Page 5 of Monster’s Redemption (Monsters in the Mountains #9)

Blythe

I n, and out. In, and out.

My chest rose and fell with my internal chant as I worked to keep from breaking down. My muscles trembled with weakness, my throat was parched despite the great gulps I’d drank from the stream, and my neck throbbed in time with the aching pulse anchored behind my ribs.

I’m alive. He’s gone. I’ll survive.

The walking had made the burning between my thighs grow, and even though I’d washed our fluids from my thighs, my dress still stank of Dicean. With nothing else to change into and night falling, washing it hadn’t been an option, but the stench was getting to me.

Ashes .

We used ashes to scrub with, and while it would likely stain the fabric, how it looked didn’t matter as much as my peace of mind.

Not knowing how long it would be before Fin’hir returned, I stripped the dress and my shift over my head and knelt by the fire. Even right in front of it I shivered from the cold of the cave, but nothing was going to stop me from eliminating the smell of the alpha rotting where we’d left his body. If the ash wouldn’t cover it, I might just toss the bundle into the flames and risk death from exposure.

Taking handfuls from the edge of the ring and ignoring the little pricks of heat from tiny embers, I rubbed it into the seat of my shift, where our fluids had leaked from me and soaked the fabric. I barely felt the tears that ran down my cheeks as I worked, scrubbing until the pale fabric was grey from waist to knee.

My dress was both worse and better. The scent of his seed and my slick was less, but his stench was all over the dress where he’d grabbed and held me. It wasn’t strong, but it still burned my nose and drove me to coat the whole thing in a layer of ash.

Noise behind me snapped me out of the mindless kneading, and I rose to shake out my shift before tugging it over my head. It was barely better than being nude and left me chilled, and while I doubted Fin’hir cared if I was attired at all, it made me feel better to cover myself.

A dark shape moved within the shadows of the opening, his massive form appearing with a pile of logs beneath each arm. Part of me was ashamed that he was having to go to extra effort for me when he’d made it clear he didn’t want the responsibility of providing for me, but the other part was thankful he hadn’t sent me on my way or left me to fend for myself.

When I’d realized he was an alpha a bolt of fear had lanced through me, my body tightening in preparation for another assault, but other than his very obvious erection and the one flash of something I may have misinterpreted in his eyes, he hadn’t shown any interest in me. We clearly weren’t the same species, and I couldn’t fault him for a natural response to my pheromones even if he didn’t find me pleasing.

But why did I care? I should be glad he turned away.

Blaming hormones and a horrible day, I turned my thoughts to more immediate concerns. I left the ashes on my dress to absorb as much as possible, bundling it against the wall opposite where I spotted the pile of furs he’d claimed was his bed. It felt strange to take his bedding, but he’d instructed me to, and I was growing cold enough to realize it was necessary, whether I wanted to or not.

The sweet scent of honeysuckles surrounded me as I wrapped one fur around my shoulders and took another to cover the stone, so it didn’t leech away what little heat I had. There was a spicy undertone to the smell, something I couldn’t name, but it eased some of the fear still lingering in my mind.

I would survive.

I couldn’t say why I was so determined to after having asked Fin’hir to end my life. Perhaps it was his assurance that my life could still have meaning and happiness. While I might not be able to believe him yet, especially about the second part, there was still a tiny piece that clung to the hope that he was right.

“I am unfamiliar with humans. Is there anything else you require for the night?”

The big monster seemed to grow more formal the longer we were together, and I could only think it was because he was having regrets. I didn’t want to be a burden to him, but I was aware I had nothing to survive with other than the clothes I’d been wearing.

“If you have a knife I can use to prepare the rabbit, I can take care of it. Thank you for getting the wood. And… everything else.”

The last sentence came out quieter as I dropped my eyes to the fire. I didn’t want to see how he felt about the events of the day. His life had surely changed as much as mine, at least for the moment.

My neck throbbed and I winced, but I stopped my hand before it reached the bite wound. I’d cleaned the blood away in the stream, but without an alpha’s saliva to heal it, it was still bleeding and painful.

“I do not have a knife. What needs done to the rabbit?”

Biting my bottom lip, I blinked back tears. What was one more thing he had to do for me?

“Humans only eat the meat of the animal. It needs to be skinned, and the offal and head removed.”

“Wasteful.”

The word was muttered so low I wasn’t sure he’d intended it to be heard, but I was distracted from any response when he picked up the body and removed the head.

With his teeth.

Perhaps too much had happened for me to be any more shocked, because despite thinking I should be repulsed when he swallowed, I found myself shrugging. He was right, throwing the head away was a waste, and if he was willing to eat it, then why not?

I settled across the fire from him, watching him use his claws to make short work of dressing the rabbit. The offal disappeared the way the rabbit’s head had, my stomach turning a bit at the slurp, but I had to admit it was the easiest way to deal with the mess.

Either he knew how to cook or had seen humans do it before, because he thrust a thin branch through the meat before passing it to me. I held it over the flames as I watched him scrape the backside of the hide with his claws before stretching it out on the stone floor of the cave.

“So, you live here alone?”

Golden eyes flashed at me before turning away.

“Yes.”

His tone was rough, my instincts rising to warn me away, but it was better to focus on the monster than what had happened.

“Are there others of your kind nearby?”

“No.”

He rose and turned his back to me, moving to his bed. I couldn’t make out what he was doing when he leaned over, and I also couldn’t seem to stop my questions when it would have been smarter to leave him alone.

“Does your kind usually live alone? What do you call yourselves? Are there many of you?”

He stood again, those golden orbs glowing in the firelight. A chill stole through my chest, my neck and core both burning where my flesh was injured as he closed the space between us.

“No, we do not always live alone. There are not as many of us as there are humans, which is why we choose to remain hidden. You call us Monsters, although it seems humans have earned that title more than us.”

My jaw clamped shut, my eyes stinging. Even though he was the only one of his kind I’d encountered, I had to agree with him.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

I stared at my hands, sucking in a deep breath filled with the scent of him. Despite myself, it was calming, and I held the fresh wave of tears at bay.

“Eat, omega, and then get some rest. You can ask your questions tomorrow.”

Sighing, I nodded, pulling the rabbit from the flames to check the meat. I hadn’t meant to, but I’d ended up burning it the way he’d said I would, but I couldn’t find it in me to care.

I startled when something dropped next to me, my eyes darting to the fur before going to where I’d left the second one I’d claimed against the wall by my dress.

“You need it more than I do,” came his soft voice before he turned away and returned to his bed.

Chest and throat tight, it took a long time to force the rabbit down and crawl to my pitiful nest.