Page 10 of Beauty and Her Beasts (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 1)

I cried until I fell asleep, curled up on the seat of the carriage, waking when the whole thing jerked. I sat up and looked out the window in the door. Judging by the massive gate sealing away the tall castle, we had arrived.

I climbed out of the carriage unassisted and stared up at the magnificence of the hotel. My worries from before faded away as a new sensation took over. This was where I was meant to be.

Movement caught my attention, and my eyes fell onto Gunnar who approached me, smiling as wide as ever.

“I’m so glad you made it,” he said. “I trust the journey wasn’t too rough.”

“It was fine,” I said, lying. “Thank you.”

He took my hand and brought my knuckles to his lips. I forced the heat threatening to fill my cheeks back, along with the rush of heat that pooled between my thighs. I bit my lip as his blue eyes took in mine as he released my hand, tucking it into the crook of his elbow.

“Shall we?” he asked.

“Yes, please,” I said and stared forward at the magnificence and enchanting beauty of my new life.

4

DECLAN

I never cared much for people. In fact, I would go as far as to say I hated them on most days. The only exception was Gunnar, and he pushed my tolerance for him more often than not. Jacinda and Phillip were the only other exceptions but they were gone, so they no longer counted. King used to be borderline all right with me, but ever since he came back from the war, he changed. And not for the better. He kept himself distant and in the basement of the hotel, despite thinking he was slick when he snuck away like he was known for doing. Hell, I was surprised he showed up for the memorial that was held for his parents.

I counted myself as lucky to have the job I did. It allowed me to avoid people as often as possible.

I knew the land and the woods like the back of my hand. Inside and out. And the work kept me plenty busy. When not working, I hunted in the woods. So long as I was able to keep my hands covered in dirt, I was happy. The only friend I had and ever needed was my wolf, Moon.

Such was the way I preferred things. My routine was simple and had been unchanged for years. That was up until I was heading back to my cabin after a long day working on the grounds. I caught sight of the most beautiful girl crossing the grounds, strapped to Gunnar’s arm. Seeing her stirred something within me and had me ready to lock myself in my cabin for the rest of time.

Memories of years long past rushed through me as well as Gunnar’s plan.

She was damn near perfect in every way. But she was meant for King. Gunnar had done well. Better than I had given him credit for. I should know. King and I grew up on these lands. Ever since we were kids there was this strange sense of being in constant competition with him. And once we reached a certain age, women were no exception. I lost enough women to him to understand what he liked and didn't.

So, I supposed it went without saying that as children, we were the best of friends. Now, we were adversaries. Because if there was one thing I could say about King, it was he got all the girls and he wasn’t keen on sharing.

Gunnar, however, had yet to learn this about King.

I would be able to keep myself distant well enough. But I worried that Gunnar was too far gone in his infatuation with the girl to let her fall into King’s arms. Also, I had my doubts about the plan from the beginning. I didn’t think anything would snap King out of his reclusive habits. But I had to admit that if anyone had the ability to pull him out of his funk, she could.

The problem was, I couldn’t very well make sure that the plan went off without a hitch without involving myself. And as uncomfortable as it would surely prove to be, I couldn’t stand by and let Gunnar fuck things up for the rest of us. He needed to be held in check.

Without a second thought, I headed for the two figures stalking toward the front door of the hotel. I barely made it halfway and my nose was assaulted by the flood of pheromones filling the air.

I sneezed, which alerted Gunnar to my approach. He stopped in the middle of what he was telling the girl and faced me.

“Declan? Is there something wrong?” he asked.

“Nope. I was just coming over to introduce myself to our new manager,” I said. It was a lie and judging by the dubious expression Gunnar gave me, it was one he wasn’t buying.

He didn’t call me out on it, though. Instead, he played along. Thankfully. He said, “Of course. Declan this is Allana. Allana, this is our groundskeeper.”

“I’m in charge of keeping everything pretty,” I said. “If there is anything you want changed, please let me know. I’ll see to it.”

She nodded and smiled. “I will.”

I took in a breath and my eyes widened. Her arousal… it was intoxicating. Maybe approaching her was a mistake. She was astoundingly attractive, but I was far more accustomed to not getting what I wanted than Gunnar was. He had no idea the lengths King would go to make sure the girl stayed out of his bed.

I did.

“I’m pleased to meet you,” she said.

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