"Use your head, idiot. We can always turn you into one. And trust me, you'll get a high-value mate, even if it's not the Alpha. You will have a luxurious life. Now, either get on your horse or the wooden plank. Your call. I don't want to waste any more moonlight."
She mirthlessly laughed. "I'm not going anywhere with you. I'm walking home."
"I mean fine, if that's how you want it. I'll just drug you again. And tell Oliver that his sister abandoned him."
Rem froze. The mention of Oliver changed it all for her. She spoke with her back to him. "What do you mean, about Oliver?"
"He is with us. Quite a bit ahead, to keep you two separated."
"You.. You said…” Rem’s nostrils flared. “No. You could just be lying. About all of this.” Her blood ran hotter than boiling water. “About my parents, too…you hurt them, didn’t you…”
He replied before her mind had time to wander further. "Your parents and home are all fine. We had no reason to harm them, especially since we need you right now. But, well, I mean, Ididlie about the boy… Oliverishere, for a very unique reason… Think of it this way: there’s only one way to find out if we have him, which is to come with me. Do you really want to risk that?"
She couldn't face the thought of willingly getting on that horse or plank. It would only solidify that she had no means to go home, and that thought deeply frayed at her sanity. How could she trust him? What if her parents needed her? What if Oliver was ahead, and he needed her, too? What if it was all a ploy, and they’d never reveal her brother? What if they didn’t even have him?
She also decided that being drugged was worse, no matter what. She let out a long sigh, looking in the direction that must be home, wondering if it was the last time that she'd ever face it.
"No," she said in a monotone voice, turning around. "I'll," she crunched dirt in her teeth as her voice quivered. "I'll just ride the horse.AfterI get proof of my brother being with you."
* * *
Her compliance was securedwhen they revealed Oliver to her. There had been a few feet between her and the gagged boy—but it was him. These foreign creatures muzzled and bound her baby brother, who wept when he saw his sister.
There seemed to be hardly any other recourse, no matter how much she thought it through. She'd have to go with the shifters. At the bare minimum, she needed to knowwhythey took her brother.
She also didn’t know whether to trust him about her parent’s safety. But how could he even prove that? For now, she just had to focus on Oliver—as hewashere. Especially since they refused to speak about why they brought him in the first place, always claiming it wasn’t the best time to have that discussion.
Everything seemed wrong.
The first three nights were the worst of it.
She hardly slept, never finding it within her to close her eyes. How could she sleep when all she could think about was what her parents were going through? Or how to get Oliver home? And how could this be happening at all? Rem had no one to talk to, no one to seek advice from. Everyone purposefully ignored her, except for Deacon, and she couldn’t stand him.
It was that despair that quieted her.
The fourth night was when she got some rest, primarily brought on by Deacon forcing her to drink sleeping tea. Sedating her had been easy in her restless, hungry, and weak state. If she were alone, she might have protested via starvation. But Oliver required her strength.
She ate so much the following day that she threw up, only managing down a solid meal afterward.
The days and nights bled together. Deacon told her an entirety of two weeks had passed by the time they reached the edge of their shifter territory—The Warden Pack.
Rem refused to slump or allow them to see her weep. Anger strengthened her resolve, her blood boiling with revenge for evendaringto bring her younger brother into harm's way. Even Deacon commented that Rem cried less than he anticipated.
She tried to ingrain the layout of the woods into her memory in case she somehow escaped with Oliver. Home, at the bare minimum, was toward the rising sun.
She could also go south, to the hunters.
As long as she went somewhere that was far from thesecreatures.
Trying to mentally map the terrain, unfortunately, proved futile. Rem was overwhelmed by how much it all blended together. They didn't have forests in Ashmire, so how was she supposed to navigate these? Maybe she should let them turn her into a shifter first. Would it help her traverse unknown soil better?
As much as she'd sacrifice for Oliver, the thought of becoming a shifter haunted her in ways she couldn't explain. She still was processing the entire situation, still wondering if Deacon was serious about mating their Alpha. And yet, she had seen her brother. They had him.
It was imperative she find out why.
Off the dirt road were the ruins of cabins, lamp posts fallen over and wrapped in vines. The reclamation of these lands came in magical oceanic waves that washed over the Earth nearly eighty years ago. Her gran told stories of how these woods grew at a rate unknown to humanity, overtaking everything in rapid acceleration.
It had all been normal, and then the Great Purge unleashed itself on everyone. It was a magical occurrence where all things paranormal emerged from the shadows of legends, like statues coming to life and overtaking everything they saw. Rem didn’t know why life went from happily living as a human, to suddenly being overwhelmed by shifters, vampires, witches, and all the others; they dominated humanity in a complete purge of power. With that, came the re-shaping of the planet's terrain and all the paranormal creatures that now ruled over them.
