Beasts and Savages (The Beastly Series Book 1) (22 page)

Tanner returned carrying two plates filled with boiled peppers and beans, some apple slices, and a small piece of coarse bread. I took a tentative bite. It was spicy and sweet, but soggy.  After days with almost no food, it tasted wonderful. I gulped down half my plate and stopped; my belly was so full it hurt. I set it next to me on the bed.

“Finished?” Tanner looked up from his nearly empty plate and handed me a glass of water.

“I can’t eat another bite.” I rubbed my stomach in satisfaction.

“Care if I finish yours, too?” He set his now empty plate down. I raised my eyebrows, but passed it to him. He ate everything that was left. “Thanks.”

I was drowsy, but I didn’t want Tanner to leave. Though, he didn’t seem to be in a hurry as he leaned back in the chair and rested his head on his hands.

“Tanner, what are Locke’s plans with me?”

Tanner sat up and sighed. “I don’t know. He said things will be decided before the gathering tonight. The original plan has changed and he wanted to talk to the council about a different plan of action.”

“Do you know what the original plan was?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know, maybe a little.” He began to chew his lip again. I considered telling him that I knew he was nervous and asking what he wasn’t telling me. Maybe he wanted to share something, but was afraid.

I hung my legs off the side of the bed and leaned toward Tanner. “Tell me everything you know.”

“There’s always been talk of raging a war against women, for as long as I can remember. The elders had meetings every day before the last sacrifice.”

“Sacrifice?” I assumed he meant the hunt, but I wanted to know for sure.

“Yeah. Dressing in stupid furs. Waiting by a campfire to be hunted down and killed. You know.” He scrunched his eyes at me.

“You weren’t dressed in fur.”

“I wasn’t there to get hunted and killed, either.”

He had a point. I motioned for him to continue.

“Weeks before the last gathering, Locke made me volunteer for the sacrifice. Told me to take Miller. We were supposed to lure you in, capture you and bring you back. He said to subdue you any way we could, but we weren’t allowed to kill or injure you if it could be helped.”

I grazed my hand over my bandaged chest and snorted. “Thanks for not injuring me.”

Tanner frowned and looked away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to. I even told him I changed my mind and didn’t want to go. Dad said it was too late. I didn’t have a choice.”

“No choice.” I rolled my eyes. “Can’t imagine how that feels.”

Tanner didn’t respond. He stared out the window. “I wasn’t afraid. Not of dying, anyway. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to do it. That I would disappoint, dishonor, my dad. Locke told me that’s why he needed me for the job. He knew that no matter what, I would see it through. I’m an obedient son.”

Tanner seemed to age quickly as he told me his story. It felt like listening to an old man recall his youth. I listened intently, trying to find meaning in every word.

“After he told me this, he reassured me in another way.” Tanner looked up. “He told me that the hunters are human, and that they don’t always kill. I didn’t understand what he meant. He told me that if I was in danger, to look the hunter in the eye, try to reach her humanity. When I asked him how he knew so much about the hunters, he told me that he’d been sacrificed, and survived.”

My stomach wrenched. I felt weak and lay back on the bed. I couldn’t form the thoughts that were racing through my head fast enough.

“Lea?” Tanner stood over me. “Did the food make you sick?”

I laughed. He had possibly told me the most meaningful thing in my life and he didn’t even know. I reached up and pulled him by his shirt until his face was right over mine. His green eyes grew wide.

 “Tanner. This is very important. Think hard before you answer.”

He looked away and bit his lip.

“Look at me,” I ordered. When I had eye contact again I asked him, “Has any other man ever survived a hunt? At all? Anyone.”

He tried to shift. I could tell he was bent in an uncomfortable position. I didn’t care. His answer was too important. He looked away, thinking, and looked back. “No. Not that I know of.”

I pulled him closer. “Are you sure? No one who has left the clan? Someone who has passed away maybe?”

“No. I’m sure. No one. That’s how he got his elder-ship so young. He knew things, understood the hunt better than anyone.” Sweat dripped from his forehead.

“How long has he been an elder?”

Tanner glanced at the door. I was scaring him, but I didn’t care. I needed answers.

“S-seventeen, no- eighteen years?” His eyes looked back into mine. I searched for the fear in his face, but there seemed to be more confusion and curiosity than anything.

