Wanderlust Beastkin, Beauty and the Beastkin

Perla’s Perspective

I spent some time staring at the opening of the tunnel for a while, fighting my urge to run away, knowing that as soon as I left his den he would know and stop whatever he was doing to hunt me down and kill my only way of contacting the guys. He was a legendary spider type and there was no way to fight him except perhaps with Titus, but I wasn’t sure what Titus was capable of. Oliver would just get himself killed because he wasn’t strong enough but he wouldn’t ever walk away from me even if he knew it was a losing battle. I couldn’t lose Oliver, he was like a beam of sunshine in my forever-gray sky. I love him. That seems bizarre for me to admit but I love him.

I needed to trust that they would come, that Tonya would find the guys and bring help, that I was making the right decision by staying put to give her more time before the spider came back to his den, and that the guys were safe even though the spider said that he poisoned them. Oliver knew poisons, Oliver would be able to take care of it, he already had a bunch of antidotes made up for just in case something went wrong.

Then I thought about all of the things that spider promised to do to me and I started shaking all over again. I ended up wrapping my arms around my legs and rocking while staring at the entrance to the tunnel.

"You can do this. You can do this," I said quietly to myself repeatedly, over and over while it felt like my sanity was slipping.

"What if I ran? Could I get away before he noticed and could get to me? No, no, that wouldn’t work. That would ruin everything. He would notice right away and then he would hunt down Tonya and kill her too. He marked me, he would know where I’m at.

After rocking and feeling like I was slipping out of my body, I started to feel numb and the world felt like it was farther away, somewhere where my body wasn’t, and my thoughts just became a jumbled mess.

"Click...click...click."

I glanced upward, and through a gap at the top of the web dome, a massive spider emerged, its glossy black body adorned with shimmering silver stripes. I bit my lower lip, taking deep, steadying breaths as I reassured myself repeatedly that this was merely a spider beastkin and he had no intention of devouring me. Although, to be fair, his actual intentions weren’t much more appealing. At least this gave me a little breathing room and a strategy. My mission? To win his affection while I awaited rescue, all to avoid the rather unpleasant prospect of him wanting to mate with me. Simple enough, right? Or maybe not. Honestly, I have no clue how to charm a spider beastkin, but I suspect it involves masking my sheer terror and revulsion towards spiders. Of all creatures, it had to be a spider!

Why couldn’t it have just been a massive, furious mouse? Seriously, what made you flee from my sister? Squeak! Squeak! You played a part in her demise. Squeak! Squeak! Cue the indignant nose wiggle. Honestly, I would have bolted from a giant, furious mouse too, but it wouldn’t have felt quite as catastrophic.

He entered through the opening at the top, cradling a hefty brown bear with a gaping wound at its neck, blood cascading down from above. Yep, that spider was big enough to haul in large bears as its prey.

As soon as the spider spotted me near the hole in the ground, it dropped its prey with a thud, and the bear came crashing down, jolting me out of my panic-induced stupor.

I let out a rather ungraceful shriek and hurriedly got to my feet, carefully stepping away from the gruesome splatters of blood.

The spider scurried down the wall with a speed that seemed impossible for its size, and I couldn’t help but wonder if I was truly doomed. Maybe the guys wouldn’t be able to rescue me, and I’d be left to spend my days trapped in this webbed dome.

"How did you find your way out of my maze and where is the other one?" he said in a gravely voice between clicks.

"I focused intently during your tour because this place is about to become my new home," I stated firmly after taking a deep, soothing breath to steady my nerves.

I recalled my sessions with my counselor and the deep breathing techniques she taught me. Who would have thought I’d find myself in a situation even more challenging than before? The series of events that completely flipped my life around.

"Such silken words meant to disguise treachery. So where is your companion? I believe that you desired to have a servant. Or was that a lie as well?"

"I’m being completely honest; I do want someone to lend a hand, but I thought it might be best to hold off for now. I’d really like to connect with you first before we invite anyone else into the mix."

He transformed into his humanoid shape, much to my relief. "You want to get to know me better?" His long silver hair shimmered like liquid metal as he moved, and a dangerous grin spread across his face, revealing his sharp fangs.

"As you can see, I chose to remain here even when you disappeared. I genuinely want to learn more about you. I must admit, your pursuit of me is quite flattering, and I find myself drawn to you in your beastkin form."

His gray eyes glimmered with a silver intensity as he locked his gaze on me. "You want to know me? Fine," he said, a wicked grin spreading across his face. "I hail from a lineage of spider beastkin. My mother, a common spider, would have devoured my father like she did with her other suitors, but he was a legendary spider beastkin, larger and more formidable. After she tried to make a meal of him, he vanished, only to return shortly after we hatched. His purpose? To ensure we battled each other, unwilling to bear the disgrace of weak offspring. As I mentioned, consuming beastkin enhances our strength, a fact he graciously shared with us. But he didn’t reveal it immediately; he let us bond for six months before dropping the bombshell that to claim our own territory, we’d have to kill one another. Those who hesitated to fight met their end at his hands, their remains offered to our mother, who was all too eager to feast on us."

"I began to eliminate my siblings, fully aware that I lacked the strength to take down our father. One by one, I struck them down, torn between my care for them and the brutal reality that it was either their lives or mine. Yet, lurking in the shadows was my sweet little sister, a fragile spider in this web of chaos who I allowed to take shelter behind me. Though we were the same age, her kindness set her apart, and she was the smallest among us. She wouldn’t harm a soul, even after enduring relentless bullying from the others. Our father showed no mercy, dismissing her simply because she was a girl; to him, females were expendable. Then there was my other sister, a fierce warrior who emerged victorious from the sibling slaughter. She was larger, a force to be reckoned with, and she devoured most of our brothers and sisters. We started with two hundred, but by the time we were free, only ten of us remained."

"My mother made the choice to keep my formidable sister, grooming her to be her successor. I barely caught a glimpse of her before she warned me never to return, and with my sister by my side, we ventured into the unknown. Eventually, my little sister found her place and prepared to start her own family. She was the sole beacon of light in my dark existence, the one thing that kept me from becoming a total beast. And then you came along."

"...For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I wouldn’t knowingly kill a beastkin unless it was strictly necessary. At that moment, I believed she was out to get me, and I had no idea she was a spider beastkin—I had never encountered one before.

Upon hearing his tale, I found myself surprisingly remorseful for my role in her demise, which was quite unusual for me, considering my intense dislike for spiders. Yet, there it was—she was a sentient being with people who cared for her. Despite the general disdain for spider beastkin, he painted a picture of her as a potentially good mother, especially given her supposed nurturing nature and the fact that she was expecting. And while the thought of baby spiders makes my skin crawl, they were still innocent beastkin babies. The first time he brought up his sister, I felt a jolt of surprise but no real sympathy. This time, however, my heart ached for his loss.

"I also want to say how truly sorry I am that you had to endure such a terrible experience. Yes, you lost your siblings, but that wasn’t something you caused, and I refuse to judge you for it, despite what you might believe."

His eyes grew wide at my response, and honestly, I was taken aback by my own tone. It was clear he anticipated my anger and revulsion, but I just couldn’t see how any of this was his fault.

"It’s unimaginable for anyone to endure such a traumatic experience, especially at such a tender age. You bear no blame for what happened; the responsibility lies with your parents. They were meant to safeguard and nurture you, this was their failure."

He looked at me, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open, and in that moment, I no longer saw him as a spider beastkin, but rather as a man who had been deeply wounded.

"You’re...a rather unusual female," he said in a slightly gravelly tone.

Coming Next Time: Flirting with Disaster