Page 26 of His Beast Mate

Alpha Beast stared at the baby, then he parted the blanket and bent to look between the legs. “No balls,” he said.

Dewlyn chuckled. “No balls.” She passed him the baby, and you couldn’t see anything but a small foot resting on his bicep. Alpha Beast seemed smitten. Yup, I was lucky enough to know how that felt. Then he looked up, his eyes pale but not silver. “It’s a girl.”

I thought they’d shout and howl. But they didn’t. They stomped their feet. Alpha Beast nodded and walked the few steps heading out to the patio. He commanded the door to open into a spacious terrace. Outside, more people must’ve gathered as the news spread. The earth must be shaking under their feet. He didn’t walk outside; perhaps he only wanted to hear all his people. As he made his way back inside, I approached him, Torrent on my heels.

I looked at the baby in his arms. A human girl. Not a ridge on her face anywhere, not a trace of the beast’s features. She couldn’t weigh more than a couple of pounds. Reminded me of Sienna when I’d found her. Thinking of my daughter, and the daughters I could possibly make with my mate, I said, “When a real man holds his baby girl, every protective instinct in his body comes to life. If he doesn’t feel that way, then he is no man.”

“Hear,” he said.

Good for him. “What’s her name?”

“Amora. After my brother.”

This must be Goner, the deceased brother. “She is beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

“Looks like her mother.”

“I hope so.”

“How much?”

Alpha Beast pierced me with a stare. It would make any male in here cry. But I had one chance to prove my point, to do something about the fucking Pairing Program I’d detested all my life. He damn well knew what I thought of his program.

“Vice!” he barked.

The baby startled, scrunched up her face, and, and…I cooed, wishing to swipe my finger over her soft cheek. The baby settled back and slept again. “You got a lot to learn,” I told him. He needed some parenting advice.

Alpha Beast cleared his throat. “Like what?”

“You gotta find your baby voice.”

He stared at me.

“Coo, motherfucker. You gotta coo and sing lullabies. Or don’t. But if you don’t, you ain’t getting sleep for a year.”

Alpha Beast thought that over and moved past me. “I’ll think about what you said, John,” he threw back over his shoulder.

Not exactly what I wanted, but enough. I spun around and ran into my mate.

“You hate the Pairing Program,” she said.

“I don’t hate it. I detest it, and I will end it.”

“I think you just did.”

We walked out on the big patio, and I tucked my hand in my pocket. I pulled out my tobacco and some paper while watching the crowds celebrate the big event downstairs. Beasts pushed carts, selling alcohol and cookies through the busy street. The neighboring beasts pitched tents on their front lawn, one guy already flipping burgers. They’d party all night.

I rolled my cigarette, smelling the tobacco. My mate had a sensitive palate. Kissing me would taste like eating cigarette butts. God, it was hard to part with smoking, but I felt like if I didn’t do it for her, I wouldn’t do it for myself either. I threw my stash into the sea and laced my fingers with hers. “I’m leaving for Texas.”

Kitten stood next to me, her chin held high, gaze on the horizon. “How are you getting there?”

“I’ll hitch rides, make stops at taverns along the way, make friends with the right people so I can get back in.”

“How will you know where they are? Nobody knows where their stronghold is.”

“I was with them for a while.”

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