The Beast Lands

Banishment

The Chief waited until noon. The villagers were uneasy and kept looking over at her. Since the mates never showed up, her hands were tied.

The only time a mate abandoned a female was if she committed a taboo. Since they had not heard from her mates, and they did not see her daughters; the smell of blood that permeated the air around her all added up to one conclusion. Madison was guilty, and it was the chief's responsibility to drive her out of the village.

She walked over to the small building that Madison slept in, she could hear the girl moaning in her sleep. She was suffering which confirmed the chief's suspicions.

She did not knock on the door, instead she entered the small house with the sleeping female. "Wake up, you must wake up. You can't stay here anymore" Madison's eyes fluttered open at the chief's words, her body in worse pain than the day before. She tried to move, but her body was unable.

The pain in the chief's eyes as she watched the struggling girl was sincere. She hated that her mates abandoned her, but she couldn't allow a criminal to stay in the village. No matter how much she liked her, and how much she helped the village. It was out of her control. Order must be maintained. The beasts lived by strict rules in order to survive.

If only her mates had come. If only.

"You must leave the village, you are not welcome here anymore. As per our laws, you can only take what you are wearing. Get dressed. I will walk you to trees and my mates will escort you out of our territory. This banishment is permanent..." her voice broke and she was unable to continue.

Madison heard her words and her heart shattered. She was not welcomed anymore? It was just some fckng tea. The urge to scream was there, but then her deprecating thoughts returned, killing the fire inside her.

She forced her body to move despite the protest and put the loathed leather pants back on. Her flesh was attached to the pants, making her stomach revolt. She pulled them up, scraping off the newly formed scabs, causing her legs to bleed once more. The pain in her heart overwhelmed the physical pain she was feeling. She couldn't even talk, her throat closed with unshed tears as she followed the chief. Her head was lowered, staring down at the ground, unable to look up, unwilling to see the accusing eyes of the villagers as they watched her banishment.

The two wolf beastmen watched the female as she was escorted and banished from the village. They promised to make more machines, so they sat at the table making the machines for the villagers, their hearts heavy. The urge to follow her, even though she had committed a taboo was strong. She was a desirable female...

The chief was openly crying. Madison was a friend, but also a person that had helped their village in so many ways. She never wanted to learn of the taboo she committed, she wanted to remember her friend as she was. When they reached the edge of the village, the chief's mates were waiting.

"Good luck Madison, may you find peace" the chief said as she turned back to her home. Her heart hurt, why didn't the mates come for her? Why did they abandon her? These thoughts revolved around her head, trying to find some kind of salvation, banishment equaled death. Her eyes burned knowing that her friend's body would not return to the earth per custom...instead she would experience a horrible death.

When Kaden did not come home, and neither did Madison, Amon figured they were together. He waited until Kevin and Taylor returned from patrol to see if he could find the missing pair. The girls were still asleep when the two fell into bed, their exhaustion from the day before and patrolling all night put them in a deep sleep-the girls would wake them up a few hours later screaming for food.

Amon went to the last place he smelled Kaden and began to track him. This happened to be the opposite direction that the chief sent Madison. If he had only gone to the village center, the villagers' attitude and looks would have set alarms in his head and he could have solved the issue easily.

Instead, he followed Kaden's scent, where he found the dead cubs. Amon picked them up, they would need to be returned to the earth, and continued trailing Kaden.

Madison was first carried on the beast's back, as they ran for miles, as one would tire, the other would take over, when she fell off for the last time they changed into their human form and  walked until Madison's feet began to bleed. She did not have any shoes, so she left them in the garden. They refused to talk to her and when she stumbled they kept walking, and refused to help her up or even touch her. A female who committed a taboo was the dregs of society. Death was too easy for them.

The males did not feel any remorse for her banishment, but they felt pain for her mates. They would never be able to mate with another female. Mates were a lifetime bond, and when one died, the other suffered and would often die by choice soon after. Since Madison had daughters, the mates would need to raise them before they could make that choice.  These beasts looked at Madison with loathing. Whatever crime she commited hurt her males and her daughters, if they were still alive.

They changed into their animal forms and left Madison in the middle of the jungle. She could hear the river close by and began walking in the direction. She did not have enough strength to keep going, but the water called to her thirst. She stumbled through the trees, rocks, and vines, getting nicked and cut on her face and arms. Madison walked and walked, the lights were on, but nobody was home. Her thoughts tumbled and tumbled. The males mentioned a taboo, that she committed a crime.

If drinking the tea was a taboo, why did Andy give it to her? How was Amber able to drink it and not get banished? Why did this happen to her?

