Mated to the Beast of the Wasteland novel Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Go Look for Me in Hell

Gillian turned down the volume on the voice screaming in her ear.
“You can yell all you want,” she said coldly into her wrist terminal. “I’ve got a picture of you bare-*ssed. Transfer me a hundred million coins right now, or I’ll post the photo of you with no d*ck all over StarNet!”
The other end went dead silent.
A second later, a furious roar exploded from the speaker.
“I knew she took a picture! D*mn it! Kill her! Kill her now!”
Gillian remembered her past life. Before everything fell apart, Ethan had paid her a million coins as “compensation” in the academy’s name. He’d promised to fix everything, just to shut her up.
So they would pay to make this go away.
But she had a new price in mind.
A sharp, cold smile touched Gillian’s lips.
“Two hundred million. Transfer it now. Or in ten seconds, this photo goes to every StarNet forum I can find. Ten… nine… eight… seven…”
She didn’t even finish counting. Two hundred million coins landed in her account.
Gillian didn’t notice the tall figure passing by her quiet corner of the corridor. He’d heard every single word, and let out a low, scornful snort as he watched her leave.
Talk about greed. Demanding two hundred million just like that.
Gillian’s expression turned even colder. “You people sure are rich.”
She brought up the auction site on her wrist terminal right away. She bought the twelve mountains around Wilder Peak and all the nearby flatlands.
It cost her less than twenty million coins.
When she tried to buy more, a message flashed, “Land purchase eligibility limit reached.”
Only then did she realize buying land in Wasteland City required special credentials.
She’d been using… her beastmate’s clearance.
So Merrick has been stationed in Wasteland City for years. To be able to buy this much…
Her eyes widened slightly. What is going on here?
She tapped into the account details. Next to her personal account was a new sub-account—a military joint account shared with Merrick.
She felt a surge of joy.
Without hesitation, she moved every last coin from her personal account into the new joint one. She also re-registered all the land she’d just bought under this account.
Finally, she attached the naked photo and sent it to Merrick.
Ethan’s voice oozed with fake concern. “Gillian, you have to trust the academy. Don’t be scared. The Cleric Academy will get you justice. Let’s meet tomorrow. We can settle this quietly, and then—”
Gillian knew the money would be worthless if she stayed in Goldspine City. She’d just be easy prey. They were only trying to calm her down.
“My wrist terminal is dying. It’s crashing. Sorry,” Gillian cut him off flatly.
Ethan was stunned. Wrist terminals ran on micro-generators—they kept working even if the user was dead.
He hadn’t expected Gillian to be this sharp. His voice rose sharply.
“Gillian! Don’t you want your Cleric License anymore? How did you become so unreasonable? You were always the most obedient, well-behaved student!”
How did that quiet girl who never talked back turn into this?
“I will get my Cleric License, and I’ll come for it myself,” Gillian snapped, her voice icy.
“And I’m warning you: if you dare touch any of the other clerics who graduated with me, I’ll spill this entire story to the whole star system!”
She cut the call cleanly and immediately deactivated her old comms account.
A Cleric License? Wasteland City only respects real power, not some piece of paper! Let them try coming for me in Wasteland City!
Still not feeling safe, she took off her own wrist terminal and Mabel’s too.
She walked to the shuttle’s waste disposal unit and dropped both devices inside.
Go look for me in hell.
The wrist terminals were quickly incinerated as fuel.
Just wait. I’ll come back for your worthless lives.
*****
Back in Goldspine City, inside Grayson Manor, Felix Grayson, the family heir, lay in bed, his face contorted with rage.
“Freeze all of Gillian’s accounts! Lock onto her wrist terminal signal! Then send people to her house and drag her back here! I’ll break every bone in her body!”
“Sir… it’s gone,” a pale subordinate said, staring at his own wrist terminal.
“What’s gone?!” Felix roared.
