Chapter 2 : Not What She Was Expecting

*Gemma*

I said it without thinking.

No, I said it because I'd already thought about it. Was it destiny that I'd been considering that potential life only minutes ago?

Lynn stared at me with rubbed-red eyes, tears streaking down her face. "What?" she croaked.

"I'll go," I repeated as adrenaline spread through my veins like ice water. "In your place."

"Are you crazy?"

I grinned at her and shrugged. "Clearly." I took her hands again. "You don't want this. I do. It's an easy solution. Just go back to Uncle Barun, let him give you the rest of the information, and—"

Lynn squirmed. "Actually… he already did." I released her so she could pull out a piece of paper from her back pocket and hand it to me.

I unfolded it with trembling fingers. Nothing was written on it except for a date and time to arrive at Firth Port to depart on the Galiot headed west.

The West… ravaged by war, it was a lawless, massive continent. There were probably hundreds of packs; who knew how many Alphas needed heirs? At least some of them had to be exactly what I dreamed of. My luck just had to be good enough to get one.

But if it wasn't what I dreamed of, and the Alpha was a royal fur-brain, then I would still agree. I would never subject Lynn to that.

I folded the paper back up and beamed at my cousin. "Works for me."

She was looking at me as if I was indeed insane. "It's in a week, Gemma—"

"Enough time for me to get my affairs in order." A plan scrawled itself into my mind, coming together far too easily. "I'll work things out with Cari first. Then I'll tell my dad that I'm leaving to restore our honor by serving an Alpha who will—do you know what you were sold in exchange for? Oh, that sounds terrible."

Lynn laughed deliriously. "Probably money and protection from someone in the West."

"I figured as much." The very thought of selling your own family member like livestock made me sick to my stomach. It only enforced my desire to distance myself from them. "You're worth more than brainless males think you are."

She barked another laugh and wiped away the last of her tears. "You're serious? You're willing to drop everything to cross the entire ocean to… make pups?"

I was ready to make a joke, but I found myself saying, "If it's to spare you from that fate, yes."

Lynn's lower lip started to tremble. Then she flung her arms around me and rasped, "Thank you, Gemma, for saving me from a terrible fate."

***

When I returned to the fountain after walking Lynn back home, Cari was gone. I jogged to her aunt's house where she lived; I banged on the door and called her name, but no one was home.

I'd missed her when she needed to talk to me.

Guilt was creeping up on my excitement as I made my way back to my own home. Lynn was right; leaving my entire life behind was scary as hell. But the benefits outweighed the doubts. New shifters to meet! New places to see! Adventure! I could protect my family and my pack even if it was through an inhumane trade.

I wasn't upset about my teaching position—it hadn't even been offered yet. I wouldn't miss most of Opal Springs. To the Moon Goddess's hell with the Alpha and Beta—I would never call them uncles again.

I would miss my mother and father. But they knew how restless I was, and if they saw I could do something productive with my mundane life rather than spend it lounging around their house, then… surely they would support that.

I entered through the front door. I didn't hear any voices or heartbeats, but there was a note on the kitchen table with Mom's handwriting on it.

'Gemma, we're visiting your uncle Barun in Lyrehaven. Sorry for the short notice. We'll be back in a week. Take care.'

I didn't expect my throat to constrict with tears so fast. I would start on the path of adventure… but I wouldn't be able to say goodbye to my parents.

***

I knocked on Cari's door the next day; her aunt said she wasn't there and wasn't sure where she was. I sensed it was a lie right away but didn't press, figuring she'd already gone to training since I slept in late again.

But she wasn't there when I peeked my head in. I asked our small group of friends if they'd seen her; their answer of "no" was undoubtedly true. I went to all of our usual hangouts, but she was nowhere to be found.

The next day was the same. And the next day and three days after that.

I kept replaying our last conversation in my head. Her uncharacteristic behavior, her revelation that they finally gave her a real Epsilon assignment, her reminder of her parents… and I'd completely blown her off.

I knew what happened, and the knowledge sat like a pit in my stomach. She had already gone. Cari Maayan was deployed somewhere, and we didn't even get to say goodbye.

***

Lynn didn't know a single thing about the entire process of becoming a breeder, other than the places and times where she would meet someone.

Her father, Haveloek Brooks, who was Oceantide's Beta, planned to take her on the train to Lyrehaven and drop her off at Firth Port, where "someone" would be there to make the trade.

The trick was to leave before he even woke up for breakfast. It was easy. Lynn just snuck out her bedroom window and showed up in her dad's hijacked car.

I answered with a bag slung over my shoulder. "Ready?"

Lynn quirked a smile. "The real question is, are you?"

***

Since there were very few to say goodbye to, I sent in a letter to school to deny any teaching position they may have offered me due to a "new opportunity" in the city. A second letter I left on the kitchen table said,

'I'm sorry for the short notice too. Ask Haveloek where I am. I'm doing this for our family. I love you both so much.'

