RULE 03: OPEN YOUR HEART TO A BEAST AND DEVASTATION SHALL FOLLOW.

✷ C H A P T E R T H I R T Y - O N E ✷

"Glad to see you again, Luna," an unfamiliar voice spooked me, the low creak of the front door opening resounded throughout the house.

    I was still standing in the entryway with my small bag of belongings at my feet. My surroundings did not matter to me. I was only focusing on one thing: Theo's words. He wanted me to become his Luna, to assume the position beside him. Accepting Theo would seal the fate of the Borderlands; the Borderlands would fall, and the whole Border would crumble down with it. Our entire way of life would be nothing but a memory.

    More importantly, Pa would die.

    My chest wanted to cave it at the thought of the Borderlands no longer existing. But, I tried to convince myself the Borderlands would not falter. Even more so, I tried to convince myself Theo would have no expectation of me answering promptly. I needed time — three weeks. However, I knew I could not fool myself to believe this fantasy I was trying to craft for myself. He had wanted me to be Luna; he just didn't want to pressure me into it. He didn't want to be like his father.

    In another life, maybe things wouldn't have been so complicated. Maybe I would have been accepting of Theo, accepting this life. But, that was not reality. My life was back behind a Border, and I couldn't forget that. My selfish needs were not above those of the Borderlanders.

    No matter what side I would choose — Theo or the Borderlands — there was no winning. There was no coming out of this on top, the victor. I could see that now. But, I would have no choice but to side with my homeland – too much was at stake.

    You could always leave the Borderlands if it came down to it, I thought, but I knew it would be hard to leave Pa. The thought alone had my knees shaking, palms sweaty. Pa was a revenant loyalist to the Borderland way of life. He had instilled his beliefs in me. While they may not have stuck to me as hard as they clung to Pa, I knew I owed it to him to make it back to the Borderlands with a witch.

    I could not lose sight of that. I would not lose sight of that.

    "Sage, my name is Sage," I turned my head to see a familiar face. It was Mabel. The roots of her hair had grown out since the last time I saw her, a dirty blonde poking through her golden dyed hair. "I believe we've been over this."

    "I apologize," she shifted the red cooler in her hands, directing a smile towards me. She was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. She promptly took off her shoes before entering further into Theo's home. "I hope you've liked the food I've been sending to the Alpha Wing during your stay. We were training a new girl, and I find she is quite heavy-handed with the salt."

    "All the food has been really good," I reassured her, as she made her way to the kitchen. Slowly, I followed behind her.

    Theo's house was small but cozy, a nice change from the large and somewhat daunting Alpha Wing. The bottom floor of the house consisted of a living room, dining area, and kitchen. There seemed to be a half bath behind the staircase which opened up into the garage. It was interesting to see Theo live in such a small dwelling when the packhouse was so large and grand.

    His home reminded me of the Borderlands. In my homeland, we did not live extravagantly. Many houses had been built eighty years ago. Some of these houses had been big, with too many rooms for one family. As a result, many of these rooms would be boarded up; it made heating the house easier that way. That is what we did to my childhood house. Pa had to sell it when Ma left us. He couldn't pay the rent, so we moved to Gran and Pop's place and have been there ever since.

    "Glad to hear it," her smile was evident in her cheery, sing-song tone. She pulled a couple dishes out of her cooler and placed them in the freezer. She then unpacked a plate of pancakes and placed them in the microwave. "I brought some extra meals and placed them in the freezer in case you get hungry. I'm heating up some breakfast for you. I should be out of your hair shortly."       

"Thank you," I extended my gratitude, not knowing how to work any of the appliances in this kitchen.

    Once the beep of the microwave went off, I sat down at the kitchen island and hesitantly started to eat the pancakes Mable set before me. It was hard to continue eating when the image of a hand-sewn doll that was horrifically mutilated entered my mind, especially when said doll resembled Pa.

    It looked so much like Pa. Sure, it was missing his growing gut and facial hair, but it had been dressed in Pa's work uniform. On top of that, the doll was similar to the ones made in the Borderlands. I hadn't had time to process it till now, but it looked like one of the dolls that were sold in the market in the Borderlands.

    My body felt like it was slowly being electrocuted, like every fiber of my being was being poked by pins and needles. I tried to sit still to calm myself, but the storm within would not lessen.

    The Council was not happy with me, and Pa would pay the price. I wish I had gotten a better look at the doll before I had screamed with all my force. Maybe there had been a sign the doll was actually from Eva. Maybe there would have been a sign that I had blown this out of proportion. Yes, exactly that — I was blowing this out of proportion. I would let the panic swell and burst once Theo had concrete evidence.

