Page 101 of My Wild Pet

What if I stayed?This, for what it is, is safe. I know Aefre would care for this child no matter who the father is. Could I say the same about Gabriel?

“Do they really send them away? The babies?” I suddenly ask the group of women. I’d heard rumors that half breeds disappear. Sometimes in the middle of the night and then their mothers are gaslit into believing the children they bore were all in their imagination.

The women all turn and look at me again, surprised I’m still here.

“Yes. Most trainers let you keep the baby for about a year to breastfeed and bond and then they steal them from you when you least expect it,” one of the women says on the verge of tears. The other women comfort her by putting their hands on her arm and giving her sympathetic looks.

“If no one knows your pregnant yet, which would be by the grace of God given their technology, but it does happen. Not all women have high amounts of hCG. But if that were the case and I were you, I’d try to fall so hard during the next challenge that it was lost.”

I look at her horrified.

A security guard stops nearby and begins to observe us. There’s no official rule we can’t talk in large groups, but they don’t like it.

The woman with auburn hair whispers, “If the judges know, you won’t be allowed to compete. Chin up and act like it’s just nerves.”

“Trust me,” the woman with the dark eyes says. “You think you’ve been through some shit with all these challenges? Wait until they rip your child from you and make it a pet. They might as well rip your heart out. Nothing will matter then. You’ll be the mindless human they already think you are.” There are tears in the woman’s eyes and her words send a shiver down my spine.

I feel so sorry for her I can’t speak. I watch as the women move on, their conversation drifting into the background, but their words stay with me.

My thoughts spiral. If I tell Aefre, he might pull me out of the competition. I’d lose my chance to win and to escape. If I tell Gabriel, what would he do? I don’t know.

This changes everything. It’s not just my life at risk anymore. It’s not just about me or Gabriel or even Aefre.

It’s about what kind of life I want to give this child—if there even is a child. Maybe those women are wrong.

Maybe this is all just nerves.

I close my eyes, trying to steady my breathing and trying to remember my last period. I know it’s been awhile. All the men on theLuminous Arcare blood hounds, so every period is very memorable, but I just thought I wasn’t having a period because I was training so much. It’s a possibility. But the other symptoms? The weird smells and the vomiting…

I decide that no matter what my physical condition, the best thing for me to do now is to compete, and let fate decide what happens next.

CHAPTER 65

Aefre

The good news from Celestial Spire security spreads quickly among the trainers, Gael the Returner has been arrested.

I study the holographic display, the image of the man in question flickering before me. He looks unassuming, his features plain, and his clothing deliberately understated. He doesn’t fit the larger-than-life stories whispered among the pets, but that’s no surprise. So-called heroes rarely do.

Kaelin stands at my side with his arms crossed. “It seems too convenient.”

“Security has been tracking his movements for weeks. So it’s not that convenient.”

“This man looks too calm to be Gael. Stealing pets from the Grand Championships is one of his favorite activities. Proving to us that he has allies everywhere. So, I don’t think this is him.”

I glance at Kaelin. “You think the man they have in custody is a decoy?”

“It’s what I’d do if I were Gael. Let the trainers relax, make them think the threat is gone. Meanwhile, his network continues to operate unnoticed.”

I tap a finger against the edge of the console. Kaelin has a tendency to see shadows even when there are none. But Gael is a man of strategy, a figure who has built his reputation on slipping through the cracks, but the question is, would he sacrifice one of his own to steal a few human pets this year? There’s no doubt this man in custody will be sold into slavery at Gala or put to death.

“It’s possible,” I admit. “But unlikely.”

“You’re too trusting, Aefre. Gael didn’t survive this long by being careless.”

“Trust has nothing to do with it,” I reply. “This is about probabilities. Security has done their job. If you want to keep chasing shadows, feel free. But I have a Grand Championship to win.”

I stand within the trainer’s control chamber, an enclosed balcony overlooking the arena that has been transformed into The Eternal Convergence. A hush falls over the spectators as everyone waits for me to begin.

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