✷✷

"Memphis!" I shouted, trying hard to speak loud enough for him to hear while simultaneously struggling to not slur his name. Memphis looked up, surprised. His eyes dilated with recognition. I smiled at him, weaving in and out of people in order to reach him.

He was surrounded by numerous sweaty bodies — none of which were familiar. It did not look like he was here with his cousin, Natasha. He seemed to be a fish out of the water, moving slowly to the music by himself, like he was going through the motions as he sipped on his drink.

"What are you doing here, Memphis?" I asked, my voice almost getting lost in the commotion around us. I blinked my eyes repeatedly to make sure I was not conjuring up an image of Memphis. But no, as I neared him, he was very much real. I was stunned. I thought he would be safely within the confines of the Borderlands by now. He helped the Borderlands when he escorted me back to Theo — albeit, not in one piece. Nevertheless, he would deserve the same extension of being able to come back home that was offered to me.

I would demand nothing less, I thought to myself but almost burst into spontaneous laughter at the thought of me trying to confront the Council in my current drunken state.

Once I navigated through the sea of people, Memphis pulled me into a tight hug, his head pressed into my neck. "I'm so happy you're alive."

I squeezed Memphis back, almost dropping my empty glass in the process. I shut my eyes, hugging Memphis tighter, the horrific image of him hanging upside down unconscious entered my memory.

Not knowing I held tension at the unknown state of Memphis' health, I let out a prolonged, content sigh while my shoulders realized, a few hot tears running down my cheek.

"I can say the same thing to you," I smiled sadly at the memory of our car accident. Once we pulled away from the hug, Memphis cast his grey eyes downward. "Hey, what's wrong?"

What I had wanted to say was: "what's wrong? I mean, why are you on the Outside?" But, my eagerness to be so blunt caused me to reel myself back in, hiccupping slightly in the process.

He took a deep breath. "They kicked me out, Sage. They kicked my whole family out."

I scrunched up my face, not fully comprehending what he meant. "They couldn't have. You were helping. Just go back and tell them Sage says you want back in, okay? Okay. Okay."

"It's no use. They said my family was too much of a liability, especially if things are to strengthen," he made sure to be cryptic in his wording in case anyone was listening. I doubted it would be easy to listen in with the music blasting so loudly, but I was thankful for his caution.

"I'll convince them to let your family back in — I can convince them, Memphis," I flashed a cheesy smile, trying to fool myself into believing my own words.

The Borderlands was not complete without his family in it. His family was one of the most well-known families among the community. Their absence would be seen and felt. Sure, they had been partaking in illegal activities to make their merchant business thrive, but their family had gotten away with it for over eighty years.

Memphis extended a comforting hand to my shoulder. "I appreciate the gesture, Sage, but there is no need to do that. Our hometown is changing, and I don't know if it is for the better. They didn't let Si back in either after they found out what happened."

"What? Is Si okay? " I moved closer, making sure to focus on hearing what Memphis would say next. "How are things changing?

"I can't tell you here; there are too many people who could overhear. But, I haven't seen Si. No one has," Memphis' eyes looked around as he took a sip of his drink. "Don't let what happened to my family affect things for you, Sage. You still have a chance."

I shook my head, the world spinning around me. I couldn't bring myself to fully believe his words. If they threw out Memphis' entire family, would they not just do the same exact thing to mine? My breathing picked up, and I tried to bring my drink back up to my lips to take a sip. It was empty, and then I remembered why I was near the bar in the first place.

Swiveling around, I could spot Mina frantically looking around. Panicked, I said a quick goodbye to Memphis, hugging him one last time before moving as fast as my stumbling body could take me to the bartender.

It only took a few more minutes before I joined Mina and Moon back on the dance floor with my new drink, taking bigger gulps. My body once again swayed with the music, like no time had passed. Luckily for me, the alcohol was making my mind go all fuzzy, so I couldn't dwell on one thing for too long.

"She's back," Moon beamed, wrapping an arm over my shoulder. "And she smells like another male."

"Did someone try anything with you, Sage? I'll beat them up," Mina popped into the conversation, her hands rearing to hit someone.

To my surprise, Mina and Moon were able to handle their alcohol very well. They had more drinks than me, but they were not nearly as affected by the alcohol as I was. Moon said their fast metabolism allowed them to digest and process the alcohol faster than a human.

"Noooo," I slurred, trying really hard to collect my thoughts. "Must have been someone at the bar. It was really crowded."

I was impressed by the lie I gave, making sure to take a drink at the same time so I would be able to avoid eye contact without being too obvious. Mina nodded her head, but she didn't seem too happy about it.

"Theo is going to kill me," Mina laughed mechanically, finishing off another one of her drinks.

"I always wanted to be an only child," Moon gleamed while Mina scowled, ready to place her fighting energy on Moon. He put a hand up in defeat. "Ow!"

"Hey!" I interjected. "Can't we just cover up the scent?"

Mina looked frustrated. "It doesn't work like that! I'm doomed."

I gave Mina a soft pat on the back, not knowing how else to comfort her. We continued to dance, Moon and I trying to distract Mina from her impending doom. We stayed at the Alpha's Den for a couple more hours and a couple drinks later.

The crowd was thinning, but we remained dancing as more and more people decided to call it a night. My body grew sluggish and tired, but I did not want to be the one to call it a night; I was able to keep up with two supernatural beings for the entire night, and I was not about to let it end just because my body was putting up a bit of a fight. Instead, it seemed like Max would be the one to do so.

