Page 41 of Free Beast Mate

Chapter Fourteen

Emma

Fists clenched at my sides,I marched along the channel’s path. People passed me by. They smiled and nodded. Breeders stopped to talk to me, and overnight, I’d become the popular girl, the one everyone wanted to know. I’d always wanted to be one of the girls. I’d always wanted to belong. And yet, I found myself annoyed. I summoned a smile for the sakes of their cheerful mood so as not to appear grim in light of the boxes and boxes of fresh food people carried into the storage as they passed me.

I headed for the sanctuary. At this time of morning, with everyone busy stashing the goods, it should be unattended. I opened the short gate and rounded the corner, making sure to enter quietly in case Tom was resting. At least I hoped he’d slept off the raging fever from the day before. If he reprimanded me for “wasting” medicine on him, I wouldn’t care, because he’d lived to reprimand me.

I was descending the steps leading to his hut when I heard his voice. I smiled, ready to knock, then paused at the sound of Beast Father’s booming tones. A shiver ran down my spine. He commanded attention, his voice deep, rough, and stern. Tom would be unhappy with me if I interrupted their conversation, and all the more unhappy because after they spoke, Tom would retreat into himself and call out his visions. God would show him the way.

I folded my arms over my chest and leaned on the wall beside the door, feeling a bit uncomfortable to eavesdrop. Should I wait upstairs? I glanced up, then decided against it since I didn’t want anyone to see me, greet me, and praise me for being Lord Amoris’s mate. Their savior and not a beast whore. I rolled my eyes. People could be so shallow. A man who hit on a woman was “da man.” A woman who undressed before a beast was a whore.

And Amoris just rubbed me all wrong. So wrong of him to have known about me for over a year and not claim me. We’d struggled this past year more than any other. If only he’d pulled his head out of his ass, he’d have scented the desperation around him.

“If she’s pregnant, I will know,” Tom said from the other side.

I nodded. Yes, I would report the blessed event. I smiled. I’d always wanted babies. The more the merrier, even if one or more would inherit my hip dysplasia. I hoped Amoris wouldn’t neglect them because of it, or resent me later the way my dad had resented Mom and shunned me. He was my dad, and I’d wanted to please him, and I forgave him for all the years of refusing to claim me as his. In the end, he was sorry for neglecting me. Before he died, he’d told me he’d wronged me, and apologized for it. That made everything better, knowing he understood I’d never given up on his love. Love made the world a better place, made people better people, made us all more human.

“Test her for pregnancy every week starting today. I’ve sent medicine and much more for your healer.”

“Yes, Beast Father. What of the unholy beasts up Above? We have the mate. As promised, you will have started the annihilation, I presume?”

“Do you doubt my word, human?”

Tom didn’t answer for a while, so I pressed my ear to the door and heard him whisper, “My people have suffered enough. We want to be free.”

“Then you know what to do. Send me the pregnant mate. Kill my son.”

Huh?

“The deal was to deliver their offspring, not the mate.”

“You want my army, and I want the mate. You can’t wait any longer, and I risked discovery when I sent my fleet to deliver your supplies. Jamie is closing in on your location. You will need to move soon. We have to adjust to new developments. I need Amoris’s mate with a full belly. Hand her over, and I will start a war unlike any this world has ever seen. The glory shall be mine.” He paused. “And yours.”

My heart thudded in my chest. Tom would never deliver me to the Beast Father. He took care of me, loved me more than my own dad. I knew he wouldn’t, because this was my home.

“You don’t need her,” Tom said.

“I need the offspring. My bloodline. My heirs. One will be an Alpha, and my mate and I shall raise him as our own.”

“Wh-what…” Tom stuttered. “What of the girl?”

“She will die in labor. Your God will take her to a better place, for she has served her people. You will make her a saint, and there, everyone is happy.”

“Yes,” Tom said. “Yes, I can see a vision coming.”

“Good on you, Tom. Go and see about your vision.” The com device clicked closed.

I stepped away from the door, not believing my own ears. I must’ve heard wrong or perhaps misunderstood. I shook my head and played the conversation again. They wanted my babies. Amoris had asked me why they’d wanted us to mate, and I didn’t answer because I believed… I believed Tom. I didn’t need to ask why. I never asked. Even if I’d asked, would Tom have told me?

Would he seek such a sacrifice from me?

A sudden thought assaulted me. I hope I don’t get pregnant. This surely was evil. I’d served an evil man my whole life. Tom must be evil. When they took Jesus from Mary, she too wept. If she could’ve hidden him, she would have. Even if I wasn’t pregnant yet, it was only a matter of time. Amoris and I… Well, when I spent time with him, the world didn’t exist. He’d warned me about Tom, about the Beast Father. Should I trust him? I sat by the door and waited, thinking on what to do. I was on my own. Amoris was locked in a…cage. The only thing he could do was refuse to mate me. Amoris held on to his will, the only power he held, and nobody, least of all me, should break him. If they took me away, they wouldn’t need to kill him. Amoris would break.

Fifteen minutes later, I heard Tom walking about his hut. He must’ve had a “vision”—liar!—and now walked around, forming a plan on how to spin us all into this evil web. Everyone believed him. If I walked out there and told them otherwise, they’d stone me to death. It wouldn’t matter if I were a mate, they would kill me for blasphemy. Tom was their new Prophet.

Liar. He was nothing but a liar. There were no visions. Beast Father commanded, and Tom told everyone he’d had visions.

I knocked on Tom’s door. “Tom,” I said. “It’s me, Emma.”

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