My beast was enraged. Ready to kill. Wanted to eliminate the threat.
Don’t hurt him! Stefani’s plea played over and over in my mind, orbiting my thoughts like a bright star I could not ignore. I could not hurt this male.
Henry. Human. He vowed to protect my mate. Claim her as his own. His face held no fear when his gaze locked with mine. He was strong, for a human. The look in his eyes one I had come to recognize among the human fighters in the Coalition Fleet. Determination. Stubborn will. They adapted quickly, were deadly and effective in close quarters – where a beast’s size became a weakness.
Reluctant respect filled me as I took his measure. He was not a beast, but he would be a strong and devoted mate.
I did not blame Stefani for his devotion. I understood the desperate look in his eyes all too well. He loved her, as I did. Would kill to protect her, as I would.
He had not failed her. He had not failed our daughters.
I could not kill him. Stefani would be hurt if I injured this male. Should I fail in my efforts to claim her, he would remain at her side.
“Henry, don’t. Please.” Stefani pulled on his arm until he looked down into her eyes. In an instant his aggression turned to gentleness and he pulled Stefani to his side.
I watched her melt into his embrace. She wrapped her arms around him and allowed him to hold her.
As she would not allow me.
Pain engulfed me. My mate had chosen. So be it.
I moved past Carmen and walked down the hall to the babies’ room. Quietly, so as not to disturb their sleep, I stepped inside. They were beautiful and perfect, like their mother. My death would have meaning now, knowing they existed. They would grow into intelligent, worthy females, protected and nurtured.
I was not the first beast to face this path, nor would I be the last.
Still, I had not expected the pain to slice like a blade of ice through my chest. Shockingly brutal. Agonizing.
This was what I had done to Stefani. This was the pain she had felt, facing my rejection.
Such a thing did not deserve to be forgiven. I should never have asked.
I said a small blessing over my daughters and touched their softness a final time, my fingers lingering on the sweet innocence of each little face. Faces I would never see again.
“Velik?”
I turned to find Stefani watching me. “I did not injure Henry.”
“I know. I didn’t think you had.”
Satisfied with her acceptance of my word, I leaned down over the wall of each cradle in turn and kissed my daughters one last time.
When I stood, Stefani held out her hand. “Come on. We need to finish our conversation.”
We left the room, then the house. Stefani drove the SUV to a parking area similar to the one where I’d claimed her. The smell of salt water and fish, the sounds of crashing waves, greeted us as we left the vehicle behind and began to walk.
I followed where she led until we walked side by side on the beach, the surf washing up a few steps shy of my feet.
“Don’t go in the water. There are jellyfish in California, too.”
I nodded in agreement and kept pace next to her. She would speak and I would respond. I had no right to ask for more than that.
“We were interrupted. If your beast wasn’t hurt by the poison, why didn’t he just claim me again when he woke up?”
“He did not awaken, my lady.” The proper address rolled off my tongue, part of my respect for her wishes. She was not mine. I had no right to be so familiar.
“Why not?”
“My mating fever was severe. I was days from death when I found you.”
