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Theo's words lingered on my mind. I let them sink in, marinating for hours on end. No matter how I processed what he said, I couldn't help but be doubtful. It was far easier to fall prey to my pessimistic thoughts than the alternative. I mean, there was so much depth laced in his words — I chose you — so many feelings for someone he didn't know all that well. How could I know he wasn't saying the right things to get what he wanted?

That's what he's doing, I tried to convince myself. I felt so shaken by Memphis being kicked out of the Borderlands that I wasn't sure what I should believe anymore. Was the Borderlands really the idyllic place I thought it was? Were they really protecting us from the Outside?

Did any of this truly matter, though? My family was back in the Borderlands, and that was all that truly mattered to me. My family.

I closed my eyes and groaned. Last night was the best night I had outside of the Borderlands. Even when things picked up a bit, I was still having fun at the bar. Now that yesterday was over, I had to be grounded back in the reality that the timeline to procure a witch was narrowing down. I had — hopefully — spent more time on the Outside than I had left out here, even if I had nothing but some vaccinations to show for it.

Shaking my head, I finally decided to get out of Theo's bed. I was still dressed in the clothes from the night before. Theo left a change of clothes for me at the foot of the bed. It was a pair of shorts and a flowing tank top. Quickly, I dressed, neatly folding up my clothes from the night before. I used what I presumed was Theo's hairbrush and splashed some water on my face before making my way out of his bedroom.

Walking down the stairs, Theo was sitting at the kitchen island. I took a seat next to him while he slid a plate of eggs, bacon, and pancakes towards me.

"Eat," he told me while he shoved his own food into his mouth. His words reminded me of the first morning I woke up on the Outside after being kidnapped. Of course, he tried to convince me he had not in fact kidnapped me; his words fell on deaf ears, however.

I briefly wondered if Theo cooked the food. It would have made me slightly impressed if he had made this feast– I knew how much time and effort went into such a meal from watching and sometimes helping Gran in the kitchen – but then I remembered Theo had quite a few people working for him, so I could not be certain either way.

Peering over at Theo's overflowing plate, I almost gagged. His plate was filled with raw meat.

"Shouldn't you cook your food before you eat it?" I asked, nervously eyeing the food on my own plate as if it suddenly was unsafe.

"Don't need to," he turned towards me, picked a piece of raw meat up with his fork, and then smiled when he proceeded to eat it. I scrunched up my nose and scooted my chair away from him. "Want to try?"

He playfully jabbed his fork towards me, but I leaned to the side to distance myself, even more, my hair invading my vision. After a small chuckle, Theo took his fork out of my direction, and I was safe to resume eating my own food. Of course, I kept a watchful eye on Theo at all times.

Meanwhile, silence hung over us as the clinking of silverware filled the room; the scratching of my fork on the ceramic plate sent an uncomfortable shiver down my spine. I would periodically glance over at Theo longer than needed as he scarfed down the food I was positive would make him sick. Despite my repulsion for the food on Theo's plate, I tried to eat as much of mine as I could manage, but I was not used to such large portions. While Gran liked to cook and while she liked to cook a lot, food in the Borderlands was portioned out. You could grow your own food — it was even encouraged. But, a lot of the staple foods like meat or spices were often rationed.

The wildlife that lived throughout the Borderlands was once described as flourishing, but, after eighty years, there were strict guidelines in place to prevent anyone from overhunting the wildlife. Because of this, my diet was mainly filled with lots of leafy greens. Gran knew how to turn anything into the best meal you ever had; although, nothing could come close to her chicken noodle soup recipe.

"So, what's the plan for today?" I asked as I toyed with the food on my plate, my feet dangling back and forth. By now, the food on my plate was covered in a thin layer of syrup. I felt bad for wasting the food before me, but I was certain only someone with a supernatural stomach would be able to finish everything on my plate.

"Hm," Theo began, almost to the point of licking his plate clean. "I have something in mind."

I leaned in closer, folding my hands over my chest. "Pack business?"

I had come accustomed to Theo being preoccupied with pack business that I could not imagine he would have anything else planned to occupy his time. He had a pack to run, after all.

"Not today," Theo smiled deviously. I leaned my head in closer as to signal I would like him to elaborate further. Instead of doing so, he said, "it's a surprise."

Theo's pupils enlarged at the mention of surprise, and I quickly scrunched my face in reluctance. Honestly, I was quite confused by his answer. I only asked about the plans since I had no way of getting to the packhouse on my own. Plus, Max was nowhere to be seen, so I didn't imagine Theo would be too thrilled about me venturing off on my own.

"Surprise?" I tilted my head, finally deciding to push my food away completely. "I don't like surprises. But more importantly, I don't think I trust you."

The last surprise that happened to me was on my birthday, and that surprise got me into this entire mess in the first place. If I had come to my senses on that day, I would still be safely behind the confines of the Border.

"You do not need to trust me on this," his eyebrows arched as he went to take our plates over to the unnaturally large sink in the middle of the kitchen island. "Trust me on that."

Theo did not leave much room for discussion as he did a quick clean of the kitchen before excusing himself to freshen up. He couldn't have been gone long, as I idly drummed my fingers on the counter, making a clicking noise in the process. Theo came back shortly, wearing a wide smile.

Before long, we were climbing back into Theo's car as he was off to wherever the surprise was. This car ride was longer than I was used to, going down winding roads with hardly any other cars on the road. Again, we had sat in silence, as I grew more nervous the farther Theo drove out. I had no clue as to where he was taking me.

