Read Online Winston (BBW Bear Shifter Wedding Romance) (Grizzly Groomsmen Book 3) by Becca Fanning - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Becca Fanning
Ads: Link
entered, faces ranging from distaste to indifference with Custer’s huge smile being the outlier.
“Alright, no one start shit,” Annie said, taking her seat next to the captain. “Someone serve.”
Rick leaned in and began pouring the soup into bowls, leaning in and pressing a kiss to Zosha’s cheek as he handed one to her. Custer snagged two and gave one to Delphine, who had dropped into the seat beside him.
“So, Delphine,” Hyde said conversationally, “how goes it on the ‘psychopathic assassin’ front?”
“Hyde, what did I just say?” Annie asked sweetly.
“What? We’re all going to pretend she didn’t try to kill us now?”
“No,” Annie replied through gritted teeth, “we are attempting to work with her to avoid the second wave. Now, be. Civil.”
“And as the only person here who she actually got close to killing, I say we focus on what Annie just said,” Zosha added. “You guys have all tried to kill each other at some point, and you’re all fine now.”
“We’re being open and accepting,” Custer said, his smile only mildly threatening.
Hyde snorted and said nothing else. No one else seemed inclined to start a conversational thread, and the quiet loomed for a moment.
“So, Delphine,” Zosha said awkwardly, filling the silence, “where are you from?”
“Mason,” Delphine answered, poking at her soup with the spoon. It seemed safe.
“No, I mean, where did you live before you started working for Mason?” Zosha clarified.
“I was raised in one of the Mason buildings,” she said. “What did you say this was again?”
“Seaweed, tofu, and soy paste. So your parents worked for them?” Zosha scrunched her nose.
Delphine frowned, trying to calculate the nutritional gain from the soup. “If by parents, you mean the people who donated their genetic material to my existence, then yes.”
Annie snorted. “Not close, I take it.”
“I never met our ‘father,’ and our ‘mother’ was removed when it was decided she had an inappropriate emotional connection to us.” Delphine took a bite of the soup. It was salty, but decent for space food.
“Wait, I’m sorry,” Hyde said, leaning in. “‘Emotional connection?’ Also, if you weren’t raised by your parents, how did you grow up at a Mason center and not, like, an orphanage?”
“Mason sank too much time and money into my cluster’s creation, even after some executives raised concerns about how our ‘mother’ raised us. She got upset when we felt pain,” Delphine explained. “And the prospect of us dying alarmed her. Our training suffered, and when our results were significantly lower than other clusters an investigation was launched and we were reassigned to a trainer who was capable of completing the required curriculum.” Delphine forced her mind to shut out the memory of trainer Ramirez’s warm brown eyes, the ghostly pressure of arms around her and a voice telling her someone loved her, the way she’d screamed when the guards dragged her out of the dormitory. She’d called them her children. How foolish.
“Okay, so when you say ‘creation…’” Zosha trailed off. Everyone at the table was staring at Delphine, food forgotten.
“Mason decided it wanted to branch out from making prosthetics to making entire beings. You must have noticed my irregular biology,” Delphine said. “Do you have the nutritional information for this by any chance?”
“What you’re saying sounds a lot like creating artificial life,” Annie said slowly, “which is very, very illegal.”
Delphine shrugged. “You came to blows with them over U4 trade. They obviously aren’t very concerned with legality. They needed loyal, skilled, combat-trained guards to protect their interests. The most efficient way to get them was to make them. I don’t consider my life to be artificial, if that makes a difference to you.”
“What are you, exactly?” Dominic asked, eyes narrow.
“Human,
“Alright, no one start shit,” Annie said, taking her seat next to the captain. “Someone serve.”
Rick leaned in and began pouring the soup into bowls, leaning in and pressing a kiss to Zosha’s cheek as he handed one to her. Custer snagged two and gave one to Delphine, who had dropped into the seat beside him.
“So, Delphine,” Hyde said conversationally, “how goes it on the ‘psychopathic assassin’ front?”
“Hyde, what did I just say?” Annie asked sweetly.
“What? We’re all going to pretend she didn’t try to kill us now?”
“No,” Annie replied through gritted teeth, “we are attempting to work with her to avoid the second wave. Now, be. Civil.”
“And as the only person here who she actually got close to killing, I say we focus on what Annie just said,” Zosha added. “You guys have all tried to kill each other at some point, and you’re all fine now.”
“We’re being open and accepting,” Custer said, his smile only mildly threatening.
Hyde snorted and said nothing else. No one else seemed inclined to start a conversational thread, and the quiet loomed for a moment.
“So, Delphine,” Zosha said awkwardly, filling the silence, “where are you from?”
“Mason,” Delphine answered, poking at her soup with the spoon. It seemed safe.
“No, I mean, where did you live before you started working for Mason?” Zosha clarified.
“I was raised in one of the Mason buildings,” she said. “What did you say this was again?”
“Seaweed, tofu, and soy paste. So your parents worked for them?” Zosha scrunched her nose.
Delphine frowned, trying to calculate the nutritional gain from the soup. “If by parents, you mean the people who donated their genetic material to my existence, then yes.”
Annie snorted. “Not close, I take it.”
“I never met our ‘father,’ and our ‘mother’ was removed when it was decided she had an inappropriate emotional connection to us.” Delphine took a bite of the soup. It was salty, but decent for space food.
“Wait, I’m sorry,” Hyde said, leaning in. “‘Emotional connection?’ Also, if you weren’t raised by your parents, how did you grow up at a Mason center and not, like, an orphanage?”
“Mason sank too much time and money into my cluster’s creation, even after some executives raised concerns about how our ‘mother’ raised us. She got upset when we felt pain,” Delphine explained. “And the prospect of us dying alarmed her. Our training suffered, and when our results were significantly lower than other clusters an investigation was launched and we were reassigned to a trainer who was capable of completing the required curriculum.” Delphine forced her mind to shut out the memory of trainer Ramirez’s warm brown eyes, the ghostly pressure of arms around her and a voice telling her someone loved her, the way she’d screamed when the guards dragged her out of the dormitory. She’d called them her children. How foolish.
“Okay, so when you say ‘creation…’” Zosha trailed off. Everyone at the table was staring at Delphine, food forgotten.
“Mason decided it wanted to branch out from making prosthetics to making entire beings. You must have noticed my irregular biology,” Delphine said. “Do you have the nutritional information for this by any chance?”
“What you’re saying sounds a lot like creating artificial life,” Annie said slowly, “which is very, very illegal.”
Delphine shrugged. “You came to blows with them over U4 trade. They obviously aren’t very concerned with legality. They needed loyal, skilled, combat-trained guards to protect their interests. The most efficient way to get them was to make them. I don’t consider my life to be artificial, if that makes a difference to you.”
“What are you, exactly?” Dominic asked, eyes narrow.
“Human,
Similar Books
![The High Queen's Vow [The Mystic Women of The Realm Series Book IV]](/res/dh/book4.jpg)
