Page 16 of The Beast Between Us (Once Upon A Forever #2)

His breathing changes, becomes uneven, heavier. The massive body beside me trembles.

“I know you’re scared,” I whisper. “So am I. But please, come back. Both of you.”

The wolf lets out a low, guttural noise. Not a growl.

A sound of pain.

Of conflict.

Then he goes still again, chest rising and falling in short, rapid bursts, his claws twitching against the dirt.

He’s fighting.

And this time, he’s not fighting me.

He’s fighting for me.

And I know it.

“Can’t you feel him, Beast?” I whisper, pressing my hand to his side, feeling the rapid thump of his heart beneath fur and flesh. “He’s not your enemy. He’s you. Just like you are him. Stop fighting each other. You’re tearing yourselves apart.”

The wolf growls low. Not at me, but at something unseen. Inside.

“I know you’re scared,” I continue, softer now, curling into him despite the night’s chill and the ache in my battered limbs. “He’s scared, too. You’re both afraid of hurting me. Of losing control. But don’t you see? I trust you. Both of you. With everything I am.”

His massive chest rises and falls, shaking with restraint. I slide my fingers along the side of his muzzle.

“Thorne,” I breathe. “Come back to me. Please. You don’t have to be just a man or just a beast. Be both. Be mine.”

The wind hushes. The forest sounds vanish.

And then…

A violent shudder ripples through the wolf’s body.

He jerks away from me, teeth bared in a soundless snarl. Claws dig into the earth. His body contorts, muscles shifting beneath fur like waves beneath a blanket.

“Shhh…” I whisper, crawling toward him on my scraped knees. “You’re not alone.”

He howls. Not loud. Not angry. Just a heart-deep, broken cry of confusion and pain.

I reach for him anyway.

“I’m here,” I say, touching his face. “I’m not leaving.”

And this time… he lets me.

The red glow in his eyes flickers.

Then fades.

And slowly…so slowly…the beast begins to change.

***Thorne***

Pain like nothing I’ve ever felt before takes over my body.

Before the curse, I had shifted hundreds of times. I knew every crack of bone, every ripple of change…but never like this. Never this deep.

Never this breaking.

Something’s different.

Something’s happening.

I roar into the soil as the shift overtakes me. Bones grind. Skin stretches. My vision fractures.

The wolf digs in its claws as if afraid of being cast away.

But we are not fighting.

We are merging.

And then…

Silence.

Stillness.

I collapse forward, naked and human. Fully and completely…human. The forest floor cold beneath my knees, breath catching in my chest like I’ve surfaced from drowning. My hands, shaking, touch my own face.

No muzzle. No fur. No claws. No fangs.

Just… me.

Tears burn my eyes before I can stop them. My body trembles, not from cold but from the enormity of what’s happened.

And then I see her. My mate.

“Ella…” My voice breaks as I rush to her, falling to my knees in front of her battered, bloodied frame. “Ella, my heart…”

She barely has time to gasp before I wrap my arms around her and lift her into my embrace. I hold her like a lifeline. Because she is.

“You are my heart,” I whisper fiercely, forehead pressed to hers. “You… you alone …tamed the Beast.”

She touches my cheek, voice hesitant. “But… where is he now? The wolf? Is he gone?”

The thought brings tears to her eyes.

I smile through the haze of my own tears, brushing a curl from her face as I stand with her safely in my arms. “He’s here. Inside. Resting. Watching. For the first time, we’re not fighting. There’s no more war between us.”

“Are you sure?” she whispers, almost afraid to believe.

“We are one now,” I say, carrying her gently back toward home. “Man and wolf. Harmony. And we share one purpose.”

“What’s that?”

I hold her closer. “To make you happy… for the rest of your life.”

Ignoring my nudity, I hold my mate close to my chest and sprint for the manor, her warmth pressed tightly against me.

“You’re not as big and growly as you were when you were the Beast,” she teases, breathless as the wind rushes past. “But you’re just as handsome.”

“Tis good you think so, mate,” I laugh, the sound light and free on my lips.

“Oh? And why’s that?” she asks, squealing when I pick up speed.

“Because you wouldn’t want to be married to someone you find ugly.”

She gasps dramatically. “Oh, am I to marry you then?”

“Of course, my mate,” I grin, heart pounding for all the right reasons now. “We are to marry tomorrow.”

We reach the manor just as the first fingers of dawn stretch across the sky. The moment my feet hit the stone steps, the front door flies open.

Oswin stands in the entryway, eyes wide, jaw slack.

“Sire?” he breathes. Then his gaze drops to Ella in my arms and fills with emotion. “By the stars… She did it. I knew she would bring you back one day.”

I nod, unable to speak past the lump in my throat.

Oswin doesn’t question the nudity, nor the blood, nor the tears staining Ella’s cheeks. Instead, he steps aside, one hand pressed over his heart, and whispers, “Welcome home. Both of you.”

∞∞∞

Later that evening, the manor is still and quiet. Ella lies curled on my bed, freshly bathed and wearing one of the soft nightgowns Oswin went out and bought for her. I sit by the fire, still trying to accept that this peace isn’t a dream.

“Thorne?” she says softly.

I turn to face her. Her hair spills across my pillows like wild honey.

“You’re not joining me?” she asks.

I smile gently. “Not tonight.”

Her brow furrows in confusion.

“I told you once I’d never take what wasn’t freely given,” I say, standing and walking toward her. “And while your love is the greatest gift I’ve ever known, I want our first night together to be after we’re wed. I want to honor you, Ella. Fully. Properly.”

Tears spring to her eyes again, but she nods. “You’re unlike any man I’ve ever known.”

“I need to say something else,” I add, my voice lower now. “About your father…”

She sits up slightly.

“I killed him.”

“I know.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “For taking the choice away from you. For the blood on my hands. For your tears.”

She shakes her head, tears falling freely now.

“They’re not for him,” she says. “They’re for what I never had. For the father who never loved me. Never protected me. Never saw me.” She wipes at her cheeks, smiling through the pain. “You avenged me, Thorne. You protected me when no one else ever did.”

I kneel beside the bed and take her hand. “I would do it again. A thousand times over.”

She leans forward and presses her forehead to mine.

“I know,” she whispers. “And that’s why I love you. Beast and all.”