"Oh, really?"
"He is not known to be civil. I don't hear good stories about his Silvers," Nia paused, as if mentally witnessing something she'd rather forget, scratching her nose. "My brother went up to Malus Moon's territory and saw the Silvers—he is the only one that travels among us. The Silvers are treated with high regard, but Marcus lets his Betas 'explore' their worth. In private. I don't know anything beyond that."
Rem frowned, glaring at Marcus. "How true are those stories?"
Nia leaned in, "Enough that my brother was worried about them. It's not hidden knowledge. It’s just… Not put out there, either."
A silence settled on the group, and Rem pressed her lips together.
Marcus made eye contact with Rem, and Ronan turned so he faced the both of them, although he still partially blocked Rem from those belonging to Malus Moon.
Her heart thudded with extra strength as she stared at Marcus.His face was long, and she regretted to consider him handsome. Aside from the scarred eye, the rest of him would have been appealing with a square jaw, thin nose, and stubble. The latent look in his good eye warded her away, however, like he was always thinking something unsavory. He was like a heavy mixture of all the unpleasant men that Rem had met since being here; he was callous and calculating with his words.
Predator.
Marcus spoke to Rem in Icelandic, and Nia translated as Ronan watched with a hard glare. "Marcus acknowledges you as Ronan's Silver. He said Ronan always took the pretty ones."
Rem raised a brow, a vivacious retort quickly entering her mind.
Did she do it? Did she potentially aggravate the other Alpha? She thought of Jackson and what more he might have done to Rem if he hadn’t feared Ronan. The Silvers of Marcus would have no such protection, as their Alphawasthe aggressor.Yes, I’ll do it for the other Silvers. Once she opened her mouth, she committed to the words, "I've heard that Ronan has a record of getting the best females when it concerns you two."
Nia went dead silent. Freya, the only other one to speak English, sucked in air and glared at Nia. Ronan tensed, looking between all of them with a demand to know what was said, just like Suna had done.
The command in his gaze left no room for anything other than obedience.
Nia took in a deep breath, bowed her head, and spoke.
Ronan's entire posture raised, his eyes widening, a dangerous raise of a smile forming to display shock and amusement. A nervous prickling moved under Rem’s skin with the way his eyes bore into hers. His expression quickly relaxed, his broad jaw clenching, approval and another kind of intensity lingering in his gaze before he donned his habitual stolid expression.
He liked that, it seemed.
Marcus, however, did not.
As Marcus spoke, Nia leaned in with a soured face. "He says careful, human, you are nothing more than a womb for us. Perhaps more, if you earn that affection over time. But until then, your worth is in your blood, and that's all,” Nia’s voice lowered, the next comment coming from her, “Sorry I had to say that to you."
Ronan left no time for her to respond. His rapacious gaze sliced at Marcus, a primal, wicked look about Ronan as he spat his words at the other Alpha. The hair on her arms rose, The Alpha of Warden demonstrating his tenacity, and even Marcus seemed to reconsider his words as he stood there, tight-lipped.
Rem wondered if that was the version of Ronan that Jackson faced before he lost his eye.
Nia leaned even closer, speaking quickly, "Ronan told him he will never speak that way to you again unless he wishes to be blind, which Ronan can happily accommodate, if Marcus wishes.”
Rem breathed through her mouth, licking her lips with a dry tongue, worried they'd start a fight. I shouldn’t have said anything.
Marcus raised his arm, and Rem flinched. But he merely held it out to his shifters and spat an order in Icelandic. His men nodded, moving in the direction that he raised his arm.
"What just happened?" Rem asked, so close to Nia that she could smell her—slight sweat, worn clothes, and like the outdoors.
"Later. You're fine," Nia hastily said, listening intently.
Marcus walked forward, eyeing Rem as he passed, to which Ronan effortlessly moved with a smooth, purposeful step to continue being Rem’s barrier. Rem didn't break eye contact with Marcus, asserting that she wouldn’t back down so easily. It took everything she had though, as she couldn’t deny that she was alittlefrightened. But thoughts of him hurting the Silvers made it easy for Rem to be bold.
As Marcus left, the Wardens gathered their things and moved towards the gate that two guards opened.
Ronan turned to address Rem. There was something about his eyes that were infinitely commanding, especially how his folded brows amplified his fierceness, doubled by his towering height. He spoke lowly in Icelandic until Nia translated.
"He says that you don't go near Marcus, ever. He is dangerous. And you need to be careful when you are alone. You're only human. You have to wait until you're a shifter for that kind of talk."
Relinquishing her gaze seemed impossible, his blue eyes harsh and challenging her to obey, the faint lines around his eyes deepening. She opened her mouth to speak, only finding that she merely breathed rather than spoke. His expression hardened, pressing for an answer.
