Page 101 of Chosen By the Fae King

I shook my head. “You don't understand.”

“I understand perfectly, kitten.” His voice was soft, but resolute.

“No! I have an animal inside me, Nox!”

“I already know that.”

My shoulders fell. “You saw.” Of course he saw. He was there.

Nox gave a small shake of his head. “I knew before your beast showed herself.”

“What? How could you have known? I didn't even know.”

“I knew because I have one, too, Aeryn. We are the same.”

I went still, staring at him, lips parted.

“We are what we are and we do what we must to survive. Your beast saved your life. If you hadn't called her, Zoriyah wouldn't have stopped.”

He gazed back steadily, shadows lurking in the depths of his eyes. I inhaled deeply, afraid to hope and afraid to voice the questions trembling there.

“You're like me,” I stated back to him what he’d said.

Nox's mouth curved in a wry smile. “Well, not exactly. My beast is a bit different than yours. But in essence, yes.”

His fingers tightened in my hair, gaze intent upon my face. “I had hoped to discuss this with you under better circumstances, but it seems the cat is out of the bag now, as it were.”

“I'm a cat?!”

He chuckled. “Not exactly. You’re not even a true shifter. You’re still fae, just a very specific kind.”

“And what kind would that be?”

“You're a baast, which explains your extremely protective instincts.”

“A baast,” I repeated, befuddled.

They were known as protective warriors, some of whom had powers to nullify magic or read minds. “I don't know any fae who are baasts. Not my parents. Not their parents.”

“Are you certain about that? You said your parents were too weak to call on their powers.”

“But I spent time with my grandparents. Though, I don’t recall any of them ever using their magic in front of me. There wasn’t any reason to.”

“It’s also possible they did use some of their powers but you were too young to remember.”

Letting out a frustrated huff, I added, “And no one's around anymore who I could ask.”

Nox tugged on a lock of my hair. “Someone in your family line had to be. Does it matter who?”

I shook my head. “I suppose not. It's just so … unexpected. Why didn't you say anything if you knew?”

More importantly, why hadn't my family ever told me?

“I was going to, once the trials were over and things had settled between us.”

I ignored that last part. “Did you know exactly what I was? What was inside me?”

“Yes,” he sighed. “I didn't want to frighten you. I've known about your beast since the first time I kissed you, yet you had no idea. I felt her. Could scent her in your skin.”

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