More Than Just Baser Instincts.

“That is quite a mark on your neck, Elaine,” my mother murmured, holding the cloth firmly to my wrist. “Tiberius won’t like that.”

“Tiberius can rot in hell for all I care; I have a mate,” I spat, cringing against the pain. “Mom, why are you even here? Why haven’t you run away?”

“You love Quince very much, don’t you?” I nodded fervently. “And you would forgive him for anything he ever did?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Well… The fates gave me a demon for a mate. I have no choice but to love him until he’s dead, no matter how I feel about it.” Her beautiful eyes brimmed with tears.

“And… Arianna, my sister?”

“Sometimes Gerald makes mistakes. He did not pair Arianna with her mate on purpose, but I’m very glad it happened. Now all they need…is to escape this horrible place. For the sake of their children, I pray they do.”

She removed the bloody rag and returned it to the bowl of water, not saying anything else.

“Mom, I can’t stay here.”

She smiled. “Nor would I want you to, sweetheart. Just promise me that when you do, you’ll tell your mate that I more than approve of him. And tell Lucille thanks for everything.”

“Christine! What did I say about talking about that woman?”

I glowered at my father, and my heart broke at the way my mother nodded mutely.

“Leave Elaine and I.”

“But—”

“Christine, go!”

“I hate you,” I told him as soon as the door closed. “You’ll rot for what you do to your mate.”

“Oh, let’s talk about mates, shall we?” he offered, smiling mockingly at me. “Yours is Tiberius, and he is dying to meet you.”

“Quince is my mate, and you can’t change that no matter how much you wish you could.”

“That mark on your neck is repulsive, yes,” my father agreed with a bored tone in his dark voice, “but it is meaningless all the same. The fact that you would let such a disgusting, inferior creature attack you in such a way only proves to me that your mother stealing you from here was a terrible tragedy with horrific consequences.”

This man clearly did not believe in the sanctity of mates.

“How did you feel about my mom when you first saw her?” I whispered, choking on my regret. My poor mother! To love a monster…

He cocked his head to the side. “What are you talking about?”

“Why my mother?” I snapped, ignoring the tears in my eyes. “Why her!”

“She was a desirable female. Fertile, capable of bearing strong offspring—or so I thought.”

“Why can’t you just say she’s beautiful and you love her?”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Is that what you think this life is about? Silly trifles such as that?” I stared at him, returning the same spiteful look that he offered to me. “That mutt filled your head with lies just to get you into his bedroom. You know that, right? He doesn’t care about you, just about the fact that you’re a willing female. He’s just like every—”

“Shut up about him!”

My father stepped back hesitantly, effectively startling me. Only then did I realise how sharp my canines had become, and only then did I hear how truly feral and raspy my voice was. A quick glance toward a mirror revealed that my eyes were mere slits.

“You’re so protective over that…Transvaal,” he hissed, but it did not hold quite the same strength. “Good thing I found Tiberius.”

He started toward the door, and I scoffed after him before lying back on my bed. These damnable wounds needed to heal so I could escape.

“I would sooner slit my own throat before I took another as my mate, Gerald,” I told my pillow.

His steps faltered, but then he glanced back unworriedly with that bored, glazed look. “I’d recover.”

I slept for two hours, allowing my body to heal in the hopes that I could leave soon; not knowing if my mate had made it out safely was eating at me, putting me so far on edge that it was all I could think about when I was awake. The angry beast inside me was pacing furiously, pushing at the walls behind which I had somehow placed it. Every second, the line grew thinner—it was obvious when my eyes flashed to slits and my canines stabbed into my own tongue.

She wanted to be with him, but she was still bitter about desiring such an inferior male. This creature only knew how to deal with this frustration in the most primal way: by screaming out her ire. Well, I was sure she would rather rip Gerald to shreds, but that wasn’t going to happen unless my wrist healed properly and I could actually form some kind of coherent threat.

I was pulled from my dwelling when the door creaked open. Her face was blank, but her eyes… Something festered behind that otherwise blank gaze.

“Elaine?” my sister whispered, closing the door swiftly behind her before scuffling up to me.

I forced my beast into hiding, and my smile was painful to hold.

“Is something wrong?”

She began to shake her head, but then she stopped. “Yes…”

I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Leonard is with our offspring right now, and Father is fuming in the Grand Hall. He was screaming at the guards, demanding Tiberius be escorted here immediately. You..." She swallowed what looked to be a hard breath. "You grew up outside of this place, didn't you?"

"Yes, in Illinois. I only recently moved to the Central Sector—Home."

"To be with..."

"Quince, yes." I sat up in the bed, resting my head against the headboard. "It was originally for the job—because something was calling me there. But I guess that something was my mate." My lip quivered for only a second. "Have you ever been forced away from Leonard?"

"No."

"It is very hard to cope. When I think of all the time wasted with Quince, I..." I choked. "Anyway, what's the matter, Arianna? You look troubled."

She shuffled closer to the bed, leaning into my ear before she whispered, "Your Transvaal is coming for you, right?"

I nodded. "He's going to lead a revolt and free everyone here. I did not know he was the lead male of Home until..." I shook my head. That idiot. "Yes, he's coming back for me."

"And you won't remain here?"

"I could never be happily confined in this place," I muttered, my eyes darting to my clone when her hand gripped mine with unexpected firmness.

"Elaine..."

"Yes?"

Her lips were all but on my ear when she whimpered, "Take my sons with you."

"No, I'll take you with me. And Leonard, and your babies. Don't be ridiculous!"

She shook her head. "You don't understand! I can't be a mother!" Arianna hissed, flinging herself from my side and wrapping her arms around herself as she trembled. "I can't! I can't do it! But you!" Then she flitted to my side again, grabbing at my hands feverishly. "But you can! You and Quince can take my cubs away from this place!"

"Arianna, what are you talking about! You and Leonard will do fine!"

"We didn't want children yet," she whimpered, shaking her head as her eyes brimmed with such sudden and unexplained tears. "We wanted to travel, to run away. Leonard used to talk about seeing every inch of the world, growing old together. But then Father—" she spat the word "—started hounding us about our inability to rear any cubs. When I found out I was pregnant... Leonard knew. He just...gave up on ever leaving. He said he couldn't risk the cubs getting hurt." She pulled my hand toward her, effectively jerking me closer. "But once you take them, things will go back to normal!"

"I won't let you abandon your cubs!"

"I'm not abandoning them! Don't you understand? They'll have a terrible life with us! You just don't get it... As long as we have them, we're stuck here in this horrible prison. Take them and leave! Take them, and then Leonard will go back to how he was, and then we can actually be a family! Right now we're just broken pieces... He's too worried about the cubs to risk running, but if you take care of them, we can run."

"You... But when I leave, everyone is going to be freed."

"And if your mate's pack doesn't want a war on their hands? What then? Leonard and I will help you sneak out—if you'll take my cubs with you."

"You... You swear you'll come back for them?"

"They're my cubs, Elaine. I may not have wanted children so early, but they're mine. I wouldn't leave them to live a life always wondering who their parents were. The only thing worse than not knowing...was learning what a horrible man Father is and how he beat all of the life out of Mother." She released my hand and backed away carefully. "Please, will you do it? I'll tell Leonard right now, and he'll think of a way to slip you out of here."

She was my sister, and those little cubs in there were my nephews. What choice did I have? Thank goodness Quince sure seemed keen on the idea of children...