Page 10 of Rhaz's Redemption
Tarak stiffened but then looked to his tiny daughter in his arms. “Do you think your sire will listen?”
“I will make him. I will make him agree to the offering without putting the females of our dekes in jeopardy.
His gaze turned to me and I saw the undeniable fury and pained desire in his eyes. He should have been fire or air or some other element that was able to contain all of the intensity his mortal body held, but instead he was a badger, fierce and rumored to be unkillable. I hoped that was true. I wanted him to live long enough for us to have a chance at something. Even friendship would be better than the longing looks we often exchanged.
This seemed to satisfy Axon and Sozu. They backed down from their fight and went their separate ways.
Whispers filled the room as many of the women confirmed with their mates what Rhaz had said was true.
Tarak waved his hand gesturing for everyone to be silent and suggested, “Let us make plans to head to the ruins tomorrow morning. Rhaz, you will travel with us then head to the valley from there.”
Rhaz gave Tarak a curt nod of acknowledgement then stalked out of the room.
Chapter 7
Rhaz
CW: descriptions of cruelty and violence
Descriptions of domestic violence
I went to my private cave and started packing. Clothes, rations, flint… Shocked gasps, eyes, all eyes on me. I couldn’t push the images of how all the human females looked at me when I revealed the truth aside.
I wanted to shut them out, forget the whispers, forget the pain. I wanted to run away. Even Beatrice looked shocked when I revealed who my sire was. Dameron. The male who’d been ruining my life since day one.
We’d gotten along for a short time when I was young. He’d smile when he saw me and I would jump into his arms every day when he came home. But then he changed. He grew more agitated each day. He complained that I was too loud, too clumsy, too much. I had been an energetic child, climbing on everything, knocking everything over, doing my best to be quiet and sit still even when my body yearned to run and shout.
My mother didn’t understand me either, but at least she was patient with me. She allowed me to run the perimeter of the entire valley, climb every tree, and swim in the river. When my father yelled at me for not being like the other sietlings, my mother would remind him that I was doing my best and that I wasn’t hurting anyone. He didn’t care. The only thing that mattered to Dameron was his image and his power. He thought if it looked like he couldn’t control his son that it would look like he couldn’t control the dekes. It was then that he became violent, beating my mother before my eyes and then blaming me for it.
My shifter brothers easily took the blame for causing the illness that killed our mothers, but I knew better. My sire had been looking for an excuse to get rid of me and anyone who was different like I was, long before the illness struck our dekes. It was all too convenient to blame us children for everyone’s troubles. He hadn’t expected Axon and Sozu’s parents to join us though. If it hadn’t been for them we wouldn’t have survived.
We were still young hunters at the time, and knew very little about the world outside of our safe valley. Our hunting trails did not stray far from our home, but Neelu, Gogron, Drondia, and Karo knew this land well. They protected us from the jagwas, and led us to our mountain home. They even helped us cope with our new shifter abilities even though they had none. I couldn’t imagine what things must have been like for them back then. They’d left everything behind to stay with their children and to tend to the rest of us, and my sire sat idly by praying for my death.
The image of my father praying for my demise caused an unamused laugh to bubble up from my gut. Death could not hold me even if I yearned for it, and there had been many times that I did yearn for the end, but it never came. The afterlife kept its gates closed whenever I appeared before them. My entry was always denied.
“Rhaz,” a familiar voice floated up to my ears and I turned to find Beatrice in my doorway. Beautiful black curls framed her round face, and her warm brown skin looked as soft and tempting as ever.
“May I come in?”
“If you wish,” I winced at my harsh tone. I never meant to sound as angry as I did, especially with Beatrice, but my voice seemed to have a mind of its own.
Beatrice was not so easily deterred, however. She was as stubborn as she was quiet. I liked that. I liked to think in another life we would have been a perfect pairing. But not in this life. Not when I was so broken.
“Here,” she handed me a leaf shaped like a star, much like the one I’d given her during an earlier celebration. The star was meant to be thrown into the fire as the person made a wish, the ashes would rise to the goddess and she would fulfill the person’s desire.
“This is for you.”
The star leaf had a word written on it in Beatrice’s language.
“What does it say?” I asked.
“It readsprotection. Think of it like an extra wish for your safety that I’ve made on your behalf. You can throw it into the fire on your journey and maybe be a little safer for it.”
Her gesture was thoughtful and kind, too kind. I could feel the icy walls around my heart begin to melt. I wanted to turn and embrace her. I wanted to tell her that she shouldn’t waste her wishes on a male like me, a male who might one day turn into a monster like my sire.
“This was kind of you,” I kept my tone even as I traced the letters she’d written on the leaf.
I put it carefully in my bag so it wouldn’t be crushed by anything else.
