A Satyr's Mate Ch. 05-06

With Dolphus being taken away on business so often, I'd taken up knotting and weaving. It was something I liked to do as a child in Sibiu. I derived particular satisfaction from creating useful objects. From stripped branches, reeds, pine needles, and occasionally the hide of a partially decayed forest creature, I was able to craft coverlets for the openings in the den ceiling so that when it rained, we were not forced to skirt around the waterfalls and pools that the downpour created. My largest project, though, was one that I was beginning to think would take me eons to finish. It was a coverlet for the large opening in the wall to protect us from the wind in the upcoming cooler months. I seriously doubted I'd finish it in time for our firstborn to benefit from the shelter, but I at least hoped to have it completed by our second breeding.

I was thankful to have something to do while Dolphus was away because I often felt like I might die from boredom otherwise. While weaving hardly filled the void left in his absence, it did make time pass much quicker, so when I heard the rustling at the den entrance, I assumed I'd been sitting there for longer than it felt. Without turning about or removing the array of objects on my lap to get up, I greeted Dolphus.

"I barely even missed you as I've been trying to make a dent in this project."

"Disrespectful to greet our second in this manner."

I spun about on my tailbone to spy Shala sneering down at me. "What are you doing here?"

Shala bared her teeth but refrained from the usual hiss she reserved just for me when we encountered each other in public. "Respect, you have not learned."

"I didn't invite you here."

"It is not your place to invite."

"Clearly you can smell with that snout of yours that I belong here, regardless. Our mingled scents should still be quite strong from a few hours ago."

Shala smiled contemptuously as she sauntered past me to breathe the fresh air coming through the window. There were no rules to follow regarding flock status inside the private domicile. I didn't have to bow to Shala, or even be polite, as long as we were in Dolphus' den. Theoretically, anyway. Not yet being his mate meant that I was skating on thin ground on this point. I could only hope that she was more afraid of offending Dolphus than she was hellbent on maiming me, because she could easily rip me to shreds with her massive horns.

I wasn't afraid of her, though. I was actually genuinely respectful of her status, even though I sometimes felt she didn't deserve the esteem it afforded her. I was also ever mindful of her strength. But neither of those things equated to a genuine fondness. I didn't like her and never would as long as she pursued Dolphus, and that was where we locked horns, proverbially speaking.

"Zira has come to season. Within one day, every satyress will follow. Begin, mating season will. Cracking horns from sparring satyrs. Grunting. Pawing. Rutting." Shala took a deep breath before continuing. "This time for satyrs, not humans."

Even with her backward sentences, I caught her meaning. Mating was not a special occurrence for my kind as we are capable of producing offspring any time of the year. If that were even remotely possible for satyrs, Dolphus and I would already be parents. "I didn't choose this."

"You must stop it."

I quickly realized that my argument was shallow, at best. While I didn't originally choose to be Dolphus' mate, I'd come to want it. In fact, I often fantasized about it when Dolphus was inside me. I pretended that we were mating and his seed was viable. It always made my climaxes so much more intense. I decided to just own up to it rather than hiding behind the argument that I was a slave with no choices. "I don't want to stop it."

Shala's eyes grew wide for a moment before narrowing again in what appeared to be utter disgust for me. "You know not, or you would not speak this."

"What don't I know, Shala? That mating season is raw, brutal even, at times? That I will be bruised and sore by the time it ends? You think Dolphus has told me nothing at all about it?"

"Not told you everything. No human to survive birthing satyr."

I was about to argue that there were humans who'd survived mating season when I realized what she was saying. No female human had ever survived lambkin birth. "What?"

Shala chortled under her breath. "Much blood. Suffering. Waste."

It was my worst nightmare. The one I'd had millions of times growing up about my own mother and the suffering I'd caused her at the end. Father had spared me the details, but I'd visualized the pain, the blood, the screaming. The sounds were so vivid in my mind, I imagined that I might've actually been remembering them from the womb.

How I'd wished countless times that it'd been me that'd died instead of her. Not just to ease the guilt I felt. That she could've been there for my father in Sibiu, someone who was one of them, someone who could help. Not another Baltian they could ridicule and despise.

It made sense why there were so few cross breedings. The only successful one that I was aware of was Dolphus' parents, where his mother was the larger of the mated pair, being a satyress. It would've been no trouble for her to birth a lambkin with more Baltian characteristics, after all, Dolphus' horns were slight, and his snout and head smaller than his flock mates.

"You will die."

