He smirked to himself, as clearly she intrigued him more than he had expected.
He'd do more to ensure she was treated better.
9
QUESTIONS
R E M
Rem staredat the green grass, reflecting on the contrast of the gentle nature and the warring creatures that inhabited it. Her gaze moved upwards, warm wind pulling on the free strands of her hair that weren’t caked to her face. She waited for Nia to return with a rag and a pail of water to wipe away the blood and dirt.
Closing her eyes, she tried to pretend that everything was alright, that nothing ached, and that her life was okay; it alarmed her that she hardly had to think about pulling the trigger when facing that hunter. There was so much built-up anger, and the horrible man talked about raping her, just in case they didn't successfully kidnap her. He thought it wasfunnyto send her back with her belly full of human seed instead of a shifter’s.
She cringed at the thought, although happy she at least got to kick him in the head.
Maybe I belong with the shifters. They are violent like that. And I don’t even regret what I almost did.
Then, there was the encounter with Ronan. She could have kissed him when she saw him emerge from the trees, and that made it all the worse. Rem wasn't supposed to revel in the male that she was unwillingly being given to.
The voice in her head that told her she was betraying her kind became infinitely quiet when she relaxed onto his back. In that reprieve, she felt safe with him, simply because he was the Alpha, and he had, so far, helped her. It reminded her of those villagers that befriended the Coveness back home, those humans never wanting for anything.
She didn’t realize how badly she needed the emotional break from constantly worrying. Leaning into his skin and muscles had been a break no guilt could sway.
Let alone the otherdistractingthoughts, where she’d periodically look at his thick muscles and the ink that lined his shoulders… men weren’t built like him back home.
Dare she admit that she liked the way shifters were built? Perhaps even preferred them to human men?
Did any of that even matter? No… it didn’t seem to. She was back to being alone, sitting on a log with injuries that would no doubt ache for weeks.
Nia returned with a smile, her dark skin deepened in color around her swollen eye. Seeing such a nasty bruise riled Rem more than she thought it would. Nia, so far, had presented as a good person. The she-wolf now suffered just for being near Rem.I’ve become a curse, all in myself.
The wet cloth touched Rem’s forehead, and she winced, the watered-down blood mixture dripping down her face. Closing her left eye as Nia worked, Rem asked, “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Did the other Silvers bring their families?” Rem probed, trying to lead Nia to the truth of things. Honestly, she just wanted to tellsomeone, to feel like she wasn’t stuck in her own head.
“I think so,” Nia said, pulling the cloth away to dip it back into the water. Red stained the gray rag. “Why is that?”
“Don’t you find it odd that I don’t have mine?” Rem pressed, desperate for Nia to miraculously spit out‘oh, you mean like an Elder Witch stole you and your brother, and he is at the orphanage?’The curse itched in Rem’s throat, as if to warn her she was too close to the edge.
Nia returned a curious gaze, wringing out the rag, water dripping into the bucket. “We thought it odd, but not impossible. Especially if you have other family in your village that they would stay with.”
Rem failed to slow her racing heart. What if she talked about this in a round-about fashion? “Well, it's just my parents and brother. They would havelikedto come with me—”
The itch in her throat burned. Rem coughed, waving a hand to show she was fine, although a deep defeat blanketed her spirit.
Rem closed her eyes and exhaled.
There was too much going on in her head, too much going on in thisworld. She was tired and her head hurt. Her leg throbbed underneath the bandages.
Nia, who was always so good at reading others, seemed to get that Rem just wanted to move on. “Just know, Rem, that whenever you want to talk, I am here to listen. That’s part of why I am here for you. Gammas are much less intense than the other ranks, and Ronan wanted you to be able to talk to me.”
“Thanks, Nia,” Rem said, groaning when Nia touched an extra tender part of her head.
She had never been so close to something and yet so far away. The truth was under all of their noses, and Rem couldn’t do a thing about it. Even after Ronan helped her, she could only silently lie on his broad, warm back while aware of the treacheries at his feet.
“I would like these wounds to heal faster than this. I am quickly accepting just how squishy your kind is,” Nia said.
