Page 59 of Immortal Bastard

The female had too much pride for her own good. “You’re a guest in my home.”

She bolted to her feet. “I’m your mother, the cause of your existence, and I deserve some respect.”

He leaned closer, lowering his voice to a growl. “You’re making a spectacle. You intentionally forget your place to make my life more challenging. I do not need additional obstacles right now.”

“Yes, ‘Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.’”

He recognized the verse. “Quoting scripture only further validates my point. You’re upsetting my mate.”

He sensed Delilah’s unease as the tension thickened.

Adriel bristled and stepped back. “Well then, I believe our visit is over. My apologies for any upset I might have caused, Delilah.”

“Oh, it’s really fine—”

“I’ll walk you out.” Christian caught her arm, steering her toward the front door. Jaw locked, he growled, “You will not turn my home into a place of rebellion.”

His mother yanked her arm free from his grip and glared at him. “The Bible is a book, Christian. It’s full of stories. This is reality. If you want a love that can survive an eternity, then you need to look outside those dusty pages and see with your heart.”

He understood she only meant to advise him, but she humiliated him as well. Just as she’d done countless times in his youth when she carried on, preaching against the word of God until the elders ordered her disciplined with a rod, an act that brought shame not just to her but to their family.

He would not allow her to turn his mating into another uprising. “This is my home. You won’t return until you’re ready to respect my rules.”

“And which rules will they be? Will she bring forth your children in sorrow, as the Good Book says? ‘Thy be thy husband’s desire, and he shall rule over thee’, is that how you imagine your reign as master and mate?”

Seething, his jaw locked. Had any other elder heard such blasphemous talk, she would have been whipped again.

“The bishop’s tolerance of your endless defiance has spoiled you. Speak out of turn in my house again, and I will report your actions to The Council.” He pointed toward the other room where Delilah waited. “That is my mate. It was one thing when your rebellious ways embarrassed me, but I will not let you hurt her with this nonsense. Do you understand?”

She glared up at him, grave indignation rolling off of her in waves. “I understand.”

He snatched the bonnet from the table and handed it to her. “Your kapp.”

She looked down at the offensive accessory with palpable disdain. It was a symbol of submission, and her retrieval of the item a display of obedience.

Whenever his mother had been reprimanded in the past, she’d been disciplined in Council Hall, publicly flogged before the elders and males, and he’d been forced to watch so that he understood there could be no mercy when it came to protecting their ways, even against the slightest uprising.

His mother never cried. She would watch the elders in silence, blocking her thoughts as the lashes rained down, but her eyes said everything. No matter how many times they tried to discipline her, she would never be like the other dutiful females on the farm.

Her rebellious reputation impacted him in many negative ways over the centuries, branding their family as outcasts for years on end. He would not allow her actions to ostracize Delilah as well. While he’d adapted to a reclusive life, his mate would need more. She deserved more, and he would see that she got it.

His mother’s shorn red hair disappeared under the bonnet and she lifted her chin. “You will let me say my piece before I go.”

This quarrelsome behavior was confusing for his mate. He just wanted her gone. Steering her onto the front porch, he said, “Speak.”

“Any fool can claim a female, Christian. But it takes a male of honor to claim someone’s heart. Do not make the same mistakes your father made or you will find yourself alone. Try to consider how foreign this must be to her. Everything you do has a direct effect on your relationship and her trust. You’ll always be bigger, stronger, older, and more powerful. If that’s not assurance enough for your ego, that’s your issue, not hers. Relationships require compromise. If you don’t bend, I promise the bond you share with her will break. God controls many things, but a female’s will is her own.”

“I don’t want you involving yourself—”

She held up a hand. “Yes, you were perfectly clear in your dressing down of me. Just remember this, we have but one mate in this life. I hope your experience is better than mine.”

She was gone before he could muster a response and that was probably for the best.

His mother had no qualms when it came to judging others but ambivalently kept her own shameful past hidden from view. She might have experience and sage advice, but she also had a habit of projecting. He was not his father. How could he be, when he had no memory of the male?

He entered the house and found Delilah slinking up the stairs. “Where are you going?”

She tensed but didn’t pivot.

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