B+Bs: To Stand In A Beast's World

29. Why Is It You?

I had been going to the river every other day for eight days. The number of wolves increased, but it was still under ten. I never felt over-crowded and enjoyed my time. Besides the net, I accomplished a few more cooking feats as Shuu brought me wheat seeds and the equivalent of maple syrup.

I filled my time with cooking experiments that mostly turned out terribly, but there were always improvements that followed. Shuu was happy to try even the worst of my creations, and I made sure to praise him for his bravery.

Every day, I checked Winston's tattoo and could have sworn I felt him coming closer. I'm assuming everything went great, and he would be back very soon. It was still hard to judge distance, but I'm thinking he could be back tonight at the soonest and two days at the longest.

With my great mood and the extra security, I relaxed. But if I was being honest with myself, being alert wouldn't have protects me from what happened.

I was swimming and then I wasn't. Harvey had grabbed me so fast that I didn't catch what was happening. I took a breath of air that was squeezed out of my lungs soon after. I felt the water whooshing by as something gripped me and Harvey around the waists.

I would have used Winston or Mitchell's strength if I could find something to target. I couldn't open my eyes at all. The burn in my lungs got to me and I used Shuu's mark to kick at whatever was on my hip.

The next thing I knew I was breaking the surface of the water, the thing on my hip and waist was gone, and so was Harvey.

I coughed up a lung as cold hands gripped my arms. Before I could catch my breath, we were tearing through the water again. I caught sight of Harvey coughing on the bank, shifting just before I was dragged back underwater.

I could see brown hair, and with my lack of options, it was my only target. I pushed my fingers through the silky tresses, got a good grip, and used Winston's mark to rip out his hair.

I underestimated the strength of Winston's mark in my desperation. The head the hair was attached to snapped far back; unnaturally far. The arms that held me went limp. I didn't think about it for a second and desperately clawed my way out of the arms and to the surface.

I gasped, coughed, breathed, and repeated the process. I thought I escaped only to find myself being tugged into a new set of cold arms.

The crash from using the mark nearly took my barely reclaimed breath away. I couldn't struggle, even when my eyes landed on cold rubies. Not even when I saw the four stripes on his pale neck.

Why did he have to show up?

Curtis had come to kill the snake male that had invaded his territory. That was his only intention. When he came upon the interloper, he was stunned to witness him dying at the hand of this small female.

And strangely, she did not struggle. His gaze unabashedly raked up and down her, finding multiple mating marks already on her body.

Curtis frowned and surmised that she must've used one of the marks. His eyes found her face and he stilled. She was a beautiful female, but Curtis had seen those before. It was the look in her eyes that made him pause. It wasn't one of fear, but scrutiny and weariness.

The lack of disgust and terror was only something he'd seen in one female before. But that one had tried to stab him in the back.

I couldn't talk, my tongue was too heavy. My mind raced despite the sluggish state of my body. I should be safe. I didn't take Curtis's shed. I had mates already. He didn't kill Qin who tried to hurt him, so he shouldn't kill me who did nothing to him.

Snarling from the bank's edge stole Curtis's attention.

It looked like Shuu and the rest caught up.

Nobody made any moves at first. It wasn't like they could attack the feral without hurting Grace in the process. So they surrounded him and waited for an opening.

Curtis glared at the weak beastmen and released his pressure. They cowed as he expected, but something unplanned occurred. The female in his arms fainted the moment he released his pressure. That shouldn't have happened. Females weren't sensitive enough to react like that. Not unless he was targeting her, which he wasn't.

When Shuu saw Grace go limp, his reason was lost. He lunged forward, two other wolves following his lead. But none of them were fast enough.

Curtis swept his tail out in an arc, smacking the males away with ease. He took one look at the female and bolted away with her. He would wait for her to wake and sate his curiosity.

It took every fiber in his being for Muir not to swoop down and try to take Grace back, but refrain he did. He needed to wait until the feral released Grace before they attacked. Or create an opportunity for her to be set free. Muir monitored far from above, careful not to be detected, as he tracked the two.