Madison reached up and felt her face. Her cheeks were covered in sweat, tears, and blood. How much blood could she continue to shed before an animal attacked her?  Madison found a shallow river-the peaceful sounds soothed her heart and soul. She laid down and put her mouth to the water, slurping it up until her belly ached. With one need filled, Madison looked around her surroundings.

Oddly enough there was a tree house. Madison stared up at the tree, trying to see how to get up there. She grudgingly got back up and walked around the tree, somebody had made small groves, enough for fingers and toes to fit in.

Madison decided that first she would find something to eat, then climb the tree. Perhaps she could sleep there tonight.

It didn't take Madison long to find wild fruits and nuts, she ate her fill, her belly protruding from all the food and water.

She decided to climb the tree and check out the unique find.

Climbing took arm strength she lacked, but with slow and steady moves, she made it up to the plank and opened the hinged door. Inside was everything she would need: a bed, blanket, moth-eaten clothes...everything was old and molded. But still usable. Madison spent the rest of the evening cleaning her new home, blankets, and clothes. She didn't have soap, but thanks to the river she had plenty of water.

Madison's muscles screamed in protest, but she continued to clean, going up and down the tree until dusk. She grabbed a long shirt that was mostly dry and climbed back up the tree where she struggled to remove the leather pants once more.

Her legs were worse, the cuts deep into her skin and bleeding more. She looked over at the pants, the inside coated in her blood. 'Tomorrow I will clean them and let my legs air out' she thought to herself as she put on the damp shirt that reached her knees. She walked over to the pallet, falling asleep as soon as she hit the straw, as she rolled over asleep, not caring that the jungle beasts could smell her blood, not caring that she was vulnerable.

She rolled into a ball, tears streaming down her sleeping face as she dreamed of her daughters and their laughter, the pain of her dreams were like maggots wriggling and eating her brain and any semblance of happiness.

Amon did not return to the village that night. Neither did Kaden. Their time for patrol duty was past, but Taylor and Kaden remained at home.

Kevin was uneasy. Something was wrong.

Taylor tried to link Amon and Kaden, but couldn't, they were too far away. The last time he saw his mate was when she went to wash the clothes. Her scent was everywhere in the house, but she was nowhere to be found.

"I think we need to ask around the village, I feel something has happened" Kevin finally spoke his thoughts, giving voice to the fear he felt.

A soft knocking was heard at the door, Taylor started to jump up, but his hands were full with sleeping babes. Kevin got up to answer it instead. At the door were two wolf beastmen carrying a wooden contraption. They were looking down, not in submission, but in respect for their loss.

The wolf that originally helped Madison build her machine spoke first, "I am sorry, we do not wish to intrude in your time of mourning, but the female who lived here made this machine. She asked us to build more and give them to the villagers. To honor her memory, we wanted her mates to be one of the first families....She said it was to wash clothes." He set the machine down and was about to show them how to use it when he caught their smell.

Confusion, anger, hurt...He looked up at the scorpion's intense pain filled eyes.

"What do you mean, to honor her memory?" This sounded as if his mate was dead. Pain, loss, anger...

"She she she...the chief escorted her out of the village yesterday, for committing a taboo...she was alone...and she was hurt...she had blood...and slept in an unused home..." his voice trailed off. The emotions rolling off of the males were overpowering. Kevin, as an alpha, had the wolf's shaking in fear.

His mate was banished and they were not told? Kevin did not turn around, he did not see the pain in Taylor's eyes as he left him with the wolves. He walked out and went to the village.

The beastmen looked at him with sorrowful eyes, then down to the ground to pay their respect.

She had been gone for 24 hours, the villagers knew that her chances of still being alive were none. They could not bear to see his pain, yet, they wanted to know what type of taboo the spunky female committed. "The chief, where is she?" His alpha tone carried a commanding undertone.

One of her mates walked over, "I am sorry for your mourning, my mate mourns as well. The female will be missed" so saying he began to turn away, but stopped at Kevin's hand on his shoulder.

"What taboo did my mate cause to be banished?" his voice turned sinister, making the other beasts wary.

The man turned back around and looked at Kevin, his eyes wide. "She did not commit a taboo here, but at home...right?" his stomach was sinking, could they have been wrong. Did they banish a female that did not commit a taboo? The thought was too morbid to process.

"My mate left to wash clothes three days ago. We have been at home caring for the twins. When Kaden did not return, we assumed she was with him. Now I hear that my mate was banished without provocation." Kevin looked at the villagers around them, "Where did you take my mate?"

"I'll I'll show you show you..."he stuttered, his fear palpable as the waves of killing intent flowed off of Kevin and to the surrounding beasts. If his mate was dead, the villagers would all die, he vowed.