Page 83 of Beast: Part Two

“You have schizoid personality disorder, Beast,” I say.

Alicia explained to me that Beast had a mild version of schizoid personality disorder along with traces of schizotypal personality disorder as well as signs of sociopathy. He is the perfect storm of disorders to make him the greatest killer in the Church organization. All of his conditions are treatable and manageable with meds when needed and by talking to a psychiatrist on a regular basis.

Beast turns and looks over his shoulder glaring at me. Immediately, I can tell his hold on Summer’s neck loosens by the way the redness in her face slowly recedes.

“The Church misdiagnosed you when you were younger. And you are not possessed by a demon. Your mind is just creating things. But you are in control.”

Lucien looks over at me, his gun lowering to his side. “When did you find this out?”

“Today,” is all I say in response.

“How do we help him?” Zel asks.

Although this meeting did not go as planned and lately, they have been bickering back and forth with each other like cats anddogs, it made me proud to see them rallying behind Beast now. He’s going to need it.

“He just needs to remember who he is and what’s real,” I explain. “And right now, he needs to remember that he is hurting the woman that he loves.”

I make sure I look at Summer pointedly when I say those words. She needed to remind him that he loved her, but she also needed to be reminded too. I don’t fault her for her outburst. She was hurting and in return wanted to hurt him. But they both needed to understand that they love each other. And for this diagnosis, they would need to be each other’s backbone.

“Gabriel,” Summer gets his attention back. “Baby, you’re hurting me. Whatever this thing is in your head, it’s hurting me.”

He releases Summer so quickly she drops to the ground. He steps back, his hands are in tight fists by his side.

“Get out of my head,” he growls to himself.

“You got this, Beast,” Hawk says.

“We’re all here, brother,” Many adds.

Eventually, Beast’s breathing slows, the tension in his shoulders’ wain, and his hands relax. The moment he opens his eyes, he goes straight to Summer. He lifts her off the ground. She wraps her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, burying her face in his neck.

He doesn’t speak to any of us, instead he storms out of the dining room carrying her in his arms.

We all watch as the two lovers slip away.

“I’m not going to lie, I almost pissed my fucking pants,” Zel says breaking the silence.

Hawk snorts and the rest of us chuckle. I go over to Maksim to check on his arm.

“You good?” I ask him.

He rolls his shoulder, suggesting he might be injured. “Between him and my other siblings, I’m really starting to second guess this brother thing.”

I shake my head. He’s only joking. We all know how much he loves Beast.

“He should be fine for now,” Alicia says getting my attention. “Beast is very intelligent. I’m not completely shocked that he subconsciously knew what I was doing. Most of his battle will be reminding himself what’s real and what isn’t. His schizotypal disorder is mild. We want to keep it that way. He needs to start seeing someone on a regular basis before it turns into schizophrenia.”

“Thanks, Alicia,” Fem says coming up beside me. “We appreciate your help.”

She nods. “And can you let Summer know that I was never trying to take her man. I don’t want her to think I’m that type of person.”

“I’ll let her know, but I don’t think any of us will see her for the rest of the day.” Turning to the rest of the room I say, “Speaking of, let’s put a pin in this conversation. We need time and clearer heads before we discuss it again.”

They all seem to agree.

“Now, let’s get this room back in order.” Though they all groan, we help right the dining room. Even though we had a name for Beast’s condition, I know that we still had a long road in front of us.

chapter twenty-One

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