"What do you want me to do," I ask hesitantly. I hope it's nothing bad like sleeping with him.
"I need you to pretend we are intimate," Greg blushes. I stare at him in all seriousness, waiting for him to continue his reason.
"Okay, Greg, I'm gonna need a little more reason why I should be intimate with you of all people." He scratches his head before speaking.
"Well," he chuckles, "we are supposed to be mates. And all the women here are proud and glad to be with their mates. We have to be a team in order to get you home and to not stand out so much."
"It's a little too late for that," I grumble. I start to get up and he pushes me back down in my chair.
"Look, Minerva, I don't have any other way to get you home, so you are in just as much in a predicament as am I." He crosses his arms, mirroring my body language. "Plus, you're not the only one who's gonna have to pretend here. Public affection is something I've never thought about doing with anyone."
"Well one thing for sure, it's not gonna happen overnight, you would have to do something publicly to get me to start swooning over you all of a sudden." I roll my eyes at the thought of an attempting a relationship with this murderer.
"And you're gonna have to swoon and gossip with the ladies here about how much you feel and all that gushy stuff." He looks disgusted that it causes me to chuckle. "What's funny," he asks.
"I'm glad to know that you are disgusted with the idea of being with me," I uncross my arms, "just to let you know that the feeling is mutual, Greg."
"Glad to come to an understanding," he holds out his hand waiting for me to shake on the deal. I look up to meet his gaze as I stand up to for the handshake. Standing in front of this tall man, I realize he is about a half foot taller than John and his grip is very firm. I look away after we break contact to look less awkward and attempt to clean my tear-stained face. "Let's start now," he says as he grabs me to pull me over his shoulder as we make our way to the village center. The whole way I'm kicking and screaming for him to put me down and that I'm perfectly capable to walk by his side to talk with these women.
. . .
Greg finally places me back on my feet when we reach the center of the Moon Village where all the women are sitting together gossiping like clucking hens huddled together. Each woman has different color of hair and skin. It's very obvious that they are from other villages as I walk closer toward them. They all start to grow quiet when I reach their huddle, glaring at me as if my very presence ruins their entire day. I look back toward Greg, who is trying to hide his smirk, with his arms crossed over his chest.
"I know none of you like me," I say without turning back, "but like it or not, I'm stuck here and that means I need..."
"Is it always what you need," says the blonde girl from last night, "isn't it?"
"What's that supposed to mean," I challenge.
"It's always you," she glares, "always what you want, putting yourself before others or in your case, putting others in front to suffer the consequences of your actions."
"I tried to save my village and that's what I accomplished," I stand up straighter to show dominance.
"You need to accept the fact that this is your village now and you have a suitable mate," says a woman with straight black hair and grey eyes.
"Easy girls," says another woman with red curly hair with a very pregnant belly, "she's still trying to process it all after last night." She walks up to me to take my hand. "Plus, keep in mind, she is the Alpha's mate, which makes her the strongest among us." She winks at me.
"She murdered the Alpha before," Blondie argues.
"Like I said, the strongest among us. We could have shared the same fate as John last night," she says grimly.
"I don't want to talk about that," I whisper to the redhead. She nods in agreement.
"I'm sorry," I say as I look at the group of women in from of me. I count a total of fifteen women and six of them have pregnant bellies.
"It's okay, Minerva," says the redhead as she walks back toward the huddle.
"We are the new women of the Moon Village, and my name is Estelle. And this is Suzette," she motions to Blondie, "and that's Monica," she points to the pregnant woman with black hair and grey eyes.
"I'm glad to finally meet all the women here after being the only woman left from my other village," I respond.
"Oh, you poor thing, no wonder you're in such bad shape. Being raised by men who have no idea what it's like to be a woman, says Estelle, but don't you worry, we'll help you know what it's really like to be a woman of power." She holds out her hand waiting for me to join their group. I take her hand and we all walk toward the woods away from the Moon Village.
"Where are we going," I ask her. She turns to me smiling as we continue to walk towards a stream of water.
"It's important to bathe together to look amazing," she grins, "let's get you ready for the Alpha. I'm sure he did not want to touch you last night due to your foul smell of another male and look at that face," she gives me a disapproved look, "covered in old tears and dirt."
"I can do that on my own," I interject, not wanting women to touch me or to get me ready for Greg.
"Nonsense," says Suzette, "we can even wash and comb your hair."
"Also, we can finally get you actual clothes that women wear here," says another girl with brown eyes. "With shoes!"
"I've got the cloths for cleaning," shouts another woman in the back.
"Now girls, try not to scare her off," shouts Estelle, "we want to welcome her from our point of view." They all stare at me, waiting for my approval.
"Okay," I admit, "I'm okay with all the pampering, just as long as it's not an everyday thing." They all smile to my words as they all somehow get closer to clean me up and tear my clothes to shreds.