Page 35 of Beauty and Her Beasts (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 1)

“What are you going to do?” I asked. “Collin shouldn’t be underestimated.”

“Declan and I will go get your father and bring him here. Gunnar, you stay here and make sure Allana is safe,” King said. “We’ll handle the rest.”

“Don’t get hurt over me,” I said. “I wouldn’t forgive myself.”

King knelt next to me, cupping my chin in his hand. “I would never forgive myself if I didn’t defend your honor.”

“Relax,” Declan said with a smile. “This is what we live for.”

“That’s not very reassuring,” I muttered.

Gunnar shrugged. “Yeah, but he’s never met men like us before. Well… he did meet me, but that’s beside the point.”

I began running through my mind the words in Collin’s note. “What did he mean by fraternizing with beasts?”

The men all donned serious expressions.

“Well?” I asked.

“I’m a bear shifter,” Gunnar said. “As you already found out.”

“What?” King asked.

Gunnar shrugged. “I met her by stumbling upon that jerk putting hands on her. I shifted and chased him away. No big deal.”

“You revealed yourself in a town that had no idea who or what you were?” King said then squeezed his eyes closed.

“Regardless,” Gunnar said. “There isn’t a whole lot I can do to change that now. Collin only knows I’m a shifter. He’s likely only assuming for the rest of us.”

“And on that note,” Declan said, “I’m a wolf shifter.”

“Half wolf shifter,” King corrected.

“Still a shifter,” he said.

I looked to King, who gritted his teeth together. “And you?”

“Lion,” he said as though the word was poison in his mouth.

I shrugged. “I’m sorry, but I have yet to hear of any beast. So you change into magnificent creatures. Who cares?”

All three men stared at me like I had grown a second head.

I sat back. “What?”

“Not very many people take your stand,” Declan said.

“Most see us as monsters. As a plague on the world,” King added.

I shook my head. “Well I don’t.”

“We should discuss this more later,” Declan said. “We have a man to put in his place, and a father to save.”

I gasped. “Thank you. You really don’t have to do this.”

King smiled. “Of course we do.”

He kissed me on the cheek and rushed out the door. Declan stood for a minute longer, staring longingly at me.

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