Caught Beast Mate(26)
“She doesn’t know it’s me. I didn’t look like this when we met. She did not poison me.”
“Hasel—”
“A few days ago, I ate a poisonous snake.”
Zarik shrugged. “I’m following orders.”
“What are your orders?”
“Bring tchai, change the dressing on your leg, and help you wash.”
“I would rather eat pigeon crap again than let you bathe me.”
“That’s what I told Hasel, but there’s nobody else and you need help.”
I pointed at the door. “Bring me a wet cloth and my mate.”
The scar over his cheek winked when he smirked at my order. “Can’t do.”
“You will not bathe me. Bring me Sienna.”
“Hasel said no.”
“Did she now? Hasel!” I hollered. “Hasel!”
Zarik winced. “Hasel is searching the east wing for poison.”
“While my mate is in the cage.”
“Of course. She’s safe.”
“Why did you cage her? Surely you can hold her in a room.”
“When the boy went to get her, she tried to run.”
“Run? I ate a poisonous fucking snake.”
Zarik smiled. “You’re creative with the snake.”
“Have you called in the incident with that emergency line?”
Zarik scrubbed his beard. “Nope.”
“Why not?”
“We’re still investigating.”
“Bullshit. You fucked up. If she had poisoned me, which she didn’t, this would mean you aren’t taking great care of a mated pair. Hasel wouldn’t want Alpha thinking she’s incapable of taking care of a mated pair.”
Zarik shook his head. “Think what you will. Sienna is your mate. Your unregistered mate. Mates working for Men of Earth are known to poison their males. In such cases, Alpha Beast ordered separation of the mating pair and containment of the female and male. We’re following his orders.”
I growled. “She did not poison me, and she doesn’t know it’s me who kidnapped her. I want to keep it that way until I can get up and function like a male.”
Zarik sipped my tchai, then leaned back. “Your healing will take time. Until you’re picked up, I will keep her safe.”
“In a cage.”
“Yes. It’s our way.”
“It’s our way, not the human way. She’s terrified. Bring her to me.”
“Alpha Beast’s orders.”
“My mate is innocent. There will no caging of my mate. Jamie had meant containment, but not in a cage.”
“Oh, he means the cage. So does Mayhem. You’ve been out there for too long. Lots has happened on this planet since then. Men of Earth are growing stronger, using everything they have, and their best tools are their women.”
“Sienna is not one of those women.”
“That’s what we thought too. If she wasn’t before, she is now. Momma Jo worked on her. Hasel allowed them freedoms, and that’s how they repaid her. Poisoning a male in our house.”
I huffed. “You need proof.”
“That’s how they do it. They know we won’t hurt them. They know we need them for mating.”
“Mating. Careful, Zarik. We protect the mating. It’s why we use the term pairing.”
“Our secrets aren’t safe anymore. By now, they know everything. Women are disappearing, being taken into their hives to be used for breeding. Those who stay in the communities are trained to kill. It’s a silent war. It’s one we don’t know we can win.”
I searched the tray for a spoon. Even though the soup smelled awful, I needed to eat something. “Jamie will raid this entire planet. He will find Men of Earth. We will get mates, unharmed, and we will make them happy.”
Zarik snorted. “We have raided. It doesn’t work. Now our orders are to separate the couple and keep the female under observation.”
The soup tasted like rubber. Hasel had spiked it with something. “Mated males won’t stand for it.” I chugged the rest of it, swallowing when the fluid threatened to return topside, and plopped back on the fur.
Zarik glanced at the floor, then back at me. I could almost see the wheels spinning in his head. This guy was up to something. Despite the unease in my belly, I sat back up. “Yes?”
“I was once mated. Let me help you.”
“All right. Bring her to me.”
“I can’t do that.”
“I outrank you. All of you. I have not imposed my authority, but I can.”
“We take orders from Mayhem, Keeper of Earth.”
“He isn’t here.”
“Sienna’s staying where she is.”
Fucking hell. I yanked at my dressing, unwrapped it, and bent to see if the wound had closed. The bleeding had ceased, and a thin layer of skin had formed over the open flesh. It wasn’t completely closed, but it was better than I expected.