside the building, several shifters heavily outfitted in fire retardant suits jumping off.

“There’s still a fire in the kitchen,” I told the captain, an older man named Viktor with blue eyes that missed nothing. “Looks like it’s in the walls.”

“On it,” Viktor replied before turning and barking orders at his men.

Knowing they’d control the situation, I took a step back and looked up and down the small mainstreet of Narodnaya.

Nestled in the heart of the Ural Mountains, the town was small, with the diner being one of two places to eat, a small bookstore, a market, and a pharmacy. There were also a few small shops that sold varying items from jewelry to stationary. To the east was a small train station that connected us to other parts of Russia, allowing us to import food and export packages that small business owners made.

It was the main road that divided the territory. To the North was where the shifters lived in all sorts of homes winding up a hollowed-out mountain that served as our pack base of operations.

The coven lived in the lands to the South, and I rarely had cause or inclination to go there. The only time the two races mixed was in town and the occasional festival or celebration, but that seemed to happen less and less.

Relations had been strained between the two groups for years, but the last decade had been particularly rocky.

“Dima?” Lulu’s soft voice broke through my concentration, and I turned to see her standing behind me, wringing her hands. “Is everyone all right?”

My lips pressed together. “One of the cooks was burned, but he’s being looked at by the medics.” Behind the firetrucks was an ambulance, and I spotted Rocco earlier, being treated for his injuries. The other cook, along with the restaurant owner, Dalia, hovered close by.

Hopefully the burns weren’t too bad. We had a state-of-the-art medical facility in Narodnaya that was run by shifters and elementals.

“Oh no,” Lulu whispered, her gaze following mine. “And poor Ms. Dalia. Is the kitchen ruined?”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “There was an emergency suppression system that kicked in, but it looked like the fire was also in the wall when I left. Seems like one of the ovens went up in flames.”

She let out a shaky breath, her liquid mercury eyes swirling with an unnamed emotion. “I don’t think that’s what happened.”

Under her dark skin, her complexion had gone ashen. Unable to stop myself, I reached out and grabbed her hand. “Tell me.”

She sucked in a deep breath. “I felt something before the explosion. It felt… I don’t know. Maybe like magic?”

“Impossible,” Yetta declared, appearing at Lulu’s side.

Lulu’s brows pulled together. “Mom, I know what I felt. That pull was?—”

“Lucia, no,” Yetta cut her off, her lips pressed into a grim line. “It was an accident.”

I ignored Yetta and turned to Lulu, softening my tone for her.

Always for her.

“Why do you think it was magic-related, Lu?” I searched her eyes for an answer, keeping my tone soft so that the shifters gathered into a crowd across the street wouldn’t pick up on it.

If Lulu felt something, I was inclined to trust her instincts. She may not have had the formal training that growing up in the coven would have provided, but she was more than capable of seeing and feeling things that others dismissed.

Yetta gave an indignant huff, folding her arms. “Lucia, honestly. Your propensity for theatrics as a child was just as tiresome as it is now. Don’t you think if there was a surge in magic that I would have felt it? After all, my blood is purer.”

Lulu took a step back, and I could see her retreating. See her shrinking before my eyes as she second guessed herself.

With a low growl, I spun us so I was blocking her view of her mother. “Tell me.”

I can see her waffling, trying to decide if she should trust herself or shut down.

God, I hate her mother.

“Dimitri!” One of the firefighters ran up, holding his hat so it wouldn't bounce off.

I turned, my fingers grabbing harder onto Lulu when she tried to pull away. There was chaos in the street right now as more people came out to see what was going on. The street was getting crowded, and I could still smell smoke as it curled through the early evening sky.

“The fire is spreading through the walls,” the firefighter, a guy named Anton who I went to school with, said while gesturing back to the building. “We’re working to contain it, but he’s sent half of us out here to make sure the fire doesn’t jump to the next building.”

“Shit,” I muttered, looking back and spotting one of my father’s council members in the crowd. “Vlad!”

The older man snapped to attention.

“Clear everyone off the sidewalks,” I ordered.

Vlad grabbed a few friends and together they started pushing people back, out of the danger zone. Anton hurried back to the truck, unspooling a long hose and dragging it toward the small jewelry store beside Dalia’s.

A massive black wolf raced through the street, skidding to a stop and shifting into a man in front of me.

Nikolai Dashkov wasn’t a small man. My father had always seemed larger than life, and right now he was all Alpha as his sharp brown eyes took in the scene. “What happened?” He took the blanket offered by one of the firemen, wrapping it around his naked waist without preamble.

People were fairly accustomed to nudity with the wolves in town, but even I knew it looked kinda ridiculous to stand in the middle of a burning Main Street with your dick flopping around.

I grimaced and told him the truth. “I’m not sure. One second we were sitting there, and the next the kitchen exploded.”

“Gas line?” Dad assumed, lifting his chin and sniffing the air.

Lulu’s hand trembled in mine as she inched closer to me and faced my father. “No way. It felt…” She hesitated and looked at me, the uncertainty in her eyes still obvious. “It felt magical.”

Yetta scoffed, shaking her head as she argued. “Impossible. None of us possess fire magic, and that’s the only thing that could have caused this .” She waved a hand at the wreckage. “No. It was obviously a mistake in the kitchens or, as the Alpha guessed, a gas line rupture.”

