Mated to the Beast of the Wasteland novel Chapter 226

Chapter 226 What’s a Dad?

Chapter 226 What’s a Dad?

Merrick pulled the blade off his back. He didn’t need to shift for something this small.

He flickered sideways, ghosting the root strike, and brought his blade down cold and precise.

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The spider lily shrieked as her roots hit the dirt. She yanked them back and came again, faster, meaner, no fear at all. That total disregard for getting hurt was chilling.

Gillian’s psionic power shot forward and wrapped around the red-haired girl’s waist. “Stop

The spider lily caught a familiar scent. She sniffed and didn’t strike.

That smells like Mom.

Lily waited until Merrick had thoroughly beaten the new girl down, then casually strolled over, grabbed her hand, and hissed, “Stop fighting. That’s Dad. He hits really hard. You can’t beat him.”

“Dad?” The girl’s eyes were shut, but the confusion was all over her face.

Dad? What’s a Dad?

“Dad’s the one who punishes you when you’re bad.”

Lily stood on her tiptoes and pressed her concentrate-wet finger to the spider lily’s lips. A punch, then candy. She’d perfected the move.

The spider lily got lost in the taste, and Lily licked her own lips. “He chopped my roots off too. They still ache. But if you don’t start fights for no reason, Mom will protect you.”

She rubbed her butt with exaggerated drama, and her roots shivered along with her.

The spider lily tilted her head, the black bloom behind her ear swaying. “But he’s so mean.”

Her roots twisted and scraped little grooves into the dirt.

The two flower beasts chattered back and forth in something that definitely wasn’t Outer Planet beast tongue. Merrick’s frown deepened.

Their own language. That meant the Binary Parasitic Beasts had a civilization. Their origins were way more complicated than he’d thought.

Gillian couldn’t follow a word, but Lily’s body language made it obvious. She was definitely telling the new girl about Merrick hacking her roots off. The pouty little faces were honestly kind of adorable.

Merrick kept his expression cold. His jaw was tight, his gaze flat as it swept over them, especially the spider lily. The message was clear. Swing those roots at anyone again, and he’d cut every last one.

“Lily, protect your mom.”

Lily caught his look and nodded. She would.

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Chapter 226 What’s a Dad?

The spider lily didn’t understand the words, but she read the look just fine.

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Lily dragged her over to Gillian. Every few steps she snuck a glance at Merrick. He didn’t stop them, so her little shuffle sped up.

“Lily!”

Gillian was already moving toward them.

“Mom!”

Lily launched herself into Gillian’s arms, drinking in her scent.

Gillian caught her and held tight.

The red-haired girl stood frozen, hands hanging at her sides, not sure what to do with herself.

Gillian asked, “Lily, is this a spider lily?”

“Yes.”

Gillian stared at the familiar bloom, and her mind flicked back to her last life. The red flowers that had

covered the flesh wall behind the beast horde.

Did they come from this little one?

Gillian went quiet, and Lily looked up, suddenly unsure. “Mom, are you mad?”

She tugged at Gillian’s hand, her voice thin. “She didn’t mean to attack/Dad. She just felt danger.”

“It’s okay. I know.”

The second Gillian spoke, the red-haired girl turned toward her voice. Another one with bad eyes, squeezed shut.

Gillian’s white healing psionic power climbed up the girl’s face and fixed her vision.

The spider lily’s eyes flew open, and she clapped her hands over them.

Even at night, with just the moon and the searchlights near Gillian, the colors hit her hard. She’d never seen any of it before.

She made out Lily. Then Gillian. Her pale red eyes went wide. “Lily? Mom?”

Gillian nodded. Lily blinked.

The spider lily turned and spotted Merrick-the very one who’d just hacked off her roots.

He was tall, with a brutal, crushing aura. His face was carved from stone, his mouth pressed thin. He caught her looking and, after a long beat, slid his blade back into its sheath.

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