"Sort of. They just don't see eye to eye on a lot of things. And they are both very passionate in expressing that difference."
“Which one is he? The one in front?”
“That’s him. The one with the scar.”
Out of the window, Rem focused her gaze on a male with pale skin and short, dark hair. He wore dark leather pants and boots, his white, long-sleeved shirt tight against his skin to reveal a well-sculpted creature underneath.A giant scar over his right eye was grossly apparent, even from the distance.It looked like it was from a clawed attack.
Compared to Jackson, who seemed ashamed of his scar, this male made it a part of his identity, wearing it openly, and standing tall.
"Why is he here?"
"I don't know," Nia said quietly, her tone sharp and apprehensive.
The driver got out, and Ronan's family followed, Suna trying to conceal her limp. Rem's was even worse, especially moving after sitting for so long. The hedges were nearly ten feet tall and gave privacy to the gated lot, narrowing the space between them and the trucks. The sound of cicadas followed them, an owl hooting in the distance. Pinecones littered the ground and gave the air a lovely scent.
"What's behind the gate?" Rem asked Nia, trying to see what was guarded.
"The official Warden residence of Scarlet."
Rem’s ego slightly inflated with feelings of importance, the sensation completely new to her. Her guilt wanted to remind her of the situation, to discourage her from feeling any sense of curiosity or pleasure, and yet, she ignored it. Freya helped Rem see that at some point, she had to consider what life among the shifters would offer her.I have to live at some point if this really is my life now. I can't help Oliver if I wallow in it.
Once this nightmare with her brother was behind them, she’d belivingamong these creatures. Not as a special, squishy Silver, but as a strong force to be reckoned with.
Jackson and Fiona will be my first reckoning, then.
Ronan exited his truck with a gleam in his burning blue eyes, saying something to one of his men, who laughed in return. He was still shirtless, his wound already fading, and he too wore the injury openly.
Nia leaned close to Rem, translating very quickly, “Good on you to visit me after my trip, Marcus.” Ronan spoke with an arrogant tone, his fingers rolling on one hand as if to release his energy.
Marcus sneered, crossing his arms, his voice just as unfriendly.'Our queen wants us to behave, Ronan. I'm here on her behalf.’
Ronan growled, Nia’s accent thickening as she kept up.‘Hiding behind the queen’s legs already?’
Freya interjected with something stern in Icelandic, obviously mitigating, and Nia paused to listen.
"This looks really intense," Rem whispered to Nia as they stood a few feet behind the males.
"Oh, it is," Nia mumbled.
"Why the tension? Why do they not get along?”
The two Alphas spoke with such strain that it was like holding a lit match near gasoline.
Nia rubbed her eye, looking away as if she was done trying to translate it all; it seemed whatever they said was no longer relevant. "That scar on Marcus's face, the destroyed eye?" Nia pointed out.
The eye was milky, the skin poorly healed to create the ugliest chunks of scarred flesh which ran from his forehead down to his chin.
It was as if the entire right side of his face was attacked.Like Jackson.
"That was from Ronan,” Nia said.
A chill snaked down Rem's back, the hairs on her neck rising. She eyed Ronan, his body nothing but curves and valleys of muscle, his back covered in a slew of scars. It was evident that Ronan’s threats were far from being empty words.
"Why did they fight?" Rem asked, slowly accepting that this was a society of scars and pain. “He did the same thing to Jackson, too.”
"He seems to favor maiming his enemies that way,” Nia commented with a smirk. “And you don’t want to know what they fought over. It’s just drama,” Nia said, crossing her arms, her braids dangling over her shoulders and onto her chest.
Rem grinned. “Oh, well, now Ineedto know that.”