Max looked impatient as he walked over to us. His body was rigid, and he moved his head side to side."Alpha, is not pleased with you, Mina. You gave him your word you'd have Sage back at the packhouse at midnight," Max narrowed his eyes.

"Aaaand?" Mina dragged out the word, leaning on Moon for support.

"It's well past two AM," Max said in a short tone, as I tried to rub my growing goosebumps away.

"Shit," Mina cursed under her breath. Mina turned frantic, taking my wrist in her hand and rushing towards the exit of the Alpha's Den. "I'm double doomed."

We had to wait outside on the chilly summer night, as someone went around to collect the car. I stood impatiently beside Moon, rubbing my wrist while also trying to warm up my body. It was not long before a car pulled around, but it was not the car we arrived in.

The blaring lights from the front of the car blinded my vision, white dots invading my vision, as I heard a door swing open. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Theo. It was Theo who had driven the insanely bright car. His voice was gruff, and he did not sound pleased.

"We lost track of time," Mina explained, her foot kicking back and forth into the concrete, her heels echoing throughout the empty night.

"We will discuss this later, Mina. When you are not so impaired," he turned towards me, his eyes almost glaring.

Theo came over to my side and rested a jacket over me, his hands rubbing circles into my shoulders. I wanted to tell him not to touch me, but Theo just seemed so furious. I was too scared to provoke him.

Theo growled, leading me to the passenger side of the car. Theo buckled me into the car because I kept trying to get the buckle to latch, but I did not have the precision to do it right. My head rested on the cool glass of the window as Theo began to drive.

The fast movement of the car started to upset my stomach, and I held my breath, trying not to vomit all over Theo's car. Theo sensed something was wrong, opening the window my head was resting on. Without a second thought, I threw up over the side of the car, clutching onto the open window frame for support.

After I emptied my stomach, I groaned, pressing a soothing hand over my head. My eyes were closed, and I had to keep them squeezed shut for me to not throw up once again. The car ride kept going on; I swear it was longer than the ride to the Alpha's Den. Soon, I found myself being lulled off into a turbulent sleep.

✷ ✷ ✷

"Good morning," Theo's voice greeted me, as I slowly woke up to a pounding headache.

Getting a grip of my bearings, I was not back in my bedroom in the Alpha Wing. Instead, I was in someone else's bedroom. All the furniture was a dark wood — almost black. All the curtains were pulled shut, preventing any light from escaping. The room was dark, and I had to squint to see Theo's figure in the doorway, his body outlined by the light in the hall behind him.

"Good morning," I skeptically said to Theo, not wanting to get out of bed even though I did not know whose bed I was in exactly.

"How do you feel?" He asked while his eyes trailed over my body.

I was sure my hair was skewed in every which way; a true sight for sore eyes. My throat was a little scratchy, my body was a little achy from all the dancing last night, and it felt like my head was being used as a drum set, but I felt fine beyond that. Last night was still only coming to me in bits and pieces — I could not remember how much I had drunk.

"Good," I mustered up the perkiest tone I could, but my voice sounded like a gravel pit. Wincing from the sound of my voice, I felt inclined to give a thumbs up to solidify my state. "I mean, decently good, except for the fact I do not know whose bed I am in."

"You are in my bed," Theo smirked, as he stepped into the bedroom, making it harder to see where he was going. "Look, Sage, I'm sorry."

Theo was now at the foot of the bed. I sat straighter in bed, frantically trying to soothe my chaotic mane of hair.

"I have been told I am a stubborn man," he began while I nodded my head in agreement but stopped quickly when a bolt of pain ran through my skull. "I thought bringing Eva here would open your eyes. She said over the phone you were quite close in the Borderlands—"

"—I mean, she was my babysitter when I was younger, but I wouldn't say we were close per se," I interrupted, feeling off about how Eva lied about how close we were. In a sense, all Borderlanders were close to one another in that there were not a lot of us, but that did not mean we were close beyond superficially being connected.

"I see that now," he sighed. "I believe just as I was using her she was using me, as well."

"What do you mean?" I inquired, scratching my head.

"She was using me to get to you. Ever since she escaped from the Borderlands, she has made it her mission to get as many people out of the Borderlands as she can. She's been extremely unsuccessful. She saw you as her ticket to further her agenda," Theo reasoned, crossing his hands over his chest. "I'm sorry."

"Do you think she will tell others about me?" I asked, my voice almost a whisper.

Eva knew I was out of the Borderlands, and she knew where I resided. There was really nothing stopping her from exclaiming to the rooftops I was a fellow Borderlander who left our homelands. If she did that, she would end up achieving her goal: the Borderlands would eventually collapse. With news of my existence out in the universe, it would make any kind of plan to strengthen the Border impossible. While Eva surely did not know this, it would be a natural consequence of my identity being made known.

I needed to find a witch before that could happen.

"No," he said without hesitation. "Her mate is an old friend of mine. But, I would not hesitate to break our alliance if it came down to it."

"You would break your alliance with your friend for...me?" I asked, almost too afraid of the true answer.

"I would do anything for you, Sage." He remarked, his eyes locked with mine. "While fate has bonded us together, I truly believe being mates is a choice, and I chose you. I have not been doing a good at showing it — I realize that now. But, I promise to show you how much you mean to me going forward."