Page 16 of Wrongfully Magicked
I wonder if they are pulling my leg, but then Soren speaks again.
“You read their body language like Darby reads code. You might as well be able to read their minds,” he remarks to Cassius before he looks me up and down, his smirk fading. “Some mages like to walk on the wild side and brag that they fucked a monster. I find that if you treat a woman with kindness and respect, they’ll fall all over themselves to please you.” He shrugs one of his massive shoulders, and his lips quirk. “And orgasms help. You’d be surprised how few men actually bother learning how awoman’s body works. Give them five or six orgasms, and they’ll treat you like a god.”
I wince at the way he describes women, but he’s not necessarily wrong. In our world, women are mostly an afterthought. We’ve been trained to accept less for ourselves. Men just stopped putting in the effort, and most women have settled.
After a few unfulfilling hookups, I learned to become more discerning with my partners. I don’t have the time or the patience for a man who doesn’t want me and can’t put in the effort to get me off. While I want to be disgusted by what they admitted, I’m not surprised.
Maybe the women they encounter will learn to demand more for themselves now that they know there is better out there for them.
They don’t give off man-whore vibes, just confidence that they know what they are doing, and I find it sexy as fuck. I clutch my sheet a little closer to disguise my reaction, but the way Soren inhales deeply, as if catching the scent of my desire, and the way Cassius licks his lips, I know I failed miserably.
Damn beastlings.
Most mages don’t consider the beastlings magical creatures. While everyone is born with some innate magical ability, mages only consider people who can cast actual magic as someone of worth.
Though mages only make up a third of the population, their magic puts them at the top of the food chain. To them, even the weakest mage is better than a beastling. Mages consider creatures the workforce, often deemed inferior since their magic is restricted to only being able to shift.
Honestly, some of the beastlings I met are so powerful, they can give a mage a run for their money. Alphas are seriously fucking scary beasts. While some beastlings are average, run-of-the-mill shifters who can turn into cats and dogs, a small percentage of the population has the mythology gene.
It’s said they can turn into creatures only whispered about in myths and legends. Though no one will say it out loud, many consider them the true descendants of the gods.
They have magic they shouldn’t, and it pisses the mages off that anyone would encroach upon their territory. These beastlings bridge the gap between normal shifters and magic users, and they can often be more powerful.
Up until a decade ago, some mages even called open season on them as a way to pass the time, often putting trophy heads of their prey on their walls to brag about their hunting prowess. Many now consider it barbaric, some even claiming that it never happened, but I still hear whispers of disappearances and wild hunts.
What most people don’t know is that mages drug their prey. It wouldn’t do for the beastlings to get a fair shot and be able to fight back.
I received a particularly nasty beating when I took my family’s trophies and burned them in a bonfire in our backyard. My cousins were so pissed, I thought I was going to die that time, but it was worth it.
On the flip side, I’ve also heard horror stories where beastlings lose control and eat mages who piss them off. While I would normally dismiss this out of hand, I’ve met some batshit crazy beastlings roaming the streets at night.
I wouldn’t put it past them to maul their enemies and smile while doing it.
A beastling is dangerous when they lose control, but they can usually pull themselves back from the brink of insanity. Those who can’t, those who lose their minds and turn feral, are called wildlings. Once they turn feral, there is usually no turning back.When they lose their humanity, most consider them nothing more than beasts.
That same wildness hovers around these men, something that speaks of an otherness that rubs uncomfortably against my senses. It’s not just the supreme confidence they exude or that they are in your face masculine.
A “don’t fuck with me” vibe practically oozes from them.
While the sane part of me says run the fuck away, a darker, more primitive part of me wants to come out and play.
I suspect both options could get me killed.
“Now that you are back on your family’s radar, do you have any plans on how you’re going to stay alive?” Cassius speaks casually, but tension runs through both men at the question, like my answer matters to them.
Which is crazy, since we just met. Why would they care more about my well-being than my own family?
They wouldn’t.
Not unless they were after something.
I narrow my eyes, wondering what game they are playing. “Why do you ask? Plan on selling me out the instant I step foot outside the door?”
Something inside me hurts at the thought of them betraying me, but I harden my heart.
It’s what people do.
I should be used to it by now.
