Page 48 of The Beast Between Us
But the beast can.
“Inside, Oswin,” I command. “Lock yourself away.”
“Sire?” he asks, confused.
“When Ella returns, you take her and you leave. As far away as you can.”
“What’s happening?” he asks, but I don’t turn to him yet.
Only when I feel the shift begin…eyes glowing, claws itching beneath my skin…do I look back. My voice drops low, inhuman.
“GO.”
The word snarls out of me, primal and unrecognizable. “Promise me, old friend. Protect her.”
He hesitates, sadness flickering in his eyes. Then, with a sharp nod, he runs inside.
I turn away.
And then I give in, knowing I may never again regain control.
My body tears apart and reforms. Bones snap, muscles stretch, fur erupts from flesh. I fall forward…no longer a man. No longer the Beast.
The wolf rises. Anger surges.
And we run.
“Find her,”I tell him.“Find our mate.”
I harden my heart against the truth I dare not face…that I may never again touch my mate. Never see her smile. But the time for mourning is not now. First, the wolf will find her… and end the man who took her, for I know it was her father. Only then will I fall into the wolf completely, and pray that he doesn’t destroy the two people I love most in this world.
***Ella***
Father drags me by the arm, his grip like iron. My shoulder aches from how often he’s yanked me forward, and I’ve stumbled more times than I can count. My knees are scraped raw. My palms sting and bleed from catching myself on gravel and thorns. But I don’t stop fighting.
I scream. I twist. I claw at his hand with nails already broken. “Let me go!”
“Shut up,” he growls, yanking harder. “You think you matter now? You think that Beast actually cares? You’re nothing.”
Tears blur my vision, but I don’t stop. I won’t stop.
Another stumble. My foot catches on a root, and I fall hard, knees slamming into the dirt. I cry out and try to scramble away, but he’s already dragging me back up by the arm, muttering curses under his breath.
And then…
A rustle. Sharp. Behind us.
He stills.
Another sound. Closer. Leaves shifting. Breath held.
I feel it before I see it. The weight of something powerful in the air. Something ancient. Angry. Deadly.
And then, like lightning in the dark, a massive shadow explodes from the brush.
A wolf.
He leaps over me in a blur of fur and fury, landing with a growl that shakes the earth. Father releases my wrist and runs. But it’s of no use. The wolf catches him in seconds.
