Page 40 of Free Beast Mate

I stood, food forgotten.

“Yes?” John’s voice came through the speakers.

“Open the door, please.”

“Is there something wrong?” he asked at the same time as I asked her where the hell she was going.

“I want out.”

John said nothing but I sure as fuck had something to say. “Out of what?”

“Your quarters. I want to see Tom.”

Red lights flashed in my head. “Why?” I gritted out.

“Because he wasn’t feeling well yesterday. I want to make sure he’s better.”

“Someone else can see to him.”

“Only me.”

“You’ll come back,” I said, though it was more of a question. I barely uttered it past the lump in my throat. I couldn’t have her in heat, but I couldn’t not have her with me either.

“Maybe.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder and banged on the door. The outer door slid open.

“Not maybe. I want to hear yes, my lord, I will come back. Today.”

Emma spun around. “Maybe. You’ve made it perfectly clear I’m not wanted here.”

“That’s not true.”

“Maybe I’ll come back for lunch. The food is worth it.”

“John, I forbid you from opening this door.”

John didn’t reply, but he didn’t open the door either. I banged my fist on it. Emma didn’t flinch. Her defiant gaze met mine, but then tears gathered in her eyes and spilled. I didn’t like those. These weren’t the ones I wanted. I touched my forehead to hers. “Emma, my world revolves around you. Everything I do or don’t do is because of you. It revolved around you from the first time I scented your skin, which was over a year ago. Not wanting you is the furthest thing from the truth.”

“You’ve known this entire time?”

“I’ve known this entire time.”

Heat rose over her cheeks, and she balled her fists.

I’d said something wrong. Again.

“We starved,” she said. “Starved and died by the hundreds because we couldn’t find your mate. All the while, you knew I was here. All the while, you took other breeders into these quarters and…and…well, God, I’m so angry with you.”

“I didn’t touch those women.”

“The hell you didn’t.”

“I am a beast male, not a man. You offend me.”

“Aw, poor Lord Amoris with his offended honor. I lost my dad because we didn’t have supplies. If you’d mated, we would have gotten supplies. Last night, Tom was dying. Dying, my lord. I can only hope to have saved his life. What would happen to us if he dies? This entire place would blow. The people from Above and us? We don’t mesh well together. They came here and corrupted everything with their lies. He’s the only one keeping us together, like glue. He’s necessary because he knows Beast Father will reward us. And he did reward us. He sent supplies.”

I clamped my hands on her cheeks. “Listen to me, baby. There is no beast father.”

“Why, I’ve seen him with my own eyes.”

I couldn’t ignore this anymore. Emma looked convinced. If she tended to Tom, Emma knew more than anyone in this place. “What does he look like?”

“Tall, big, white hair, silver eyes, tattoos. You don’t look anything like him, by the way.”

True. Fuck. Alpha Nie roamed the Earth. He wanted something from me. What the fuck could he want from me? I was the third son, completely inconsequential in the beast hierarchy. “Emma, the beast you describe is just a male, an Alpha male, but not the father of our race as Tom has made you believe. We don’t pray to him. We don’t follow him. He is no God, and I am no Jesus. Do you understand what I’m saying to you? There is no such thing as Beast Father. You have to believe me.”

I saw the moment I’d lost her. Her eyes flicked away and found the floor. She didn’t fucking believe me.

“Let me go,” she said.

I strolled away before I tied her to my bed. It would not be sexy. Not at all. And I would regret it. The doors slid open. They slammed back shut. Emma had left. She’d return, right? Right? Fuck! I slammed my fist into the steel wall. Pain exploded in my fist and traveled up my arm. Grinding my teeth, I sat down on the bed and let the pain soothe me.

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