Page 65 of Married to the Beast

Over and over, Aleena’s stepmother and sister demanded that she renounce her husband and say she didn’t love him anymore. A lump formed in Bear’s throat as he watched his brave, curvy little wife refuse again and again. He winced and balled his hands into fists as he watched one of the goons Grindelia had hired hit Aleena full in the face, bursting her lip as she cried out and tried to turn away.

Then came the part that tore at his heart so deeply he could barely stand it. After beating and slapping her, after tearing off her clothes and jewelry and threatening her with rape, the two women offered Aleena one last chance to renounce him. Bear’s heart twisted as he watched the hologram of his wife, tied to the cross, beaten and bruised, and heard her response.

“I refuse to renounce my husband,” she said in a low, clear voice. “If he wants to disavow me, so be it. But I willnotrenounce him. Ilovehim!”

At that point, guilt and shame overcame him and Bear couldn’t stand to watch anymore. Putting down the holo recorder, he buried his face in his hands and wept.

He wept for all the pain and torture his sweet wife had gone through…for her incredible courage in refusing to renounce him, even though she thought he didn’t love her…he wept for the painhe’d caused her and the danger he’d exposed her to and the fact that he didn’t deserve her beauty and loyalty and trust anymore.

He wept because he didn’t know if he could face her again and he wondered if he even had the courage to try.

And he swore to himself that if, by the grace of the Goddess, Aleena agreed to forgive him, he would never,everbetray her again and he would spend the rest of his life keeping her safe and making her feel loved, valued and cherished.

If only she would give him one more chance he swore he wouldn’t waste it.

43

ALEENA

Aleena woke to a strange sight. She was in some kind of white, sterile room—it looked like a room from the Healing House which she had visited so often with her mother, only the equipment was much more sleek and advanced-looking.

But it wasn’t the room that struck her as strange—it was the sight of her husband, sitting on a chair beside the bed she was in, with his face buried in his hands. His broad shoulders were shaking and a muffled sound of misery was coming from his deep chest.

“Bear? Husband?” she asked tentatively. “Are you unwell?”

He looked up at last and she saw that his eyes were red—not from Rage but from weeping. Had he been crying for her? Was she seriously hurt then? Maybe she was dying!

“Aleena? Sweetheart—how do you feel?” His voice was hoarse with emotion.

“I don’t know,” she said apprehensively. “Am I wounded? Will I die?”

“Die?” He looked surprised and worried. “No, you won’t die—not if I have anything to do with it!”

“Then why are you crying?” Aleena asked uncertainly. “I thought maybe there was something really wrong with me.”

Bear swiped at his eyes with the back of his hand, looking like he was trying to regain his composure. He was shirtless and his broad chest was bare. Which made sense, because she was still wearing his uniform shirt, she saw. The golden buttons gleamed in light from the pale overhead glows.

“Nothing’s wrong with you—it’s me that’s all fucked up, baby,” he said hoarsely. “I’m to blame for everything that happened to you tonight and I’mso fucking sorry.”

Aleena shook her head.

“It wasn’t your fault that Faleesha planned to kidnap me. She must have known that I’d run from you when she revealed…” She cleared her throat, which was suddenly dry. “When she revealed your plan to disavow me.”

“I’m not going to do that—I swear it!” Bear leaned forward, taking her hand in his own. “I never wanted to—I thought Ihadto. I swear it, baby.”

Aleena frowned, not understanding.

“What do you mean you thought youhadto disavow me?”

Bear dragged his free hand over his face wearily.

“It has to do with a vow I made,” he said in a low voice. “A sacred vow that I took after my first wife died…”

Aleena’s eyes widened as she listened to his story. How he had met his wife when both of them were just younglings, how he had loved her desperately and dearly…and how devastated he’d been when she was diagnosed with a rare and incurable disease.

“That must be how you learned so much about blood disorders and were able to cure my mother,” she said softly, when he paused for a moment. “You studied them to try and cure your wife.”

He nodded, looking utterly defeated.

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