Shield - A New Species Fanfiction (Wild at Heart Chronicles, Book 1)

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Paige stared at the food the guards had placed by the door to her cage with disgust. The tray was filled with what she could only describe as pig slop, the color similar to the pale, glistening skin of a grub worm.

Ugh.

She would never look at oatmeal the same way again.

Her mother hadn't roused when the men had entered the holding room to deliver their meal, not even when the Species women growled as their food was pushed through a slot at the base of the door to their cages. The guards had made sure all their enclosures were secured before they left the room.

Paige glanced back at her mother.

By the end of the second song, Natasha had released her hold and curled on the floor with a hand placed over Paige's foot. Even in sleep, her mother refused to break their connection. Although the warmth of her hand was comforting, Paige couldn't stop replaying the sound of her cries in her head. Something had broken inside Natasha, or perhaps she'd never really been whole since the night Norah was murdered and the role of surrogate mother was thrust onto her. It would explain the distance she'd begun to keep from Paige when she had entered high school.  

As if preparing for the moment when their ties would be severed by the truth.  

Unable to reach out to her sleeping form with the restraints still in place, Paige traced light fingers over Natasha's hand, her touch outlining the path of a vein. Dr. Malcolm had said they didn't share a single genetic marker, yet despite the evidence in their blood Natasha had claimed her as her daughter.  Like Norah, she'd protected Paige by using deception as her shield.

In her own way, Natasha had taken her birth mother's role as a knight.

The childish thought filled her with warmth, and for the moment chased away the uncomfortable chill in the room. Still, it couldn't keep the pangs of hunger from drawing her eyes back to the disgusting food. Placed beside it, the metal sheen of a small container made her pause.  Paige lifted her mother's hand from her foot with care, then walked up to the tray and picked up the canteen. Please let it be clean water, she thought, twisting the cap with some difficulty.

"Drink with caution, little human," a deep, feminine voice said from behind her. "If there is a strange smell inside, throw it out. It wouldn't be the first time the guards drug a female and take her away for their own amusement."  

Paige turned to the speaker with surprise. The Species woman with the white strip of hair tilted her head, as if awaiting for her directions to be followed without question. She sat with her back to the bars, her half-eaten tray of seared meat beside her. Caught off guard by this unexpected offer of solidarity, Paige brought her nose to the canteen's opening and sniffed.

"Well?"

Paige frowned. "I can't smell anything."

"She is human," the other Species woman called out with displeasure. She sat on her cot, a tray of food resting on her lap. Sparing Paige an irritated glance, she shook her head and returned to her meal. "Do not speak to the enemy, 11.  If she cannot even scent if her water is contaminated, then what use does she have for that little nub on her face? Let the retched guards take her away."

Bewildered by her hostile words, Paige stared at the canteen with longing but thought it best not to drink it. Before she could place it back on the floor, she sensed movement to her right and gasped when the more tolerant Species stood before her. She reached out a hand to Paige, her yellow eyes on the canteen.