Page 44 of The Beast Between Us
He shifts in the chair, exhaling hard.
“There’s something you don’t know about men like me,” he begins, eyes still on the flames. “Men with beasts inside us…animal souls. We don’t choose who we love. We don’t fall the way normal men do. We’re born with only one…one…person meant for us. A fated bond. Unshakable. Eternal.”
I forget to breathe.
“And you,” he says, finally looking at me, “you are mine.”
The words fall between us, heavy and irrevocable.
“I care for you,” he admits. “More than I should. But I won’t act on it. I won’t touch you beyond what you allow. I won’t claim what was never meant to be claimed.”
“Why?” I whisper.
“Because I’m not safe,” he growls. “I’m cursed. Half-beast, half-man. Unpredictable. I’ve hurt people, Ella. People I cared for. I won’t risk that with you.”
The ache in his voice cracks something deep in my chest.
I shift, sitting all the way up now. “But Idocare for you,” I say, heart pounding. “You’re not just a beast. You’re kind. Protective. Loyal. You make me feel safe.”
His breath catches.
“You’re not a monster,” I whisper. “At least… not to me.”
He looks at me like the ground’s just shifted under his feet. But before he can speak, a wave of exhaustion finally pulls me under. My body sinks back against the pillows.
And I whisper, barely audible, “I like you, Thorne. All of you…”
Silence stretches between us, filled only by the crackle of the fire.
Then he speaks, his voice low and unsteady. “Ella.”
I blink my heavy eyes open, just enough to see him still sitting by the fire, his posture rigid with something that feels too big for the room.
“I need you to hear something before you fall asleep completely,” he says. “Something important.”
I nod, just slightly.
“You are no longer serving your father’s debt,” he says, voice steady despite the emotion behind it. “That burden was never yours to carry. I free you, my Ella.”
My heart stutters.
“You owe nothing. Not to him. Not to me. You are free to go wherever you please, and I will see to it that you’re cared for. Home, land, protection. Whatever you need. Even if it means never seeing you again.”
The silence that follows is vast.
I don’t speak. Not right away.
Instead, I let his words wrap around me, settle into every space that’s ever known fear or ownership or shame. They unravel something tight and trembling in my chest, something I hadn’t even realized was still clinging to the edges of my heart.
Finally, I sit up, my voice quiet but certain.
“Thank you… for your words. For your kindness. For your freedom.”
His eyes drop as if bracing for my goodbye.
“But,” I continue, “regardless of my role… I’ve felt free from the moment I walked through those doors. And the only place I want to be, debt or no debt, is at your side. As your mate. Whenever you’re ready to accept me.”
Thorne’s breath shudders out of him as if someone had just struck his chest.
