Rem and Maviswere thrust into a dark home, a wooden door slamming shut behind them. A fire rumbled inside, the light from the flames dancing against painted walls and old wood trim. A handful of Elders stood by, along with eleven more Silvers, all in different outfits. They pulled the curtains shut, the large room only lit by a warm glow.
Four of the Elders roamed about, speaking in quick Icelandic as they brought out white clothes. Two more carried a wooden box that dropped with a thud, the clanking of metal resounding from within.
Rem didn’t know where to start when taking it all in. There was a serene surrealness to seeing all the other Silvers, and she wanted to stare at them for hours. But once Rem saw an Elder sitting in a corner—watching—she couldn’t take her eyes off of her, either.
There was a look in the Elder’s eyes that sent the hair on Rem’s arm rising.
"Alright, ladies, undress!" one of the other Elders shouted.
A few stripped immediately. Rem watched with clenched fists, uncomfortable with what was happening. Half of the Silvers looked her and Mavis over, all sharing the same azure blue gaze, their matching pale, silver hair styled differently. The only main difference was height and shades of skin.
They all seemed impartial to Rem and Mavis, lost in their own heads.
Once a handful revealed their naked bodies, and a few of the Elders stared hard at Rem, she stripped, too. The others were doing it, and it wouldn't help to fight it. She covered herself with her arms when the cool air of the home touched her naked skin.
She found it funny that she was more desperate to be warm rather than to be dressed.
Whether to her own chagrin or not, thoughts of Ronan snaked through her mind, reminded of how hisheathad once warmed her skin—scrutiny replaced concern as she took in the Silvers. This room held the very female that would become his mate, who would mother his young and would feel his arm around them at night…
It perplexed her how for a moment… She forgot about the Callons. Her desire to stand out among the others was entirely selfish and of her own accord.
Her gran, in her depths of wisdom, had warned Rem that living in a village would do this to her. If she ever left Ashmire, then the details of a novel world would captivate her, including her heart. How did she weigh what was genuine and what was survival? Did it even matter? She’d offer her entire future to whomever saved Oliver.
One of the other girls refused to remove her dress, pulling Rem from her thoughts.
"This is just uncivil,” the Silver said.
"Our bodies are not things to hide," an Elder reproached with an accent.
"I am not of your kind. Nudity means different things to me. I want to speak to my Alpha about this. Does she know what is going on?"
"Oh, get over yourself," another Silver standing next to her grumbled, completely nude, her caramel skin covered in goosebumps. "I doubt Riona would be much upset that you're naked. S'bunch of other ladies here. I've seen Riona naked three times, and I've only been here for a month."
"We don't even knowwhywe are doing this!" the prim one exclaimed, her hands flailing out.
"Imari," the vigilant Elder in the corner said, her voice deep and rough; the room fell silent. "Go ahead and tell them. They're all here now."
A pale, older female stepped forward, her pastel blonde hair nearly straight and minimally braided. Deep creases on her neck and veined hands gave away her age, whereas her face remained relatively youthful. She nodded to the one in the corner in acknowledgement.
"As you say, Tania," she said, looking around at the Silvers that were being handed new clothes to put on. "Hello, ladies. Now that we are all gathered... We have decided to officially present you to the packs to ensure you are formal members of our society, rather than bitches to be mounted. We learned from Josephine and Aldric Warden that our culture doesn't take kindly to strangers being forced into our packs, power or not. Conducting a proper presentation should rile excitement, rather than resentment, with males lining up to be your mate, rather than breeding you like dogs."
"I could have used that about two months ago," Mavis retorted.
Nearly half echoed in agreement.
"You don't seem to have planned out the Silvers very well," another Silver replied.
The Elder named Imari raised a hand, her long nails almost like claws. "That is not a false understanding, I admit. In truth, we did not realize that Silvers could transfer their powers to their mates at the beginning. Once we understood that, of course, the hunt for you became essential. Thisisall rather unplanned.”
“How can it be unplanned if you knew of our existence previously?” one asked.
Imari glanced at the indomitable Elder in the corner, who nodded approvingly. Imari proceeded to awkwardly explain, “We understand we cannot avoid this conversation for much longer. Essentially, wedidn’tknow of your existence until recently… Which is even more curious, as it is clear you’re not normal humans.”
“What did you offer them?” one interjected. “The witches? We just appeared, and the shifters succeeded in taking us. So, you had to have offer them something.”
Imari pressed her thin lips together, languidly blinking before responding, “We offered them something that is not for you to know. Let’s just say that it isverypowerful and has a tendency to drastically sway witches. You must understand that witches are opportunistic and stick with their own.”
Silence fell on them once again and Rem put on her new, white clothes, which covered her breasts but exposed her midriff. It reminded her of undergarments, except this was more formal.
