Page 41 of His to Take

“Rex!” Amanda slapped her son and stood up. “You take that back!”

“No, Mom. It’s true. She’s fucking an alien so she can be the queen of the world.” He stood up, did a dramatic twirl and tucked his folded hands under his chin to blink at her. “And you’ve graciously graced us with… your grace. So sweet.”

“You think it’s so great being his mate, Rex? His people hate me, they think I’m beneath them, and then there’s you, sneering at me for something I had no choice in.” It came back to her that Rager said he hadn’t known she didn’t want to be mated to him. Then why the ultimatum? To get over any objections her father might have? That made sense, but right now, all she wanted to do was slap Rex’s snarky face.

“They think you’re beneath them?” he asked, incredulous. “You’re pure-blood.”

“Apparently, there’s more pure than even my blood. They were here before…” she paused when he leaned closer. What had she just revealed? Was it a secret?

“Thanks for that information, Ann. My organization can use it. But you’re still disgusting, and I hope you die in childbirth!” He stormed away then, and Ann couldn’t say anything to him.

“Ann, oh my darling girl, I’m so sorry for what Rex just said. I’m so sorry.” Amanda rushed to her side and led her to the table where they all used to work to prepare family meals together. What had happened, what had she done so wrong? She’d only protected her people.

Her eyes filled with tears, and she let them spill. She wanted to go back to those simpler days, when Rex’s tantrums weren’t so bad, when she believed there could be a decent future for them all. Now, Rex wanted her to die and hated her.

“He’s not taking this well at all,” she said, finally.

“No. He’s not. I’m worried about him, to be honest. Since you were married, mated, to the alien, he’s gotten worse. I don’t know what to do.”

“I don’t either,” Ann said and dropped her head to her arms to sob. She cried tears she hadn’t known she had as she sat there with Amanda.

Amanda tried to make her smile, tried to ease her tears, and then finally just wrapped her arm around Ann. “I’m so sorry, honey. I wish I could make this all go away or be better somehow.”

“Thank you, Amanda. I know there isn’t a lot you can do. And you did so much. You were like a second mom to me for so long. I know you want to help, but I think you need to focus on Rex. He’s going to get himself into trouble if he keeps on.”

“I worry about that boy.”

Ann stood up, grabbed a towel and dried her face. She straightened her back bone, and sniffed one last time. “I can’t do anything to help him. I don’t know what would help him. I would if I could, but he seems determined to stay on this course of hatred. It makes no sense, Amanda. I know he hates being a servant, but this hatred? It’s insane.”

“I know, honey. I guess we’ll just have to hope he doesn’t take it further.”

Her mother came back in, saw Ann’s red face, and assumed it was because of her fall. “Ann! Baby, I’m fine! Don’t be so upset!”

She rushed to Ann and hugged her tight. Ann took the embrace, because she needed it. It was nice to be in her mother’s arms after Rex’s words. She wanted to rush home, but both she and her mother treasured their time together, so she stuck it out. He wouldn’t be back in now. He’d had the last word, and that was all that mattered to him. She knew that from past experience with him.

They had lunch and talked about plans for the week to come. Amanda joined in, one of the family, not a servant, no matter what the servants said. She had to follow what James told her, he would report her to the aliens if not, but if Mary asked for her, he couldn’t complain. She was the head of the household, not James.

She had started to smile again by the time she was ready to head home. She needed to take a shower to get rid of the headache her tears had caused and get dressed for dinner. Rager was a soldier, but he liked to look nice when they ate, and she’d automatically followed suit.

“You come back any time, baby girl. You know you always have a place to come home to, if you need it,” Mary said as she hugged Anne goodbye.

“I know, Mom. I love you.”

“I love you, Ann. Now get home to that mate of yours.” Mary brushed some of Ann’s brown hair behind her ear with a tender smile, and then kissed her cheek. “See you soon.”

“Bye, Mom.” Ann waved at her Mom as she got into her transporter, a smile still in place. That smile froze when she glanced at the side of the house. Rex was there, and he wasn’t alone.

Some pretty, little blond wolf girl leaned against the side of the house, her eyes wide and adoring as she looked up at Rex. Her Rex! But not anymore. He cast his eyes at Ann, long enough for her to see he knew she was there, and then he leaned down to kiss the girl, and not in a brotherly way. He pulled her hips close to his as he kissed her, and she didn’t fight him at all.

If he’d wanted to drive home his point, then he’d just done that. It hurt, but not because he was kissing someone else. It hurt because he wanted to hurt her. That he’d done all of that deliberately.

She might have been forced to mate with Rager, but he knew that. Even if he wanted to believe now that she’d chosen to be mated to Rager, he knew better. They all did. And he took out his contrived anger on her, like a child!

She let a sneer spread over her face, raised her left eyebrow, and sat down in her transporter. Maybe it wasn’t so bad she’d escaped him, she decided. She’d felt bad since she’d been mated to Rager. Now? Well, now she knew she was nothing more than a pawn, but she didn’t feel so bad about how much she adored Rager’s attentions.

Rex only wanted her because he was playing with her, the way a cat would a mouse. She could see that now. She’d been little more than a toy to him.

To be fair, she kind of felt the same way about Rager. He’d wanted someone to play house with, someone to play at husband and wife, like some 1950s TV show. He’d found a way to force her into it, despite his claim he didn’t know she didn’t want to be mated to him.