Page 264 of Evil Hearts

Yes, the humans needed to hunt to survive. They needed the meat and the pelts. But it was my job to make sure they never took more than they needed and that they respected the creatures who gave their lives so the humans could survive. At times, the humans forgot. They forgot our bargain; they forgot the animals they hunted deserved respect and dignity too.

Still, I never took a personal interest in the survival of a human before. I’d been releasing those they chose to sacrifice to their freedom for decades. I’d allowed the humans to run free, to find a home in the nearest village, to be given a chance to survive. Not all of them did. Sometimes the animals of the forest overtook them if they wandered too far from the path. Sometimes they got lost and injured. I’d never been compelled to protect them before. I’d given them a chance and it was up to them to use it wisely.

But the thought of this human, this girl, being harmed was anathema to me. It brought me pain to think about her bleeding out on the forest floor. Of being terrified and alone as the bears and wolves of the forest found their way to her. The moment she followed me into the woods, she’d lost the protection offered by my agreement with the village founders. But still, I couldn’t allow the other animals near her.

The feeling was foreign and uncomfortable, and I wanted nothing more than to make it go away. I couldn’t be responsible for keeping a mad human alive.

“You’ve stopped bleeding. You’re free to return to your village or make your way to the next. I’ll return you to the path. So long as you don’t wander off of it, you’ll have safe passage to the next village. They’ll take you in.”

“I don’t want to go to the next village. And I’ll die before I return to the one that sent me to die at the hands of a monster.” She winced and looked up at me with wide, scared eyes. “Not that I think you’re a monster. You’re not. I know you’re not whatthey raised us to believe you are. You’re nothing like the beast they’ve taught us to fear.”

A part of me hurt that they feared me. Once they worshiped me. I was celebrated by the village as their protector. They left me offerings of food and flowers and gifts. But slowly, over time, the humans stopped leaving me offerings. They began to fear me. And then they began to send sacrifices to me. Sacrifices I’d never wanted or asked for. They stopped believing in me as a god and saw me as a demon.

“You trust too easily.” I might not like the role they cast me, but I would play the monster they claimed me to be if it meant getting this girl away from me and keeping her safe. The woods weren’t meant for a soft, fragile human.

“I never trust.” She shifted to her knees. “But I know you won’t hurt me. I’ll learn to survive out here. But I’m not going back. And I’m not putting myself at the mercy of anyone else ever again.”

I reached out to cup her face in my paw. She didn’t flinch. She stared into my eyes with pleading determination. But she didn’t move. Her skin was soft beneath the rough texture of my paw. I knew nothing about keeping a human alive, especially one so soft and trusting.

So breakable.

But a part of me broke at the thought of her leaving. I yearned to keep her and make her mine. She was there, begging to stay and I wouldn’t, couldn’t, say no.

“We’re both going to regret this.”

Mari

Life in thecave was so unlike village life, yet so similar. There was still work to do, more than ever before, but there wasn’t the constant sense of doom hanging over my head.

The first few days I feared the beast would change his mind and send me away. That I’d wake up and find myself on the path just outside the village. That he’d carry me kicking and screaming to those who were so ready and willing to throw me away. That he’d tire of me and send me into the woods without protection or direction for the animals to have.

Instead, I woke up most mornings alone. He stayed away until late into the night. I was ordered to not leave the cave without him and off he’d go.

The first night, he came back with clothing he must have taken from the village. A pair of too large slippers, some dresses that fit a bit too tight across the chest. He brought me small animals he’d killed to feed me. The wood pile was always stacked with more wood than I could use on any given day. A bucket of water appeared one day and was refilled by the morning.

That wasn’t to say I had nothing to do. Once I had enough materials, I fixed the slippers to fit my feet. There was the fire to tend, the floor to sweep, and animals to be prepared for meals. It was difficult to preserve the hides in the cave, but I did my best.

I was sleeping on the cold stone floor near the fire when I felt Beast curl up behind me. He gently drew me to his body, and I settled into him. That was my favorite part of the day. I was becoming restless and lonely in the cave. I tracked the passage of time through the vent hole in the ceiling of the den. Weak sunlight filtered in, the moonlight faded away to nothing.

“I’d like to leave the cave,” I told Beast. “I won’t spend forever locked away.”

“Sleep,” Beast grumbled, using his paw to push my head into his broad, soft chest.

“No.” I pushed away from him until I could sit up. I remained pressed against him, soaking in his warmth and presence. “Either you take me with you or I go on my own.”

“It’s not safe.”

“You can keep me safe,” I pushed. I would go mad if I didn’t get sunlight and a chance to really move. The cave wasn’t small or cramped but the same stone walls and lack of real light was driving me insane.

“Please, I need it. I promise I’ll do whatever you say to stay safe but I cannot stay in this cave another day.”

“I’ll consider it.” When I went to argue again he held up a paw. “ No, your safety is my priority and I need to know you will be safe.”

This time when Beast pulled me down, I allowed him to settle me into the safety of his arms. He ran his claws through my hair. We laid there for a long time before I finally drifted off to sleep.

When I awoke the next morning Beast was still there. The fire was down to embers, letting a chill in the air. I moved to add wood to bring it back to flame.

“No,” Beast said. “Today, we’ll go out. You must do exactly as I tell you.”

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