Carnage nodded.
“You seem to have it all planned. I’m taking my mate home for a little relaxation. We’ll see you sometime tomorrow,” Boon said, as he led Angelle toward the front door.
“Wait! You’re not coming?” Marauder asked.
“We’re going to go home and get some rest,” Boon said.
“Well, wait. I’ll be back,” Marauder said. He bolted down the hall, and slammed the back door on his way out of it.Seconds later he was back. He rushed right up to Angelle and held his hand out. His fist was closed.
She looked at his fist quizzically, then raised her gaze to his.
Marauder gave her a little bow, then turned his hand over and opened his fist to reveal a small carving of a beautiful girl smiling up at a beast who smiled down at her. “For the beauty who’s decided to marry the beast.”
“I am not a beast,” Boon snapped.
Angelle took the delicate wooden carving, which was so small it had been easily concealed in Marauder’s closed hand. “Marauder, it’s exquisite.”
“It’s for you. As a sign of my admiration, and a genuine welcome to our world,” Marauder said.
Angelle looked down at the small wooden figurine in her hand as she ran a fingertip down the beast’s back. “I’ll treasure it always.”
“Then I know it has the right home.” He straightened up and looked around the room at everyone else. “Shall we go to my wood shop?”
Chapter 18
Boon unlocked their door and led the way into their home. The first thing he did was kick his boots off to lay haphazardly near the door, then walked over to the sofa and collapsed onto it, his feet crossed at the ankles as he watched his mate.
Angelle glanced down at his boots, then toed her shoes off, leaving them beside Boon’s. She went straight to the shelves scattered with their books and a few knickknacks and very carefully placed the small figurine Marauder had given her among them. She double checked that nothing near was off balance and would fall against it, then backed up a few feet and smiled as she admired it.
“You know, it’s just a piece of wood,” Boon said irritatedly.
“But it’s not. It took hours and hours to carve all the minute details into it, I’m sure. And it represents us.”
“I can promise you that Marauder had no idea I’d be coming home with a mate, much less a human one that is smaller and more delicate than most that live in Whispers.”
Angelle shrugged. “Maybe we weren’t his focus when he was inspired to create it, but I think it applies now.”
“So, I’m a beast?” Boon asked, his brows raised in question.
“Not at all. But you’re certainly stronger, more capable, and the stuff of dreams. I’m just me. Beauty and the Beast — so to speak.”
Boon nodded. “My mother used to read that story to my father over and over again. He loved it. In fact, it’s his most prized possession.”
“What is?” Angelle asked.
“My mother’s old copy of Beauty and the Beast.”
“Then it should mean something to you, too.”
Boon focused on the figurine resentfully. “It does, kind of. I just don’t like that Marauder gave it to you.”
Angelle smirked. “Are you jealous?”
“No. I have no reason to be jealous of Marauder. He’s all drama and flair. I’m not those things at all. I’m a protector. A provider. Strong and masculine. I don’t get easily rattled and throw a fit when some little dolly I was carving out of wood splinters the wrong way. I hunt, and I fish, and I fight if necessary, to protect what’s mine. We are not the same.”
“And yet you’re jealous of Marauder.”
“I am not!” he insisted.
