Page 32 of Free Beast Mate

“Crazy about me?” Amoris peeked from behind the table. The thing was turned up, and he held duct tape in his hand. He ripped the tape with his teeth. “Second time I’ve had to do this. Have a seat.”

“Is it one of the breeders?”

“Hm?”

“The breeders!”

Amoris put the duct tape down. I was fuming. In my state of anger, I also recognized how unreasonable it was. He couldn’t help whom he mated, and the poor breeder couldn’t either. None of it mattered to me.

“No?” Amoris asked, weary. He should be weary!

I stomped my foot. “Well, who is she?”

Amoris looked confused, so I plunged on. “We got supplies. Boxes upon boxes of food and medicine. The sick will get better. God’s gifts dropped down from the sky because Amoris found a mate. Alleluia!”

“Yes.”

“So who is she?”

Amoris regarded me with sadness in his eyes. He said nothing.

It made my chest hollow, and I sat down to receive the news. “Well, is it true?”

“It’s true. Emma, but you’re my mate. Nobody regrets it more than me.”

“Why do you regret it?” Perhaps he expected a perfect fucking human specimen too. “You look disappointed.”

“It is what it is.”

“That’s…that’s not very nice.” My lip trembled. He liked tears, so he could have them. I didn’t cry as often as I should.

It didn’t matter. Amoris continued working on his table. I looked down at my supply basket and decided he could clean his own quarters today. Behind me, the door had locked, and I doubted anyone would disturb us. Should a beast mate be found, I was not allowed to disturb the couple so that they could mate. Would we have beast babies?

My dad had wanted grandkids. Once, when he got drunk, he told me so. I reminded him Tom wouldn’t allow it because of my genes. Daddy didn’t deny it, said he’d impregnated Mom, said it was a one-time thing, a fit of lust, and by the time they figured out Mom was pregnant with me, it was too late for Violet, our old doctor, to remove me from her belly. Tom allowed an exception and prayed I’d come out like my dad. Normal.

As God would have it, I came out red-haired, freckled, and with a slight hip dysplasia. They didn’t hate me per se, but they felt sorry for me. Still, if it weren’t for Tom, I wouldn’t be here, and Amoris’s mate wouldn’t have been born. I left for his bedroom, wondering if I hadn’t been born, would he have had another mate? The thought of another woman touching him made me mad again. Then I was mad I felt this strongly about him.

I lay down on the bed and faced the wall.

* * *

Amoris

They receivedsupplies as soon as they found out I’d mated. From whom? Jamie? Tom could be blackmailing him. But that was unlikely. Jamie didn’t have the temper to allow for blackmail. If he knew I was trapped down here in hell, he’d tunnel through the ground to reach me.

Vice. Vice would negotiate with Tom. He’d advise Jamie to give Tom whatever he wanted until they could plan my rescue. Three years and counting. It wasn’t Jamie. Or Vice. So who gave them the supplies? Beast father. They believed, and even John believed, my father was on Earth. It was not so. I knew it in the same way I knew how to write in three human alphabets. My father wouldn’t dare come here. This left me with a rebel beast group, possibly the one who took me down and brought me here, a group of rich, outcast humans, or another alien species who hadn’t yet met either of my brothers.

There was only one person who knew more than most in this community. My mate. Who happened to be resting in my bedroom. Fix the table. Do not go into the bedroom. Was she naked? I looked down at my pants and pushed my dick with the heel of my hand. It didn’t stay down. It couldn’t. Emma was nearing her heat, the time of the month when she could take my seed. If she stayed with me, she’d go into heat sooner, and it was my duty to fill her womb.

So I had to restrain myself and let the heat pass. It would last only about a week, and then I was good to go. Until next month. I could do that. With a little self-discipline, I could do that.

I stood and rounded the table, bending and looking for any nook or a cranny I should be fixing only to give myself something to do. All nooks fixed, I put the duct tape in my pocket. From the corner of my eye, I spotted her supply basket. Cole had left it inside.

Emma was pissed at me. So pissed, she refused to work. Well, I couldn’t have an untidy room now, could I? I rummaged through the basket, looking for something, unsure what. Maybe a mop. A broom. Nothing. At the bottom, I found a rusty round metal disc twice the size of my palm. Hm. I got it out and ran a hand over the top. The screen lit up. Well, well, well. A vacuum cleaner from Tineya. I marched to the bedroom where I found my mate in a fetal position and facing the wall.

“Emma,” I said.

Nothing.

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