Before Nevaeah could question Julien on what he meant, Remus stood up and walked over to Afenia, completely ignoring the tiny girl beside her.
After an exchange of whispers, Afenia's expression shifted and her gaze fell on Julien.
He stiffened, sitting up just that much straighter in his seat. There was a near immutable forlornity that flickered in her eyes before she turned away.
A furrow etched itself into his brows as he glanced at the only two who could glean what they were talking about—first Nevaeah, who shrugged as if she knew what he was going to ask, then Andrew.
Andrew didn't meet his gaze, he remained fixated on the conversing wolves in front of him with what Julien could only read as suspicion.
Is there something wrong with me after all?
Remus glanced at them as well, an impish smirk etching itself onto his face as he blew a kiss their way.
"Don't miss me too much."
Then he disappeared through the front door of Oasis.
Julien watched him leave with confusion etched into his face, a dull ache of anxiety slowly spreading across his chest.
Meanwhile, Afenia looked down at Nevaeah, a friendly smile taking root on her face as she messed up the younger woman's fresh twists.
Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.
"It would seem our lesson must be put on hold."
She gestured towards Julien and Andrew, encouraging the young woman forward.
"But I am sure you would prefer a lesson from your kindred, yes?"
Nevaeah slowly nodded her head, saddling up to Julien as if her fear of Andrew's retaliation didn't exist.
Or her fear of Afenia was worse.
With a satisfied nod, Afenia turned to follow after her nephew.
"Then may the moon bid your favor."
And just like that, it was the three of them once more.
Julien turned to Andrew, a small frown forming on his face.
That look still.
Andrew was tense. Tenser than he was post the first full moon, and tenser than he was in the moments leading up to their hug.
"What did you hear?"
Andrew turned his head away from the door, his eyes still fixed on its opaque surface.
"…Have you met either of them before?"
Julien frowned.
"No?"
Unless Andrew was talking about Remus stalking them, he'd never met either of them before Wednesday.
Andrew finally turned his way, his murky amber eyes swirling with…
It was hard to say.
After a few moments of uncomfortable eye contact, Andrew managed to tear his eyes away and stood up.
"I need to make a call."
Pausing where he stood like a faulty automaton, he rubbed his wrist against Julien's neck a few times before leaving.
Julien blankly stared at the empty spot beside him.
And then there were two…
Rubbing the awkward sensation from his skin, Julien exchanged glances with Nevaeah. Fiddling with the ends of her hair, she raised a sheepish smile.
"Did I come at a bad time?"
—
Remus looked over as Afenia came up from the entrance.
Perfect timin'
Saddling up to her while the red-and-blue duo made a commotion, he pulled her down to his level and lowered his voice.
"The thing ya asked me to look into, I know what it is."
It took a few seconds for her brain to catch up. But when it did, she turned to face her nephew—lowering her voice as well.
"Already?"
He nodded, lowering his voice even further so the new wolf a few paces away couldn't hear them—his gaze drifted over his shoulder.
"S'prolly vitality. Could be sumthin' else but it's hard to tell."
She moved her gaze over as well, lingering in the mix of kinship and melancholy clouding her vision as she stared at the young man before her. The golden specks in her bottomless purple irises swirled as though zeroing in on something, disrupting her usually mellow atmosphere.
All she needed to do was grasp that jagged thread—
Remus snapped his fingers in front of her face, pulling her out of her stupor.
"Don't get sucked in, A'ye."
She blinked, her energy settling into place as she turned away. She let out an embarrassed cough.
"It has only been a while is all. It was simply a passing curiosity."
Remus clicked his tongue, glancing at Andrew.
"There's somethin' else too."
He nudged her towards the door, throwing a flippant farewell over his shoulder as he stepped off ahead.
Nodding, Afenia offered her goodbyes as well, sending the tiny human attached to her hip towards the two seated at the counter before following after her nephew.
Looking over her shoulder one last time, she shut the door to Oasis.
—
Remus led Afenia to where he'd parked his car. It was quiet now, with neither of them deigning to open their mouths first—but at least there wouldn't be any listeners when they did.
