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Sonya stumbled over another broken tree branch, falling flat on her ass as, whatever creature she had stumbled across stalked towards her. While the creature resembled a wolf, it was easily twice the size of any wolf she had ever seen. Fear washed over her in waves, and she cursed herself for rushing off when she had no idea of where she was going.
Suddenly, she felt as if she would have been better off inside of the castle. At least there she had food and a warm bed.
“Plea… please.” Hot tears flowed freely down her face as the wolf-like creature walked around her, teasing her, heightening her fear until it was ready to devour her. Its black lips pulled back from its teeth, allowing her to catch a glimpse of the large canines that no doubt wanted a taste of her flesh.
Sudden movement caught her eye and she looked up to see that another wolf creature had joined that party. True terror started to sink in as the reality that she might be eaten alive presented itself before her.
The two wolves circled her, the sound of their heavy paws against the ground echoed around her until it was she heard. Sonya’s head spun, and she was suddenly lightheaded as the snarls grew closer.
She swore she could feel the heat of their breath against her skin and hear their heavy panting as if they were right in her ear. It wasn’t until one of the wolves came to stand in front of her, the other stalking from behind, that she found her voice once again.
A loud scream ripped from her.
The next few moments seemed to go in slow motion as the wolves crouched down, prepared to strike. Before she could take another breath, the two animals rushed her. Closing her eyes, Sonya prayed for a quick and painless death. Just as she was sure she would never see the light of day again, a gust of cool air whipped around her. One moment she swore she could hear death knocking at the door, and the next an agonized howl echoed around her.
Heart pounding in her chest, she pried her eyes open to take in her surroundings. What she saw left her speechless. Sonya watched wide-eyed and slightly horrified at the brutality that unfolded before her.
If she had thought the wolves were big, they were nothing compared to the creature they fought. With each swipe of its massive claw, it drew blood, and the wolves would give out a painful howl. Even so, they still attacked their opponent. If anything, each time they suffered pain, they renewed their attacks twice as hard.
Not that it mattered. No matter how fast they moved, or how aggressively they charged, they couldn’t land a blow on the creature in front of her. Without her noticing, her fear had turned into morbid fascination. Suddenly, she recognized the creature protecting her. She would never admit it to anyone else, but she was all too happy for him to be saving her life. He was a thing of massive beauty as his black fur shined against the darkness of the night. His curved claws cut through the air like scythes, tearing away fur and flesh.
“Amazing, isn’t it?”
She jumped, a scream lodging itself in her throat as she turned and locked gazes with Camren.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered to him as he came to stand next to her.
“We, my dear, came to save you,” he told her with a sly smile before he turned his attention back to the fight at hand.
“We?” Sonya asked under her breath, her gaze following Camren’s.
The beast came to save me?
It was unfathomable to her. The beast was nothing more than an abomination that shouldn’t exist. He had hurt her father, blackmailed her into staying with him, and was currently snapping the neck of the wolf in his jaws.
He was a monster, not a hero.
The snapping of the wolf’s neck echoed through the darkness and chilled her to the bone. Seemingly bored with the dead animal, Beast opened his mouth and his body hit the ground with a dead thud.
“Are you done playing now?” Camren’s annoyed tone broke through her haze.
“Hardly,” the word came out as a harsh growl.
Unsure of what to do, Sonya remained quiet as the two of them went back and forth with each other.
“And you?” Obviously done with their conversation, he turned his attention back to her. She wished they had forgotten she was there. When his yellow gaze turned on her, a new wave of fear consumed her. The beast was far more intimidating than being surrounded by rabid wolves. “What the fuck were you thinking?” he asked.
He wasn’t yelling, but he might as well have been. It would have been a lot less terrifying if he had. When he turned and headed towards her, blood dripping from the tips of his fangs, her heart stopped. Even though he only stood a few feet away from her, he towered over her, glaring down at her with rage in his eyes.
Sonya shrunk back.
“Do you have any idea what could have happened to you?”
With his voice rising, Sonya struggled to remain calm. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Camren stood close to her, a comforting hand on her shoulder, she would have taken off in the opposite direction.
“Calm down,” Camren said.
