Page 17 of Beggars, Sin, and Wine

“What’s the first? Aren’t you part wolf?”

“Yeah. And very bisexual. There’s a right and wrong way to present the ass end to anyone. That part of the bread loaf no one wants is one of them and the other is fucking cats. They just wave their butthole in your face like it’s a fucking present when you didn’t even ask for butthole. It’s morally reprehensible. I love all critters but cats are morally reprehensible. I still take care of the ferals in our village because they can’t help being degenerates and they are kind of cute.”

“I rather like cats.”

“I’ll buy you one that is extra degenerate and walks around naked when we get out of here. Unless you want to adopt, not shop. Then, we’ll go to the shelter or you can domesticate one of my nicer ferals.”

Ah, fuck. I actually really liked the hybrid. I usually took it as a red flag when guys didn’t like cats because cats were majorly about consent and would just bite and scratch if you bothered them when they didn’t want it. The hybrid had this whole speech prepared about not liking cats, but it sounded like he actually really liked cats.

Most people who hated cats tried to get rid of feral colonies instead of taking care of them. And he seemed to know a lot about the ferals if he knew which one could be domesticated and come inside.

This was going to kill me, but it had to be done. He didn’t deserve to be stone and I couldn’t bear it to have him turn on me when he found out who I was if he didn’t.

“If you manage to get out of here, you run and don’t look back. Forget I’m here. It’s too dangerous to try to bring me.”

“Ah, love, I can’t say much, but we have a plan. We aren’t just getting you out. We’re getting everyone out. Can’t you feel it in the air that some shit is about to go down here?”

“Some of the wards are down.”

“Shh. You don’t know a fucking thing about that. If everyone else here knows what’s good for them, they don’t either. The three of us want to be an open book, even though we know you’ve got some secrets and need to trust us first. That’s the one thing we can’t talk to you about. I’m Benji, by the way. The big cuddly bear daddy is Caspian, but we call him Cas. Pax is trying to get you more food, but we can’t tell you how. So, tell us what you want when you are ready because we’ve got secrets, too.”

How on earth did Pax get Hannibal to agree to feed me? Hannibal hated us. He fully believed we were minions of his boogeyman. Hannibal didn’t believe anything out of our mouths because he thought we were infected by evil and it wasn’t us talking.

But that was something they couldn’t tell me just as much as I was terrified to tell them my name.

“I get it. And I’m serious. If you break out, don’t come find me.”

It broke me to say it, but the alternative was worse. Fuck Athena.

Icalled dibs, so that blue dude hurting our mate was mine. I was going to fuck with his head a bit and then when all the wards were down, I was going to show him what happened when you pissed off a demon and a wolf. Demons mostly minded our business unless you fucked with us. Hurt our mate? Oh, man, I was going to make sure everything he’d done to my mate and every other supernatural came back on him tenfold.

Giving her the ass end of the bread was intentional. Some people liked it, but there was no accounting for taste. She needed protein, vegetables, and fruit. We stuck my beautiful, three layered birthday cake in the freezer because of this job so I could have more of it when we got back. I’d totally share my cake with her.

And if she liked cats, I’d figure out which one of my degenerates should move in. I’d named them all after famous demons. I needed something to do decades ago, so I built a shed for them. Over the years, I installed electricity, air conditioning, a bunch of yurts, and a giant TV that played nothing but bird videos. Just because cats committed all these unspeakable crimes and would probably commit more if they had thumbs didn’t mean they should suffer. Most of that was just how they were made.

Beelzebub seemed unhappy with his shed and yurt. He’d been trying to break into the house. Beelzebub had these massive Cheeto trouble puffs when he showed up. It almost seemed a shame to have them cut off, but I didn’t need him side-eyeing any of the ladies I hadn’t gotten spayed yet and I definitely didn’t want him pissing on Pax’s tomato plants.

Cas cooked them down into sauce and then canned it. Sometimes, they’d make pizza…without bacon. Bacon on pizza was morally reprehensible. It was too close to breakfast pizza, which was a full on abomination. So was cheeseburger pizza. Some things were illogical, but humans did it anyway and called demons evil. A demon wouldn’t be caught dead eating eggs on pizza, so fuck you all.

Pax finally came to unstrap me from the bed. I was shocked I managed to stay strapped in this long without having a flashback of my first time here and losing my shit. I knew it was because of her. There wasn’t much else I knew about her, but I knew this.

We weren’t fully connected yet because we hadn’t claimed each other, but I could still feel her. Her presence in the back of my mind soothed me and when it got to be too much, just hearing her voice did the rest.

And I didn’t need her to baby me and tell me it was going to be okay. I was too old for that. She was going through her own trauma. I felt better just trying to make her laugh and let her know it would be over soon.

I popped up as soon as Pax undid my restraints. Damn. I forgot these bitches didn’t believe in bed sores. My ass was asleep.

“Why do you think the princess doesn’t want to be rescued from the tower?” Pax asked.

“Bro, you need to spend more time on A03. The princess and the dragon are working together. Peach and Bowser were scamming Mario and Luigi. She was never kidnapped. Oh, you mean our mate? This place fucks with your head. They might have gaslit her into thinking she’s evil.”

Cas came limping into my room. He shot me a look.

“I can’t remember what happened after you jumped out of the SUV, but I strained my hamstring and took a Taser to the ass.”

Fuckers. My plan was brilliant and I couldn’t really remember it either. I was planning on masturbating to those memories and now I couldn’t. I winked at Cas.

“Want me to kiss it and make it all better?”

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