Page 4 of His Beast Mate

At this point in the night—I glanced at the clock; three thirty in the morning—Owner didn’t care what I did. I didn’t have to kneel next to John, and I could move around, read something, that sort of thing. Maybe I could get a drink for myself? I glanced at the bar. Gin and tonic. I’d give my left tit for a gin and tonic.

A two flopped.

Disaster. John had been getting deuces all night. If he had one in his hand, this would give him two pairs. I pinched John’s thigh. Show me your cards!

He stayed cool.

I pinched it again.

Under the table, he nudged me, though it felt like a kick.

An ace.

I pinched John.

This time, he kicked me. I was sure of it. I glared at him. If I’d had my claws, I would have sneaked my hand under those tight-ass pants and scratched him.

The money kept piling up. The men had their serious poker faces on, but I heard their heartbeats and had witnessed enough of these games to develop an ear for how different men reacted to their cards. Owner had a winning hand. Or at least a hand he thought would win. I wanted him to win. He’d kill John if he lost.

John bet more money, then leaned back and waited.

I peeked above the table to see Owner’s forehead sweating. He wiped it with a tissue and counted his chips before he threw them on the pile.

“Not enough,” John said.

Owner nodded, a glint in his eyes. An addict, one of the girls downstairs had called him. I saw it now. He couldn’t stop, couldn’t walk away from the cards. Funny how he seemed in control of his life, but completely out of control of his bad habits. “Collateral?” he asked.

“Kitten,” John said.

What?

Owner shook his head. “She’s worth more than this chunk of change.”

“There’s…”—John paused to count—“three hundred thousand on the table.”

“Like I said, not enough.”

“So fold.”

Owner glared at him. It hurt his pride, and not to mention, he probably had a great hand. “Where did you get all this money?”

“Sold my daughter to the High Priest of Earth.”

Torrent? I jerked my head up.

John pushed me down and tapped my cheek, trying to comfort me. Torrent lived! It couldn’t be anyone else. High Priest of Earth was a title that had been reserved for him for years, just waiting for him to accept it.

“A lot of money to get for one daughter. I got three. Hoping for twenty K each, maybe thirty.”

John’s jaw worked. He released a noise that sounded like a growl. “My kid is special. Don’t talk about her.” He leaned in, hands fisted.

It just dawned on me that he could also have a wife. That was where kids came from. My hope deflated. My mate was married. With kids. I didn’t care if he won or lost anymore. The way he took care with me had made me gullible and stupid, had given me hope. But humans didn’t mate. For all I knew, John cheated on his wife on a regular basis. Like Owner.

I sat back on my heels and away from him. I stared at the red, blue, white, black, and golden chips on the table. I counted them for distraction. Of all the things I’d been through, this was the hardest. I wanted to crawl back into my cage.

Owner lifted his hand. “All right.”

“All right what?”

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