Had it been anyone but Shala informing me of my fate, I might've allowed the truth to break me. But her reasons for telling me were selfish. She wanted Dolphus to take her as his mate. Somehow that was all I could think about in that moment. I didn't want to die, but I didn't want her to have him, either. "But my cosset will live on. You have no concept of the human connection between parent and child, do you? How strong it is. Not only in me, but in Dolphus because he is more than half Baltian. You will never understand."

I wasn't sure I understood, or even believed what I was saying. I only knew that I couldn't let her see me break, and that was precisely what I was about to do.

"Dolphus will be here any moment. I suggest you leave before he arrives."

Shala considered her options and decided that I was right. Dolphus wasn't going to be happy to hear what Shala had told me. Without a word or a backward glance, she strode across the room and out the narrow opening of the den.

Just in time for the tears to begin to tumble down my cheeks.

It was the worst brand of deception. Dolphus should've warned me of the risks. Especially when he knew that the same fate had befallen my own mother. He had to know I would find out sooner or later. If it wouldn't have been Shala, then it would've surely slipped from one of the other satyresses after I was impregnated. After.

My stomach threatened to toss its contents when I realized the real truth of why he hadn't told me. He wanted to ensure I wouldn't run before he impregnated me with his offspring. He was more interested in his little experiment than my life.

That was the ugly truth that hurt the most.

He'd deceived me by hiding the truth. He'd prepared me for mating even when he knew what it meant. He'd made me care for him when he felt nothing in return for me. It was all a lie.

What was even more humiliating was how foolish I'd been to even think that he felt something for me. All his attention, his kisses, his affectionate caresses were all deceptions. They were so that I would bear his offspring.

Slowly the hurt began to boil inside me until I thought it might erupt in an explosion the likes of which the earth had not witnessed before. I was filled with rage over what he'd done to me. I was prepared to rip him to pieces over it, not caring whether or not I died in the process. That fate was sealed when he bought me at auction.

I decided that I would rather have gone to the ogre. At least there would be no illusions. The ogre wouldn't be trying to charm me into submitting, he'd just take by force. I could at least admire that level of retched behavior for being straightforward.

I paced around the den for a few moments before deciding what to do. I needed to leave before Dolphus returned. It was the only course that made any sense. Without thinking another minute about it, or stopping to devise a plan, I dashed out the front entryway and down the path toward Sibiu.

As tough as my feet had become, I was still not as sure-footed as a satyr. Tripping over loose rock in an effort to put as much distance between me and Dolphus, I nearly fell face-first down a steep embankment. I'd been clumsily making my way down for a solid twenty minutes but I could still see the entrance to the domicile from where I teetered. I'd hardly made any progress. It would take Dolphus less than a minute to reach me.

A clanking noise caught my attention and I whirled in place toward the sound. Just ahead on the path were two satyrs sparring. It wasn't serious, and I couldn't ascertain how old the satyrs were. I'd only met about half the males. Bachelors were known to linger on this trail, we'd encountered them many times on our way to the lookout where Dolphus would watch for me before I became his slave. I'd foolishly thought his reason for doing that was because he was attracted to me. Now I knew the truth. He was only interested in my Baltian attributes, my stature, so that he might successfully breed with me.

"What are you doing out here?"

It was Dolphus. He'd followed my scent and snuck up on me while I was distracted by the sparring males.

"Those bucks are sparring for mating rights. The winner would gladly mount you should he notice your presence. You are lucky the wind is blowing upward today."

His smug tone made me want to hurl a boulder at him. I turned to face him so that he could see the fire in my eyes.

His expression and stance immediately changed to a more defensive posture. When I took a step toward him, he instinctively backed away, his eyes locked on me in an intense glare. "Why was Shala in our domicile?"

He'd gone there first, of course, not noticing or expecting me to be on the ledge below. He'd undoubtedly picked up her scent. I shrugged my shoulders as I continued to approach him. I wanted to put some distance between us and the sparring males. I might get lucky and throw Dolphus off the ledge, but I wasn't likely to get lucky three times.

Dolphus backed up until we were both standing on even ground. It was the plateau on which we'd bid goodbye to Niro and Sensai the day of my arrival.

"When were you planning to tell me? Or were you just going to let me suffer and die giving birth to your spawn?"

Dolphus winced at the insult and I felt a tiny bit victorious for it. I'd meant it to hurt. And there was plenty more where that came from.

"You lied to me."

"I didn't lie to you, Ashira."

"You kept the truth from me. That's the same as lying and you know it."

"What did Shala tell you?"

"Judging from your expression, Shala told me the truth. That no woman has ever birthed a satyr."

"Not in this flock, no."

"So, it's been done successfully in other flocks but not this one?"

Dolphus' jaw tightened. "Not that we are aware. But to be truthful, there have only been a couple who've tried."

