Beyond the Border | ✔

34 | rule 66

"You'll need it," Heath interjected. "I'm not going easy on you just because you're human, and I'm definitely not going easy on you just because you're Theo's mate."

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Heath did not lie when he said he was not going to go easy on me. I believed he was trying his hardest to put me through hell like it was his personal mission to make me suffer. We started off easy — well, easy was subjective. It was easy by Heath's standards, certainly not mine.

We started off the day by doing stretches. After the pain-inducing stretches, I ran for what seemed like an eternity. I would do half a mile and then take a break. I rinsed and repeated this routine for hours. Heath was not happy with my performance, however. I was running a mile in ten minutes. It felt fast to me as I had never run a mile before, but Heath explained that ten minutes is slow, even for a human.

He was also not thrilled that my pace slowed with each hour that passed by. He remarked he was not too fond of training humans. I wanted to lunge at him, sweat covering every part of my body as my limbs felt like they were all on fire.

I failed to convince Heath the shoes were slowing me down, but he wouldn't have a word of it. He continued making me run to the point I was practically dry heaving after each sprint. It continued like this for two days.

Theo would escort me to the training center, and I would be worked to the bone until the day was practically over. I did not run the entire time. My body would not be able to handle such exertion. Half the time each day was spent on getting my technique correct. Heath said my strides were too short, and my posture when stretching was all wrong.

"You're doing it all wrong, Sage," Heath would grumble every so often.

In two days, I had only been able to shave fifteen seconds off my mile time. I was happy with the progress, but it made me feel so weak compared to everyone around me. And, by everyone, I meant Heath. He would do the exercises alongside me and not even once falter for breath.

After these two days, Theo heard word from Flynn. Flynn had arrived at Eva's pack, but she was nowhere to be found.

Theo explained: "Flynn said he arrived at the pack, but Eva and her mate were not there. Beta Leon said they were on something called a... Baby Moon? I'm not sure what that is, but I told Flynn to come back. We'll have to question Eva later. Flynn should be back in three days time. We'll leave then."

My body almost collapsed at the idea of having to endure three more days of training. I tried to convince Theo to let me take a break, but he said we would be in the car for a while, and I would be able to rest my body then.

The training continued, my knees weak and shaky by the end of each day; every fiber of my being was unsteady. I would come back to Theo's house and collapse on the couch, almost falling asleep instantly each night. Theo would have to wake me up to eat dinner, but it was rare for me not to fall asleep with a fork in my mouth at the kitchen island.

It was both a blessing and a curse. My body was feeling the effects of the rigorous training, but the training was also allowing my brain a distraction from all that was going on around me. I didn't have enough mental bandwidth to battle all the different contradicting thoughts floating about my mind.

However, once Flynn arrived back home, I would no longer have a distraction, and I would have to face the pounding thoughts in my mind. I'd have to confront the fact I'd soon find out what happened to Ma, and I'd have to confront the fact I'd be within reach of a witch.

By now, two weeks remained to bring a witch to the Borderlands. I just hoped the journey to the witch would not take that long. Otherwise, Pa would be in danger, and it would be my fault.

"Wake up," Theo nudged me gently.

"What time is it?" I rubbed at my eyes, my movements sluggish from all the training I had endured over the past couple of days. My eyes slowly rolled open, greeted by the pitch dark room.

Before I could muster up any strength, my body lulled back to sleep, eyes shut, breathing steady.

"Early," Theo said, as I distinctly heard him shuffling around the room. Suddenly, something lightweight hit me, as I tried to mumble out a defense. "We're leaving now."

I let out a low groan, as I hoisted my body off Theo's bed. My body protested the movements, but I had managed to stiffly get out of bed. Theo left a change of clothes on his dresser. Despite it being the end of summer, Theo set out a pair of jeans and a short-sleeve shirt. He packed a puffy coat in case we would need it, but the jeans could be cut if our destination was overly warm.

Once I was done getting ready, I tried to not mumble and groan as I maneuvered down the stairs. Upon walking into the well-lit downstairs, I was greeted by a much chipper Mina and a brooding Heath. Mina was also dressed in jeans and a long sleeve shirt while Heath was wearing shorts and a pullover.

"Good morning!" Mina exclaimed, coffee in her hand. She had a backpack slung on her back, and she looked abnormally happy, even for her.

I tried to smile at Mina, but my face protested, falling flat instead. Theo came down the stairs shortly, a backpack slung around his back as well.

"Alright, we've got a long journey ahead of us," Mina and Heath nodded at Theo's words, but I just stayed motionless, too tired to fake enthusiasm. "We better head out."

Mina and Heath went to head out the front door, and I trailed behind, but Theo put a hand on my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks. I whirled around to face him. Theo looked deep in thought, readjusting his backpack.

"Have you thought about what I said the other day," Theo asked, his eyes staring straight into mine.

"What?" I scoffed, not remembering what he was referencing.

Theo cleared his throat. "About you accepting the Luna position."

"Oh," I too cleared my throat, trying to stand up straight. "I hadn't had too much time to think about it."

It was the truth. With everything going on and all the training I had undergone, I had completely forgotten Theo asked me to be his Luna. Did that have a nice ring to it? Luna Sage. I tried to chuck those thoughts out of my mind.

Theo nodded his head while he bit his lip before taking a deep breath. "I see. I hoped you would have said yes by now. Just know that if things get too dangerous over the next couple of days, I won't hesitate to mark you as mine, Sage."

Silence overlapped us, as we walked out to the SUV. Heath was sitting in the driver's seat while Mina was in the back. Theo opened up the side of the SUV to let me in while Theo took a seat in the passenger's side after having placed his backpack in the trunk.

We were off to find a witch.

I've decided I want to try and enter this story into the Wattys because why not. This just means I'll be updating more frequently. I'm thinking 3 times a week Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday so that hopefully the story will wrap up by the August 19th deadline