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“THE. FUCK. YOU. ARE!” he snarls, shoving open his door and striding around the car to the passenger side. He yanks my door open, ducking inside to unclip my seatbelt and haul me out of the vehicle, slamming the door closed behind me.
“Get your hands off me!” I yell, and without thinking it through, I throw a punch that hits him square in the jaw.
A snarl rips out of his mouth as he backs me up against the side of the car, his hands gripping the roof either side of my head as he crouches slightly so that his eyes are at the same level as mine. They flash with anger, but also the kind of pain you never want to see in the eyes of someone you care about.
“Don’t youeverraise your fist to me outside of the ring again, you hear me?”
“Then don’t manhandle me like I’m a piece of damn meat. It goes both ways!” I snap back, refusing to back down.
His nostrils flare, but after a moment he nods. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“You are?” I reply, shocked at his apology frankly, but given he’s big enough to do so, I decide to do the same. “Fine, I’m sorry too. I know you’re only doing your job.”
He shakes his head. “No, if I were doing my job I’d be bringing you along right now just like Carter wants me to do.”
“What?” I question as he reaches up and trails his fingers over my cheek, heat tracing over my skin from his touch as he stares at me intently.
“Carter’s got Saxon and he’s about to execute the fucker.Idon’t want you there.”
“Youdon’t want me there?” I shake my head incredulously as his hand drops away.
“Yeah, me.”
“I don’t need protecting, Beast. Don’t you understand that? This is my life and I’m not some feeble woman who’ll cry at the first sight of blood. I know what will happen tonight. I’ve been preparing for it my whole life.”
“I know you’re not feeble,” he retorts, biting down on whatever else he wants to say but is stopping himself from doing so. I wish he’d just come out with it.
“Look, this is going to be my business one day and I won’t be seen as some weak fucking crybaby. I’m coming!” I argue, pressing my hands against his chest as I try to shove him away.
He shakes his head, pushing back against me, his hips pressing against mine, keeping me in place. “Iknowyou’re not weak. Iknowthis is your life. Iknowyou don’t cry, that you’re strong, capable. I know you can handle a gun, that you would go up in the cage against the best of us. Iknowyou’re gonna be Queen of Tales one day. I know all of that, Kate.”
Kate.
His use of my real name makes my stomach flip over. I both hate my name and love hearing it on his lips. Kate was the name my mother gave me and the girl I’ve been trying to separate myself from for a long time now, but hearing Beast use it makes me feel differently somehow.
“Then what are you trying to prove?”
“I’m not trying to prove anything. I’m trying to—”
“Towhat?”
“To give you more time.”
“Time?”
“To beKate.”
“I don’t understand.”
He draws in a deep breath, stepping back away from me. “Yes, you do.”
“I don’t. Explain.”
“Princessis the girl I’ve been hired to protect.Grimis the woman your father wants you to be, but Kate… She’s the person who has a chance to choose.”
“Choose what?”
“Fuck! A different life! A better one without men like your father, likemewithin it. Make the right choice before it’s too late,” he says, before striding around the car and climbing in the driver’s seat. His words sink beneath my skin and burn into my bones as he hits the gas and speeds out of the drive.
As I watch him drive away, one thought pops into my head…
It’s already too late. I’ve made my choice.
Iwantto be Queen of Tales, and IwantBeast too.