"You don't have to look so scared," he took his eyes off the road to look me up and down.

"Theoretically, you could murder me, and no one would know. I am the perfect victim in a sense since there's no record of me ever existing, correct?" I mused as I turned towards the window. Civilization long since left us, and we were surrounded by towering trees that made my short stature seem ant-like in comparison.

"Sure," I could feel the doubt thick in his voice. "But there's a flaw in your logic: we're mates. We have been over this, Sage."

"I know. I know," I said quickly, almost too fast to be discernible. "I watched a crime show on that TV thing a while ago, and this seems like the perfect setting for one of those episodes. I'm not actually convinced we aren't in an episode right now. That's not how it works, right?"

Theo laughed lowly, and I turned my head just in time to see him shake his head.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, suddenly blushing.

Why was I blushing? I shouldn't be blushing, but why was he looking at me like that? I never had someone look at me in that way. Theo's eyes shone brightly; his smile reached up to his eyes.

"Like what?"

"That — stop!" I exclaimed, whipping my head to the side to hide my blushing cheeks. I was sure Theo caught a glimpse of my blush, but my dignity pressured me into avoiding any further glance on the off chance he did not see it.

Theo tried to antagonize me — or what felt like antagonization — the rest of our car ride. He seemed like he enjoyed teasing me, but he seemed to enjoy my reactions even more. Eventually, Theo pulled into a parking lot, where I could spot Mina and Heath waiting.

It appeared Theo brought me to the beach. Just beyond the parking lot was lots and lots of sand surrounded by even more water. I sat still in the car, trying to take the sight in; I had never seen so much water in my life. We had one pond in the Borderlands, but it was quite small and each year, it shrunk in size.

Is this what the world is supposed to look like?

"You okay?" Theo cleared his throat.

"I just — I just have never seen anything like it," was all I could say, my eyes kept a watch on the beach.

Theo seemed to understand as he silently got out of the car and opened my car door for me. I was still too stunned to say thank you. The beach was pretty barren, barely anyone else camped out on the sand. A few chairs had been pitched near the shoreline.

Hesitantly, I got out of the car and then Theo and I walked over to Mina and Heath. Mina was wearing a loose dress with her bathing suit poking out around her neck. Heath was just wearing a pair of swimming trunks, his toned upper body on display.

"No Flynn?" I asked since the last time Theo, Mina, Heath, and I were together, Flynn was also present.

"He's watching over the pack in my absence," Theo responded from behind me.

"He's also deathly afraid of water," Mina laughed as we all started to make our way to the beach from the parking lot.

Heath stopped in his tracks. "Flynn is going to murder you when he finds out you told her that."

"It's not a secret!" Mina exclaimed.

Before we stepped foot on the sand, everyone else took off their shoes. Luckily for me, Theo had not been able to convince me to put on a pair, so I just waited around while they removed their shoes. Stepping foot on the stand felt... weird. The sand was hot and grainy. I had to dig my feet further in the sand to find relief from the heat. It was almost as hot as walking around the cobblestone market back home.

Trying my best to shuffle, I followed behind Mina who said she knew the perfect spot to set up our chairs. Never having been to a beach, I trusted her abilities to pick a spot, not that I imagined it was hard to pick a spot with so many options.

Heath explained to me that this was a beach owned by Theo's pack, so only pack members were welcomed on the premises. He also explained beaches here in Washington were a lot different than a beach in a hotter climate. The water was a lot colder and the sand was not as white, despite it being summer.

I took a seat on one of the chairs Mina brought and tried to soak up some sun while nestling my feet deep within the sand. Theo insisted I put sunscreen on; otherwise, he said I would burn to a crisp. My nose scrunched up at the smell — it smelt so unnatural.

Theo, Heath, and Mina followed suit in taking a seat around me.

"I have a question," Heath sounded hesitant, directing his question at me. "Mina said it would be insensitive to ask, but after eighty years, wouldn't everyone in the Borderlands be inbred by now?"

I couldn't help myself from laughing, because it had been a joke we had back home. A lot of Borderlands liked to joke around that it was hard to find someone who wasn't related to you in some way.

"There have been a couple cousins who have married — wait, okay, there have been quite a few. But, the Borderlands allows refugees to enter. It doesn't happen frequently, though, but it does help with things," I explained, squinting my eyes at the glaring sun that was shining in my eyes.

"Sounds like hell," Heath breathed out as he started to try and bury himself in the sand.

"You can ignore Heath. That's what we all do," Mina turned towards me with apologetic eyes.

"That is no way to talk to your Gamma," Heath bounced back, continuing to dig himself further into the sand.

"I was talking about you," Mina arched an eyebrow up. "Not to you."

Theo looked unamused as Mina and Heath started bantering back and forth with one another. A smile found its way to my lips as being surrounded by Mina, Heath, and Theo reminded me of the days Memphis, Gracie, Ember, Si, and I would hang out together on the Eastern side of the Borderlands.

Theo looked at me and then tilted his head to the ocean. I shrunk back a little bit and mouthed W-H-A-T?

"Come on," Theo nudged me as he took his hand in mine. My hand warmed at his touch, rendering me unable to protest. Without enough time to react, Theo swiftly dragged me closer to the ocean. I then realized I had forgotten to tell Theo I did not know how to swim.