Beyond the Border | ✔

40 | rule 41

RULE 41: NEVER MAKE A DEAL WITH A SUPERNATURAL; IT WILL COST YOU YOUR LIFE

✷ C H A P T E R      F O U R T Y ✷

"It's empty," Heath's voice echoed in the almost barren cabin.

The cabin was not completely empty, however. There was a worn-out couch marked with stains that made my body recoil back, ready to accept the chilly air awaiting beyond the cabin walls. The cushions had been worn down to the point they looked more like pieces of paper than somewhere to sit.

On the opposite side of the couch was a kitchen – if you could even call it that. There was a fridge that seemed to be hanging by the seams, a woodburning stove, and a chipping sink that overlooked a frosted window. To the side of the kitchen was a bathtub laying out exposed, covered in layers of dirt and soot. One storage cabinet was placed oddly in almost the middle of the room, spider webs filling the see-through top cabinets.

While I usually would have been skeptical to enter such an establishment, my body did not allow me that choice, sinking down to the floor – Heath was sprawled all over the couch. Even if we did not choose the right path, I was thankful to be in some kind of shelter, no longer pushing my body to the limit.

I let out a well-reasoned sigh that morphed into an uncomfortable grunt.

"What?" Heath asked, his head popping up from the couch to look at me through slitted eyes.

"Do we have to walk all the way back down the mountain?" I asked, scrunching up my face. I was certain we would not be able to scale down the mountain in one piece; we had already run out of food and Mina, Heath, and Theo's abilities were blocked.

Maybe picking the wrong path would not have been a bad option. Surely, those who picked the wrong path did not have to go all the way back down the mountain. Or, if they did, hopefully, they were already under Vanessa's control so they would – hopefully – be numb to the whole experience.

Mina slouched down on the ground next to me. "I'd rather die."

"I can have that arranged," a foreign voice spoke as if out of thin air.

My head whipped around, looking for any signs of someone, and then I spotted her. Standing near the kitchen, a young woman, hands over her chest, was smiling deviously at the four of us, her pale purple eyes locking on Mina.

She was dressed more normally than I would have thought. She was not adorned in elaborate robes or hoods like the clairvoyant at the Pack's Fair. Instead, she had a long flowing dress. While her clothing did not make a statement, her accessories were more eye-catching: she had a rabbit's foot tied around her neck, and snake rings placed on her slender fingers.

"I'm surprised you all made it here in one piece," Vanessa – or who I assumed was Vanessa – said in a tone too chipper for me to comfortably stomach. "Especially with Mina tagging along."

Puzzled, I turned towards Mina. "Do you know her?"

"Oh, does she know me?" Vanessa answered for Mina with a rhetorical question of her own. "She only broke my little sister's heart."

"I wouldn't word it like that," Mina countered, crossing her arms over her chest.

Vanessa raised up one of her pointed eyebrows. "A blessing in disguise, truly. Imagine my horror when I learned my little sis was dating a Werewolf in the first place. You must relate, right?"

She turned towards me, her smile becoming crooked. I jolted back, hitting the wall, confused. "What do you mean?"

"As a Borderlander, you must be less than thrilled to have an Alpha as a mate," she looked at me and then Theo, who was standing near the door, looking unamused. "Or, that mark on your neck tells a different story."