Nia whimpered, her head and ears lowering even further. The warg completely ignored her. Even if Rem had a blade, she doubted it would do much. The Elders told the Silvers that wargs had skin so thick that spears broke when striking them, silver daggers barely slicing through.
The she-wolf stood no chance. Neither did Rem.
Nia turned back into her human state in a dramatic scene of fur rescinding, bones and joints once again cracking and poppingEWSaz, grabbing Rem by the arm, Nia’s braids continuing to form in their entirety. "It's focused on you. I don't know how you can control them, though. I mean, there’s no guarantee that that’s what this one wants. Let's go. Slowly though. Don't run."
“No, Nia. Maybe I need to go near it,” Rem desperately said, terrified that Nia would get hurt. “I don’t think moving away will help. Or at least, maybeyoushould go, while I try to deal with it.”
What else was there to do? Rem had to avoid suffering grievous wounds, but she also couldn’t sacrifice Nia to save her own skin.
I can’t leave Oliver. Please, let this beast be kind to me.
Nia groaned. “No, I cannot leave you. I howled for backup. Let’s just wait for them. I don’t even know how you’d control it.”
Rem pursed her lips. “Yeah, good point.”
The warg watched them, taking steps forward as the two walked backwards. The warmth of Nia’s shaky breath was on Rem’s ear. "I will turn back into a wolf, and if he comes after you, run for it and scream. We are close to Warden, which means someone will come. They should already be on their way. I’ll do what I can to keep you safe."
Rem glared at Nia. "Absolutely not. It would have attacked by now if it was here to kill. Let's just keep walking backwards. It’s got to be related to my changing and the Elders saying we are connected.Youshould run."
Nia's eyes turned amber, signaling an impending change.
"Nia, I forbid it!" Rem exclaimed and grabbed her arm.
The hair on the warg's neck stood up at the command, and Rem's heart hammered in her ribcage.
Nia hesitated while Rem glared at the beast, terrified it would attack them. Then, she caught its orange eyes, except this time, she couldn't look away. She knew it was here for her, like the feeling in one’s gut when they justknewsomething bad had gone wrong. Except this didn’t feel wrong. It felt like… Like a connection.
A howl in the distance broke her fixation.
"Suna," Nia said, the single word drenched in relief. “They’re much closer than I thought.”
The warg rumbled, its hackles rising at hearing something quickly moving in their direction. A pale beige wolf, bigger than Nia’s, emerged through the trees, jumping down onto the trail, their heavy paws hitting the dirt in cascadingthuds. Its fur was easy to spot in the darkness.
Nia grabbed Rem's arm and pulled her in that direction. Rem could barely feel her legs at this point from all the adrenaline, a slight tremble in her hands. She was ready to run, although also not ready to leave the warg.
She felt pulled towards it, like she had to touch it.Surely, it’s safe… The Elders said we had a connection with them.
A larger, darker mass jumped down onto the trail, taking Rem aback by the size of it. It was larger than Suna, coming up to the warg's shoulders.
As they neared, Rem saw its fur was charcoal, and it had pale blue eyes with tall, pointed ears, reminding her of a hound from Hell. There was a disheveled appearance to it, mirroring the rugged nature of the warg, and its hackles were raised as it slowly walked forward. The top of Rem's head came to its chin and its paws were as large as her hands.
The blue eyes of this dark, immense shifter-wolf moved towards Rem, slowly facing her, their eyes connecting for a stretched-out moment. It smelled the air, the focus in its eyes sharp on her.
A snarl was heard from behind—no doubt from the warg—and the giant wolf took a languid blink as it faced the warg.
She knew that look.
Ronan.
Rem faced the beast as Ronan approached. Her heart nearly jumped into her mouth when the warg lunged at them, barring its fangs that were larger than her fingers. The growl that escaped sounded like metal on sandpaper, so guttural and harsh. The lunge was a false one, testing them.
Ronan barely budged.
Then, the orange eyes of the warg met the orange eyes of Rem.
The sharing of their eyes calmed her, a new sense of beckoning gripping her. It felt like intuition. It was a hunch that she couldn't ignore.
The sensation kept rising, further immersing her in that feeling. Her mind swam in whatever hijacked it, a tranquility washing away all concern… And she took in the environment as if it had new meaning.
