Beauties and Beasts

Chapter 72: brought to you by...issues

Dela by Johnny Clegg makes an appearance, Sex and a Fight, but not a sexy fight. Aetius takes her to a mountain. This is why soap operas are not my thing.

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One morning, the sun shone down and she woke up with a smile. The air outside, while damp, felt clean and she quickly dressed in order to pursue that sunshine. Aetius stopped her outside the cave with a scowl.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I just wanted to go outside."

"Not on your cycle. Those wolf beastmen won't have gone far, especially if this is part of their territory. I'm going to clip the dry branches from the tops of the trees and smoke herbs to mask your scent." He pointed back inside the cave. "Stay under the furs until I return."

"Aetius, that was days ago, I just want..."

"Stay." He barked, and she suddenly remembered he was second-in-command of the Rabbit Clan. With a scowl of her own, she turned around and went back inside.

"It's not like anyone is around..." She looked at the small droplets of blood in between her legs and sighed again. "Stupid period, always sticking around forever. Why couldn't I have been one of those people who don't start again for a year because of messed up hormones or something? Wait... when was I pregnant last time?" She knew it was before fall... or was it? Her attempts to recall anything before Winston kissed her felt muddled, like they didn't really matter. A wriggling warmth started in her gut and slowly crept upwards. She focused on the bugs flitting around outside the cave. Her hormones made her easy every time they swept through, lowering her inhibitions and making her cling to the first guy she saw... usually someone who was bad news.

Aetius raced through the cave and quickly lit the branches he'd plucked from the top of the canopy, throwing large quantities of smoking plants on top. Smoked mint was not a pleasant aroma.

Neara coughed and covered her watering eyes. "Can't it be something else?"

"This is the best I can do on short notice; I'll bring sweet bark next time." He ran outside before she could ask what he meant. She crouched against the back of the cave, head under the blankets, trying to convince herself she wasn't asphyxiating.

"Stupid mint. Stupid fire. Stupid smoke. Stupid period." She cursed her hormones again for admiring Aetius's muscles and the way his shoulders bulged through his vests. It was like he was made of bowling balls or something. Short and covered in muscles, the exact opposite of...

"Stupid mint, stupid fire, stupid smoke, stupid period. Stupid freaking period."

When she next surfaced for air, she saw Aetius stacking the firewood even higher next to the cave wall, along with a hefty collection of wood chips. "These are sweet bark chips, and will be more pleasant to inhale while still disguising your cycle scent." He held up skinned carcasses skewered on sticks. "I've also brought some meat for you, and berries."

"Thank you." She shuffled closer, although the heat prickled uncomfortably on the warm day.

He held out a handful of bright pink berries similar in size to blueberries, and gave them to her. She accepted them and carefully bit one in half. It seemed to explode in her mouth, the taste of peaches overwhelming with a touch of horseradish. This was, hands down, her favorite thing about the beast world.

"Wow! Thank you so much! I love them!"

He blushed slightly and offered her the rest.

"It's ok, you should have the rest since you won't eat meat." She put her hands up to refuse.