Wild Beast Mate(29)

I showed her my teeth. “Me again. What’s inside the box?”

“Yo mama’s head.” What the fuck? She rolled her eyes. “What do you think it is? It’s a wedding cake. Not vanilla. Rey orders one a week. Rey!” she hollered. “Got your cake!”

“In the kitchen, please!” came from upstairs.

The girl who I remembered as Paulina carried the box into the kitchen. At the sight of pale eyes and teeth-filled jaws, she paused, reluctant. I pushed the middle of her back. “Go on. We love sweet things.”

She scurried to the table, dropped the cake as if it were on fire, and turned up her palm. I reached back for my wallet, paid, and tipped her well.

“See ya later, Rey!” She slammed the door and left.

I opened the wedding cake, and we all gathered around to peek inside. A white-coated not-vanilla cake reminded me of my pairing party. Dewlyn had worn a white dress, her hair was pinned up, and she’d lasted all of an hour in her high heels before going barefoot. Felicia swiped the sugar groom and bit off his head. We laughed when Jamie appeared next to her. “Got somethin’ to say to me?”

She swallowed hard. “No, Alpha.”

He pointed at the cake. “Nobody touch the cake. There are pregnant monsters in this house.”

“I heard that!” Rey bellowed.

“I know!”

I slapped his back. “Ready?”

“Fuck yes.”

Outside, we loaded up on the bikes. I glanced at my brother. Usually, we trailed Jamie, but I wondered if he’d let me take the lead this time around. Challenging him for the Alpha of the Beasts wasn’t on my agenda. I didn’t want to deal with the shit Jamie dealt with, but some things I did want, and this was one of them. Everything having to do with Dewlyn also had to do with me. I couldn’t stop thinking about how scared she must’ve been, lying on that table, ready to go under the knife. When they removed her parts, they took away her spirit, then sold me a broken mate, left me to deal with it without telling me that the girl I’d met, the girl full of life who spelled trouble on every corner she turned, was sold completely devoid of the will to live. I couldn’t’ve known, but that didn’t mean her accusations were false.

I could’ve picked her up right then and there.

I could’ve prevented all this.

We could’ve had a…well, something altogether different.

If only I hadn’t left.

I revved the engine.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” Jamie asked.

The adrenaline right before battle. I’d forgotten. We’d conquered this planet over one hundred years ago, and even then, my claws didn’t rip into flesh, and even then, I didn’t consume prey. The humans surrendered after a day; not many of them fought, so even that bit of action didn’t count. The only other way for unmated males to burn through our raging hormones was to schedule cage fighting on the weekends. Jamie allowed it as long as nobody died or suffered permanent damage. I didn’t participate. Instead, I preferred the small quiet library in our compound, where I read history books and kept Jamie’s operations going.

I nodded in affirmation. The impending mayhem thrilled me. I could almost smell their fear. I lifted off, Jamie by my side, the three others behind us, and the rest headed back to the compound. The main spaceway, packed with civilians both beast and a few humans, looked busy at this time of day, so we flew over the beach behind our houses and headed for Dewlyn’s community, some three hours away at our speed.

Three hours gave me plenty of time to plan the execution of those who’d wronged me and mine. It also gave time to think about leaving Beast City. The thought of being so far from her made my teeth descend. I simply didn’t know what else to do with her. Everyone, starting from her parents, then even me, had denied her the things she wanted. Ironic, since all she ever wanted was a supportive mate and a comfortable life. By the time she had both, she’d changed and done the very opposite of her dreams.

I wanted to believe people weren’t using her. I wanted to believe she hadn’t involved herself with rebels, but deep down, I knew Dewlyn would do anything at all for what she believed in. She was too young and too reckless not to take things into her own hands. The key she’d stolen opened the largest warehouse in New City, filled with perishables and enough food to feed an army of several thousand for a month. The risk was too big, the supply of food too large for what I projected was about a dozen women.

But love defied logic.

Despite the churning in my gut, we continued toward her community.



Dewlyn



Stinky morning breath penetrated my nose. I wrinkled it and got a lick over it in return. I buried my head into the pillow and wiped my face, then said, “Vice, that’s…different.”