The Mates of Monsters novel Chapter 44

The first thing she says to me when I open the door is, "So it's true," as her cat-like eyes survey my bruise. "I didn't get to see it. I was escorted out so quickly."

I glance at Tarlo behind her. He doesn't look like he wants to step further than this. In the few seconds we have, Tarlo and I communicate through stares. He seems to ask: Will you be alright? And I say: Yes, you don't have to stay. "Please, come in," I tell Aurora.

"I'll be close by," Tarlo insists then turns the other way, being a good Beta and friend to David. I know he wouldn't let anything bad happen-the same promise David makes to me.

Aurora walks inside but we don't spend a moment too long in the foyer. I take her to the first living room; the one with a grand window that oversees the front yard. I think I might see Tarlo making rounds, or he might see me being strangled. She takes a seat and needs no instruction, so I remember to breathe and settle across from her on a tufted chair. "Just, say what you have to say," I request, wasting not even a minute on pointless pleasantries. "I'm sure you're not here to talk about the weather."

"Alright then," she shifts, "what happened at the union was a mess, was it not? I mean, my mate choked you. He said you threaten him, belittled him, and to sum it up-you were asking for it. So I've come here wanting the truth. What the hell happened, Brigette?"

"Right. I did threaten him, I guess, but in all honesty, it wasn't that serious. I just told him to watch his back because I knew his plans were a cover for something dangerous."

"I'm not stupid. I know he's always up to no good."

"Then the truth is that I called him out on it. I got him angry, he attacked me, and I took his spot to argue my own proposition."

She raises a brow. "Your proposition?"

"The Lunas proposition. I did it with Bonny."

"Look, I'm not here because of the proposition. My mate hurt you, and I'm sorry," she says. "It looks painful."

I shrug. "It isn't so bad."

"A high pain tolerance? That's good in our line of work. Are you pregnant yet?"

I shake my head, no.

"I am," she reveals, and something changes both beneath and on her surface. "We were never the obedient, Brigette. We're the brave Lunas who do what has to be done."

"A-Are you feeling well, with the pregnancy?"

"I'm almost ten weeks in, and it's getting harder to hide."

I bend forward, placing my elbows on my knees. "So you lied at our Luna lunch? You were pregnant?"

"I didn't know then. I found out about a week after. So I take it you don't hate me? Or were you trying to get rid of me as well?"

"I wasn't." My face softens. "I don't hate you, not at all. I think you're one of the few people I can believe."

"Good. Because I need you to. Because you're not the only one getting thrown around." She then slides up the sleeve of her blouse and there just above her elbow is a bruise as blue as my own. "They come and go."

"Goddess, Aurora," I mutter and ask, "He did that?"

"He's a troubled man-unpredictable, they say. Every day I beg the Goddess why she mated me to him. What did I do to deserve this? She never answers, and despite what he promises, he never stops. And I put up with it for a long time because I love him, but with the pregnancy, I can't risk it. So I've been thinking, and I think I have a solution."

"What is it?"

She glances down. "I heard about that woman who killed her mate here."

Bile rises in my stomach and I'm sure that I'm going to be sick. "Aurora-"

Her eyes gloss over and redden, but she doesn't let the tears slip away from her. "I know it's sick. I-I keep hearing him say these things; how we act like humans trapped in monster bodies, when we're really monsters trapped in human bodies. And maybe he's right. And maybe that's what I have to do; I have to be a monster."

There are no words to express my pain for her. But I know why she's come to me; it's like she knows my dreams. She's seen the disturbing nightmares that infest my sleep.

"Brave Lunas do what they have to do, but I can't do this alone."

"I... you want me to..." I shudder. "This is-"