Chapter 31 - Mental Fuckery

Chapter 31: 31 - Mental Fuckery

"Where is your laptop, Precious?" Vick opened my backpack. "There is lots of studying Kurus has to catch up on."

I feigned deafness as I looked at the sky absentmindedly.

Vick roamed around it a bit more. "Beast Kingdom is our destination, then. Precious must have given it to Nivi."

Kurus hissed in protest. "My nest is where we go. Mate belongs in my nest."

"The further she stays from the Wastelands, the better. The less cold-blooded around her, the less the chance of her going on a rampage."

Dickhead turned to Kurus, taking on the air of a patient parent explaining an obvious concept to a difficult child. "We need to surround her with love and affection, and for that, the Beast Kingdom filled with warm-blooded beastmen is the best choice."

Noodle was in no shape to focus on Dickhead’s words given the heavy burden he was carrying and the new troubles piling up.

Dickhead stopped mid-stride, waiting for Kurus to catch up. "You will learn to love and be loved, my cold-blooded buddy. Just like me."

"Love won’t prevent my mate from being taken away," Noodle said, the only thing that ruled his mind, as it made the most sense to him. "I need to get stronger."

"You can’t just focus on your strength," Vick argued. "You need to be cunning too, to be able to handle Precious. I thought you would know that by now."

"Stronger." Kurus insisted, "So that no one can take her away."

I thought Kurus had already been brainwashed by Dickhead, but apparently the only thing that had sunk into Noodle’s head was the idea that he needed to get stronger. He was a simple-minded male, but at least he wasn’t completely hopeless.

He also didn’t care about keeping face, or how he appeared to others, so he didn’t try to sugarcoat his words. For a snake, he seemed to hate the game of pretend. He was subtle as a brick. And that made him my kind of person.

I was glad that he had a brain of his own. It was short-lived, though, as I was forced to be a silent observer to a new farce.

Noodle agreed to Vick’s plan to recruit more males, believing that it was the only way to keep me by his side and to grow stronger at the same time. He began to like the idea of having more servants around him, someone to do the chores so he could focus on training.

What about the not-sharing thing among the cold-blooded? I mentally spat at Noodle for caving in so easily. I couldn’t even talk shit about him because my mouth was gagged again. To prevent me from biting my tongue off.

That much for being a loyal mate. Even the most loyal dogs would turn against their masters if someone offered them a bigger bone. It was the nature of the world, and it was fucking disappointing every time I witnessed it.

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We journeyed back toward the owl village as day waned, Vick and Kurus alternating my weight on their backs. I neither ate nor drank, nor offered a word to ease their attempts to engage me. There were no more taunts from my end, no more baiting them into doing something stupid. Only silence.

My silence worked against Kurus, who had grown accustomed to my taunts. His mood soured as we moved, his scales clattering with each shift of his tail as if mimicking the storm brewing inside him.

When we set up camp, Kurus tried again. I was lying on my side, my back facing the fire.

"Mate..." Kurus nudged me with his tail, attempting to get a reaction.

He got what he wanted. A female who never talked back, never hit him, never complained or argued. Just a dead fish that he could take anywhere he wanted without resistance.

He should be the happiest cold-blooded in the world, but the more he looked at me, the more his reptilian eyes seemed to lose their luster. Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who’s matching my mood the best? Noodle, of course.

"Mate, I am talking to you."

More silence followed. He tried threats next, hissing and acting like a fierce beast. If I didn’t answer, he would be forced to do something drastic. A bit too late for that.

Vick hadn’t even tried to start a conversation with me, knowing I would rather stab myself than talk to him. He simply went to Kurus and made him dance to his tune. Using him as an extension of his will, trying to melt my resolve.

When the night deepened, Kurus finally stopped trying to make me talk. He collected my clothes, including my new cloak, and went to wash them in the nearby river. Dickead didn’t allow him to touch me in any inappropriate way, and Kurus had no choice but to obey.

"How is he still alive, Precious?" Vick sat next to me. "I thought you hated his type. You would have killed any male who tried to force themselves on you, and this one almost succeeded too."

I felt his eyes on me, studying my every twitch, looking for a clue in my silence.

"Is there something special about him that I’m missing?" Vick continued, "He is not the most powerful. His personality is lacking. And he is a cold-blooded, to top it all off."

Someone was jealous. I could sense it in the way he kept searching for something that was not there. His voice was too calm, his words too calculated.

"It was not to piss me off, was it?" The low tone of his voice made it seem as if he was talking to himself. "A complete opposite of me. Someone as far away from my qualities as possible... someone who wouldn’t remind you of me, maybe?"

Truly a dickhead. Dick for brains. The cockiest of the cocks. A walking penis. Who fucked with others’ brains like they were his personal pussies to play with. A master of mental fuckery.

I was getting worked up again, and Noodle, alerted by the mate bond, rushed back to camp with my wet clothes thrown over his shoulders.