Page 7 of My Brutal Beast

Daniella huffs and begins typing. “What’s the name of the bar?”

The question throws me off guard. “Loe’s, why?”

“Because, by ‘dealt with’ I assume you mean killed, and you have a habit of not always getting rid of the evidence. We’ll have someone take care of it.” A door opens and shuts in the background. “As for your human, based on what you’ve told me, the potion will be fine for her. She will just need some time to let it circulate through her system, since humans heal slower than we do.”

My heart skips at the news, and for once I feel…light, as if I could fly easily without my wings, without the force of gravity holding me down.

“Has she seen you in your normal form?”

“An in-between version, yes.”

She hums again. “And what are you planning to tell her? Are you going to explain what happened, drop her off here?”

My tone drops to a low growl. “I’m keeping her here.”

Daniella sighs. “You can’t just take a human woman against her will and keep her.”

“She’s mine and you will not take her from me!” The roar that leaves me is immediate and instinctual.

But the next voice I hear isn’t Daniella’s. It’s a masculine one even colder than my own: “Correct your tone when you’re speaking to my wife, creature, or I will correct it for you,” Gregori says.

My natural response to his threat is to rise to the challenge. To battle Gregori, Daniella, or anyone who would try to take my little star from me. But then I hear Daniella whisper that she’s okay, and I realize he and I are the same.

My little star may not be my wife yet, but I already feel the need to protect her and stand by her side. I want her past the flow of time. In any year, dimension, or realm, I would want her, and I’ve spent a little less than a few hours in her company. How would I feel if I had spent years with her? Had children with her?

The thought warms me, just as my gut clenches. I disrespected the only person who has done nothing but assist me from the moment we met. I’ve not been friendly to Daniella. In truth, I haven’t really known how, and yet didn’t she answer my call? Didn’t she send people to clean up my kills? I dishonored her and in turn her husband. I owe them both more than that.

I clear my throat. “I apologize. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.” The words feel strange to me, as I’ve never spoken them before.

Daniella sighs. “It’s alright. I know all of this is new for you. But for humans, choice and freedom are very important, and if you take those away from her, the two of you may never create the relationship you’re hoping for.”

The thought of losing my little star cuts through me. I’ve never felt this feeling, and as I look at my face in the windowpane and see how pale my skin is, and the vacancy in my eyes, I suddenly know what it is. It’s fear. The same fear that I’ve put into the faces of so many is staring right back at me at the simple thought of losing someone I barely even know.

“You’re right,” I say, unable to keep the tremble out of my voice. “I…I’ve never felt the emotions I feel right now. I don’t even know what they mean. But I just know that she feels like she’s…mine.”

There’s a smile in her voice when she says, “Finding your mate is one of the most complex, overwhelming, and beautiful feelings you’ll ever have. Congratulations on finally finding yours.”

My eyes open so wide I’m surprised they don’t fall out of my head. “I…did?”

I’ve heard the term before, but I never could have imagined that I might have a mate somewhere out there. When my species was created, we were always alone. Always.

There is a part of me that cares about my siblings. But we all went our own ways or fell to the darkness of this world. Some even slept, forgotten by space and time, and are nothing more than marble statues now.

I often wonder why I can’t submit myself to the same fate. Why, regardless of the turbulence that lies inside of my soul, I continue to walk among the living. Perhaps, some part of me somehow knew this day would come.

“You deserve this, you know.” The warmth in Daniella’s tone blankets me, soothing away some of my shock. “I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through for so many years, but you have a chance to be happy, and I hope that you will take it. Be vulnerable with her, gentle with her. Get to know her and share yourself with her. Let her see you, the real you, not the cold, detached facade you display to everyone else. If you need any help or guidance, I’m only a phone call away, okay?”

I nod, unfamiliar with the lightness in my chest. “Thank you,” I whisper.

“Always,” she says.

We hang up the phone and I ponder her words. I know nothing about my little star, and that is a problem I need to fix. I take a deep breath, settle into my purpose, and fly back to her wing. She’s sleeping peacefully when I open the door, her dark brown curls spread out on the pillow around her. My heartbeat races simply from seeing her.

I take her dress and purse with me into the study beside her bedroom. Her dress holds no pockets, but I make a note of the brand name to order more clothing for her. Next I dump the contents of her purse onto the desk. There isn’t much there—two different shades of lipstick, a lip gloss, wallet, phone, keys, and a granola bar. I pick up the wallet and read her driver’s license.

Cassandra Brielle Leon.

Finally, I know something about her.

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