Page 15 of The Beast Between Us
“She did not strike me as defiant, Sire,” Oswin says carefully. “Just tired and a bit… sore.”
The word lodges under my skin like a splinter.
I growl low in my throat and turn away from him just as the door creaks open behind me.
“I am terribly sorry,” Ella says, walking carefully to the empty spot set at the table. “I must have been exhausted after such an eventful day. Please, forgive me. I won’t let it happen again.”
“See that it doesn’t,” I growl, retaking my seat as Oswin pulls out her chair.
The Beast presses against my skin, bristling…furious that I wasn’t the one to seat her.
“Since when are you such a gentleman, Beast?”I mind speak to my wolf.
She lowers herself slowly, as if every movement requires effort. I catch the faintest wince as she settles in, and my claws threaten to unsheathe.
Tired and sore,Oswin had said. My teeth grind together.
I should have asked why.
I should not care. Mate or not.
She folds her hands neatly in her lap, eyes flicking to the food but not reaching for it.
“Eat,” I say, sharper than intended. “It will grow cold.”
She jumps at my tone and reaches for her fork with trembling fingers.
The Beast snarls again… this time not at her, but at me.
“Since when do you care about anything but control?”
“Mate,”he unhelpfully reminds me.
My gaze drifts to her despite myself.
The gown fits her perfectly. My mother’s handiwork…soft, flowing, elegant. She’d sewn it long ago, not for herself, but for the woman she believed I would one day bring home.
Not a gift of vanity. A promise.
A symbol of hope for a future that never came.
Until now.
Ella sits small and uncertain in the candlelight, shoulders tense, eyes fixed on her plate.
She looks like a dream… and I hate it.
Hate the ache it stirs.
Hate that she looks more like a bride than a servant.
And hate most of all the part of me…the part of us… that wishes she’d smile.
“Tea, my Lady?” Oswin asks.
“Won’t you be joining us?” she turns to him.
“I’ve already eaten, my Lady,” he replies with a gentle smile.
