• Release Day is Dec 18th. It will go up on Amazon for 99cents because the Zon doesn’t allow setting a book for free UNLESS it’s reported free elsewhere. So there will be a delay. Nothing I can do about it but to try and speed up the reporting process. NOTE: Amazon is a private company. The free book pricing are up to their discretion.
Chapter 1
I rose from kneeling in prayer. I prayed to God and asked him to preserve my flesh from being eaten by the beast man who’d bought me.
“Don’t be afraid,” my mother said and nudged me toward the large double doors of our sanctuary.
I took the backpack filled with my necessities Mom handed me and put it on my back.
My father joined us. “Your mother’s right. He wouldn’t have spent money on you if he didn’t want you in once piece.”
“And not eaten,” I said. “Don’t forget that.” My new husband bought me through the Beast Pairing Program, an agreement between the beasts who ruled the Earth and human Great Nuclear War survivors. They came, saw women, and took them into their cities. The beasts were rumored to eat their pairs. It could be said I was an expensive dish.
Dad stayed optimistic. “He’s not gonna eat you honey. Go on.” He pushed the small of my back, but my feet wouldn’t move.
I was supposed to meet my beast husband outside, where he landed his space bike. “Is he big?”
“No.”
I smiled. Dad didn’t want to sell me, but he also wanted to avoid the beasts’ wrath and feed all the mouths at our community with the money he got for me. Besides, he believed the beast would give me a better life in their city. “What’s he do for a living?”
“He’s a pilot,” my mother said. “A decorated pilot. One of their finest, I hear.”
“Maybe he’ll fly away, then,” I said. My parents didn’t appear amused. I scowled at them. “He’s gonna eat me.”
“He won’t, honey, and he’s not as big as the Alpha Beast.”
“I stand comforted.” Not. The way we measured the size of a human man didn’t apply to beasts. Their small was our giant, and the Alpha Beast was rumored to be a giant.
The sanctuary doors swung open and banged against the walls. I whimpered. Three large beasts stomped inside and marched across the narrow path, heading straight for the circular altar where we stood. As they drew near, my heart hammered and my knees shook. I gripped my mother’s hand for dear life.
The bigger two of the three stood back, as the third one approached. I measured him. Probably as large as our front door. I didn’t dare look him in the eye, so I found a comfortable place to look at, right on the smiling joker face tattooed on his naked chest. Did he not believe in T-shirts? Though his chest wasn’t too bad to look at.
One claw hooked under my chin and pushed up. I locked my gaze with his. His eyes were blue, same color as mine. Except, when I smiled up at him, his blue turned pale.
I stepped back.
“Hello, there,” he cooed, his voice deep, warm and—surely what he thought—comforting. From his back pocket, he pulled out a brown leather collar. He held it up and said, “For my pretty bitch.”
Oh! My eyes widened at the same time as one of the other beast man slapped his forehead and shook his head.
Troy went on and fitted the collar around my neck. He stepped back, examined his work. I must’ve looked like the girl who got hit with the bitch stick, because he went on to comfort me. “Don’t be afraid. My name is Troy, and I’m your beast.”
Should I bark? Uncertain of their customs, I said, “Well, not too many girls can say they’ve got their own beast. Usually, they’re looking for princes.”
“Would you rather have a prince?” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder, and the biggest beast of them all winked at me, then smiled. Oh horror. His canines had to be the size of my forefinger. I looked back at Troy, measured his shoulders. Then I measured the other one’s shoulders. “Forget the prince.”
“Thought so.” Troy nodded at my dad and gripped the back of my neck. I wondered if he’d brought a leash. “Let’s head out,” he said.
“Just one more thing,” my dad said, and Troy paused in his step. “If you hurt my daughter, I will… I will find a way to end you.”
My dad was the best.
“Oh, I intend to hurt her, ol’ man. Just not harm her.” What? He slapped a hand over my dad’s shoulder. “She’s in capable hands. Now, where’s our pairing party?”