Remus looked over his shoulder.
Afenia was lost in thought, fiddling with the bracelets on her wrist with practiced intention.
He rolled his eyes, turning ahead to locate his car.
Just tirin' herself out for no reason.
Helpin' the pair out 'cause of responsibility? Sure, whatever. Growin' attached just 'cause she managed to glean somethin' from their threads… He found her willingness to stew in others nonsensical.
Spotting the sleek pink sports car he loved to use to annoy his cousin, Remus hit the button on his keys and upturned his nose as it roared to life. Hopping in the front seat, he threw the keys into the cup holder before getting down to business.
"Teddy an 'em were more annoyin' than expected."
Afenia finally looked up from her bangles, buckling her seatbelt as Remus pulled out of the parking lot.
"You are exaggerating, I am sure."
Remus perked his brow.
"Hmm, am I?"
Rummaging through his pocket, he pulled out the bottle of pheno releasers he nicked from Julien's destroyed clothes earlier and flipped the bottle around in his hand.
"Ya positive?"
He placed the bottle in her hand with a lighthearted smile.
"Seems you really know how ta give a night a real kick, A'ye."
She opened the top and frowned.
"How many did you give that poor boy?"
He raised a hand to his chest in mock offense.
"I didn't give him nuthin'."
He scoffed.
"But he did eat about ten of 'em all on his own."
Afenia roughly planted the pills in the console.
"Remus."
He glanced at the cracks splintering across the bottle before turning back towards the road with a shrug.
"Does it matter? The faster he gets those glands in workin' order, the faster I can leave, no?"
She pinched the bridge of her nose.
"By Miris's name. Expellment and replacement is supposed to be gradual, you terrible boy. Especially because his glands are so weak. Do not tell me you were so rough with Andrew as well?"
Remus drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, a small smirk curling across his face.
"I was playin' nice."
Afenia just covered her face, muttering something along the lines of 'where did it all go wrong?'
Remus paid it no mind. Turning on the radio and fiddling with the volume nodule, he let the music pump through his veins—his foot going just that much harder on the gas as the energetic music and that brief rush of adrenaline raised a smile to his face.
What could the cops do anyway? The two of them were practically invisible.
As the song faded into a more boring rhythm, he lowered the volume and checked the forest beside them.
A few minutes will do.
"Lemme ask ya somethin'."
Afenia looked his way, disparagement lingering on her face. Remus nodded his head towards the sky.
"The first moon… that ain't the one right after the bite right?"
She slowly nodded her head.
"The moon after the fever is the first."
Remus hummed in response.
"Right, right."
Rolling to a stop at the next light, he looked her way.
"Then the Shifted you've dealt with in the past…"
He poked the side of his head.
"When'd they start goin' crazy?"
She lowered his hand with a shake of her head. Eyeing him for a second, she began reciting a short 'poem' in full seriousness.
"The third moon calls the soonest. The sixth calls the loudest. The eighth brings the wolves. And the thirteenth makes them slumber."
She raised five fingers.
"Including the initial fever, each point has varying degrees to which a Shifted responds with mania."
Remus narrowed his eyes at her, only turning away when the light ahead turned green.
"…You're pullin' my leg right?"
She held her serious expression for a second longer before chuckling lightheartedly and dropping the wise old lady act.
"Though the information I deliver is true."
She fiddled with the only depleted bangle on her wrist, sending Remus a look with mischief glowing in her eyes.
"The delivery is something I learned from your mother."
Remus clicked his tongue—his grip on the wheel tightening for only a second before letting go.
"'Course it is."
She rubbed her chin.
"Why might you ask? It is doubtful you would be interested without precedent."
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"I told ya it was annoyin' ain't I? 'Sides the obvious."
He nodded towards the pheno releasers.
"Teddy was losin' control even before the sun set. Hell, he was losin' control before the full moon period. That's a third moon thing ain't it?"
Afenia nodded.
"If the moon's yearning was so heavy as to be noticeable…"
Her hand drifted towards her sternum, hovering over the mark etched into the skin beneath her clothes. She smiled.
