Castor stuck out his hand. "Then it's a deal. Shake on it."
The aggressive poacher, who seemed to be the leader, shook Castor's hand. Castor was an amazing actor. He didn't even look disgusted to be touching such a foul human. I didn't know if I could do something like that. I'd probably start gagging on the spot.
"Thank you, gentlemen," Castor said with the slightest hint of a business-like smile. "Take care of yourselves, and take care of my purchase. I'll be back soon enough with the cash. Good day."
14
Castor
My heart feltlike it might explode. My nerves were frayed and shot. Before I even stepped into the dilapidated cabin, my mind ran through infinite possibilities of things that could go wrong. One wrong word, one glance at River that was too tender, one misstep and it would all be over. I only had one chance at a first impression, and it needed to go well for both our sakes.
The role of stern, cruel buyer came easier to me than I expected. Apparently I enjoyed role-playing more than I thought. This persona resembled the version of myself I put on to guide River through his tantrums, but cranked up to eleven. In any case, I was glad it fooled the poachers. I'm sure it helped that they were desperate now after the disastrous failure that was Mr. Z's visit. At this point, River seemed more like a problem than a boon to them. They were ready to throw River into the hands of whoever showed interest. The idea of someone else getting to him first was terrifying.
As I strode into the room, the sight of River curled up naked in the dingy tub filled me with conflicting emotions. On one hand, I felt awful my fated mate was going through this. He was tired, scared, and just wanted to escape the humans’ clutches already. I couldn't blame him. I was quite sick of them too.
But on the other hand, I couldn't resist his radiant beauty. How could the humans not see what I saw? It didn't matter to me if he was in mer form or human form, he was the most gorgeous thing I'd ever laid eyes on and if he belonged to me, I would never let him go. Getting to play pretend while I examined him was thrilling. It was our little secret right underneath the scrutinizing gaze of the poachers.
I would be lying if I said the whole ordeal didn't turn me on. I still felt the phantom spark of River’s skin tingling in my fingertips.
But this wasn't the time to be horny. The plan went off without a hitch, and now that River was safe from the greedy hands of other potential buyers—and from the poachers, who had been instructed not to lay a hand on him. But now we had a new problem. Even though River was 'mine', the poachers weren't going to hand him over without payment. That had been an issue since the conception of this plan, one that we said we would deal with later when it finally happened. Well, now it was happening, and I had no idea what to do. I didn't possess money—none of the wild shifters in the wildlife preserve did. There was no use for it.
What was I going to do? Even if I left the preserve, somehow found the money, and came back, that would take far too long. I didn't trust the poachers not to think I'd disappeared and hand River off to somebody else. But even if I did it quickly, where exactly would I get the funds? As far as I knew, humans didn't exactly leave exorbitant amounts of money lying around for anybody to pick up.
Think, Castor…
My mind raced as I walked away from the cabin. I had to keep up my human form just in case the poachers watched me leave. If they saw me shift back into a beaver now, the whole plan would be ruined, so I walked into the forest surrounding the cabin and disappeared into the shadows.
My heart hurt. I wanted to return to River’s side as soon as possible, but I couldn't. To sneak back in, we needed another distraction, and we didn't want to cry wolf twice just in case the poachers were smart enough to rub two brain cells together and realize River was doing it on purpose.
I glanced over my shoulder. Despite being surrounded by dark trees, I could still see glimpses of the cabin from where I stood. And if I saw them, that meant they could see me if they were looking. Not wanting to take my chances, I sighed and kept walking, hoping to disappear from sight soon.
"What am I going to do?" I mumbled. My relief from the plan's success had worn off and now I was worried again. The money I promised the poachers for River’s release didn't exist, and I was further away from him than I'd been since I promised to protect him. Maybe I didn't think this through. Was there another way?
The sound of an exasperated sigh startled me. I thought I was alone in these woods. Had one of the poachers followed me?
I whipped around, then instantly sucked in a sharp breath. There was somebody behind me, but it wasn't the poachers. It wasn't even a human.
I stared at the creature in front of me and waited while my brain tried to process what I was seeing. It definitely wasn't human, but it wasn't an animal either. The figure’s translucent, pale, paper-thin skin was otherworldly. The spiralling black horns and black claws made it look like an imaginary creature.
I blinked, unsure of what to make of it. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to be a threat. Not yet, anyway. For some reason I was struck by an odd familiarity, even though I was certain I had never seen this person in my life. Then I realized why. The exasperated sigh came from a voice I'd heard before, back before River was kidnapped. It was the mysterious voice I'd heard but couldn't place the origin of.
"It's you," I said.
"Yes, I suppose it's me." I assumed he was male from his voice. "We're finally meeting face-to-face. Exciting, is it not?"
"I'm sorry, who are you?" I asked, baffled.
The horned creature sighed. "It's always a blow to my pride when I find out I'm not as popular as I thought. Or maybeinfamousis a better word…"
I blinked rapidly. I had no idea who this person was or what was going on. Was I supposed to recognize him?
He leaned his weight casually on one leg. His feet were black and ended in claws, just like his hands. There was something powerful and ethereal about him. I had a feeling I should treat him with respect, even though I didn't know who he was or what he wanted with me.
"Your name is Castor, yes?" he asked, though it seemed like he already knew my name and was asking out of formality.
"Yes."
"And you’re an omega." It wasn't a question. Once again, he already knew.
