RULE 18: YOU MUST FORGET THOSE WHO HAVE LEFT THE BORDERLANDS.
✷ C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - O N E ✷
"Do you want me to rewind — don't blink you'll miss it otherwise. Sage, I said don't blink!" Heath exclaimed, pausing the video that was displayed on his laptop.
"I can't help it," I countered, my eyes drooping. "I'm sick."
"No excuses," Heath scolded me, his thumb hovering over a button on his laptop before turning to face me. "Don't blink this time."
Heath unpaused the video that was of the Final Fight that occurred a couple days ago. Since Theo, Mina, and I were unable to watch the Final Fight, Heath took it upon himself to film the fight on his phone. The footage was shaky — so much so I could not bear to watch it a couple days ago as my nausea was too unrelenting. I had to squint my eyes to try and see what was going on in the grainy video. I wouldn't have been able to decipher anything if Heath was not beside me explaining it all.
"I said don't blink."
"I'm sorry!" I coughed out, covering my mouth with my hand.
Heath sighed, his fists clenching before focusing his attention back on the fight. He explained Kai was up against Alpha Manny. Alpha Manny was the one, going into the fight, everyone thought would win. Heath proudly proclaimed he placed half his life savings on the fight. Luckily for him, Alpha Manny came out the victor, just barely, though. Several of Alpha Manny's teeth got lodged in Kai's skin, and he later laced them through a necklace to display as a consolation price, Heath eagerly explained to me in a much too chipper tone.
Heath continued to talk on and on as he rewound the video to give me a play-by-play of the fight over and over again until his eyes went glossy. Theo had summoned him — pack business, Heath had muttered to me.
For the first time in a couple days, I was finally in a more stable headspace, the fever dissipated, my mind less foggy. In clearing my mind, I was surprised to find I was not too unsatisfied with the deal struck between Theo and me. While he was a beast and sympathizing with someone like him made my skin crawl out of instinct, I could not deny it was a good way to get closer to my real goal here: a witch.
Admittedly, I knew I would have to actually put my guard down for me to make any headway in the witch department. I was proven to not be a good liar, and I did not want to risk Theo finding out what I was actually after. A potential side effect could be that I might actually find myself truly sympathizing with the beasts that now lived among me, but it would be a small price to pay for the continuation of the Borderlands — even if it sealed my fate as good as dead.
However, I knew all of this was easier said than done. While Theo was not making it hard to at least be somewhat friendly with him, he was still a beast. As I had said before, I had been taught these beasts put up a front to their mates in order to reap the benefits of such a bond. I could not be certain Theo was not taking this very angle and lying about it.
It had been a couple days since Theo and I struck our deal. No progress had been made on either front, though. Theo had made a couple visits to me in my weary, sick state. Slowly, over the course of these past days, my body was recovering from the illness that plagued it. I was subsequently started on a vaccination plan, so my body would be able to properly fight off all the potential foreign illnesses awaiting me.
I shivered at the thought of getting sick again. I had come to the conclusion I would rather be in a million car crashes than ever have the flu again. Of course, Mina had been there when I expressed this idea. She just laughed at me and said many humans actually get sick at least once a year, and I would probably join them.
At least there was a silver lining in all of this, Theo said I would no longer be isolated to just the Alpha Wing. Since he now knew — or so he thought — why I had come back (to find my Ma), he agreed I would not need to be cast away from his pack. In his own words, he said a Borderlander could be of no real threat to his pack.
There was a caveat to my integration back into the world; if the pack found out that I was his mate, he would more than likely have to start the mating process. It had been explained to me before that it was customary in Theo's pack for the Alpha's mate to be quickly introduced into the pack once she was found, meaning the mating process would have to begin shortly after.
The thought of Theo marking and mating me scared me right out of my mind. I knew what the implications would mean — it would nearly be impossible to leave the Outside if I had Theo's mark on my neck. I had to prolong it for the next couple of months. Otherwise, I would be doomed.
No, the Borderlands would be doomed.
Sighing, I decided to make my way to Theo's office. I had been told how to get there. Exit the Alpha wing, turn right, then go up the flight of stairs. Next, stop at the third door, knock, and then wait to be let into the room. From there, it should be obvious which door led to Theo's office, but it was the center door, nonetheless.
I followed these directions, chanting them in my mind over and over. Despite this, I still got lost multiple times. Max was still lurking behind me, but he did not seem to want to help with directions. Instead, he would chuckle when I would wander off the wrong way. Eventually, I managed to make it to the third door. I did not knock, though.
Walking through the entrance, I knew Theo's office was the center door, so I did not give a second glance at my surroundings. Struggling a bit, I eventually was able to pry open the heavy door to Theo's office.
Theo's office was huge. Two windows adorned the far wall, but the light threatening to peak out was trapped behind black-out curtains. A giant oak desk was neatly centered between the two windows. A family tree that branched in a million different directions hung above the desk. There were two evergreen velvet chairs in front of the desk.
