* * *
Later, when he’s settled in his new quarters, with my siblings on their way home, Pierre and I step outside on our balcony. The night is beautiful. Clear and warm, with stars scattered across the inky sky. In the distance, I can hear owls hooting, leaves rustling, all the sounds of life that were absent before.
“Thank you,” I say quietly.
“For what?”
“For bringing them here. For offering Papa a home. For tolerating my siblings.”
Pierre huffs. “They’re growing on me. Slowly. Like fungus.”
I laugh and lean into his warmth. “Thank you. It means the world to me.”
“Youmean everything to me,” he corrects, and wraps his strong arms around me, making me feel safe, loved, and at home. He nuzzles my neck. “Though I reserve the right to growl at your siblings if they get too annoying.”
I let out a teary laugh. “Fair.”
We stand there in easy silence, watching the stars, and I think about everything that happened to me in just a few days. From riding here terrified, to save my father, to finding my mate, to breaking a decades-long curse, to gaining a family and a home. More than I ever imagined.
“I love you,” I say.
“I love you too, my little omega.” Beast turns me in his arms, looking down at me with his expressive golden eyes. “My Belle. My mate. My everything.”
“Forever?”
“Forever,” he promises.
Then he’s kissing me, and everything around us fades away.
I have a home. A family. Love. And all the time in the world to enjoy all of it.
Eleven
Beast
I’m going to tear a hole in the marble floor if I don’t stop pacing.
“Sire,” Gideon says from where he’s standing against the wall. “You need to relax.”
“I am relaxed.”
“You keep checking yourself.”
“I want to look good.”
“You look fine. Very… princely… for a Beast.”
I bare my fangs at him. “Not helping.”
“What do you want me to say? That you look handsome? You’re seven feet of muscle, fur and fangs. But she loves you anyway, so clearly she has terrible taste. Not gonna change.”
I know he’s just teasing me to try to help me relax, but still, I want to strangle the bastard.
“I’m going to fire you,” I growl.
“You can’t; I’m the best man.”
Asshole’s right.
