Page 25 of His Beast Mate

Oh shit. The big bad would miss the big event.

“In the sauna,” someone shouted.

A smile tugged on my lips. I would cherish this moment.

“Would someone go—” Torrent cut himself off and tilted his head. Next to me, Kitten did the same. They heard something. Within a minute, I heard it too. Pounding. I spun around and eyed the entrance to the stairs. It sounded like an elephant herd was climbing the steps. I thought the fortress might collapse. Sure enough, Alpha Beast emerged, buck naked, water dripping from the mane of white hair. His silver eyes blazed. “Move!”

We parted, because nobody wanted to be run over by a raging elephant. Vice came up behind him. Now, red-eyed Vice was smart. He had a towel around his waist. Torrent shrugged off his priest robes and held them out for Jamie. “There’s plenty of time. Find your peace, or Lers won’t let you inside.”

“The hell he won’t.”

“I will not let you inside.”

Alpha Beast put on Torrent’s robe. As he did, the sleeves ripped. Guy packed some serious muscle. He ignored the tearing and marched down the hall, then disappeared around the corner. Vice took his place and raised his hands. “Everyone. Breathe.”

The beasts lowered their heads and hummed. It was a song, I realized. No words, only music. Touching and totally unexpected. Kitten laced our fingers together and whispered, “If a girl is born of a beast and human pairing, it solidifies our future on Earth. It would confirm we had followed the strongest male.”

“How so?”

“The Beast Mother.”

“What of her?”

“The Beast Mother blesses a female with a girl child. Rey would get the title of beast mother. Not the Beast Mother, but you get what I mean. There are no beast mothers on Earth. She would be first, and so we would be proven right to have followed Jamie from Tineya. Alpha Nie will lose his mind over it if it’s a girl. I pray for one. All of us pray for a girl.

I shook my head. After all the crap they’d done with the human women, buying them like cattle. Now, it turned out, beasts valued female births more than males. The irony didn’t escape me, but a chuckle did. I tamped it down because I didn’t want it to appear as if I was making fun of Kitten’s faith. I respected her beliefs just as she would mine. Still, for a culture where the strongest male ruled, this bit about girls struck me as ironic.

* * *

An hour passed.Beasts lined the well-lit hallway, some sitting on the floor, some restless ones pacing back and forth. A group of them gathered around my son-in-law. They hummed a tune, and I wondered about Sienna. Maybe she was with Lers in the delivery room, helping out? Sienna would make a good nurse.

Kitten and I sat on the floor, our backs to the wall, my arm over her shoulder. If a male gave us a look she didn’t like, she growled at him. They might have taken her claws, but they couldn’t take her spirit. My kitten was feisty, and she’d challenge me about going to Texas. But I couldn’t let her come with me, and I tried not to think about it. The night would fall soon enough. I’d deal with Kitten then.

A scream sounded.

Kitten and I stood.

Silence.

Everyone looked around, thinking they’d imagined it. We waited. And then it came. The newborn’s wail. Goose bumps rose over my skin. The beasts howled so loud, their excitement was palpable. Kitten clutched my hand. Five more babies to go. Torrent lifted his hand and called for silence. They hummed. I hung my head and prayed.

The babies came about five minutes apart, four more of them, one more to go. Alpha Beast rounded the corner and approached. He leaned his back on the wall right behind Torrent. Nobody moved, not even Torrent. He just looked confused.

Alpha Beast didn’t appear well, his skin awfully pale. Hundreds of people stood there, not breathing. I thought the worst. Kitten sniffled. I patted her head. I guessed the sixth baby hadn’t made it. Six was a lot of babies for a human girl. I could only hope Rey made it. I gulped at that thought. Christ.

Alpha Beast tilted his head. Kitten stepped away and did the same.

The baby’s cry sounded, a high-pitched one. The hallway exploded. Beasts jumped up and down like children presented with a truckload of candy. I pulled Kitten, and we made our way to Torrent.

Alpha Beast stood there, blinking. I thought he might collapse. This was not the guy who’d once threatened to slice my throat from ear to ear. This was a regular guy who’d just had six babies. Torrent patted his back. “Jamie?”

“Hm?”

“Do you want to go back inside?”

“I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. I think, I think…”

A short red-haired girl, Dewlyn, Vice’s mate, came out with a bundle in her arms. She made her way to us. “Rey said you should hold this baby first.”

---