"Then the world is already beginning to spill over."
Eyes losing their humor from a moment ago, she twirled her finger in front of the dash, causing a misty image to form on its wooden surface.
"Like an ant mound flooded by a naughty child, this realm is doomed to drown should the root cause not be addressed."
Remus mulled over her words.
"Then why're we wastin' our time with this end? Ain't it better to go home, kick back, and enjoy the fallout?"
Hell, why was the investigation handed to their packs Sereya anyway? Not like the other—
His thoughts were cut off by a sharp voice.
"Remus."
He paused. Shifting his gaze towards the forest then to her, he tilted his head.
"What? Gonna lecture me on the 'sanctity of human life' again? What have humans ever done for me?"
If anything, it was always him runnin' around doin' stuff for them.
His nose twitched. Afenia's ripe cranberry scent emanated a menacing tenor as she pierced him with her sharp eyes.
"Remus. Greene. Lyrewood."
He pursed his lips.
Not that his stellar argument would work on the tentative old wolf.
Rubbing his neck, he mumbled out a stilted apology.
"My fault."
Her gaze lingered on him for another moment before she let out a sigh with a displeased mutter. Leaning back in her seat, she pointed a finger at his head.
"Whatever your thoughts, pup, you had best fix your attitude."
He stared at her finger before turning away.
"…So the barrier's failin'."
She huffed.
"To put it simply."
Remus pulled off the main road, tires crunching softly as they veered into the forest.
"So Teddy's boutta be about the worst Shifted this realm's ever seen, s'that it?"
Afenia shifted her gaze to him, analyzing him like an open book.
She didn't say anything.
The car rolled to a stop and the two stepped foot on the overgrown grounds. Obscured by the brush, there was nothing around them except each other and the sounds of nature.
Finally, Afenia opened her mouth.
"You should have thought of that when you bit him."
With a sharp snap, the world fell apart around them.
The sound echoed against the forest, shaking the car out of existence and causing the Earth to spread apart. The sounds of the forest shifted from bird calls to distant howling, and finally, the overgrowth curled away, melting into a path that wasn't there before.
Remus remained silent.
Not like I meant to.
Unbothered by the world shifting around them, he fell into step behind Afenia with ease. It was merely an illusion afterall—the world had simply been returned to its former state.
Afenia glanced behind her as her nephew's mind drifted off. She could feel it, the minute shift in his ties as his mind revisited whatever happened the day he bit their pack's newest pup. Taking the opportunity, she reached out for the fading thread in hopes of uncovering whatever her troublesome nephew was hiding—
Remus paused. Raising his head, he glared at the older woman in silent warning.
Don't.
She withdrew her hand, shrugging it off.
Remus rubbed his neck, pushing past her.
"No new rifts?"
She stared after him before falling into step behind him.
"It is better that there are not."
He hummed a reply and the two continued into the forest.
A step, then two.
Then she stopped.
Her hand shot out, catching Remus by the arm.
"Absolutely not."
"What?"
Afenia waved her hand, blocking off the path once more. Remus clicked his tongue.
She would notice right at the end.
"Take it I won't be gettin' that briefing then."
Afenia ushered him towards the car, blocking the path behind them as she went.
"You are tricker than a mountain. Did I, or did I not say you are to stop all other duties until you have fixed your mess?"
She lifted him up and practically threw him back into the driver's seat.
"You are not to return until that boy is through his shift, understand?"
He rolled his eyes.
"Can't I do both?"
She put the car in neutral and pushed him back towards the road. He didn't bother to stop her.
"It is your penance."
With one last push, he was back on the road.
"If you cannot even follow the most basic instructions, how can you be expected to surpass anyone?"
Remus's expression soured.
Foul play, Yaya.
Afenia clapped the dirt off her hands and turned away.
"Go on then."
The forest closed around her, sealing the path behind a powerful illusion.
Remus slumped over the steering wheel. His ears flicking into existence atop his head.
"Couldn't've at least let me get my stuff first?"