Imara Diversifies The Beastmen World

Chapter One Hundred and Forty Five: Truly Divine

I won't lie and say it wasn't a little unpleasant to see. On any other day, in any other place, this would have been terrible to witness. But this was Rosa finally facing the consequences of her own actions.

It meant way much more that it came from her family—from inside her circle—not just from the outside world crashing down on her.

Maybe this would wake her up. Maybe not. In the novel I read, it never did. Even after losing everything.

In the original story, her father was killed by Curtis. Her and her mom imprisoned and poor Rosetta mates killed and only god knows what happen to her after that. As for Rosa she lost all her mates, got her tongue cut out, and still schemed with Wilbard—who used her like a tool and cast her aside when she was no longer useful—just to get back at Bai. No matter what it cost her. No matter what she had to endure.

I sighed, brushing off the weight of it and turned toward Wilbard, signaling that my part was done.

I winked at Memi, who winked right back.

Bai caught my glance from where she was huddled with Parker and the guys. She nodded and settled in again, looking more relaxed than before.

Wilbard looked at me but said nothing. The room was quiet. The only sounds left were Rosetta's quiet sniffles as she sat beside Winfrey on the floor, close to their daughter.

Rosa lay still now, draped across Winfrey's lap. Her father had used his beast pressure to knock her unconscious after her screaming, cursing, and wild attacks grew too much for anyone to handle. Her mates and a few guards gathered furs to cover them, giving them whatever comfort they could.

Winfrey gave a small signal, and one of the ape men approached with a bowl and several sacred materials in his hands—ritual tools for calling on the Beast God.

To lay Rosa's fate before the divine.

And then suddenly... it hit me. The air. The weight of what we were about to do.

We were about to call on a God.

Not just speak his name. Not just pray in silence. But ask him to judge.

To appear.
To respond.

The very Beast God who had touched my life. The one who gave me power, gifts, that I'm still trying to wrap my head around and understand, and the one who keeps calling to me still.

Though I've felt him... been led by him... I haven't yet truly stood in his presence.

Not fully.
Not face to face.

I felt a strange mix inside me—anticipation, nerves, excitement... and fear.

I was going to truly witness the Beast God.

I always thought I'd be prepared for that moment. Make myself ready somehow. I get to really see how foolish of a thought that was. I was tripping and I aint even doing the summoning.

But how do you prepare to meet the divine? Standing this close to a real summoning... it hit me in a way I wasn't ready for.

I felt myself drift for a bit into a zone no longer in the present moment.

My mates were talking to me, worried from the lingering weight of Winfrey's beast pressure. I think I answered them? Maybe I nodded. Maybe I didn't.

I just kept thinking...Who can really sit in a moment like this and say, "Oh, I'm fine. I've got this handled or I'm used to it or I am ready?"

Not me.
Not even close.

Who would ever be so foolish?

To be called by a God...
To be chosen when you know how unworthy you are...
To stand at the edge of something holy and not tremble?