Rise Of The Beast Queen: Elizabeth

Ch 35 Self Blame

Jin wrapped her in the hide blanket and cradled her on his lap, we'll at least the best her could while she clung to his neck, It took Liz a while to calm down, she even cried herself into a brief nap, though she still refused to let go of her hold on Jin. In the meantime Jin was having a hell of a time, he wanted to revel in the fact that he finally had Liz back in his arms, that she was safe and didn't despise him for not protecting her... But anger churned in his gut to see the brutalized state she was in and smell the traces of another male's mating scent that mixed with hers.

The scent was familiar only because he'd been recently chasing those brothers away everyday, unfortunately their scents were too similar and without having them Infront of him at the moment he wasn't sure which one had hurt his mate, but in Jin's furious mind it didn't really matter he was already prepared and willing to kill them both for this crime. His murderous thoughts made his possessiveness kick into overdrive and his beast pressure seeped out of him like an oppressive wave choking all in it's path, which  drove the 2 stripe Dylan out of his own healer hut.

Tairen stayed rooted to his spot despite Jin's murderous glare. Being a male and a feral to boot Tairen was naturally stubborn and wasn't about to get pushed to the wayside by a male who was unworthy and weak by his own admission. The two glared at each other in a silent battle, releasing their beast pressure to counter each other's, until Liz's groan of discomfort broke the tension. They both instantly released the pressure and Tairen put his cold hand on the back of her neck, Jin snarled soundlessly afraid he'd rouse Liz further and Tairen gave him a look with his eyebrows raised that said 'What are you gonna do about it'.

Jin wanted to lash out but wouldn't risk causing Liz any more discomfort, instead he was rewarded as she slowly awoke. His heart melted as she rubbed her face in the crook of his neck and inhaled his scent, then sighed contently, finally he felt her eyelashes flutter against his skin.

"Jin." Her voice was a soft hoarse croak.

"Yes, my love. I'm here." Jin answered and kissed the top of her head making her hum in satisfaction, before she shifted in his arms to lean back and look up at his face.

"Wh... What happened after I..." Liz sniffled and cupped Jin's cheeks between her hands. "When did you get your fourth stripe?"

"I... I fought a terra marked tiger while I was trying to find you." He explained and Liz had a flashback of the tiger that gave her to Kinkade, but she shook her head to dispel the unwanted memories.

"I'm... I'm so glad you're ok." Liz said as she looked at Jin with a broken smile and she reached up with her shaky weak arm to stroke his cheek, Jin leaned into her touch and let out a gruff purr. "Jin... W... Where is Beau? Is... Is he ok? Why isn't he with you?"

"I... He... Hmm..." Jin growled lowly under his breath, which caught Liz off guard.

"Jin?" She questioned straightening her back as worry crept into her bones. "What happened?"

"He... He lost you." Jin snarled out in an angry whisper.

"What? No. It wasn't his fault either." She tried to defend but Jin didn't appear to be listening.

"You were there and you didn't protect her." Tairen scoffed and Jin growled.

"Stop it!" Liz snapped and yelled despite her scratchy voice that made her cough and weeze to catch her breath. "I... I didn't get lost. I got taken away. There's a difference." Hot tears pooled behind her eyes. "You both did everything you could to protect me, but the... There were just too many..." Liz's voice cracked as the horrible memories replayed in her mind and the waterfalls began cascading down her cheeks. "You... You were both fighting so hard... but I... I couldn't do anything. I... I couldn't stop hi... him...."

"Liz, it wasn't your fault." Jin hastily tried to reassure her.

"But I... I..." Liz stuttered through her sobs, with her head bent forward so her hair fell to cover her face.

"You aren't responsible for the actions of the males around you." Tairen whispered gruffly as he reached around her and placed his cool hand across her forehead, the cool sensation reeled her back in from the panic attack she'd slipped into. Liz released a shaky breath as the tears slowed to a trickle, Tairen slowly pulled her head back, his large hand half covered her vision but didn't blind her or shield her as her eyes locked with Jin's worried gaze. Who's sole focus was now his struggling mate and he felt his heart ache for his part in making her worry.

"Bu... But... Hmm" Liz whined in a weak protest.

"No. He's right, Love. You did nothing wrong." Jin reassured as he rubbed one hand up her back and used his other thumb to brush her tears away.

"He was strong enough to snatch you from your mate, but too weak to keep you himself or make you fall for him. And no matter what it doesn't give anyone the right to force you. That isn't love. A male is never supposed to hurt their female. He was too weak and impatient, It only proves he didn't deserve you in the first place." Tairen said and Jin looked sad but nod his agreement.

The three sat huddled together for a long while until Liz completely calmed down again and she reasked about where Beau was.

"The last I saw, I left him at the Fierce Claw Tribe, but he's probably on his way here..." Jin trailed off realizing how much time has already passed since he arrived and even with Beau only being a two striped beastman with his speed he should have already been here... What was keeping him?