Beyond the Border | ✔

17 | rule 29

RULE 29: THE OUTSIDE WORLD WILL TRY AND TRICK YOU WITH THEIR FORECASTS OF THE FUTURE. IT IS ALL AN ACT OF MANIPULATION.

✷ C H A P T E R      S E V E N T E E N ✷

Mina did not return until several days later. During that time, my mind spiraled even further — nightmares plaguing my every sleeping hour. Nightmares of me failing the Borderlands. Nightmares of the Border falling, the people of the Borderlands being dragged tooth and nail out of their homeland. All while I was chained back in the Borderlands, trapped. All alone. All alone to grovel in my failure.

As my nightmares intensified, my distaste for Theo festered. He said we were mates — soul mates. Was this any way to treat someone you thought you were destined to love? I shuddered to think what else he could be capable of. Would he try and wear me down until I had no other option but to give in?

You're one to talk, a voice popped into my mind. He's putting in as much effort as you are.

Choosing to ignore the voice in my head, I still held out hope for Mina to pull through with convincing Theo of my release. In the short time I'd known her, I could tell she was stubborn — in a good way, though; she was good at convincing people what she wanted, not backing down easily even when faced with an Alpha. I could picture her pestering Theo until she got her respected results. They were the same in that way — both extremely strong-willed.

However, I stopped perking up at the sound of the door opening. Ever since my mind started to give in to the isolation, Max took to hand-delivering every meal, his eyes always looming over me like I was as fragile as glass. He still would not talk to me, but his ever-present glare had dulled in ferocity.

When I heard the door creak around lunchtime, I remained in my spot, lounging on the couch, my casted hand lazily hanging over the edge of the couch.

"Sage!" Mina's voice exclaimed excitedly. I kept a steady gaze on the ceiling, preparing myself for disappointment. "I come bearing good news — no, it's great news."

Instinctively, my body lifted at her words, sitting up. Mina walked over to the couch. She was dressed in jeans and a tank top, a devious grin placed on her full lips.

"I told Theo about your current mental state like you asked," she said cautiously.

"What did he say?" I responded, heart thudding at the mention of Theo. Internally, I swore at myself as my body betrayed my mind. Theo crossed my mind these past couple of days, but those thoughts were fleeting and filled with wondrous fantasies of him succumbing to isolation much like the one I found myself enduring. I had to make a conscious effort not to let my mind wander to other fantasies of him, but it proved not to be such a hard task when images of my family and friends dead never left my mind.

Mina knitted her thick eyebrows together, "I told Theo about your mental state. Well, lack of mental state, to be honest. Okay, I might have exaggerated things a bit, but, at the end of the day, he's agreed for you to have a day out of the Alpha Wing. There are some conditions you'd have to agree to first, though," she was overly excited even though my break from isolation seemed temporary. In response, I slumped back down into my previous position.

"What are the conditions?" I asked, toying with the blue cast on my arm.

"You wouldn't be able to run away from us—"

"—us?"

"Ah, yes. Me, Theo, Beta Flynn, Gamma Heath, and I believe Max would be coming along for precautions. Also, if anyone asks why you are tagging along with Alpha Theo, you must not say you are his mate. If word got out he found his mate, the pack would want you introduced, marked, mated — the whole ordeal. That part is more for your sake than his," she explained, sitting down by my side.