The Beast And The Blessed

Sixteen: Natalie
Natalie’s P.O.V.
After collecting myself, I tried to leave the room, only to find the door sealed *. Joselin was surely the culprit, and I *cursed the
witch. I could flick the lock back and forth and even turn the knob, but the door wouldn’t budge.
When I knocked on it and received a rhythmic tapping in return, I knew Tobias was at least out there, guarding me still. It helped
me to feel like I wasn’t completely alone.
After the first two hours, I accepted that it was going to be a long night. I wasn’t sure when dinner would be arriving or if it would
at all, and I could only hope that *an would at least make it home at a reasonable time.
After a long, hot shower, the sound of the bedroom door being slammed *made me jump, and I wrapped the towel around me in
a hurry. I could hear things being thrown around the room, and I tiptoed to the door, peering out through the crack into the
bedroom. *an stood with his hands gripping the edge of the dresser. The muscles in his back were moving, coiling, and tensing
as he appeared to be fighting off the shift.
I had seen him angry before, but not like this. His reflection in the mirror showed that he was absolutely livid. His glowing red
eyes were burning into the wood of the dresser top. I flinched as his arm swung out, and he knocked the candle from the wooden
surface, the glass shattering as it collided with the wall next to my side of the bed.
The loud roar of anger that followed shook me to my core, but I wasn’t scared. I was deeply worried for him. All rational thought
to escape the violent and angered beast vanished from my mind, and I pulled the bathroom door open and rushed toward him.
“*,” I called out softly, only an arm’s length away.
He didn’t have to say anything as he turned to face me, I stood there in my towel with my hair dripping on the floor, but he never
looked away from my eyes. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, and his hands were clenched in fists.
I could see it clearer now that I was so close. He wasn’t just angry. He was hurting.
It was all I needed to swallow back my last bit of hesitation, and I moved forward to wrap my arms. around him. *raised his arms
as he stiffened further, but I tightened my hold.

My cheek pressed against his chest, and I could hear his heart start to slow the longer I held him. I squeezed my eyes *as I
waited for the moment he would *down and push me off him. Instead, I let out the breath I had been holding as his arms dropped
down around me, and he held me just as tightly to his chest as I held him to mine.
“What happened?” I whispered, scared that I would ruin the moment if I spoke too loudly, but he didn’t let go.
“There was an attack on one of my men.” His voice dropped as he picked me up, my feet swaying beneath me as he moved. I
pushed my chest against him harder, hoping to keep my towel up as he moved to the armchair by the balcony doors. He sat
down, pulling me into his lap.
My hand shot out to fix the bottom of my towel as he turned me sideways with my legs over the arm of the chair. But I paused as
*adjusted it for me, pulling it over my thigh and placing his hand on top to keep it from moving. He wasn’t even looking at me,
and the unconscious move took me by surprise.
“Is he okay?”
The *and dark chuckle I received in response was unexpected, but I placed my head on his chest while my hands rested over his
on my leg. “He’s dead. The venom was too strong. They had bitten him too many times.”
My eyes widened as my hand tightened on his forearm, Vampires.
We had all thought they were extinct. The Great War and the aftermath of the battle had made sure of that. Those poisonous
leeches *the life out of everything they touched.
They had kept buildings filled with bleeders of all species, chained up for their clans to feed from freely. The pleasure of being
fed from them was rumored to be addicting, but the poison that sank into their victim’s bloodstream would *them within a matter
of days or months depending on the strength of their species.
The last I heard, they were still discovering the remains of those establishments as the abandoned cities were explored by
curious souls.
“They’re back?” My question was followed by a shiver, and *pulled me in tighter as he dropped his head against the back
cushion.
“It would seem that they never left.” He grumbled, and I could feel his body shaking as he closed his eyes. My right hand
released his arm, and I found myself placing it over his heart. The pounding beneath his ribs was soothing but far too fast. As I
rubbed my palm over his peck in an unhurried up-and-down motion, his heart began to slow.

I never expected I would be able to do that to him, but I also never expected that his touch would be able to keep me calm. It
was something Jake had never been able to do.
His hand began to move in time with mine, sliding up and down over the towel on my thigh in short but soft movements.
The want to ask him if that was what he was searching for on the map when I went into his office, but I bit my tongue, knowing
that I had annoyed him last time with my questions. I didn’t want to ruin this moment. Whether he admitted it to me or not, he
needed someone, and I was going to be there for him. He had taken me from my *existence and quite literally made me the next
queen.
I had everything I could ever ask for material-wise, and I owed him for that. But now that he was opening up to me and seeking
comfort from me, I felt like I may one day have the companionship I was wanting as well.
“I am really sorry that they got to one of your men,” I whispered, tilting my head up to look at him. His jaw was clenched, and my
hand moved up to run the tip of my pointer finger across it.
“He is with the Goddess now.” His voice was firm as he lifted his head from the backrest of the armchair.
I watched him for a moment longer as his eyes began to drop, and the defeat became visible in them.” Come on,” I whispered as
I slid off his lap, holding my hand out to him. “Let’s go to bed. There will be a lot
to do tomorrow.”
Disappointment flickered in my mind when he stood without taking my waiting hand, and I turned to the dresser to grab my
pajamas from the new collection of clothes that had been provided to me.
When I left the bathroom, pulling the drawstrings on the pajama shorts to tighten them, *was waiting in bed with his forearm
thrown over his eyes. I stepped carefully over the glass from the candle, knowing I would need to clean it up tomorrow before
one of the servants saw it and assumed he and I had been in another argument. The first one had been embarrassing enough
for me.
As I curled up under the blanket, *turned on his side, wrapping his warm arm around me and pulling
me into his chest. The familiar position caused a smile to stretch over my face, and I closed my eyes as he brushed his nose
against my neck.

I wished we could stay like this forever. But I knew to enjoy these fleeting moments with him while they lasted. In a few short
hours, he would wake, and the cold king who had *two of my pack mates, and thousands of other creatures would be back.