Beauties and Beasts

Chapter 75: brought to you by moms

Ice ice baby, because charming a girl by having your tribe kidnap you is the way to go! Said no dating manual ever.

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Shay sat atop the Hobbit Hole they'd been given, her back against the stone chimney. She had tried to give Neara back her cloak, but her friend had shook her head furiously, pointing towards her bare legs. Since she couldn't find it in her to care, she'd crawled to the top once she'd finished eating. A chill had sunk into her flesh. She wanted the warm spring sun to burn it out. Closing her eyes, she once more fell into the drifting theories of why this world's sun didn't sunburn them or tan them, at least not at a noticeable speed.

Really, it was all to distract her from the dark thoughts.

You're lucky only one of your kids died, having a mother like you. If you had just let them go...

There's no life for you here other than a breeder, you'll always be on the run.

You shouldn't have threatened them with death, they'll just as easily kill you now.

Your kids could be chased off while you're away. Curtis might lose it, mad from your loss.

All you're good for here is breeding.

And holding it all, like a bowl, was the turmoil of emotions that changed from grief, rage, guilt, and numbness.

At this rate, it didn't matter how much she loved her family. She wanted to go home. Home home. Back to Earth.

"Shay?"

She flinched, drawing into the cloak instinctively. "I was wondering when you'd come, Joseph."

She opened her eyes to see the short, stocky ginger peering over the rounded turf roof, his ears undecided between facing her and hiding behind his head.

Cautiously, as though to a wounded animal, he climbed up and approached her, stopping just out of arms reach.

"I..." his eyes glanced away, but he forced them back to hers. "I heard about your baby. I'm sorry."

The storm switched to rage.

"As you should be," she said. "In truth, you are the only one at fault for his death."

His ears shot down, his eyes went wide. "Shay, I wasn't even--"

"If you had kept your mouth shut, your tribe wouldn't have come for me."

"They were plotting to get you even without your female snakes," he said quickly. "I just--I-I-just..."

She waited, wanting his floundering to somehow soothe the pain in her. But it didn't. And that just made her tired. So very tired.

She sighed and pulled up her legs. "Whatever."

"No, Shay, I came up here to explain myself. I figured--and Captain said--look, none of us here intend to use you as some breeding doe and we were already planning on taking your secret to the grave--that is....if you do help us."

"That sounds more like a threat than explaining yourself." She looked off to the side, towards the woods edging the other side of the valley. "Go away, Joseph. I hate you."

As she had hoped, he flinched as though physically wounded.

"Shay...Shay, I didn't want to betray you. They're my family, just as your babies and Curtis and Ryan are your family. They're everything to me, just as you would be if you were my mate, but--"

"But I wasn't, fine, I get it, you had no reason to be loyal to me, whatever. Fine." She tucked her face into the crook of her arm again, the rage having turned to numbness, and now to a bitterness she could almost taste in the back of her throat like bile.