It was only half an hour's drive to the train station. When we got there, Lynn parked, sighed heavily, and looked at me with doe eyes and a trembling lower lip.

"You don't have to do this, Gemma."

I took in the small station bustling with other shifters. The train was an iron beast of a thing puffing white smoke, its cars numbering only ten. It would take me straight to Lyrehaven's Firth Port, where I would depart across the ocean to an entirely different continent.

Not a single thing was or would be familiar to me. I'd never even been on a ship before. But there was nothing better than the feeling of excitement from taking risks. I knew, from the moment I got on that train, I wouldn't come down from this adrenaline rush easily.

I grinned at my young cousin. "I do. And I want to. I'm ready for the adventure of a lifetime." I felt my smile start to fade just as quickly. "There's not much left for me back at Opal Springs now, Lynn. This is the best thing for me—and you. You're the Beta's daughter; you can honor our family in more ways than just being breeding stock."

Her eyes shone. "Really?"

"Really." I leaned forward to kiss the crown of her head. Pulling back, I gave another smile. "Opal Springs to Firth Port, Lyrehaven to… whatever the West's main port is. Easy as that. Look for someone waiting for a young Opal Springs female… and then the rest is history."

Lynn chewed her lip, unsure what to say. Then she flung her arms around my neck in a strangling hug. "I love you, Gem. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

I laughed as tears sprang to my eyes, hugging her back fiercely. "You're welcome. Though I should be thanking you for this opportunity."

"You always did wanna get out of here."

We pulled apart. "You know me so well," I said. "Let's just hope the switch doesn't affect you too much."

Lynn chewed the inside of her cheek and wouldn't meet my eyes. "He'll probably be secretly glad." Then she smiled. "I'll tell your parents that they deserve a hardworking daughter and that she's going to make our family proud."

"Because even a pairing like this strengthens allyship," I told her, just a little worried at her sudden hesitation. The train whistle blew. "Well, that's my cue. Goodbye, Lynn. It's not forever, I promise."

We hugged one more time before I got out and headed toward the station. As I looked back to wave, Lynn stuck her head out the window and shouted, "Good luck! Name your first pup after me!"

I barked a laugh and called back, "Deal!"

I watched her drive away as I hurried onto the boarding platform. Nothing was needed to board, so I hopped on effortlessly. The adrenaline started to trickle through my veins as I took in the interior, dozens of seats clothed in ocean-blue velvet on either side of an aisle with a white runner carpet, with little lanterns shaped like lighthouses swinging from the center. The smells wreathed my senses: iron, smoke, seafood, wine, several fabrics, and unfamiliar shifter scents.

Several passengers were already seated and staring at me as I blocked the aisle to look around like an idiot. When someone shoved me from behind, I lost my footing and fell into the nearest seat. Luckily it was empty, but as the shover snickered and passed, I bared my teeth and cursed them out.

It wasn't enough to dampen my mood. I scooted to the next seat over to see out the window because Moon Goddess bless her own work, the coast was beautiful.

That was one thing I did know. The white sand that felt almost smooth as it filtered through one's fingers; the lapping of the azure waters over shells; the Eastern sun glinting off the distant waves…

I swallowed hard and looked away. "Please, Moon Goddess," I begged to myself quietly. "Let the West have just as much water. Please let this Alpha, whoever he'll be, have a beachside palace."

***

The trip to Oceantide's capital took an hour. I rested my forehead on the window and felt myself bake through the glass as I watched the landscape fly by. The ocean passed, giving way to grassy coastal plains, mountains rising in the distance, and finally—boom. There was Lyrehaven just ahead.

The train veered gently away, and a few minutes later, the station came into view. A few minutes after that, it chugged to a stop, so I hopped off and was immediately engulfed by the crowd.

Instantly, I was suffocating from too much movement, too many sounds and scents, too much to look at—no shifter looked the same, unlike Opal Springs, where everyone had similar features, and there were signs everywhere.

I gritted my teeth. No, I wouldn't be overwhelmed. I wouldn't shy away from all the newness I wanted to explore. I had to be brave.

Squaring my shoulders and gripping my bag tight, I forged through the crowd. I saw a sign that said Firth Port and turned to follow the pointing arrow. I kept my head high and my gaze ahead to fool anyone into believing that I knew exactly where I was going.

And it worked, because a few minutes later, I was standing on a boardwalk with a dozen ships docked and swaying on the gentle water. My jaw nearly dropped at the size of them—giant wooden hulls, towering white sails, spiderwebs of golden ropes…

"Hey! Hey, you, sandy!"

The shout was so loud that I turned reflexively. I immediately met the harsh eyes of a broad male in a sharp black outfit. He stalked toward me, the crowd seeming to part around him. I tensed, my body telling me to prepare for either fight or flight.

"You the Beta's daughter from Opal Springs?" he asked in a bark.

"Yes," I said automatically. From here on out, I was supposed to be Lynn Brooks.

When the male grinned just a little too wide, my heart lurched and I suddenly knew I was not safe anymore.

That's when the sack came over my head and everything went dark.