Page 7 of His Beast Mate

“Of all the males in the world, one John has a conscience.”

I bent down to whisper at her ear, aware of the men who might be listening. “You’ve been traumatized, and my doctor…Lers is gonna take care of you.” I dropped her a name. Lers, their healer. Every beast knew him. She nodded. We understood each other. She had smelled Alpha Beast on me, and she had to know this was a rescue mission. Vice had told me Felicia would understand. He also told me she was capable of defending herself, and she would be an asset to me. I ignored his advice now because he hadn’t seen this poor creature. Though she mouthed me plenty, she was broken.

“I have not lost my mind. My dignity, claws, and teeth, but my mind is fine. I want to service you.”

“Sweetheart,” I said, firmer.

“Name’s Kitten,” she said, “Once upon a time, it was Felicia. But Felicia was a weak bitch who got herself kidnapped, raped, and beaten. So I had to kill her off.” She pointed to her head. “Up here, you understand. Felicia is no more. She died when they took my claws. I’ve renamed myself Kitten. Call me Kitten.”

“Kitten, sweetheart, we’re not doing this.”

“Then I won’t go with you.”

“What the fuck do you mean you’re not going?” I growled.

“Unzip your pants and show me your dick. Then we can go.”

God help me, she made me so hard for her. I took her face between my hands, and she climbed onto my lap. Her movement was fluid, like a cat’s. She licked her lips, her gaze on my mouth. I would go to hell for this. I leaned in and kissed her. Close to her lips, I said, “We can walk out of here. I bought you fair and square.”

“You think they’ll just let us walk out?”

“Yes, because we’re in a nice neighborhood and nobody wants to piss off Alpha Beast in his city.”

Her eyes widened, and she drew back. “We are in Beast City?”

“We are.”

“I thought we might be but couldn’t be sure. I can’t believe I’m so close to the compound.”

“I’m ready to leave this place. Let’s go.” I took her hand and interlaced our fingers, then led her to the door. She tightened her grip as I palmed the lock. “Don’t be afraid,” I said. “We’re gonna walk out to my car. That’s all we’re gonna do.”

Kitten nodded and took a deep breath.

I opened the door.

The dawn’s early light spilled over the foyer, casting the doorman’s shadow over the marble floor. I crossed the room, casual but wary of the quiet house. When we got to the door, the man stood there like a statue, staring at the wall as if I hadn’t approached. “The door.” I pointed.

He glanced at me, then at her. “My master is making a mistake. Should’ve kept the beast bitch in the house. She’s a prisoner of our war.”

I shrugged. “William must like the money more. I bought her fair and square.”

“God will judge her.”

“Kiss my ass,” Kitten pitched in.

I slid her a death stare, not wanting her to attract any more attention. “You got a blanket I could put over her?” I asked the man.

The doorman snorted. I took that as a maybe and looked around. Kitten beat me to it. She walked to the open dining space and swiped a white cloth from the table. As she wrapped it around her body, the pair of Men of Earth descended the steps. They each held glasses in their hands. With their hair mussed, their eyes glazed, and their pants haphazardly zipped, I knew what they’d done while William and I played cards. They’d been raping one or more of the poor girls I suspected he’d stashed inside this house.

And that was the issue with backup. Alpha Beast couldn’t storm this place and kill everyone. We feared endangering Kitten’s life, and now I feared for the other women too. I had to be careful. Tactical. “What’s this?” Alex, the quiet one, asked.

Kitten stood in the middle of the foyer as if frozen, unable to move toward me. God knew what they’d done to her for her to be frightened just by the sight of them. “Kitten, come here.”

At the sound of my voice, she shook her head as if something had awakened her, and came to stand next to me. I tried grabbing her hand again, but she fisted it. The men approached and stood next to her. Really close to her. I didn’t like it. I moved her to my right, next to the door, and said, “She’s mine.”

“She’s a prisoner,” Boris said. “Tom will want her back.” Ah, Tom, leader of Men of Earth. Boris and his buddy, Alex, needed to be apprehended and questioned. I hoped Alpha Beast had some sort of surveillance on this place so we could track their movements.

“He can call me.”

---