Ch. 11 *TW* Miscarriage

I let out a scream as I reach out for Arkell.

He reaches out to grab me but misses by an inch.

Rocks fall all around me. I pass a tree branch that cuts my arm deeply. I hit the water hard, my blood clouding around me. My vision is cloudy and I struggle to get to the surface. I can't breathe! I feel a presence behind me, it feels untrustworthy. I look around and I see a shark swimming around me. Panicking, I flail my arms toward the surface and kick as hard as I can.

He comes up behind me caressing my injured arm.

A black ring forms around my vision

He bares his sharp teeth and bites into my ear hard.

I try to pull away from him but his skin is impossible to get a grip on.

He lets my arm go and forces his lips on mine and I can suddenly breathe again.

As I catch my breath I stare into his pitch-black eyes. It's like they have no soul in there.

My arm pulses from the pain.

He releases my lips and looks around. He screeches in a high pitch and I have to cover my ears.

I look around and see that there's a bunch of them surrounding me. I make my way to the surface and gasp for air. I swim towards the beach as fast as I can, but he catches up to me quickly.

He pulls me close to him like he's protecting me from something.

I hear shouting from the beach. When I look over it's Damien and Comae. I try to break free but he won't let me go. "Help me!" Y arm continues to throb. Am I still bleeding? I look and I don't see any red. I lift my arm and there's no cut, it's just gone.

I hear wings flapping toward us. I follow the sound and see Arkell flying toward us.

He uses his talons and grabs me.

When he tries to lift me, the shark boy grabs onto me and pulls me back into the air.

He screeches at Arkell.

He screeches back. "Release her at once, Feral!"

Feral? I look into his eyes and see the same sadness I've seen in Comae. "Arkell, wait. Just go to the beach."

"What?" He asks surprised.

"Trust me." I grasp the shark boy's hand and gently pull him toward the beach.

He reluctantly swims with me.

We get up to the sand and I collapse onto it. I didn't realize my heart was pounding. My head starts to ache like someone is repeatedly hitting me.

Damien pulls me out of the water, holding me close.

He bares his teeth and growls.

The shark boy retracts a little bit.

"Fae, what's on your face?" Comac asks.

"What?"

He pokes a spot just beside my right eye. "This". He looks closer and tries to wipe it away. "Damien, look"

They both look at it in shock.

"What is it?"

"It's a spousal tribal mark, he forced one onto you in the water."

A crowd gathers around us.

"Is she okay?"

"I watched her fall from the cliff"

"Is that a feral?"

I look at the shark boy and he climbs onto the sand.

He attempts to stand up on his legs but ends up collapsing.

Suddenly my stomach starts to hurt. This pain feels similar to when I had the pups. It hits me and my heart starts to break. "No, no, no!"

"Everyone, back up!" Nobu pushes through the crowd.

"What's the matter?" He looks down and sees blood running toward the ocean. He stays silent and hugs me with tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"Please get me out of here," I whisper to him. The tears poke at my eyes, and I let them flow.

I watch Comac collapse to his knees and start crying. "Fae." He tries to say something, but the words don't come out.

Nobu picks me up and takes me to a secluded spot on the beach. I curl into a ball, placing my head on my sand-covered knees. I didn't realize I was pregnant, otherwise, I would've tried to be more careful.

Nobu holds me and strokes my hair. "I just want you to know that there's nothing that you could've done. This probably doesn't help, but I'm here if you need me."

We sit and he lets me cry. The pups run over and try to comfort me by giving me hugs and kisses.

After a while, we all make our way back to the city. Some houses collapsed but most of the males banded together to fix them.

They split all of the males into groups. There are two hunting groups, for repairs, and the rest help care for the females.

I stay in the house, away from the chaos outside. I haven't been in the mood to do anything, so I just sit by the fire.

The shark boy managed to follow us home and stays in the corner of the room.

Comac keeps an eye on him and tries to comfort me. At least I'm not the only one grieving.

It has officially been an entire year since I came to this world. I've been through a lot, seen a lot, and met so many new people.

Comac and I decided to try again for pups and we succeeded. I'm halfway through the pregnancy and we've been talking about names for weeks. It took me a long while to recover from my miscarriage but with all the support I have, I'm better than ever before. It still hits me once in a while but I know how to handle it.

"Go on, go play. Your mother needs rest." comae takes the kids outside.

The girls finally turned human. They have long silver hair and brown eyes. They've already attracted the attention of the other boys and they know it. It's hard to tell their age, I just know they're young.

"There," Damien hands me a bowl of water.

"Thank you. Any news on Arkell?"

He shakes his head. "No one heard from him since the earthquake."

I sigh. "Alright then."

He kinda disappeared after the quake, I tried to stop the rumors about him, but once a wildfire starts it's hard to put it out. Most people believed that he pushed me off that cliff or he knew I was pregnant with fox pups and used the quake to help get rid of them. I'm not sure what to think about them, I just hope they are not true. I go into the bath to find the shark boy in there, again. I sigh and grab some dry clothing, and get undressed.

He blushes and looks away. He prefers to stay in the water most of the day. He'll come out at night when it's cooler and the sun won't dry out his skin.

I step into the bath and he swims up behind me.

He places his head on my shoulder and wraps his arms around me. He nuzzles my neck.

"You want attention?" I run my fingers through his dark gray hair.

He nods and lies on my chest. He doesn't speak though, I'm not sure if he knows how to.

We lay there for a while and as a thank you he rubs my back and shoulders.

Once I'm done in the bath I kiss him on the forehead and leave the room.

It's late in the evening now and everyone is quieting down for the night.

I notice the kids are asleep in a pile by the fire.

"Old habits are hard to break." I smile and admire them as they sleep peacefully.

"Sometimes." Damien says, "It's hard to believe they'll be on their own soon."

"How soon? They're still young Damien"

He shrugs. "Once the girls start their cycles they can find spouses of their own. It's the same for when Nordan matures, he'll be with me for a lot of training."

"I see, I'm still learning so much about this world."

Comac rests his head on my shoulder. "You'll learn more as you go, I'll help in any way I can."

"Thank you."

"I do want to warn you, females mature at a young age. Boys take longer to mature and train."

"Do you know how young?" I ask nervously.

He thinks for a moment. "Maybe ten or nine. That's what I know, I'm not sure about other Beastmen."

"I'm with you there, some are faster or slower than others." Damien cuts back into the conversation.

I stand up and pick up one of the kids. The boys follow with the other two. We place them in their beds and we lay down and let sleep take over.