"I'm always here until I'm not!" he said, and grinned as Rem was pulled away. Nia continued pulling Rem along, shooting a glare at the she-wolf.
“Nia, I am not done—”
“We have togo,” Nia implored with a tone that reminded Rem of when the warg found them.
"What's your name?" Rem shouted back at the man as she tried to look in his direction, realizing she could always come back; Nia’s concern took precedence.
"Adam!"
"Thank you, Adam!" Rem yelled, and then turned towards Nia who continued to pull Rem through the crowd. "I wanted to talk to him," Rem hotly said. "He was actuallyalivebefore all of this. I don't understand why you're dragging me away."
Nia threw Rem a harsh look. "Marcus is nearby with his Silvers. And your scent is ripe, and he is unmated. On the off chance that your pheromones affect more than Ronan, we need to go. Marcus is an ass" —Nia said, whoneverused foul language—“and he hates Ronan. I won’t let him get near you without someone stronger than me nearby. Not having anything else happen on my watch.”
Rem's heart raced as they hurried through the streets, brushing past other humans who glared at her and Nia. She put the small pouch of sewing supplies into her large dress pocket, hoping she wouldn't lose it.
She planned to make Oliver a jacket for the coming winter.
"Is Marcus really that much of a threat?" Rem asked. “I mean, out in public and everything?”
"No idea. I just... After the warg, I don't want to tempt anything. Seeing one of them that close to one of the houses is unheard of... And so is Marcus in the markets. Goddess is only blunt when she wants you to listen," Nia stressed.
The two of them turned left as they hurried down a dirt road. "His scent is getting farther away. Let’s just go back, for now, and hope it was nothing.”
Hearing of Marcus in the markets breathed life into something Rem had completely forgotten—the Silo Distract.
A part of her wondered if Mavis had escaped to the Silo District with Marcus. Rem frowned and realized that perhaps she should tell Ronan that there was an area connected to the hunters.
Was that something she was supposed to tell them? What if the hunters provided relief for those needing to flee? Did she owe Ronanallof her loyalty?
There is always something to worry about.
She wondered if being a Luna would entail worries such as these.
The farther they walked, the more the towering pine trees consumed them, the surrounding tree trunks covered in the sheddings of evergreen. Above, the sun was already moving to the western side of the sky. She periodically squinted when the sun snuck through the trees at just the right angle.
Horse prints lined the dirt, and it reminded her of home, of the road that travelers would come in and out of. Although the thought of home hit differently now.
She was realizing she didn't miss Ashmire at all. Living in a place like this, with the shifters, was so much better than being surrounded by dirt mountains. In Ashmire, trees were sparse, the days hot, and the village tiny. There was no freedom, and there was no independence.
The only thing she missed was her family. Herfamilywas home.Once I am back with Oliver, I will have to find a way to communicate with my parents… Maybe send him back. Or bring them here…
If Ronan became her mate, then perhaps she could leverage that for bringing her parents here.
If Ronan becomes my mate...
"So, thinking about all of this mating and scent business—what happened when we choose someone?”
“I imagine you’ll first take the bite. I bet whatever male gets a Silver will want to leave his mark real fast."
"Take the bite?”
“We can mark each other with a bite. It often precedes an official mating and allows two of us to experience commitment before binding our souls together.”
The two of them continued to discuss that further, which moved to topics about things like their childhood, food, clothes, and what Nia remembered from the first time that she transformed. Rem would go through something similar and yet very different. Shifters didn't transform until they were ten to twelve and had years to develop and understand their world.
The Silvers had a lot navigate in a short span of time.
The dirt road eventually turned to cobblestone as they approached the heart of Scarlet where the other shifters lived. Rem still didn't quite know how the entirety of it was organized, but the distinction between humans and shifters was evident.