Sitting in the large armchair was Theo, his gaze cast down on some paperwork that was spread all over the surface of his desk. Paper was everywhere. There were piles of papers lining the room. Slowly, Theo looked up.
"What brings you in?" He asked, but his hand continued to write with the ball-point pen in his grasp. "I am quite busy."
Making my way to one of the velvet chairs, I took a seat. I let out a sigh of relief as, even though I had been recovering from the flu, I still felt a little fatigued.
"I'm ready to start looking for my Ma," I expressed, folding my hands in my lap. Theo opened his mouth only to close it a second later.
He then began. "I cannot—"
"—but, we had a deal!" I exclaimed, ready to jump right out of my chair.
"Yes, Sage. I am aware," he almost chided. I scoffed at him. "But, as I said, I am quite busy. If I recall, we did not have a time limit to find your mother."
My heart dropped at his words. He was going to use this as a loophole to not help me. I was not going to find my Ma, and I was going to disappoint Pa as a result.
"For fucks sake, Sage," Theo dropped the pen as he combed his hand through his hair. "I did not say I would not help you, but I am saying I won't help you right now."
I rolled my eyes at him, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear. "Oh please, you knew exactly what I would think when you said there was no timeline with your extended lifespan and all."
Theo looked through his thick eyelashes and said. "I am busy."
"Is that all I'm going to get out of you?"
He just responded by looking back at his paperwork, flipping over a page. I huffed out. "Well, then what am I supposed to do in the meantime?"
He did not look up as he responded. "You are no longer in isolation, Sage. I am sure there must be something in my pack to occupy your time."
I narrowed my eyes. "But you said I must be discrete unless I want people to find out we are mates, which would mean we'd have to start the mating process — for whatever reason."
He looked up. "I am not opposed to marking you here and now if that makes things less complicated for you."
"You are no help at all," I grunted out, frustrated.
With that, I made my way out of his office, Max still trailing behind me. I had no earthly clue as to what I could occupy my time with. I mean, what did people even spend their time doing on the Outside, anyway? Not that it really mattered too much since I did not want to do anything that would cause too much attention.
Mina explained to me I could just tell people I was her friend from Boston who was visiting for the Pack Fair but decided to stay longer once I got here. It would provide a nice cover superficially, except I knew nothing about Boston or what was around there.
Eventually, I passed by the kitchen where Theo forced me to eat the day he kidnapped me; oh how that day felt so far away. In reality, it had just been over a month ago.
One month down, two more to go. However, it was explained that it was best to find a witch within two months, so really I had one month the find my Ma and a witch. Theo was of no help at the moment, and I couldn't exactly conjure any useful information on my own with my limited knowledge of the Outside.
Stop throwing yourself a pity party, I told myself, knowing it was now time to accept this was my path — there was little I could do to alter this fact now. Plus, I, despite the lingering effects of the flu, was in a much better state to be able to finally process and make some headway on both these fronts.
Sighing, I tried to find something to occupy my time. I caught a glimpse of a group of people around my age out the kitchen window. They seemed to be gardening as they worked to water and weed a patch of plants that grew not far from where I was peering out the window.
Absentmindedly, I smiled, the image of Ma covered in her various herbs entering my mind. She always smelled of Basil, her hands stained a light shade of green from her busy work. She was a herbal nurse, but she loved more than anything to experiment with different remedies, concocting something new almost every day.
I used to beg her to take me to where her little herbal remedy stand was stationed in the market. Ma would only let me drink a few of the different teas she brewed. I always had to force the toxic liquid down my throat, but, nonetheless, I never seemed to stop asking to come back.
If I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine what Ma looked like — just almost, though. It had been so long since her hands cupped my cheeks right before she'd twirl me around to exclaim to our whole family that she's concocted something new that day. Pa would always be so proud; they both shared an entrepreneurial spirit.
But, as time slowly ticked forward, I began collecting more memories without Ma than with her. She was my Ma, but she had been out of my life for over half of my existence. I wondered if she was truly out there somewhere. Had she survived the crossing or had she succumbed to illness — or worse, a beast?
As I let my mind wander to the different endings she could have had, I found myself reaching for the pencil and paper that was left in the room I wandered into.
It was like my hand had a mind of its own, slowly sketching out a pair of rounded cheekbones, adding a lopsided smile under the button nose. I was drawing Ma; or, at least, I was drawing the memory of Ma.
Despite being told I took more after Ma than Pa in the looks department, I never really thought we looked too similar. I was always so blinded by her voluminous, brown curls, wondering why I did not inherit them. Instead, I had blonde hair that held no volume at all.
Soon, I had drawn the women who used to tuck me in bed every night. The women who would never shy away from showing me life around the Borderlands. I made sure to dress her in her sage green (her favorite color) apron that frequently had herbs springing out of the pockets.
I smiled, looking at the lightly sketched picture in front of me. I did not have much means of helping Theo find my Ma, but at least now we had a picture of her to use as a reference.