The Beast And The Blessed

Four: Charlie

Charlie's P.O.V.

There were three things I knew for sure:

My mate had the most incredible voice in the world. The way he let my name roll off his tongue had been replaying in my head all night, keeping me awake.

I didn't even like my full name. I preferred Charlie.

There was no reason for me to have given him my full name, but it came out instinctively like I was trying to impress him with a long, classy name even though I bathed in a river and slept in the forest. I had hoped he would reciprocate and give me anything in return. His name would have been nice.

He came after me last night, which meant we were making progress. I felt butterflies in my stomach at the idea that maybe, with time, he would be willing to have a real interaction with me.

I didn't chase him when he left me beside a fresh carcass yesterday. Instead, I watched him go, shifted, and ate my fill. It obviously hadn't been his intention when he left it there, but eating the kill of my mate satisfied my beast in a way I hadn't been expecting. He had provided for me... even though I had done something to spook him away from his food and then stolen it. It still counted.

Okay, so it didn't sound so romantic when I thought about it, but somehow it was also the best-tasting meat I had ever had.

Growing up in a castle and being served only the finest, hand -crafted meals, it had been a startling realization that the bloody, raw meat was my new favorite meal.

I was done allowing him to send me on these wild goose... well, bear chases. We had broken down a wall between us yesterday, and I wouldn't humor him anymore in playing these games.

At first, I thought they were cute. I thought maybe my mate was leading me somewhere.

Instead, he was just keeping me busy. I felt his eyes on me the entire time, and each day I got more excited than the one prior.

The thoughts would flow through my mind, 'Was today the day he was going to introduce himself to me?', 'Was he taking me somewhere beautiful he wanted to share with me? ', or the most humiliating one... 'Was he taking me to his den?

That last one was the hardest because I allowed myself to get my hopes up. I had ignorantly thought that maybe he had been taking me back to his den so we could spend time together without the possibility of anyone stumbling upon us. We didn't have to do anything intimate or physical, even though I was eager and nervous to finally be with the man I had saved myself for.

Just talking would have been nice, but he didn't want to do that based on the three words I had gotten from him over the past week.

first day, the realization that he had been trying to throw me off his trail and keep me away from him hurt. It hurt so much that I almost stayed in camp on the third day after giving

stubborn woman I was known to be, I kept going. Whatever this test was, I wanted to pass it. I wanted to

different because I was

wanted me to leave him alone,

the others slept. They would be up as soon as the sun started rising, but I was too impatient

flames, watching them grow higher as the water pot heated. My mind was swirling with thoughts of my mate and my

still had the heavy burden of my title weighing on me since my brother was

the world until he ascended to the throne, then it became

help him with his workload, I was failing my duties. If I had done more, going above and beyond to support him and earn his respect,

and want to see my older brother and be around the familiar faces I had

an opinion or suggestion that deviated from his by even the

publicly, he would berate me for being unprofessional. If I did it in private, he was free to lay into me and remind me that my opinion did not matter since I

I no longer gave it a second thought. All I wanted was for him to hear me. As soon as he gave me his memorized speech about when and where I could open my mouth,

the best decisions I ever made for my mental

and I turned to face Barley. The giant man

of training told me it was better to remain composed and keep your heart tucked under your sleeve instead of on it. He reached his freckled arm forward, proof of

had gotten, the fact that the water was boiling, or that the sun was up and the men were moving about. Roman and Paxton had made their way out to relieve themselves, and I covered my mouth when

move to the base of a tree and weather the storm. Diego's hands were behind his head as he stared at the sky. He was minding his own business, always did, and I

nowhere to be seen, so he

when Paxton got into fights with his one-night stands. He was smooth and tended to

our mugs, the lightweight metal heating my hands, and I took in a deep inhale of

took a long and much-needed sip of my drink, ignoring the burn of overheated liquid on my tongue. "And I will be doing

this conversation. If anyone could get me to spill my guts, it was Barley. The

had my weapons strapped on, filled the pouch on my hip with a

my shoulder and received a

in my tracks, not wanting to turn back

everyone knows?" I confirmed, and the big man just grunted in response. "I'm so glad to hear my mate avoiding me is so

went down toward the river. It wasn't funny to me,

engage was Roman, but that was because