Page 11 of Free Beast Mate

I dropped his laundry by the bed and sat down, then dug inside for the bread. A little hard, but a blessing nonetheless. I closed the door and smelled the bread. Okay, so it was stale but not too bad. I’d certainly had worse. From the cupboard, I got a metal bowl and some water from my drinking water allowance. I poured the water in the bowl, then sat on my bed and dipped the bread. Mmmmm. My stomach growled. I opened my mouth, ready to devour my treat for the day.

A knock came.

Crap. I put the food under the bed and answered the door.

“Can I come in?” Cole asked. Sweat accumulated over his lip. I picked up the hem of my dress and wiped his face, then looked around. Nobody watched us; most of the huts’ doors were closed, and the people downstairs were watching their kids run around.

“Come in.” I closed the door, and we sat on the bed. Gosh, I wanted to eat my food. Scared he’d tell on me, I couldn’t eat in front of him. Stealing was a crime. It made me a criminal. It wasn’t the first time I’d stolen things, but if I got caught this time, they might chop my arm off.

“Smells like food in here,” he said. “Do you have any extra?”

Oh man, those blue eyes would make anyone give in to him. I grumbled and got the bread from under the bed. I tried breaking it in half. Too hard. I hit the edge of the bed. The bread split in half. Crumbs fell all over the floor. I’d clean up after we ate.

“Oh ho ho, where did you get that?”

“From the beast.”

“He gave it to you?”

“He threw it in the trash, and I took it.”

Cole dipped the bread in my water bowl and munched on it. He made a sour face. “This is one of the grossest things I’ve ever eaten.” He kept chewing and swallowed.

“So don’t eat.”

“Nah, I’ll eat.”

I munched on mine. Tasted fine to me. “You said the same thing about the soup two days ago.”

“It’s true. What’s your favorite food?”

“Bread.”

“No, really.”

“Really, it’s bread. It goes with everything, and I don’t feel full unless I eat it. We used to bake it fresh in Sector Eleven. Oh, the smell of it at five in the morning. I’d get up and run down to the kitchens. My mom would let me have a hot roll before anyone else.”

Cole paused eating. “Where is she now?”

“Dead.”

“Mine too,” he said and chewed. “I killed her.”

I choked and coughed. The wet bread splattered on the floor. I reached for my supplies, then sprayed the floor with diluted bleach and wiped, eyeing the kid on the bed.

Unfazed, Cole went on. “If you tasted Hasel’s bread, you’d know bread.”

“Who is Hasel?”

“The beast matriarch.”

I gasped and crawled on all fours. I grabbed his beautiful face between my palms. “Listen to me, Cole. You cannot go around here and speak of the beasts, of knowing beasts or eating from their kitchens. You cannot speak of your life Above. They will do to you what they did to Whitney. They will lash you, Cole, and if that doesn’t do it, they’ll hang you.”

“I’m a breeder. They won’t do shit.”

“Yes, they will.”

The door slammed open against the wall. Adam stood there with an evil glint in his eyes. All pale from sickness, he looked like death. But that didn’t stop him from marching inside and grabbing my hair. I screamed and kicked as he pulled me out and onto the path’s edge. My hands flailed, his fist in my hair the only thing stopping me from tumbling down. “The cripple stole again!”

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