Beast and Prince
"Having a Human Mate is nothing but trouble." The prince's eyes shifted, darkening a bit as he leaned towards her. She was startled by his sudden movement that she did not notice his hand sliding across the cushion of the couch to touch her hand. Her eyes jumped from his face to their touching hands. The warm feeling she had was the result of his slight touch. "I won't run away." She snatched her hand away, hating the way her breathing had hitched as he peered into her blue eyes. "Why is that, your Highness?" Her upper lip curled up in a sneer. "You might not be scared now, but there's not a single human that doesn't succumb to their fear." "Kiera I've been inundated with kidnapping and assassination attempts since my life began. Trying to scare me off as you did to those noblewomen isn't going to work." His soft dark eyebrows knitted together, and a look of exasperation was beginning to take shape on his handsome face. Kiera scoffed, keeping the sneer on her lips. "We shall see about that." She did not know what had come over her as her hands went up to push on the prince's shoulders. His green eyes widened as he looked up at her, now trapped underneath her. He was held down by her hands as she climbed on top. Her eyes shone a dangerous blue. A predator's gaze. Her hair fell, the tips of her raven hair brushing the prince's face. "I can rip you to shreds." She said with force behind her words. "With a single bite, I can tear chunks of your flesh clean off." She lowered her face down to him. She was so close to him now that she could feel his hot breath on her face. She could hear his crazed heart as it beat against his chest. His breathing became ragged as he stared back into her predatory gaze. "I can, and I am quite capable, of eating you." A playful smile bloomed on his lips, and determined to drive her insane, he brought his face forward and whispered into her ear. "Please do." ———————— Fifty years of peace are coming to a close. The Golden Rose Treaty between Beasts and the rest of the continent brought an era of temporary peace for all the kingdoms. Now, the leaders of the kingdoms must gather to begin drafting another treaty. Deep South in the heart of Wolfcrye Forest lies the capital of the Beast Kingdom and twenty-five-year-old Kiera Blackwater is one of twelve Generals in the Beast Army. All her life she has dedicated herself to punishing the Beasts who lose sight of their humanity, but all that is put on hold when she is chosen by her King as part of the peace treaty delegation. Kiera is then thrown into the confusing world of humans, where women are expected to be docile and kind, complacent and never opinionated, everything Kiera is not. There she meets the equally as confusing Third Prince of the Solomon Kingdom, who is nothing as he seems. Ever smiling and with eyes full of mischief, the prince is every bit perplexing as the human customs she has come to see. She is even more baffled when the prince is determined to become her Mate, proposing a three-month deal that he can win her heart. As trouble spells the end of peace forever, the Beast General will have to struggle against her rising feelings as the prince inches closer to capturing her heart. ———————— Update Schedule: Once every week ***Cover art is not mine***
lovesick pup
Sam's face erupted with joy as he turned into the hallway when he spotted the Beast General emerge from the Beast King's quarters. He was about to call out her name, but stopped short when he watched in amazement as she leapt through one of the open windows with such grace he thought she was a cat.
He ran towards the windows and looked down, watching as the Beast General quickly ran out of the courtyard. It appeared as if she was being chased.
Sam blinked back his confusion as he watched her retreating back, and soon, she disappeared before his very eyes just as quickly as she appeared.
He shook himself from his trance. Ever since he had first laid eyes on the Beast General, he had a hard time controlling his emotions. After the night of the banquet, he had an even harder time thinking about anything besides her azure eyes.
He was ashamed of himself. At the same time, he couldn't help the giant smile that grew on his face whenever he had a chance to see her. Or hear her. It didn't matter which, both were equally pleasing to him.
He turned around, deciding it was about time for him to enter the Beast King's room. Earlier today he was surprised by the sudden request he received from the Beast King to meet with him. It was odd the King wanted to meet with him instead of his father or his other brothers. Regardless, Sam accepted of the Beast King's reasons, as he also wanted to speak one on one with the Lion Lord.
He saw this as a way to understand where the Beast King stood on the current peace treaty discussion, and he had no intention of letting this perfect opportunity go to waste. He didn't believe the Beast King was a fool like the others, surely he could see where the disastrous negotiations were leading towards.