    Sighing, I got up to peek out the window. I saw Max standing guard at the door, his arms crossed over his chest. Looking closer, I could not catch a glimpse of Heath, but my body started to relax knowing I had protection around me. Turning on my heel, I decided I would try and distract myself by making myself at home as Theo had suggested.

    I had pretty much explored the whole downstairs already; it was all in my line of sight. The kitchen was modest and much brighter than the rest of the house, the white cabinets a nice change of pace from the otherwise dark interior. The kitchen island transitioned the space to the dining area that was in between the kitchen and living room. A vast, stone fireplace was in the center of the living room with a large dark gray couch. Hardly any decorations or pictures were present in the house. If I hadn't known Theo lived here, I don't think I would have been able to guess this is where he lived.

    Moving upstairs, there were only three doors off the stairway. I knew the door to the right led to Theo's room. Taking a quick glance at the other two rooms, I found a full bathroom and an office that looked similar to the one in the packhouse, except it did not have a spot for visitors to sit.

    Since Theo did not have a guest room, I assumed I would probably be sleeping on the couch, so I made my way back to the living room. Plopping on the couch, I determined sleeping here would not be so bad. I kicked up my feet and stretched out.

    However, no matter how hard I tried, sleep was not able to find me. Instead, I tossed and turned, my mind never relenting from the thought of Pa being mutilated by someone in the Borderlands. His death would be on my hands. Maybe the clairvoyant was right, and this was just the beginning. I shuddered at the thought, cocooning myself in a blanket I found at the foot of the couch. While the blanket could not protect me from my harsh reality, it felt nice to pretend it could.

    For hours, the gears in my mind shifted and turned, tormenting me. I was glad when I heard the familiar creak of the front door opening up. A grunt echoed out, and I knew instantly that it was Theo.

Sitting up and unraveling myself by the constraining blanket, I asked."Any update?"

    My neck was awkwardly twisted to the side in order to catch a glimpse of Theo. He had a frown etched on his face, as it looked like he was struggling to kick off the brown boots on his feet. He replied, "yes and no."

    "Want to elaborate?" I prodded, skepticism seeping into my voice.

    With a final kick, Theo was able to thrust the shoes off his feet. Letting out a sigh, he straightened up and huffed out, "the rain washed away any scent we could pick up from the doll. Mina believes the blood and organs were from a domesticated rat. None of it makes any sense."

    Theo sounded frustrated as he made his way over to the kitchen to grab a drink of water. While he was waiting for his glass to fill up, he repeatedly tapped his foot on the wood floors.

    "Have you looked into Eva?" I brought it up, hoping maybe he had found a clue that could prove that Eva had been the one to leave that vile doll under my bed. I longed for there to be an explanation for the doll that would not lead to the Council.

    Theo grunted, chugging the glass of water. "Eva's mate would not mind link with me. Flynn is traveling to their pack now."

    "Sounds suspicious," I mused as hope flourished within me. If Eva had nothing to hide, then she wouldn't have been so hard to contact. She was hiding for a reason.

    "Just like your friend Memphis. He has no alibi for the night," Theo countered. I could hear his feet pitter-patter across the floor, his footsteps getting closer until he had taken a seat next to me on the couch.

    "You can't honestly believe it was Memphis," I leaned my head, knowing in my head and heart it was not Memphis.

    "He was not the brightest human I have ever met," Theo stared back at me, eyebrows raised. He did not seem to be too fond of Memphis, and for that, I rolled my eyes.

    "See, he's not smart enough to pull something like that off," I reasoned, crossing my hands over my chest, but Theo just arched his eyebrows up higher. "Are you okay?"

    "I should be asking you that after today," Theo ran a hand through his hair, putting his head in his hands. "I tried looking further into finding your mom to see if we could get some good news out of this day, and none of the searches came back with anything. The Border has been completely searched. Nothing. No signs of anyone leaving the Border twelve years ago. No signs of anyone getting vaccinated twelve years ago. No signs of anyone registering a mate bond twelve years ago. No missing person reports fit the description of your mom. No one in the system comes up as a DNA match when we ran your blood work. Nothing. It is like she vanished from thin air."

    "She's dead," my voice was light while I looked straight ahead before closing my eyes and biting my lip.

    For twelve years I thought Ma was dead, so why was it so hard for me to accept that now?

    "I don't think so," Theo let out, and I snapped my head in his direction, confused.

    "What do you mean?"

    "I don't know exactly, but I don't think she is dead," he explained, "Levi doesn't either."