Lulu pressed her lips together and looked at the ground. Her fingers strangled mine, and I’d never been so close to manhandling a woman as I was with Yetta. But I was about to snap and push her aside if she didn’t back the fuck up.

Glancing around, I noticed several of my father’s council had joined in the efforts to stop the fire from spreading and it seemed like everything was under control. Viktor emerged from the restaurant and gave me a firm nod, signaling the fire was out.

A sleek black Cadillac Escalade pulled to a stop several feet away, and I almost groaned because the last thing we needed was my mother joining the party.

The level of hatred my mother bore for Yetta made my dislike of the woman seem like puppy love in comparison.

Natasha Dashkov jumped out of the driver’s seat and slammed the door of her car. She was barely five inches over five feet, but she added to her lack of height with four inch stiletto heels that clicked as she stormed toward us. Her blonde curls were pulled up into a haphazard messy bun that bounced as she moved.

The passenger doors opened and my father’s daughter, Skye, and her mate, Remy slipped out.

“Is anyone hurt?” Mama demanded, her bright blue eyes scanning the street before flashing to me and then Lulu. “Are either of you injured?”

“We’re okay, Mama,” I assured her. My gaze jerked to Lulu, noticing how tense she still was. “Maybe you could take Lulu home?”

“No,” Lulu said stubbornly, surprising the shit out of me when she pressed herself against my arm like I was her only lifeline.

Sighing, I managed to tug my arm free so I could wrap it around her trembling shoulders. She cuddled against my side in a way that simultaneously broke my heart and made my blood heat. “Okay. We stick together, Lu.”

“This is hardly the place for you, Lucia,” Yetta inserted, looking more annoyed than ever. “Why don’t you come home with me?”

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Mama hissed, glaring at the woman as every one of her protective mama-bear instincts came out to play. “Lulu isn’t going anywhere with you .”

Yetta bristled with indignation. “She’s my daughter.”

“Yes, and you had no problem disowning her when she could barely fend for herself,” Mama snapped back, her hands balling into fists.

Ah, hell. The last thing we needed was my mother slapping Yetta in the middle of town.

“I don’t think this is helping anyone,” Skye said softly, stepping between them and trying to be the voice of reason. “Maybe we could all calm down? I think Lulu’s been through enough tonight without people fighting over her.”

Yetta glared at her and then at my father. “I’m surprised you even care about Lucia now that your real daughter is here.”

“You selfish bitch,” Mama seethed. She lunged for Yetta, but my father grabbed her arm and held her still.

Yetta turned her acidic look to Mama. “And are you even relevant anymore now that the Alpha has his real mate back?” A wicked glint entered her cold eyes. “Or are you still warming his bed while his broken mate tries to piece herself back together out in the wilderness?”

Lulu gasped, her silver eyes going wide with horror. “Mama!”

And Yetta had just gone too fucking far.

My father’s true mate had been struggling the last few months and was currently locked inside her wolf form. I knew for a fact that my parents, who’d never pretended their marriage was anything except one of convenience, had already finalized their divorce.

It didn’t matter to me if my parents divorced; I knew their history as much as I knew that Nikolai Dashkov was not my biological father.

My biological father had been killed when Mama was pregnant with me. When things within the pack became complicated and Nikolai was pressured to take a mate, he surprised everyone by marrying his best friend’s widow.

It was pack politics, but I also knew that Nikolai felt that he owed my biological father a debt that meant Nikolai cared for Mama and me. He gave me his name and my place in the pack as his heir.

But then he’d met his true mate, Addie, a few years later. It should’ve been a fairytale ending, but it had turned into a nightmare when their mating bond was broken. A lot of hurt and misunderstanding back then led to a lifetime of pain for Addie and Skye, the daughter she shared with my father.

Finding out that Skye was my father’s daughter—and my sort-of-sister—had been a huge revelation several months earlier. Skye’s mate, Remy, was one of the youngest Alphas in the history of the North American packs, and, following a massive shifter war that spanned the continent, Remy had come out victorious. He and Skye were helping put an entire continent of shifters and packs back together.

Addie had come to Russia to give herself and Dad a chance to be together, but when trying to connect with her wolf to heal from old scars, Addie had become stuck. Locked in the body of her wolf. Skye had come to Russia days earlier in hopes of helping Dad bring her back.

So far it hadn’t worked, which Yetta knew.

The fucking bitch.

Before I could react, though, Skye’s fist swung and landed solidly on Yetta’s jaw. The older woman stumbled and fell, clutching her cheek with a dazed expression.

“Shut up,” Skye snarled from above her, chest heaving as Remy stepped up beside her in a move that was decidedly more like he was going to back her up instead of hold her back.

“Easy, little wolf,” Dad murmured, pressing a hand to Skye’s shoulder as he moved around her. He paused, giving me a knowing look. “Perhaps it would be best if you removed Lucia from the immediate vicinity?”

Yeah, Lulu didn’t need to see or hear Dad rip Yetta a new one.

Lulu was many things, but at her heart, she was kind and giving. It was why she’d met with the woman who’d cast her aside like trash.

Lulu wanted to believe the best in people.

“Come on,” I murmured for only her ears, steering her away. I glanced at Mama, and she inclined her head toward her car. Exhaling, I nodded and pulled Lulu away from the wreckage of the night.