Page 88 of Rescued By the Beast
My mind insists on tormenting me with possibilities.
What will he say?
How will he react?
Will he hate me or will he accept me?
And when everything is revealed and I am freed from the prison of my cat's body...
What will become of me?
If I could, I would never return to that miserable flat.
I would stay here, under the Beast's care.
As his wife.
I know I should return to my harsh reality, humiliate myself by asking Lucy for financial help. She would help me without hesitation, even if it meant touching the dirty money from the inheritance, that money stained with the death of her parents.
I could start over. Save every penny until I paid back what I borrowed. It would be the right thing to do. The sensible thing.
But I don't want to.
I want to live here.
I want Mark...
Time passes slowly, and I wait. After the call he received yesterday afternoon, moments before I swore he would kiss me, I decided it wouldn't be right to keep playing with this leash. I can no longer call him whenever I want and disrupt his work just to satisfy my desire to see him.
So I wait. Thinking about how I will reveal the truth.
As soon as he walks through the door?
Should I wait in human form or transform right before his eyes?
While I ponder, I remain a cat, saving my essence for the moment of revelation. I need all the time I can get to explain myself. To say that I never meant to deceive him, but I was afraid to tell him the first time I managed to control the transformation. That I'm afraid I'll never be able to break this curse. That I need his help.
Night falls. And he still hasn't returned.
My heart sinks. I walk to the open window sill, overlooking the back of the cabin and the forest. I lift my face to the sky, breathing deeply as I see the full moon.
Then I remember the duel.
Was it today?
The minutes drag on.
Hours pass...
He's taking a long time.
Suddenly, a howl pierces the silence of the night. My hair stands on end. My muscles tense, and my gaze fixes on the forest.
And then I see him.
Staggering.
As soon as he crosses the protective barrier, he stops and turns to face the wolves that were chasing him. Something is wrong. Very wrong indeed.
