Chapter 26 CHAPTER 26
I swallowed again, my gaze lingering for a moment longer before dropping slightly, the weight of his arm still firm around me, keeping me exactly where I was. I should have been trying to get away, but instead… I stayed still. Something in me had changed. I couldn’t explain it, and that made it worse. Just moments ago, I had been afraid to even breathe too loudly in his arms, scared that the slightest movement would wake him and everything would turn again. But now… it felt different. Not safe. Not even close. Just… quieter.
And there was something else. A pull. Soft, but it was there. I didn’t understand it, didn’t trust it, but it didn’t go away.
Before I could stop myself, my hand slowly lifted from where it rested against his chest. The movement was careful, hesitant, like I expected him to react at any second. My fingers hovered in the air for a moment, just inches from his face, as if giving me one last chance to pull back, but I didn’t.
Slowly, I reached the rest of the way. My fingers touched his cheek, brushing lightly over the soft fur. It was warmer than I expected, softer too, the texture shifting gently under my touch as I moved just a little, barely grazing along the line of his face. I held my breath without realizing it. Waiting. But he didn’t move. Didn’t wake.
His breathing stayed the same, steady and calm, like he didn’t even feel it. And still… I didn’t pull my hand away.
Temptation settled in before I could stop it. My fingers moved without asking me first, sliding slowly from his cheek, following the shape of his face. I should have pulled back. I knew that. Every part of me knew that. But my body didn’t listen, like it had already decided before my mind could catch up.
My touch drifted lower, slower now, more careful, until my fingers hovered just above his lips. I hesitated for a few moments.
My breath caught in my chest as I stared at him, waiting for something to change, for him to move, to wake, to remind me exactly who I was touching, but he didn’t.
My fingers brushed lightly against his lips, barely there, like I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to feel it or not. Warm. Real. Not as rough as I expected. A shiver ran through me, and I swallowed hard.
What am I doing? The thought hit me late, my mind finally catching up, telling me to stop, to pull away, to put distance between us before this turned into something I couldn’t control.
But my hand didn’t move. It stayed there, like it belonged. And that scared me more than anything else.
BEAST
I did not sleep. My eyes were closed, my body still, but I was awake, listening. Her breathing had changed, stronger now, no longer uneven, no longer fighting for air. The shaking had stopped too. The cold had finally left her.
Good. That should have been enough. I should have gotten up. Left her here by the fire where she would stay warm. Put distance between us before this turned into something it shouldn’t.
But I didn’t move. Something in me refused to. She was curled into me, her smaller frame pressed against my chest, fitting there too easily. My arm rested around her, holding her in place, and I was aware of every small movement she made, every breath she took. It should have been uncomfortable. It should have irritated me... It didn’t. It felt… right.
That alone was enough to unsettle me. I can’t remember the last time I held someone like this.
The thought came quietly, without warning, and I frowned slightly, my jaw tightening as I searched for it. Years. Too many to count. Long before this curse took full hold, before the beast became more than something I could control.
Before I traded everything for power. For strength. For control. I had not allowed myself to think about that time in a long while. But now… Now it pushed its way back in, because of her.
Something about her pulled at something buried deep, something I had long since learned to ignore. The way she fought. The way she refused to bend. The way she still held onto something inside her that this place, that I, had not taken from her.
And now this. Her warmth against me. The quiet. The stillness. It felt… unfamiliar. Dangerous in a different way. My breathing stayed even, but my thoughts didn’t. They moved in ways I didn’t like, pulling me back to things I had chosen to forget. To the man I was before all of this. Before I sold what was left of myself to protect a kingdom that no longer even remembers my name.
My grip around her tightened just slightly, not enough to wake her, just enough to remind myself she was still there. Real. Alive. Because I chose it. Because I went after her. I should not have.
It would have been easier to let the cold take her. Cleaner. Safer. But I didn’t, and now I was here, lying beside her, holding her like she was something worth keeping.
The thought sat heavy in my chest. Something about her… It didn’t just quiet the beast. It pulled at what was left of me. And I didn’t know which one was more dangerous.
I felt the change in her before anything else. Her breathing shifted from deep and steady into something lighter, uneven, like she was fighting her way back to awareness. I knew she was waking. I kept my eyes closed and stayed completely still, my breathing even, as if I hadn’t noticed at all. I waited for the reaction I expected, already preparing for it. The moment she understood where she was, who held her, she would pull away. She would tense, panic, and try to get out of my arms like my touch burned her. That was what she always did. She fought. She resisted. She ran.
If she tried to run now, I would let her.
The thought settled in without hesitation, heavy but clear. I would not stop her this time. I would not grab her or block her path. If she chose to leave, then she would leave. My arm stayed where it was around her, not tightening, not forcing her to stay, but not moving away either. I told myself it was because she still needed the warmth, that moving too soon would only bring the cold back to her, but I knew that wasn’t the full truth.