Page 12 of The Beast Between Us
I hear the unspoken words behind his careful tone.
You and the Beast need to settle yourselves… before the whole valley drops dead from fright.
“Yes,” I nod, stepping aside. “Oswin will show you to your chambers. Please…rest, Ella. The evening meal will be ready shortly.”
“Oh… shouldn’t I be the one to prepare it?” she asks, hesitantly.
“Not on this day,” I say. “Rest. Settle into your new home.”
With one final look, she follows Oswin from the room.
I don’t miss the way she favors one side of her body…And neither does the Beast.
He stirs again…slow, coiled, and simmering just beneath the surface.
Because pain like that doesn’t come from accidents.
It comes frommonsters.
And I am not the only one wearing that name.
“Mine,”the Beast whispers.“Mate.”
Longing surges forward, sharp and aching. The thought of a mate… of a future that isn’t shadowed by claws and fury… of a family.
It’s foolish. Dangerous.
I know what she is to me. The one created just for me. The other half of my soul. My mate.
But I will never allow her to bear the weight of that bond.
Not while I am like this.
Not while I am trapped somewhere between man and monster.
She’ll never accept me as I am.
And I would never ask her to.
“Drop it,” I growl to the Beast, my voice rough with restraint. “She deserves better.”
The Beast does not answer. But I feel him watching her retreating figure as intently as I am.
Chapter Five
Ella
“Is this room truly meant for me?” I ask, turning in slow wonder. It feels larger than my father’s entire house.
“Yes, my Lady,” Oswin replies with a soft smile. “It’s the best room in the Manor.”
“Please, call me Ella,” I say, offering him a smile of my own. “I’m nothing more than a common servant.”
“Whatever pleases you, Miss Ella,” he says, dipping his head respectfully. “I shall return shortly to escort you to dinner. Sire prefers the old habit of eating seated at the table…regardless of the empty chairs.”
He hesitates, then adds, “And the Beast doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
“Are they not one and the same?” I ask, genuinely curious.