"Greetings Third Prince." The Beast King leisurely sipped his tea as he sat down on the small chair. Sam nearly laughed at the sight as soon as he saw the dignified-looking Beast King towering over the tiny table and chairs, no doubt something his father had orchestrated to mock the mighty Lion Lord.
"Good afternoon King William."
He bowed his head before sitting down at one of the chairs. Even to him, the chairs were small, he couldn't imagine the enormous Beast King being comfortable in such chairs.
"Kiera." Not long after he had sat down did the Beast King utter the Beast General's name.
"Pardon?" Sam was taken aback, not understanding why the name had suddenly been brought up.
"First, let me pour you some tea." Sam was still confused even as the Beast King poured out the tea into Sam's teacup. Then he sat back down and watched Sam closely with his amber eyes as the young man hesitantly added sugar to his tea.
The King of Beasts nodded his approval when Sam only added less than a spoonful of sugar.
"Kiera also likes her tea the same way. With just a little sugar." Sam nearly choked while taking a sip of his tea. He instantly wondered if this was the reason why the King invited him over. Although he came here for entirely different reasons, he soon felt himself smile as he was beginning to realize what kind of a person sat before him. He was very different from what he imagined the mighty Lion Lord to be.
"I'll keep that in mind," Sam said, looking straight into the amber eyes in front of him.
"Let me impart some words of wisdom," the King began, "Kiera has almost no experience with Human customs so you'll have to be straightforward with your advances." Sam blinked a couple of times. To him, he felt as if he was already being incredibly straightforward. He has been trying for the past couple of days to catch her eyes whenever they were at the peace discussions.
"The Beast Country is a lot different. Beast men are even blunter, they're not afraid to be rejected." The Beast King imparted his wisdom onto Sam. Instead of trying to cut their conversation short, Sam clamped his mouth shut and listened to what he had to say.
"Can I take this to mean that you approve of me?" After silently listening to the Beast King for a few minutes, Sam couldn't understand why the Beast King was giving him advice on courting his Beast General.
The Beast King thought for a moment, taking another sip of his tea.
"I knew the kind of man you were the second you opened your mouth at the banquet." Sam took it to mean the Beast King had seen through his guise. He was impressed, only a few people ever could see past his mask and peer into Sam's true personality. Kepler was only one of them, the others were people he had killed or people that ultimately joined hands with him.
"You can take away that fake smile now Prince. I want to see the real you."
Sam let the smile fall from his face. The two men stared at each other without speaking.
"I'll only ask you this once. Are you genuinely going to pursue Kiera?"
Sam sat forward, clasping his hands together on top of the table.
"I can say with utmost certainty that I've never felt this way about anyone before." Somehow, he knew the King would be able to see through any of his lies. "I want to be clear about my intentions as I can tell you care deeply for your Beast General." Sam didn't know his true feelings yet so he didn't want to get ahead of himself by telling the King he was seeking Kiera's hand in marriage.
"I want to get closer to her." He regretted the foolish words that left his lips. Frustrated with himself, he ran a hand through his hair.
"What I meant to say is that I want to get to know her better. I want to see her smile, I want to hear her laugh, and I want to hear her speak her mind again. So yes, your Majesty. I am going to genuinely pursue Kiera." He wanted to add he couldn't for the life of him explain the feelings he had every time he saw the beautiful Beast General.
"Then I suggest that you show Kiera your true side. I'll let you figure out how to do that on your own. You're an extremely bright man unlike your father."
"If my words mean anything to you, I want you to know that I am rooting for you. Truly, I am. Kiera has been alone for a very long time. She needs someone who can brighten up her life."
"I'll try my best." He felt his gaze soften when he thought about Kiera.
When Sam drank the rest of his tea, he got up from his seat. "Another piece of advice before you go." Sam halted as he reached for the door.
"Be careful with the spies you sent to the two other Kingdoms. You might know your father, but you don't know the people the other Kings or the people they have working for them." Sam didn't bother to ask how the Beast King knew about his spies. He wasn't sure he was going to answer that even if he did ask.
He opened the door and left after bowing his head one last time, showing respect to the wise King of Beasts.