Reborn as a Side Character in the Beastworld

Chapter Twenty-three

Everything hurt. My head felt like a pincushion and my bones felt as crumbled as my pie crust. I didn't want to open my eyes. Didn't want to let the pain become more real. But then I thought of Kit.

I snapped back to consciousness, looking desperately for my son only to find him snuggled to my chest. He was warm and breathing deeply in his sleep. The relief of seeing him uninjured stole the strength the adrenaline surge had given me, and I let myself collapse onto my back. I closed my eyes again, taking in deep, calming breaths to chase some of the pain away. When I felt steadier, I blearily opened them again, taking stock of our surroundings.

It was nighttime. We were beneath a large cottonwood tree and light from a fire to our right danced along its branches. The fact that we were both alive, warm and in a safe location told me that someone had found us and taken care of us. I turned my head to the side, letting my eyes scan the area for our benefactor, but didn't see anyone. No matter how exhausted I was, I didn't want to fall back asleep without knowing if the person who had saved us was friend or foe. There were as many reasons to help someone as there were people in the world. I wouldn't feel safe enough to relax until I knew their motive.

I willed myself to sit up again despite the protests of my aching body. I didn't want to wake Kit so I simply scanned the area more carefully from where I was. I noticed my clothes were hanging on the branches closest to the fire, drying. It was a sign the person had some knowledge of a female's delicate nature when it came to being cold and wet. It also meant they had seen my mates' marks. They would know that we could be tracked. There were eggshells on the ground nearby, indicative of someone having fed Kit. This told me the person either liked cubs or had a use for him. I looked down at my wounded legs, they hadn't been treated so whoever saved us, wasn't a healer.

All of these signs narrowed down the likely reasons for our rescue. The most likely was the person, if they were male, wished to claim mating rights as my savior. The other less likely reasons were they were entirely altruistic, or hadn't quite decided what they wanted with us. But there wasn't any way to know for sure until I met the person or persons.

I sighed and looked out towards where I thought I could see the lake that we had fallen into. That's when I noticed it. Two gleaming eyes were staring at me from the ground just outside the light of the fire. When it noticed that I had noticed, the eyes rose in height and the slithering sound of scales against grass reached me over the crackle of the fire. Goosebumps rose on my skin and I froze in fear. The body of a thirty-foot anaconda was making its way over.

I mentally shook myself and pulled Kit into my arms, waking him, and shot to my feet. Ignoring Kit's question of, "Mom?", I started to slowly back away from the snake. The snake stopped moving.

"I'm dissssapointed. Is thisss how you would normally greet your ssssavior?"

I relaxed the smallest fraction. The snake was a beastman, that meant he could maybe, possibly be reasoned with. But he was also a feral which meant social ethics didn't apply to him.

"I apologize if I seem ungrateful. But until I know your motivation for having saved us..." I left the rest unsaid. He would know what I meant. It wasn't as though there would be much I could do against this male. Even if I did know his motives, I was at the mercy of his whims. The only thing I could do was remain cautious.

He cocked his head to the side at my words. "Interesssting. You aren't sssscreaming in terror. I can ssssee where your cub getsss hissss bravery."

Curious at his words, I looked down at my cub.

"While you were unconcioussss, he called for help and watched my every move like a hawk."

I looked back up at the snake. "There has been no indication that you wish to harm us. Yet."

"Ssssso you aren't sssscared?"

"I'm terrified." I said truthfully.

A deep throaty and hearty laugh filled the air. The feral had found my words hilarious.

"Why did you save us?" I asked when he'd finally calmed down.

He chuckled. "I wasssss bored and you seem interessssting." The upper part of his body shifted and instead of a snake's head, I was looking at a very muscular male with long olive-green hair the same color of his scales. He didn't have Curtis' delicate beauty. This snake exuded strength and masculinity. Only the smirk on his face was a juxtaposition to his body. Despite his intimidating aura, he had no stripes that I could see. That made me relax just a small bit more. "Satisfied?"

I wasn't sure what he was referring to, the conversation or his body. I decided to bet on the conversation. "What are you planning to do with us?"

"Do I really look like someone who makes plans?" He chuckled again and shrugged. "Though I suppose it's a reasonable question. What would you do if I said I wished to be your mate in exchange for saving you?" A cynical smile replaced his smirk.

"I would demand a period of courtship to determine if you could integrate with my family."

He seemed stumped at my answer, like he had expected me to refuse outright.

"And what if I simply decided to kill everyone but you and have you for myself?"

The conversation had gone from imperative to my survival to theoretical query. I started to believe the snake really was just intrigued by me, so I answered without preamble.

"Then you would have me. But it would be as a broken, empty shell that you would quickly grow bored of. For I would never love you, forgive you, or even acknowledge you."

Another hearty laugh burst from him. "You truly are one of a kind." He said while wiping his watering eyes. "Phew. You have nothing to fear from me, female. Your death would be a tragedy and your imprisonment even more so. Your mates a probably on their way. Until they arrive, allow me to cook something for you. You're skinny and battered. You'll need it to regain some strength." He brought the tail end of his body into the light, showing off his catch. A large caiman.

After he mentioned my body, that is when I realized. I'd had that entire conversation in the nude. He hadn't looked at me lasciviously once. But that didn't stop my embarrassment from hitting me in full force. Faster than a snake could strike, my hand shot out to grab my clothes as he preoccupied himself with prepping the meat.

Kit, the smart cub that he was, simply accepted the situation and my handling of it. When I was dressed, we all sat down to a meal of roasted reptile. With a reptile.