Ethan, standing nearby, hurried over to check. Gillian’s wrist terminal account was already deactivated.
“Sir, we can’t lock onto her signal anymore,” the subordinate trembled. “She’s… she’s disappeared from Goldspine City!”
“Useless! You’re all useless! Why aren’t you dead?!” Felix’s shouts shook the room. “Lock down the entire city! Find her!”
“Sir, calm down! Your wounds are splitting open! You’re bleeding! Call the doctor!” a servant cried.
“Gillian! I’ll make you die!”
Felix looked utterly insane as he swept everything off his nightstand.
Ethan backed away in terror and slipped quietly out of the room.
If I stay here, he might kill me in his rage.
Of the thirty graduating clerics, only Gillian had caused trouble. The rest were under control. As long as he kept his head down, the family head probably wouldn’t punish him too harshly.
*****
“Gillian?!”
Mabel jolted awake, panicked when she saw Gillian was gone, and scrambled to her feet.
“Mabel, what’s wrong?”
Freya walked over with a pack of rations, seeing Mabel upset and alone.
“Gillian’s gone! I can’t find her!” Mabel said, voice tight with worry.
“Don’t panic. I’ll help you look. She can’t be far on this shuttle. She’s safe,” Freya murmured soothingly.
Just then, Gillian returned. She saw Freya leading a worried Mabel back, and hurried over to take her grandmother’s arm.
“Grandma, I’m right here. I just went to dispose of something.”
Mabel felt a little embarrassed for overreacting, but the fear had been real. She lowered her head, squeezing Gillian’s hand tightly.
“It’s okay. As long as you’re safe.”
“You two have such a close bond,” Freya said with genuine warmth, a touch of envy in her voice. Her own family was gone.
“Thank you, Freya,” Gillian said.
She noticed the insignia on the collar of Freya’s black uniform.
Freya’s a captain?
Freya pressed the ration pack into Gillian’s hands.
“Gillian, once you’re with the 9th Legion, we’re family. No need for thanks. I saw you rushed over without supplies, so I grabbed you some rations. What’s your beastmate’s name? I’ll get you registered.”
“Sorry, Freya, my wrist terminal broke. I need a new one. But I remember the name on the certificate was Merrick Cole,” Gillian said calmly, though a flicker of annoyance crossed her face.
“Your wrist terminal broke?” Freya asked, eyes sharpening slightly.
Just how much trouble is she in that she had to dump it?
“Yeah,” Gillian replied, her face neutral, as if it were just bad luck.
Freya decided not to push. Broken is broken. She’s on the shuttle now. We can get her a new one.
“Your beastmate is Merrick Cole?” she repeated, frowning slightly. The name didn’t ring a bell.
The 9th Legion recruited a lot of people in Goldspine City this time. It’s normal I don’t know everyone.
“Is something wrong?” Gillian asked, noticing her hesitation.
“Nothing,” Freya said, shaking her head. “The 9th Legion has over a hundred thousand beastmen. I can’t know every single one.”
Gillian felt a twinge of disappointment. She’d hoped to ask Freya about him.
After all, they shared a core bond. It could only be broken if one of them died.
Thinking about the babies in her belly, she had no plans for anyone else.
Elias and Asher were the best gifts he could have given her.
It would be best if they could make it work. If not… she would find a way.
“Thanks for the food, Freya,” Gillian said.
“No problem,” Freya replied with a smile. “I have to get back. Since your terminal’s broken, you can go to the shuttle’s central hub and get a military-issued one using Merrick’s name.”
Gillian felt grateful. She hadn’t expected a free, high-security military terminal.
People in Goldspine City would not be able to track her anymore.
“It’s not just the terminal,” Freya went on. “I got you onto the shuttle, but for housing, you’ll need to file a request with your beastmate for quarters on base. Once you have your new terminal, apply through the 9th Legion’s StarNet portal.”
Freya was incredibly thorough, and Gillian truly appreciated her help.