Chapter 521: Border of Submission

Content Warning: This Chapter contains references to sexual violence, rape, and exploitation of minors. Reader discretion is advised.

One Month Before

Anderson paused and then laughed loudly. "You nasty wolves. I’ll take one and also a boy too, preferably even younger than the one Craig went for."

"And you call us nasty?" Paul asked with a laugh.

"I’d like one too." A warrior spoke up. "Maybe around twelve or so."

"And who asked you?" Craig asked the warrior, who immediately swallowed.

"William should be the one asking for a girl or boy or even both to warm his bed." Paul said with his eyes on William. "What do you say? Do you want one? I know a pack that sells their children for food."

Tobias gritted his teeth so hard that if one listened closely, they’d hear the sound. But he had to be patient.

"Oh, I’d rather not," he told them. "I’d rather just get money for the work we did."

The men around them exploded into laughter.

"Oh, I like you. I like you a lot. It’s money over pleasure after all. I should take after you," Anderson said with a laugh.

Tobias forced a small chuckle at that and inclined his head as if the words of praise were too much to bear, meanwhile plotting a thousand ways to kill all of them and feed them to pigs.

They were raping children. Tobias calmed himself down, choosing not to dwell on it for fear of risking his cover. But he wondered what situation the west was in that would require people to sell their children for food.

The laughter slowly died down as they continued walking.

The forest thinned as the path widened.

Ahead, the trees began to give way to cleared land.

Tobias’s eyes lifted slightly.

He saw the wooden structure before the others said anything.

Two tall beams, roughly carved. A thick crossbeam resting across the top. This marked the border... the entrance to the west.

One of the soldiers ahead of them suddenly whistled.

"Home sweet home."

Several others chuckled.

The group moved forward, boots thudding against packed dirt.

The cart rattled behind them.

As they passed beneath the wooden frame, Tobias swallowed slowly.

The air felt different here.

He couldn’t explain it.

But something about it made the back of his neck tighten.

Just past the structure stood a wide wooden board. It was rough and weathered and also covered with parchment sheets nailed into place.

Tobias’s eyes moved over it automatically.

Then he froze in shock.

Right in the center... was a face he knew better than his own.

Caspian.

The drawing was disturbingly detailed. The artist had captured his sharp features perfectly.

The structure of his jaw.

Even the faint scar near his brow.

It looked exactly like him. Exactly how Caspian looked now.

Above the drawing were bold words.

WANTED BY THE ENCLAVE

Tobias stared at the drawing. Benny wasn’t joking when he said the enclave had posters of their pack members around every border.

Tobias looked down and saw another drawing with the same bold words, but this one was of Lysander.

And it was a bit off.

The artist had clearly tried. They had gotten the general shape of his face. The sharp eyes. The blonde hair. But they had drawn him far broader than he actually was.

His shoulders were exaggerated.

His build bulky.

And the swords.

They had drawn two large swords strapped across his back.

Tobias almost laughed at that. The enclave really thought Lysander would follow his father’s path; they had misjudged him. Lysander was disastrous near a blade that wasn’t for medical purposes.

The image looked more like the son they expected him to be rather than the one he actually was.

But if Lysander did step foot in the west, the image was enough for them to identify him.

Tobias forced his expression to remain blank.

But inside...

The irony nearly made him smile... almost. He could not muster enough amusement after what he had just heard these warriors talking about.

The Enclave had plastered the faces of Nirvana’s pack members across their territory like criminals.

And yet...

They still sent requests for help with the plague.

The hypocrisy would have been amusing if it weren’t so predictable.

A warrior suddenly stepped closer to the board. He spat at the ground directly in front of it. The spit landed just beneath Caspian’s drawing.

"Traitorous scum," the man muttered.

Tobias’s fingers curled slightly.

For one brief moment... he nearly moved, nearly grabbed the man by his throat, nearly slammed his skull against the wooden board...

*Tobias,* Ryker said softly but in warning.

Tobias nodded immediately and took a deep breath.

And forced himself to relax.

Not now.

Not here.

He memorized the warrior’s face though, the same way he had memorized Paul, Anderson, and Craig—every detail. He may not be able to do anything to them now, but he would do something someday... hopefully before he left the west.

Craig clapped his hands once.

"Alright you lot, no need to stand around. Move."

The group continued walking. The land opened further as they approached what Tobias suspected was a pack.

Tobias had expected something different.

He wasn’t sure what exactly, but it wasn’t what he was seeing now. Then again, he wasn’t that surprised.

The pack was small. Wooden houses stood close together. Their walls worn. Their roofs patched.

The people outside froze the moment they saw the approaching warriors.

Then something strange happened... at least in Tobias’s eyes.

One by one... they dropped to their knees.

Their heads lowered completely to the ground.

Faces pressed into the dirt.

Tobias stopped walking.

Around him, the warriors continued forward casually as if nothing unusual had happened.

A woman knelt near the path.

Her hands trembled slightly as she lowered her head.

Beside her, a child quickly copied her movements.

Further ahead, an old man bowed so deeply that his forehead struck the ground.

No one spoke, and no one dared to look up.

The warriors walked past them like kings returning to their kingdom. Some didn’t even glance down. Others smirked at the sight.

Anderson laughed softly.

"Look at them."

One of the soldiers kicked dirt near a kneeling man’s shoulder.

"Pathetic."

The man didn’t move. He didn’t react either.

Tobias was confused. Apart from the fact that these people were obviously malnourished, they were bowing to warriors. Warriors? Even in the Nightshade pack, members didn’t bow to the alpha like this.

He could not understand why.