Mated to the Beast of the Wasteland (Gillian and Merrick) novel Chapter 2

So much for the "three-minute man"... This feels deadly.

That was the last clear thought in Gillian's mind. She was completely wrecked.

The synthetic roses on the floor had bloomed fully. They filled the room with a heavy, sweet scent.

A small petal had shed its outer layer, shyly revealing its stamen. Clusters of blossoms were packed tight. Some of the delicate petals were already crushed and fallen.

Crimson petals, caught in a draft, tumbled and swirled through the air. The breeze pushed them against the table edge and over the bedsheets—relentless.

It kept going until even the brightest petals were crushed and mangled beyond recognition.

Finally, the air stilled. One petal landed on the white cleric's robe. Fresh sap stained the fabric in vivid, overlapping layers.

Before she passed out, a dangerous, predatory gleam flashed in those deep eyes.

Did I just bond with someone dangerous...?

*****

The beastmen of the 9th Legion were stationed year-round in Wasteland City. They only came back for one month a year.

As they put it, it was to "take care of personal business." But any female with half a brain wouldn't follow the legion back to their post.

Wasteland City was the worst place on the entire Outer Planet. It was practically a barren wasteland. Vicious creatures overran it.

Females who bonded with 9th Legion soldiers got a big settlement and the legion's protection. Even with that, nobody wanted to go.

Rumor had it that no cleric had joined the legion in three years. And not a single female had volunteered to follow them for a full year.

In her past life, after that bonding, Gillian never saw that beastman again.

The 9th Legion got urgently recalled to Wasteland City that same day.

Once she had the military marriage certificate, the beastmen chasing her vanished without a trace.

Gillian turned down the legion's escort. She dragged her broken body home alone.

A month later, news hit: the entire 9th Legion had been wiped out.

And that beastman she'd neutered? He showed up at her house that very day.

Mabel tried to protect her and was brutally killed. Gillian's primal core was shattered, her face disfigured, and she was shipped off to Wasteland City.

Only after arriving did she learn why the legion had fallen. They'd used their own bodies to form a living wall at the source of the outbreak, holding back the taint core.

By all rights, Gillian—without a primal core—should never have survived in Wasteland City. But she was pregnant. Her two children kept her alive.

The three of them struggled to get by for eight long years. Then the taint finally broke through the beastmen's body wall.

Soon after, a well-armed band of space pirates showed up. They burned and killed everything in their path.

Her children died one after another, protecting her until the end. They were just her little babies—so small, so good. They never knew a moment of peace.

Now, fate had given her a second chance. This time, she'd protect everyone she loved.

"Gillian, sweetie, don't cry," Mabel said softly. She dabbed her tears away. "Tell me who did this! I'll make him pay, even if it costs me everything!"

Seeing Gillian's red, swollen eyes filled Mabel with a murderous rage.

Gillian remembered. In her last life, she'd been too ashamed to tell Mabel the truth. Mabel had called the authorities and stormed the Cleric Academy.

The fight left Mabel so angry she suffered a stroke. By the time the academy sent her home, she'd lost the ability to speak.

An official inquiry was forced open, but before any verdict was reached, Gillian had already been "dealt with."

"Grandma, I'm okay. He saved me. The one who tried to hurt me... didn't get what he wanted," Gillian said firmly. She'd take her own revenge.

She looked Mabel dead in the eye. "I crossed a beastman from the Grayson family. I neutered him. We need to leave, fast. We have to go before they figure out what happened and come for us."

"Neutered?" Mabel gasped.

Even she knew the Graysons basically ran Goldspine City. Hardly anyone could stand up to them. If Gillian had neutered one of theirs, retaliation was a given.

"Yes. By his clothes, he was probably someone important. Maybe even the heir."

"Good! Serves him right! Let's go, now!" Mabel spat, grinding her teeth.

Heir or not, anyone who hurt her granddaughter got what they deserved.

But a problem lingered. "Gillian, where can we even go?"

They couldn't afford a ticket off-planet. Not even if they sold every last thing they owned.

"Grandma, I'll join as a military dependent. I'm going to Wasteland City with the 9th Legion." It was the only way out of this mess.

"The 9th Legion?" Mabel shot to her feet, shocked.

The man she bonded with is from the 9th Legion? Going to Wasteland City is no joke. Conditions there are horrific. My poor girl. No. She can't go.

Mabel asked, "Can't you... get a divorce?"

Those beasts wanted to turn her into their puppet!

Mabel couldn't help but ache inside. It's my fault. I couldn't protect her.

Mabel was surprised he'd share that. At least he thinks of her.

Gillian rubbed her temples. She didn't know why she'd been reborn. Maybe it was because of Asher and the taint.

Maybe I wasn't the only one who went through something terrible.

This is worse than I thought.

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