Somethingunpleasantflashed across her eyes. “We don’t know the full powers of these Silvers, Ronan. We have changed others in the past, but these are significant. Until they are safely turned, it is best to keep them together and close the Tree ofÆris. The magic in our ancient trees” —she looked up at the green leaves over them— “Is something we shouldn’t remove them from.”
He chewed on the inside of his lip, hating that she wasn’t wrong. Something rotten rooted deep in his gut, and he didn’t know where it came from.Something is wrong. Something is very wrong.
“Where is Calder?”
“He has wolfsbane’s fever,” she quickly dismissed.
Ronan looked back at Rem. If he took her, she could suffer from being far from these lands; there was a reason Scarlet settled here over anywhere else. The magic that saturated this soil might be necessary for the Silvers… He could not stay, though, or else his pack would doubt him as a leader, which risked his entire family.
An intruding thought broke through the many that whirled in his heart, telling him to let Rem defend herself. Let her prove her worth and strength. He would only be a week away, if that. And he’d punish anyone that hurt her, and he knew everyone was aware of that.
He breathed deeply as he accepted that he’d have to trust that the goddess wasn’t setting these females up for failure. He conceded with, “As you have guessed, I am leaving Rem here.”
That seemed to please Enola, who faced the Silvers. She spoke with a consoling tone, but he sensed the falseness in it. “I understand you’re an Alpha, Ronan, and that you do not like to be challenged. We are analliance. You can trust me. Rem will be safe here.”
“I never said I didn’t trust you,” he declared.
“Safe travels, Ronan, for whenever you leave,” Enola said, ending their conversation without so much as looking at him as she spoke with the other Alphas.
His gaze trailed right back to Rem.
Ronan knew that even if he remained, he couldn’t protect her among all of Scarlet with the forty shifters that he brought.
But I can bring many more with me if I go home and rally who I can.
He looked up at the moon, hoping an answer would come to him.
25
HALF-BREED
R E M
One and a Half Months Later
It had beena long month and a half since Rem last saw Ronan.
The trees outside were as bright as the color of her eyes, and Rem was certain that she had just missed her birthday. Nia was kind enough to ask the humans to make a dessert to celebrate, and so they made an apple pie. The familiar taste of home meant everything to Rem, even if they clearly used sour apples instead of the sweet ones she had grown up with.
When Rem told Nia it would be her twenty-third year on this planet, Nia countered that it would be her first year as a shifter.
It had been weeks since that night under the tree, and the only major difference for Rem was her appetite and senses. A newneedto consume raw, red meat overshadowed her desires for home-cooked meals.
It had been like that since the night they transformed.
Rem hardly remembered that night, cognizance returning only just before the break of dawn.
As soon as the Silvers returned to themselves, the queen demanded they be taken back to Evensen. It was clear that Ronan was intentionally being kept from her. Every time he seemed to go near, the queen, or one of the Elders, would step in.
Rem knew him enough to understand the contention in his gaze, but not well enough to guess the actions he’d take. He had left for home that following morning, his only parting words given to her through Lothar.
Lothar, at least, remained in Scarlet as her private guard. Ronan’s mother was said to be at the Warden residence, although they had yet to see her, per request of the queen. Lothar’s silent, omniscient presence was enough to feel like a shadow of Ronan endured.
Until a week ago, that was… Lothar had failed to return after urgently leaving.
The Elders deflected Nia and Rem’s unease, saying he must have returned to the Warden Residence. After a time, when nothing else occurred, both Rem and Nia had hardly any other option but to hope that was the case. They weren’t allowed to leave the home or send messages.
So, they were forced to wait.
