Nia told Rem to take off her clothes, to which Rem did with more ease than when she first arrived. Nudity was slowly becoming a concept that Rem was comfortable with, at least in front of the females.
Rem gently walked on the warm stone, slowly sitting down, and winced when the skin on her back stretched. She put her legs inside the water, the rock as smooth as leather. She slid the rest of the way in, moving about like a duck on a pond.
"Well, I can honestly see why he keeps this to himself," Rem sighed, the relaxation seeping into her bones as she slowly closed her eyes. Already, the edges of her scabbed skin began to numb.
"You get those perks as an Alpha."
"Thanks for bringing me here," Rem hummed, opening her eyes, staring up at the blue skies. The longer she was in the water, the more the effects became apparent.
"I'd like to develop a good relationship. I like making friends," Nia said, standing there awkwardly. "And, you know, you might become Luna and all."
Rem ignored the reference to her beingLuna, as flashes of sleeping at Ronan's side crossed her mind along with bearing his young. She also could hardly imagine trying to be a leader, especially after learning the fate of the previous Luna.
"You should get in. And how many shifters like to become friends with humans, anyway? So far, my experience is that it's aboutzero," Rem said, waving her hands in the water, savoring the way her aching body floated. She dipped down to her chin as her long, silver hair floated around her. "I mean, except for you, of course."
"Oh, don't worry about me getting in. I wanted to look for something while we were here. And not many of my kind make friends with humans. My Clan is mostly the one that does. We are not very big."
"Well, your family sounds much better than the Callons," Rem said, making her way back to the edge. She rested her back against it, seizing when the water didn't numb everything, choosing to just hover in the water.
"I will be right back. I am going to get some vina vine."
"What is that?" Rem asked, cracking open an eye to take in the light of day.
"It's good for pain. It grows right around here and is hard to find if you don't know a spot for it. Shifters can chew on it but it's bad for humans to do so. I can get some for tea later. You can have its roots steeped."
Rem was silent at first, furrowing her brows at the genuine gesture. "That's... That's really thoughtful of you."
"Just don't forget me when you're Luna," Nia said before bowing her head and walking off.
Rem smiled as her mind became lost to time, drifting in the water with her eyes closed, enjoying the sounds of nature while her body floated as if she had no joints.Well, if being a Luna gets me this... I mean, that's not so bad.She halted her mind. She didn't like being warm to such an idea. Not yet.
In truth, it was just because she was so tired—emotionally and physically.
Her family already felt like they were a lifetime away, her decisions here so removed from the only life she had known. Sometimes, it didn’t feel like Oliver was here at all. How could he be? How was this truly her life now?
Reminders of him weighed on her conscience, and it proved difficult to focus on her new duty here.My duty. Three weeks ago, her duty was to help take care of their small farm and help run the home. Now, Rem's duty was to relinquish her humanity for the curse of the moon and maybe even forge a relationship with the Alpha.
And to save my baby brother.
Rem concluded that she desperately needed to prioritize her happiness and strength if she truly wanted to help Oliver. She'd need a stable rationality, and this hot spring proved that. A sense of coherence already returned to her.
The sound of shuffling feet on the dirt brought her back.
Rem, with closed eyes, asked, "So, when are they going toofficiallyturn me into a shifter?"
"You have disappointingly dull senses," a roughened male voice replied.
Rem jumped so fast that she submerged all the way into the water, resurfacing with her hair in her eyes. She worked quickly to remove the pale strands and faced the men that stood before her.
There were two males. One was at least in his forties with pale skin, a chest tattoo, and red hair pulled back into a long ponytail, his auburn beard with a single braid in the middle.
The other one was Ronan.
6
THE WOUND
R E M
