The Beast And The Blessed

Eleven: Tobias

Tobias's P.O.V.

She had wanted me, and I had pushed her away.

She was done waiting. I was out of time.

I knew with every beat of my heart and breath in my lungs that I wanted her to be mine. Everything about her drew me in, called to me. She was the embodiment of seduction. But she was also funny, intelligent, and loyal. Every time we spoke, all of my responsibilities vanished from my mind, and I just wanted to spend all of my time with her.

Even Ana didn't make me feel this way; that had been a hard pill to swallow. I had tried so hard to protect her and to love her. But I had failed on both accounts. It was unnatural. It was against the will of the Goddess.

My beast felt the pull to Ana, but my mind had always been on Joselin. For that, I would never be able to let Ana go. The guilt alone was too much for me.

I ripped open the door to my father's house. The musty smell of the abandoned property made my nose wrinkle in disgust. It had been so long since I had been here. I hated doing it. It always brought back too many memories.

Yet, I also hadn't built up the courage to fix the place, so I could sell it. It was mine now that my father was gone, but the horrific memories inside made me want to burn the place down instead. I didn't want to have to go through and renovate it to hide the horrors of my past.

I was physically strong enough to do it, but I didn’t know if my mind could handle it. The easiest of the issues would be the scratches on the inside of the door and walls of the closet in my childhood bedroom.

The most difficult would be having to rip up the flooring and replace it to hide the blood stains on the first floor.

I had thought I could mentally prepare myself to move on and offer Joselin everything she could ever want. It didn't seem possible with the ghosts of my past still here. Maybe this was the closure I needed.

I had always hated this house. Every room was walled off from the others, making it darker than I'd like. The closed off floor-plan was exactly what I had avoided when I purchased my current home.

We had a few things in common, Joselin and I. Our horrific upbringing was what we had bonded over when I found her. Soon after, she became my best friend, my only escape. I had hoped for her to be my future as well.

Then I found Ana, and it felt wrong to spend time with Joselin.

Now, Ana was gone, and the only thing stopping me was my guilt.

The only way to move on was to let go of Ana. She wasn't here to forgive me anymore. I could beg and plead to the Goddess until the words lost all meaning, and I had, but it made no difference.

I glanced down at the discolored wood.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will take care of it. Tomorrow I would get my closure so I could move on.

I walked to the front window, cracking it open to air out the house a little while I was gone before locking it behind me and leaving.

It was for me. It was for Joselin. It didn't matter if I felt I couldn't do it yet; I couldn't face those demons. I had to do it.

didn't, I

her tower. She should be here with me, or I should be there with her. Instead, I was alone, and she was alone. How would it feel to crawl into her bed

right now or still working on

on my bed. The horrors that awaited me were always the same, one memory or another. I closed my eyes,

***

hear him. His voice was low and deadly as he scolded her. Her sweet innocence could have gotten her out of anything unless it was with him. He despised her kind. She was a disgrace to this family. A human mate would dilute his perfect Lycan bloodline. He

she

Ana.

first shifted

to wait longer, but Lycans... Lycans were stronger and shifted as soon as their beasts were ready. I had seen some of my pack mates undergo the change as early as nine. We could find our mates at any time after that. It was one of the many reasons why we were superior to wolves. Wolves didn't

hadn't found their mate, they had to present themselves as a potential breeder for our kind. The Offering is what we called it. It was how

The Offering. Attending those and the mating mixers when I knew I had already found my mate was torturous, but no one knew about Ana. After what happened,

running as it should have been. My father had me tag along, wanting me to start learning the ropes as soon as

one of the maids cleaning the bunkhouse, working so young at only fifteen. As soon as I walked into my room, I

I would take her away to the capital, and she would live with me among royalty. She never expected that having me as a mate

He was furious.

already a disgrace to him, but it was even worse that I

brought her back with us anyway, claiming she was to be a maid in our household. No one knew she was my mate at that

should have

She should have listened.

him so she could make a break for it. She never did. She insisted that

me dead than let me go, and

of your kind ages ago.” His growl of disgust made me flinch. I opened the front door, dropped the groceries to the floor, and raced toward my mate. My beast roared in anger as I saw his

her body smashing against the entryway

snarling at me when I stood between him and his prey. He reeked of liquor and moonflower oil, a potent combination to which he had grown

as he watched with rage that I had

are as weak as she is, boy! Know your place!" He snapped, gripping me by the neck with his

had minimum training and hadn't mastered control of my beast yet. He had decades of training

argued when his hand tightened around

plan of attack. Hit after hit, my father launched

as black dots danced in my vision, stumbling backward as he tackled me down.

Run, Ana. Please.

too young to

the last, and while I could feel my body trying to heal, he was attacking

had done countless times before. It was his way of teaching me a lesson. I knew he did it on my front because

would have sliced open my chest with his claws and locked