Mated to the Beast of the Wasteland novel Chapter 51

Chapter 51 The Housewarming Toast

With George looking out for her, Gillian’s days in Wasteland City would never be too rough.

+10 Free Coms

Her second chance at life had already handed her two pieces of luck. Freya counted as one. Now George made it two.

“Hi Mrs. Parker, hi Clara. So sorry I’m late. Something came up on the way back that I had to handle.”

Gillian’s apology was written all over her face. Pushing the housewarming this late genuinely embarrassed her.

George waved her off. “Aw, c’mon, Gillian, we just got here ourselves.”

“Right,” Vivienne agreed warmly. “We just sat down a minute ago. George told me everything. Thank you for healing his arm.”

Vivienne’s gratitude went past words. Without Gillian, George would have been one of the first innocent casualties of the whole conspiracy.

“It was just luck,” Gillian said. “And George has helped me out plenty, too.”

Something about Vivienne’s face nagged at Gillian, like she’d met her somewhere in her past life.

“Gillian, you really do feel like an old friend already.”

Vivienne’s smile warmed at Gillian’s modesty. “If George calls you Gillian, then I will too.”

“Sure thing.”

Most people could spot the ones who’d survive Wasteland City at a glance.

The clerics who’d come through here usually carried that untouchable, head-in-the-clouds air about them.

Gillian was different. Her grip on life was fierce, and she’d carve out a good one here.

“I heard you’re already bonded,” Vivienne said. “I’m an OB-GYN, so if anything ever feels off, or if you just want to ask, you know, woman to woman, you come to me.”

Vivienne had heard Gillian only had Mabel left for family, no parents at all, and was about Clara’s age.

Vivienne’s heart ached for Gillian. What kind of brute had locked down someone this young?

There were probably plenty of intimate things Gillian didn’t understand yet, things she’d never raise with Mabel. Vivienne could step in there.

“Whatever you can’t figure out, just ask me or Freya. George and his crew are too rough around the edges to be any use for that kind of thing.”

“Thank you, Dr. Parker.”

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Chapter 51 The Housewarming Toast

Gillian’s throat tightened. The introduction had finally placed Vivienne for her.

“Hmm?”

+10 Free Coms

Something in Gillian’s expression caught Vivienne off guard, a flicker of recognition that looked too knowing for a first meeting.

“Gillian, have we met before?”

Gillian had met her before, just not in this life.

Back then, half of Vivienne’s body had been wrecked by the taint.

Her hair had gone white. Her face had carried the hollow look of someone who’d buried hope, and she’d looked seventy years old.

Vivienne had delivered Asher and Elias. Without her, Gillian would never have survived the birth.

For a moment Gillian hadn’t placed her. The Vivienne in front of her looked so gentle, so elegant, nothing like the broken woman she remembered.

Vivienne had been Wasteland City’s most respected OB-GYN, and the last surviving doctor of any kind.

She’d never looked for a way out. She’d stayed behind to patch up the wounded.

Vivienne used to say her husband had stood watch over this city his whole life, and now that he was gone, she’d hold the line until the end.

Plenty of military spouses held to that kind of faith.

They’d believed, in their stubborn way, that they’d make it through somehow. Every last one of them died horribly at the hands of those raiders.

“I don’t think we’ve met. But somehow it feels like we have, in another life maybe. You just feel familiar.”

Gillian swallowed the ache in her throat. Her smile came out soft and tearful. “Then I’ll be a little bold and just call you Vivienne. Mabel and I have somewhere to lean now.”

“Sweet girl.”

It finally clicked why George had insisted Vivienne would like Gillian on sight.

The girl was beautiful, thoughtful, and powerful on top of all that. Who wouldn’t fall for her?

“Gillian, I’m a student at the Wasteland Agricultural Institute. Could I bother you with questions sometimes? Mind if we trade StarNet contacts?”

Clara stood up, her smile open and easy.

Gillian took her in fully.

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10:5. wed,

Chapter 51 The Housewarming Toast

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