I relaxed my grip on his shirt. “Does he have a scar? On his chest? An X over his heart?” I whispered the last question.

Tanner didn’t move. His eyes widened and his mouth gaped open.

“How did you? W-Why did …?” he stammered.

I released his shirt and laid my head against the bed. My legs still hung over the side and he still leaned awkwardly over me, his knees digging into the side of my leg.

I rubbed my hands over my eyes, and whispered, “Think Lea, think.”

I felt the weight of Tanner’s hand push on the mattress above my shoulder. I pulled my hands down to find him leaning directly over me, almost nose to nose. His eyes gleamed, and for a moment I was lost in circles of green with gold flecks. “Are you always this intense?”

I let out a wry laugh. “Only when I’m injured, captured, and left for dead - just to be rescued and locked in a room. You?” I widened my eyes and cocked my head, faking a look of innocent curiosity.

An expression I had never seen before flashed across his face. “No.”

“Am I interrupting something?” Locke cleared his throat and shuffled his feet. We both jerked our heads in his direction.

“No sir.” Tanner slowly stood and took a step backwards. His cheeks and ears were flushed. I sat up and turned, pulling my legs up to hug them. Embarrassment crept through my body.

Locke rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable. He shut and locked the door. I glanced at Tanner to try to read his expression. He watched Locke, rocking from one foot to the next, clenching his hands together. I decided that if Locke thought that Tanner had attacked me and tried to punish him, I would distract him with the information I had just acquired.

I turned my head back to Locke as he rushed to my side. He quickly, but gently, grabbed my head and turned my bruised cheek up. “What the hell, Tanner? What did you do to her?” His loud voice crushed the awkward silence.

Tanner jumped at his name. “N-nothing. I swear. Dad, Miller-” He stopped when Locke turned and took a step toward him.

“You let Miller in here?”

“No-I left the door open-I didn’t-” Tanner stammered.

Locke raised his hand above his head and growled, “You ignorant boy. You have one responsibility. If I can’t trust you with this-” He took another step toward Tanner. Tanner froze, his eyes full of fear. A shiver went up my spine.  I couldn’t take whatever was going to happen next.

“I know who you are!” I called out. Locke spun around, and I finished my statement, “To me.”

The anger melted off of Locke’s face. He whispered, “What did you say?”

“I said I know who you are to me,” I repeated myself quietly, looking down at my hands.

“Tanner, get out.”           

So, he did know. I wondered how long he had known, and if he ever planned to tell me. At least now I understood why he was so protective. If he hadn’t told anyone who I was, did anyone outside this house even know I was here?

Poor, confused Tanner scrambled for the door.

“He stays.” My tone was more cool and confident than my shaking body. I hoped Locke couldn’t tell.

Tanner stood still, torn.

“He doesn’t need to hear this conversation now.” Locke crossed his arms.

I glared back at him. “If you don’t let him stay now, I’ll repeat our entire conversation to him later.” I shrugged. “Maybe I’ve already told him the most important detail. Maybe I’ll refuse to talk if he leaves.”

Locke narrowed his eyes. “You seem to have taken a liking to Tanner.”

I held his gaze. “He saved me from Miller today.” I wanted to glance at Tanner, but I didn’t want to let Locke think I was going to back down.

“You drive a hard bargain.” He sighed and looked at Tanner.

I didn’t move. “My mother is flighty. I get my negotiation skills from…. another source.”

There was a flit of a smile on Locke’s face before he answered. “Fine. He stays. But he’s probably going to interrupt with questions.” He motioned for Tanner to sit in the chair. I sat up more and crossed my legs, thankful they weren’t injured.

“How, and when, did you find out?” Locke paced the room, his hands behind his back. For the first time, he seemed to have lost his air of confidence.

I shook my head. “I could ask you the same, but first show me your scar. Please?”

Tanner’s mouth fell open in shock of such a brazen request. Locke unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt and sat down next to me on the bed. I traced the fleshy white X carved into his skin. Chills traveled up my fingers. Any doubt that I had melted away with that touch. He was my mother’s mate, the one she had spared. I was his daughter.

“Mom did this to you,” I breathed. Time stood still and went on forever. Locke took my hand off his chest and held it in his own. My sweaty, stubby hand felt so fragile in his large hands, rough and dry from working.

“Your mother may have been the best thing that ever happened to me.” His eyes softened and he smiled.