"Oh, that's reassuring." I rolled my eyes and planted my hands on my hips in the most contemptuous manner possible.

"Your tone is most annoying."

"I bet it is." I closed the distance between us in a few long strides. "Gee, sorry to annoy you. I guess I'm not the submissive little mate you were hoping for after all. Best find yourself another human to experiment on."

"Is that what you think this is to me? An experiment?"

"Well, since it's only been tried a couple of times, I'd say that makes this pretty experimental."

A low, menacing growl emanated from Dolphus' chest. I was getting to him.

"How were you planning to prepare me for delivery? Or was my death just part of the plan all along? I bet you have a site picked out and everything, being the planner that you are. Probably somewhere not too close to the flock so all that blood won't attract predators. Does that sound about right?"

"Stop, Ashira."

"No. I'm not going to stop, Dolphus. Too bad if this line of questioning is uncomfortable for you."

I jabbed him in the shoulder on that last word, causing him to take a step backward. He tilted his horns toward me in warning.

"Oh, yeah. Go ahead. Hit me with your horns. I have nothing to lose."

Dolphus growled and I prepared myself to duck out of the way of his charge. I had no other defense. Instead of charging, though, Dolphus lunged and grabbed my arm.

I screeched as I tried to free myself. "Let me go, you beast."

For several minutes we wrestled until Dolphus had me fully pinned to the ground beneath him. I spat and fought until my skin bled from the rocky ground cutting into it. He wasn't going to let me go. "Enough!"

I stilled my body. It wasn't that I was obeying him. There was nowhere for me to go. All I could do was lay there panting, waiting for a more opportune time to wiggle from his grasp.

"You must listen to me now."

"Why? What is there to say? You knew the risks when you bought me and didn't say anything. Even after you learned about my mother, you said nothing. Nothing."

I screamed out the last word in frustration, amidst a flood of tears. I was tired of being lied to. My entire life was nothing more than a lie, I was beginning to learn.

Dolphus lightened his grip without letting me go.

"I was going to free you that day. I left to think it over. When I returned ... Seeing you in our bed like that ... I couldn't do it."

I remembered that he'd caught me playing with myself. It was the first time he penetrated me. Tears flooded my vision.

"It was selfish of me, I know. My desire for you is maddening. You are not an experiment. I want you to survive. I want to produce many offspring with you, yes, but as a mated pair. Have I not made this clear to you?"

"What makes you think I'll make it past the first birth?"

"You are strong, Ashira. In both body and spirit. You will not allow your body to give out. And I have a plan."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Of course you do. You have a plan for everything."

"Are you mocking me?"

I shook my head.

"We will induce labor early, before the fetus is fully grown."

"You can do that?"

"There is a root, we've discovered, that causes premature labor in pregnant satyresses."

"What if it doesn't work on humans?"

"This root has been used for similar purposes in Sibiu. Unwanted pregnancies, while not common, do occur even in the wealthiest of Sibiu households."

I thought back to the story of Romala. While still in school, she was rumored to have gotten pregnant by one of the schoolmasters. She left school suddenly, only to return a week later in good health, decidedly not pregnant. Her family was one of the most affluent in Sibiu.

"It is quite effective, and appears to be harmless in every other way. You will recognize the flavor from your school meals. I believe it has become a regular spice."

I gasped at the horror of it. We'd been fed a root so that all pregnancies were automatically aborted. I shuddered at the reasoning behind that. Why they found it necessary to engage in this regular practice. Was sex with underage Sibian girls that prevalent?

"It is not bad tasting."

"Doesn't that whole Sibian practice bother you?"

"It does, yes. I'm sorry to appear to be so indifferent. I've had a lot of time to adjust to the shock of such practices in Sibiu."

"How long have they been doing it?"

"Many years."

"I feel like I've been living a lie my whole life. So many secrets."

"I'm sorry that you discovered this one from Shala. It was not my intent to harm you with it."

I sighed. "I understand that now. I don't like that you kept it from me. I thought we were being open with each other."

"We are. I have no more secrets. I promise."

"I guess we're going to have to make up before mating season begins, then."

"It has begun, little one."

"It has? But I thought...You told me that you wouldn't be able to restrain yourself..."

I glanced down between his thighs. His cock was enormous, larger than I'd seen it before. And so engorged that it was purple.

"Oh, my..."

"It has been difficult. Especially holding you down like this."

"How have you managed?"

Dolphus shrugged as he shook his head. "My mate is not producing the right scent."

I felt the heating of my core before the reasoning side of my brain could stop it. I was still hurt over what had happened, but my body had made the decision.

And Dolphus picked up the scent right away.

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