Reborn as a Side Character in the Beastworld

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Eight

Bluepool plopped down next to me on the warm sand with one leg drawn up. It hid his package from my view but exposed the long curve of his buttocks and the muscled length of his thigh. His waist length silken purple hued hair lay across his back in gentle waves. His heart shaped face looked out to the lapping waves and the navy-blue lashes fluttered in the light breeze. Besides Harvey, none of my men had that feminine curvature in their features. Each one of them contained the beauty of a natural disaster. Winston was my snowstorm, Lance my monsoon, Shuu my hurricane and Tristan my raging fire. The juxtaposition between Bluepool's serene beauty and rough masculinity had me whistling in appreciation.

The sound caught his attention and his cerulean gaze moved to where I lay with my arms pillowing my head. He smiled in confusion, unsure of why I had whistled but happy I was looking at him. "You look happy."

I grinned devilishly, "I am. I'm in a new place with great views. How could I not be?"

He sat up straighter, "If you like new places, I know over twenty you'd never seen on land. I'll take you."

"Oh? What kinds of places?"

"Sunken cities, Islands made of six sided pillars, caves where water changes form, tides where the ocean glows red." He looked down at the fingers he'd been counting as he tried to think of more.

I closed my eyes contentedly, "Those all sound like wonderful date spots. I would love to go someday." And I really would. If the time came when he made me feel so safe that I didn't even think about the possibility of drowning, then I wouldn't mind seeing all of those places.

"Then...does that mean you'll take me as your mate?" Excitedly, he leaned across my body, placing a hand next to my head to keep himself from falling on me.

I could feel his breath on my cheek and his hair fell across my brow but kept my eyes closed as I answered, "When I'm ready to." I wasn't ready. Not yet. I still had to deal with Mitchell, Ryan and whatever happened at Flame City. The thought brought a slight frown to my face.

Bluepool moved back in disappointment, possibly thinking my frown was because of him. I heard a snicker from the direction of a sunbathing anaconda and my lips made an upturn again.

"How about you Lance? Have you been anywhere past the sea?" I asked, turning to look at him

He shifted his upper body to beastman form and folded his arms over his curled tail before replying, "I have. Shall I kidnap you and take you away for a season to show you?"

I shook my head, "Not anytime soon. Are there continents as big as this one? What manner of creatures live out there?"

"The world out there isn't much different than here. The lands are not as wide, but beasts roam them just as they do here. But there are places where it's cold in the hot season and hot in the cold season. Where there are no colossus but instead, creatures with wide leathery wings, long snouts with rows of narrow teeth soar on air currents just waiting to pick off a lone beastman. There are places where the females all live together and the males are not allowed within their city walls. And there are places where the moons never set." Lost in the images his words raised in my mind, Lance slithered over to me to cup my face so we were gazing into each other's eyes. "But my favorite place is here by your side." He grinned wide as I frowned at his cheesiness. The he pecked my lips and lay back in the warm sand.

Between Bluepool and Lance, the world sounded full of interesting things. And maybe someday I would ask them to take me. But I was content. I would grow my family and raise my cubs and those things alone were enough for me. For now.

We stayed on the beach snacking, napping, making sandcastles and burying Bluepool up to his neck in sand before the sky began to change from blue to orange and it became time to leave. We returned the way we had come and as Bluepool popped my bubble back on the shores of the lake, I kissed him on the cheek and thanked him for the wonderful date. He moved in to crush me in a hug but Lance's hand to his forehead stopped him from getting close enough.

Bluepool returned to his home at the lake bottom and I turned around only to see that Mitchell, true to his word had not moved from his spot on the rock. He looked miffed with his tawny muscled arms crossed over his chest and a glare following the blue tail disappearing beneath the water's surface. Tristan and Shuu stood behind him looking like prison guards who had missed their lunch break due to the one unruly criminal.

"Enjoy your 'date' with the fish?" Mitchell asked as I walked toward the three of them.

I shot him a look that said it was none of his business but answered all the same. "I did. Thoroughly."

He looked like he was going to reply with something snarky but the voice that came from his throat had a different cadence. "BB. Are you ignoring me? Why haven't you asked about me?"

"Ryan." I breathed his name. He was right. I had been ignoring him. I had been fairly confident the necklace around Mitchell's neck still contained his soul stone, but I was lacking courage or maybe confidence to ask about him. Ryan was dead. His soul lingered but he was nothing more than a ghost and I had emotionally disconnected from him since that night in Flame City. He was part of my past, but it was a part he wasn't letting me leave there.

"BB? Are you still angry with me? I'm sorry. Really I am. I couldn't control this brute's strength very well and ended up hurting you. I'm so sorry. I never should have suggested it. Please forgive me."

True to his beast, Ryan was a cunning fox and knew the words I had wanted to hear. But he was too late. I didn't hold a grudge against him. I wasn't angry or upset about what had happened. It simply was. And though my love was real, it wasn't enough to cling to his ghost and hope for a future together in whatever form possible. At any time the power that allowed him to use Mitchell's body would fade. I couldn't give him what he really wanted. I couldn't give him his life back. Now, the only thing I wanted to give him and myself was peace.

I couldn't help the mournful smile that crinkled the skin between my brows as I searched Mitchell's cold black eyes for the warm brown ones I knew I would never see again. "I'm not mad." I said quietly.

"Don't lie to me BB. If you aren't mad then why do you look like that? Like you —"

"Ryan." I cut him off, "would you like to see Kit?"

His lips pressed into a fine line and the corners of his mouth turned down with heavy emotion. His eyebrows held the same sad tension mine did. And after a moment he nodded.