The Beast And The Blessed

Sixteen: Tobias

Tobias's P.O.V.

This was the last place I wanted to be, but it was where I needed to be. The music was too loud, and the smell of alcohol and body odor was offensive. Still, I was here, watching and waiting.

Joselin hadn't agreed to be mine yet. We weren't together, but I would be damned before I let her go on a date with another man.

I hadn't felt threatened when she had been sleeping with random people. But her going out on a date with a man who looked at her the way that only I should was not going to stand.

I took a sip of my water, my eyes on the door as I waited for her to enter. If they were going dancing, this was where she would be. It was her favorite place because it was right by the bunkhouse, so it was filled with guards who were used to her, and very rarely would anyone care if she was among them.

It was the town's people who didn't know her that had a problem.

Several of my pack members nodded at me in greeting but didn't bother approaching me. They knew I wouldn't talk to them unless I had to. They didn't mind. I had risked my life for many of them in the past, and they knew my silence was nothing personal.

I used to talk. I used to talk a lot.

My father hated it.

He beat me, telling me to keep my mouth shut. He said it made me a good warrior to know my place, respect my superiors and not waste my breath on those below me. It wasn't until I was older that I realized he wanted me to keep silent so no one would know he would torture me at home despite knowing our neighbors could hear it.

They knew about my home life and did nothing to help me or stop him, and

I would heal before anyone could see it.

But then he got his hands on Ana. I was just a young teenager, practically a kid still. Those words would haunt me forever. 'You sound just like your father.'

Just like that, his life-long lesson finally stuck with me. I didn't want to sound like my father.

Joselin was my escape.

it was safe to talk to, and she loved when I spoke. She would listen to everything I had

impossible to miss Joselin as she entered the bar. Her long white hair was in a high ponytail, and I felt my eyes burn to the black of my beast. She rarely wore her hair up, and

a ponytail and knew she would

right behind her. This time, he kept his hands to himself, and I grunted in approval. He leaned in, whispering by her ear. The music drowned out his words from reaching me, and I watched closely as she perked up with a

right, baby. I'm

I leaned back in my chair. She wanted a night out, but I had laid the rules down very clearly, and I was a man of

them closely, waiting for him to slip up, but he stiffened as she leaned toward him, inching away. Her smile fell as she noticed the distance he placed

Joey, glanced up at me

was relieved when I saw her turn again, trying to find me in the crowd but failing. Knowing that I had just made her happy with such a small gesture reminded me of how perfect she was and that she

dropped back, and she laughed as her date ordered his drink and was forced to pay. They stayed at the bar for a while, talking and sipping

gestured with her head to the dancefloor, staring at the queen's brother expectantly. He was hesitant, and my teeth ground together

Her lips and cheeks puffed out slightly as she let out a breath of

up her hips to her neck before holding them above her head briefly. As I watched her move, I couldn't stop the purr of pride and pleasure. With her arms up, it was like she was a beacon of light. She called me to her, begging me

forced away to the man moving up next to her, seeming to have moved

me vocalize my anger but stayed where she was. Her body began to move more seductively as she stepped toward Holden, and he stepped back but danced next to

hips with the

My woman wanted to

one she would be

of protest that was muffled by

Holden smiled, grabbing her hand and spinning the woman out. The

lightly, making her look up. Goosebumps rose

the speakers, but she did. She heard me loud and clear as I kissed her

back against my chest. "Can you keep

I swayed with her, refusing to lose contact. Even when she spun around

known. There was no doubt that most of them knew of my attraction to Joselin, but I wanted every last one of them to

pushed her closer to me with my hand on her lower back. She took my other hand off her hip, guiding it up her side, over the swell of her breast, and to her chest. Her heart was thumping as quickly as mine, and

we would feel together

her thighs, feeling the soft skin at the bottom of her tight,

dipped to the floor before coming back up. I reached down, adjusting myself in my pants