Momma Jo glanced at the incense and lit another stick. “One more mouth to feed.”
“Excuse me?”
“The beast is one more mouth to feed.”
Ah. Habits and hard life died hard. This community was poor. From what I gathered, they’d rarely traded anything with outsiders, and any contact with beasts was prohibited. The last beast to come over the walls to pick up his bride found her hanging at the gates. She wore a white dress and swung in the wind. That was two decades ago. The people here had built this wing on top of her grave so that she might bless them with her heroics. They considered the girl a martyr and hadn’t had contact with the outside world until Tom dropped by last year.
They jumped on his prophecy wagon, which included long stretches of fasting. The fasting helped with food rations but couldn’t curb the fear they might run out. People here lived a hard life, and Momma Jo worried about her kids. Another beast as large as Torrent would need lots of meat. “I wouldn’t worry about food,” I said, not believing it myself. The beasts ate humans and could snap at us at any time. “They have supplies coming in once a week, and we all have plenty to eat.”
“And when we don’t, she will cook me.”
No doubt, Hasel would cook her for those vials. Hasel kept the women in case the beasts would pair with some of them. Contraception went against her dream of having more beast babies roaming this planet. And if not Hasel, Mayhem would punish Momma Jo for it. He was big on babies. God knows I’d heard him trying with Reagan.
At the thought, my cheeks burned. I lowered my gaze to our joined hands. They wavered before my eyes. Darn it. I got high again. I shrugged, not feeling that bad about it. Maybe I’d go to bed. Relax a little.
“I am happy you’re on our side,” she said. “I worried you’ve become infatuated with the animals like my poor boy Cole. He wants to move to their wing, did you know?”
“Mm-hm.”
“Devil’s spawn.” I frowned. What? Momma Jo continued, “I knew he was Devil’s spawn since my sister delivered him and he refused her tit. Mother’s milk is of Earth, therefore of God. We had to feed him cow milk.”
Oh! So Momma Jo was Cole’s aunt. Huh. “Right,” I agreed, thinking Daddy raised me on cow’s milk. Cole and I couldn’t be of the devil because cow’s milk was of Earth, thus of God too. Mooo. I didn’t tell her that.
I tried to be friendly with both matriarchs. I didn’t want conflict. It would make my life harder, not easier. Dad would say I’d lost my backbone. Well, maybe I had, because I sucked it up and, blissfully happy, left Momma Jo’s room.
Chapter Six
Torrent
If I didn’t eat today, I would die. I checked the time on the wall. Nineteen hundred. Hasel had visited me in the morning, promised she’d send Sienna with a breakfast tray and tchai. Sienna hadn’t come. Maybe she’d saved my life, then decided to starve me to death. Meds, I needed more meds. “Sienna!” I hollered for the tenth time.
The guard down the hall walked to my door and banged a fist on it. “Quiet. I’m trying to nap.”
“Call Sienna. Tell her I’m hungry.”
“I called her the first time you shouted.”
“And?”
“She’s busy. You gotta wait.”
“Thanks.”
“Anytime. If you yell again, I’ll break your good leg.”
“Fuck you too, buddy.”
The asshole laughed, and I heard his footsteps retreat back down the hall. A chair protested, so he must’ve sat down. Sure enough, snoring sounded ten minutes later. I wished I could sleep. And I probably could and should, but the image of them raping Felicia haunted me.
Back in Dewlyn’s community, we’d been careless, thinking the humans would scatter in fear the moment we landed our bikes on the wall. They scattered all right, hid, ready and waiting for us. Fucking Vice. All his fault for talking Jamie into training some of the dominant females for battle. If he hadn’t allowed Felicia to train, she wouldn’t be taken now. Fuck me too for not taking the arrow aimed at her back. I wished I had.
I lifted my stump. “Look at this,” I said to nobody. “How can I serve my Alpha and my mate when I can’t even get up and get my own food? Fuck this life.” I banged a fist on the wall and scrubbed my face. My beard had grown too long, and my face itched. I hated facial hair but had to keep it. I didn’t want her to recognize me.
I sniffed. Mother fuck. I stank. Even though Hasel brought a washcloth and I’d cleaned up, I wanted a shower. No, not a shower, a bath. A nice warm bath, preferably in a huge tub with jet streams and my naked mate. I eyed the iron tub. My mate and I would barely fit inside, which would mean she’d have to sit on my lap. On call, my dick sprang up. I looked down at the tent it made, contemplated stroking it, or cutting it off completely since it wouldn’t be used. Neither of those things happened because a rap came on the door.