The Beast And The Blessed

Eleven: Charlie

Charlie P.O.V.

"Did you feel unsafe?" Damien asked, and I shook my head, but there was a slight delay in my reaction. The truth was there were several times that I had felt unsafe. There were more moments during my time in the castle where I was either in immediate danger or was looking over my shoulder for it than I liked to admit.

"Not with him. My brother scared me a lot, he let his anger and beast get the better of him, but he always walked away. He never physically hurt me. He just yelled and shifted to intimidate everyone around him. It's what the pack knows him for.” I kept to myself how many people he had killed in his life because there were too many to count.

Executions alone were in the high double digits; if you bring in all the wars and battles he had fought, Killian had killed at least several hundred creatures, maybe thousands.

Regardless of how cruel he acted at times, he was still my brother. Killian was the only family I had left, and I wanted him to be happy. I wanted him to find his mate so he could see that he could be good.

"Do you feel safe now?" Damien watched me closely. I could still feel his stare when I turned away from him.

I glanced over my shoulder at him. I wasn't sure if he was asking if I felt safe around him or if I felt safe around my men, but the answer, either way, was, "Yes."

That made him smile.

Never in my life had I thought of a man as beautiful before. Pretty, sure. But never beautiful, not until I met Damien. His smile was so pure and genuine that I was determined to see it every day for the rest of my life. It was the kind of smile that would make the Goddess fall to her knees before him if She were to see it.

When I returned to his side, he had stopped chopping and held the head of the ax down on the stump with both hands on the end of the handle.

"Is he your only sibling?”

"Yes, do you have any?" I asked as I grabbed the last few pieces of wood and stacked them in the shed.

"I'm sure I do, but none I have met." His eyes were alight with amusement when he saw my surprise, and he shrugged his shoulders. "My father is a wanderer. I have to assume that I am not his only offspring."

The reminder of our different cultures made me feel sick. Would Damien be like that? Would he walk away once we had children? Had he already? How many women had he been with while traveling who ended up pregnant?

"Is that how all bears live?" It was almost impossible not to offend someone by asking how many love children they might have wandering around.

of them do, but not all of us. Some settle down for life." Damien picked up the ax, walking past

very clear in his distinct difference between 'them' and 'us.' It was as if he wanted to clarify that he hadn’t been a part of the wanderers that lived their life freely with no concern for those they left behind. But settling down for life? That meant there

A chance for us.

to continue our conversation even though he seemed done chopping wood. I followed him

down on it, and it swung backward. Had Damien built a glider?

as he sat down next to me, and I curled my legs beneath me as he began rocking us, pushing off from

burned, and I looked out at the forest. It was so peaceful here. Everything

knee as he adjusted in his seat, and I turned to

the camp to watch our

fraction of a second to understand the meaning of my statement, and his eyelids lowered slightly as

practically jumped him yesterday. But he held still, so still, I was questioning

through me at the realization that maybe I was coming on too strong. I had

his large hand grabbed my thigh, holding it in place. I cleared my

failing to regain control over my

a small town, about two days'journey from here. It turned out that he hadn't been eating them as quickly as we assumed he would. He was keeping most of

nodding slowly

saw. But I had been hoping that witnessing the ogre's death would give them closure and being with their families

The trauma those kids experienced would impact the rest of their life. Some would probably wish they were dead at

unbothered, but from how his grip on my knee tightened, I knew my story bothered him. "There is too much darkness in the world today. I wish you could

men I had grown up with made me feel sick. They did their best to lock me in a tower, wanting to

the Princess, the heir to the crown. That's all I was

hide. The world always has evil, and it will find you." I whispered. My life now was safer than when I had lived in a castle surrounded by guards. There had been limited happiness between my parents, my brother, the toxic women of the court, and my

had chosen my own family and had been

on my leg, his thumb sliding up and down, unintentionally driving me wild. "You are strong and beautiful. I imagine many evils would want to break your spirit. I'm

that I would let break me." There was an unspoken continuation to that sentence, and I wasn't sure he would

to dive in head first, but he had reservations. I understood them, but I wasn't happy about it. Still, I could live with not being marked

felt so out of control around him that I

from him in response made a rush of pleasure