“Shut up,” Beast snapped, and she jumped. “It’s your fault this shit happened in the first place.”
Sonya watched Camren out the corner of her eye. He looked ready to spitfire. In that moment, she didn’t know which one was more frightening. While Camren didn’t look like a monster, there was something lurking just below the surface that was darker and more dangerous than any beast.
“Had you simply left her in her room as I told you, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“I was supposed to let her starve?” Camren’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Unlike you, brother, I won’t leave a woman to suffer.”
Sonya’s gaze darted back and forth between them, her mind struggling to process what was going on around her.
How was that even possible?
A nightmarish creature was birthed from the same mother as… she looked up at Camren. There was no way the two of them were related, just no way.
“Hard to believe, but it is true. An unfortunate thing most days.”
Looking at the creature that had spoken, she hadn’t realized she had spoken her thoughts aloud.
“Beast.” Camren stepped into her line of vision. “It’s getting late. Let’s return to the castle.”
Beneath their calm tones was an undercurrent of rising tension. Despite her apprehension with the situation, Sonya didn’t want to see what would happen if things between the two of them got out of hand. She spared a brief glance at the corpses of the wolves and pictured Camren lying there. Brothers or not, there was no doubt in her mind they would be capable of killing each other without a second thought. While she didn’t know much about the two of them, if she had to choose sides, she would rather side with Camren. He seemed much more capable of controlling his temper… and less likely to eat her as a snack in the middle of the night.
“Hey, you two.” She staggered her way back to her feet. When both heated gazes turned towards her, she took several steps back. Maybe she was wrong, she might be better off alone. Again, she looked at the dead bodies between Beast’s feet and thought better of it. If more of those things showed up or something worse, she might as well dig her own grave. “Stop arguing, it’s fine.”
“SHUT UP!”
Beast’s sudden roar had her stumbling backward. A shiver of fear crept up her spine.
“Camren is not the only one to blame,” he growled, taking several steps towards her. The ground shook beneath her feet, and it required everything she had not to take off running as he closed the distance between them. “I offered you food and shelter, a warm bed to sleep in, and how do you repay me?” He brought his face to hers, his snout touching the tip of her nose. “You stupidly run off into a forest you know nothing about, off to get killed and ruin everything…” his voice trailed off as he blew steam into her back. She coughed as she inhaled a portion of it. “I should kill you myself for that stupid move.”
“Enough! Leave her alone.”
Sonya heard Camren but couldn’t see anything beyond the wide expanse of Beast’s body.
Taking several deep breaths, Beast seemed to calm himself down enough to back away from her. Only then did Sonya realize she had been holding her breath.
“My brother is going to escort you back to the castle.” His voice, already threatening and low, dropped even lower. “You will stay in your room until I come and get you.” He paused, blowing more steam from his nose. “If you make another half-ass attempt at escape…” This time his eyes narrowed, and she suddenly felt more endangered than when she had been hunted by the wolves. “Curse or not, I will leave you to the forest. Do you understand?”
No, not really. Curses and such, she had no idea what was going on, but she wasn’t going to say it out loud. Instead, she nodded her head.
“Good.” This time he growled, and her heart stopped. “Get out of my face.”
He moved out of her way, and she darted straight to Camren, who embraced her and her sobs.
There was a growl in the background, but she paid no attention.
“Let’s go,” she heard him whisper into her ear with a soft pat to her head.
Taking her by the hand, he led the way back through the forest. Like a limp rag doll, she followed, trying her best not to fall into the depression that was trying to claim her. As much as she didn’t want to look back at him, she couldn’t stop herself. Sparing a glance at him from over her shoulder, she saw him lingering behind, staring at her with an intensity she had felt before.
Beauty… The voice of her prince echoed in her head, and for a moment, she swore that the image of Beast was replaced with that of her prince.
“Move faster,” Camren ordered with a jerk of his hand.
Shaking her head to clear it, Sonya dragged her attention back to navigating her way through the forest. As they broke through the trees, the dark castle looming ahead, she couldn’t shake the image of her prince beside Beast, until the two of them intertwined and became one.
Impossible… There’s just no way… right?
