Page 68 of Monsters and Beauties

And then he kept his colossal body in front of mine as he moved closer to the alcove entrance. I glanced around his bulging arm, but couldn’t see anything.

With a hand placed on the center of his back, I could feel how heavy he was breathing, his shoulders rising and falling because he was damn near panting.

I glanced down at his paws and watched as he clenched and relaxed them.

“Wolf?” I adjusted to the side, my tone frightened, but his arm shot out like a steel bar in front of me, stopping me from getting any closer.

I looked up at him, feeling my eyes widen, the fear almost consuming me. I could sense the violence and tension radiating off of him, and when he slowly turned his head to glance down at me, all I saw was the animal that he truly was reflected at me.

“I swear on the air in my lungs, the blood in my veins, and whatever good part of me I’ve ever had, that I won’t let anything hurt you.”

His words, the inclination of his voice, were so profound, so determined, that I knew it was his absolute truth.

What was out there that would make him say something with such conviction?

And then, as if whatever threat had heard my thoughts, a deep growl echoed through the woods.

With his big paw around my waist, he tightened his hold, pushing me further back into the alcove as he took a step forward and away from me.

“No matter what, you stay here. You letmeprotectyou.” He glanced at me once more. “It’s what I was born to do.”

My chest clenched at his words and I knew then—even if I hadn’t already been certain—that I wouldn’t leave Wolf. I was meant to be here.

We were meant to be together.

And I’d make that our reality if we got out of this… whateverthiswas.

I slowly nodded because I knew he wanted me to affirm I understood. Only then did Wolf face forward again. I saw the way his shoulders rose and fell as he breathed harder.

His paws were completely outstretched on either side of him now, his claws seeming darker and sharper than ever before.

I leaned to the side to look around his bicep for a prolonged moment.

No sound escaped me as I watched the creature step out from the thickness of the forest. I could tell it was another beast-creature like Wolf, but aside from the height and overall shape, that’s where the similarities ended.

This creature looked rabid and emaciated. It had white and red foam—the latter color I had to assume was blood—spilling out of the corners of his jaw, and around its discolored teeth. One of its ears was partially missing, and I could see chunks of fur gone, scars covering its flesh underneath.

On instinct, I moved back another step just as Wolf took one forward, keeping his body in front of mine.

The sounds coming from him were ones I’d never heard before. His growls were much harsher, and I knew they were ones of warning.

My heart was thundering, and I knew there was nothing I could do. As strong as I thought I was, as independent as I’d always been in my life, this was something I never even conceived of going up against.

And then, like a crack of lightning and a boom of thunder, the two beasts crashed together.

For as malnourished and sickly as the other animal appeared, he fought just as brutally as Wolf. But what made the entire situation even more terrifying was the way the other beast kept looking at me with his jaw opened wide and his eyes flashing with hunger.

What kind of hunger it was, I didn’t want to find out.

He tried to get to me repeatedly, but before he could get close enough, Wolf locked his jaws and claws into its body and hauled it back.

There was a deafening roar from Wolf before he gripped the other creature and threw him against the nearest tree. Its body cracked against the trunk, the sound coming from it so unnatural it had bile rising in my throat.

It fell to the ground and stayed there unmoving. Optimistically, I hoped this was the end, that in its weakened state it was no match for my Wolf.

When it stayed on the ground, I tentatively moved forward. Wolf stood a few feet from the creature’s body, his chest rising and falling, blood dripping off of his claws from when he tore into the animal.

Slowly, I started making my way toward Wolf, my gaze never leaving the other animal. And then Wolf turned slowly toward me.

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