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I took a deep breath. “I believe all of this. I do. But… I must know what you do with the ones you take.”
The Beasts were quiet.
“Do you kill our people? Did you kill the little boy?”
“We only destroy the adults if they fight us,” the Beast said bluntly. “But the children are innocent. If they are willing, they are brought to the Father Tree to live among the other packs. The little boy was sent there, and he will find a female Beast of his own when he is of age.”
It had never occurred to me to ask why I saw no females. “Why do you want me, then? Why not a female of your species?”
Torr let out a low growl. “Because you weremadefor us. My pack chose to stay with the Mother Tree for one reason—to regain what had been taken from us. You were a gift from the Fee, and we will die out before we allow you to remain in their grasp.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a choice. Would it be another Vostok for me—where the Beasts decided I was their mate, therefore I must breed for them?
So I asked, hoping Torr would answer truthfully.
Torr shook his head. “In the Wood, you have a choice. Remember—the first woman created by the Fee chose to stay. She knew she had the Wood in her body, in her blood and breath, and this was her true home, but she was also free to choose another path.” His lips drew back over his teeth. “It is why it is so abhorrent to see an ancestor of the woman kept in a cage. It is against what the Fee intended for her life.”
That did make me feel better. I had a choice, when I had never had one before.
I knew I would choose the Wood, but I wanted time to decide if I wanted to choose the Beasts as well.
But then I noticed that more than just Ash had left. More empty spots had appeared, and even as I watched, more Beasts got up and slipped away.
“Where are they going?” I asked.
“To let us be,” Torr said, his eyes glinting. “So you can decide if we are worth being your mates.”
Chapter Twelve
My breath caughtin my throat.
Decide to be mates?
I couldn’t even fathom how I would begin to mate with one of the werewolves—they were enormous. They towered over even the tallest man in the village, making him look puny in comparison.
Not to mention my complete fear over the concept of mating as a whole. I’d always known I would one day be given to one of the men for a time, more or less long enough to get pregnant with the next Vessel, thereby passing my curse on to my own child.
That thought had always terrified me. I had never experienced the slightest sexual desire for any of the men in Vostok, only revulsion and disgust.
But being in Draven’s arms felt so warm and comfortable. I gave myself a moment to actually consider the deed.
They were huge, but… would the Fee have gifted them with a woman who couldn’t handle that? Somehow, I didn’t think so. And they were perfectly gentle with me, always aware of where they touched, and if they were close to clawing me.
They might have looked like enormous wolves who walked on two legs, but they did not inspire revulsion in me. Nor fear, now that I knew what they were like.
I pressed closer into Draven, taking a deep breath. He smelled… delightful. Like wood, and a thick but pleasant muskiness.
I tried to imagine what it would be like to take off my clothes in front of them. The only times I had ever been nude in front of men, usually the Father and Augur, were events that heralded pain.
The Beasts had never hurt me. At least not these two. I couldn’t speak for what Ash might have done.
But Ash wasn’t here, and Torr and Draven were.
I licked my lips, my mouth suddenly feeling incredibly dry. My cheeks flushed a little. “But how? We’re not physically the same.”
Torr let out a low chuckle. “We will be gentle with you. You are so small, but not as breakable as you believe. After all, you were made for us.”
The Beasts really seemed to whole-heartedly believe that I was a descendant of this woman, somehow created exactly for them. I supposed the only way to confirm such a thing was to shed my fear and try to experience it.
