Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 63709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Riding the surf of lawn and wind, I arrive at the castle walls. The place looks more foreboding than before. Like a hundred years have passed. I raise a hand and the gate crashes open, disintegrating as I pass through it.
The gardens are chaotic and choked with weeds, nothing like the manicured flowerbeds of before. The whisps dart to and fro, blowing leaves and stalks off the paths, trimming back overgrown bushes and vines.
Looking up, I gasp with dismay. Ahead of me, the vines have grown through the windows and doors of the palace, snaking inside and, in some places, prising the stone apart. Holes gape in the roof and walls. It will take the whisps more than a few seconds to fix this.
“Clear a path,” I order, and feed the whisps a little more power. A gale rushes past me, tearing into the palace, taking it apart. Piece by piece, beam by beam, the structure is dismantled. Bestian and I will create a new palace after this.
If I’m not too late.
No. I won’t give up hope.
I push my shoulders back, and press on, calling his name as I enter the ruins.
I find him at the bottom of the ballroom stairs, in a bed of rotten moonflowers. My king is sprawled on his back, facing the sky. His cloak conceals most of his body, but every bare patch of his skin is a dull, mottled gray instead of vivid teal. His mask is gone, his expression still.
With my heart in my mouth, I drop to my knees beside him, seized with panic when, for a horrible moment, he doesn’t seem to be breathing. I put my trembling hand on his chest and, after a few agonizing seconds, my palm rises and falls with the barest movement. My heart finally starts beating again.
“Oh Bestian, my love,” I whisper. “What have you done to yourself?”
TWENTY-TWO
Bestian
At the far end of a dark corridor, I scent a hint of something wonderful. Sweet and sharply floral—Rose’s scent. There must still be some on my robe. Instead of bringing comfort, it brings the pain into sharper relief.
Unable to move my lips enough to roar, or yell, I allow myself to groan. The forlorn sound echoes in the lonely space.
“Bestian?”
Either I’m hallucinating, or I’m already dead. But then I hear it again. Louder, with a note of panic.
“Bestian?”
I struggle to focus on the blurry figure as it moves toward me. Her scent grows stronger, making me dizzy. I try to say her name but my lips won’t cooperate.
“Oh Bestian, my love, what have you done to yourself?”
She’s kneeling beside me, her huge brown eyes shimmering, a look of horror on her beautiful face. Ulf, I wish I could reach for her, comfort her, tell her she didn’t do anything. This was my choice. My sacrifice.
And I would do it all again. For my kingdom. For her.
“Can you talk?” Her hand is on my chest but I feel nothing.
I try to speak again, and fail. I can’t shake my head.
She’s stroking my ravaged face with her long, elegant fingers but I can’t feel her touch. Her scent is driving me out of my mind. I wish she hadn’t come back. I had thought nothing could be worse than being without her, but I was wrong. Seeing and hearing my Omega in distress and not being able to do an ulfdamn thing to soothe her is infinitely worse.
Instinctually, I try to purr, but the sound is strangled in my constricted chest. I can’t even do that. I’m helpless to do anything…
… except to die.
Rose
His breath whistles between his rigid lips. I can barely make out the word. “Rose.”
“I’m here.” I take his hand, stroking the scaly gray skin.
A groan creaks out of him.
“You did it. You saved everyone in the kingdom. You saved Ma.” I press my cheek to his. His cedar scent is tainted with ash. “It’s done. The curse is broken.”
There’s an awful rattling sound in his chest. I place my hand there, in the same place he touched Ma to heal her.
“I'm here now. Don’t leave me.” I bow my head, willing him to push off the effects of the curse.
This is what happened to his father. He knew it would happen. He sacrificed himself.
Remember me when the moonflowers blossom and glow. Goosebumps shiver over my skin. When I last saw him at the beach… he was saying goodbye.
“You can’t die. You haven't claimed me yet. I’m your Omega, remember? And that makes you my Alpha. We belong together!”
All around us, the whisps are dismantling the castle. Great chunks of the roof fly away and light streams in, gilding his features. The suns touch his marred cheeks and the disfiguring scars around his eyes. His face isn’t so bad, really.
I squeeze his hand, leaning over him. My tears splash on his brow. Onto his ruined face, so beautiful to me.