Captive

43 // Beauty and the Beast

My first instinct was to lunge at him, but he expected that. I was quickly propelled back against the bed once more. He had my arms pinned above my head, and I was wriggling with no sign of release. 

"I bet Damien wouldn't mind if I had a taste of his girl," he growled. 

Before I could register my own movements, my knee was between his legs and he was rolling over off the silk sheets and onto the marble floor. There was no time for deep breathing, or calming down. I had to go warn Damien, and I had to do it now. I rushed past the few guards that he had left to protect me, and straight into the car. I didn't even have to speak the words to the driver before he knew where to go. I was tapping my foot on the floor of the car impatiently. 

"I'm driving as fast as I can, ma'am," he said, looking nervously back into the mirror. He looked at me as if I was going to shift into a wolf at any moment. 

"Damien is walking into a trap and could quite possibly be dead by the time we arrive there, so I recommend that you ignore the speed limit and do as your Queen orders you to," I could feel the authority rippling from my voice. 

In that moment, he quickened the car and I closed my eyes. I wasn't sure how much time passed, but before I knew it, we were at the foot of Xander's mansion. 

I stepped out cautiously. The entire compound resembled a ghost town. Where were his guards? Where was his usual gang that followed him around? Where was he? 

I went to go click the handle of the front door open, only to discover that it was already ajar. I didn't like the look of this, I didn't like the look of it at all. I peered my way around the corner and saw nothing past the foyer. I swallowed nervously as I cleared my dry throat. 

"Damien?" I spoke the words timidly. 

If this were to have played out perfectly, he would have turned around the corner and Xander would be nowhere to be found. He would run into my arms, and I would never have to leave his side again. 

But when I turned the corner, that is not what I found at all. 

"Just in time, Your Majesty," I saw Xander's sadistic smile first. Then my eyes travelled down to his hands, which had a silver wire wrapped around Damien's neck, just waiting for the final tug. Lyon was being held beside him by another one of his men, and I felt my heart drop into the pit of my stomach. 

Damien was wincing at the feeling of the silver touching his skin. 

"In time for what?" I could feel my hands start to shake as my eyes widened at the scene in front of me. 

"Your husband's execution." 

"You know I'll do anything for his life, Xander, so cut it and just tell me what you want." 

"I won't lie, love, I would love to say that I want you. But after you threw me aside for your brother so easily? I'm not a fool. I know that you would never love me the way that you love my brother. What I want is for that love to be dead. I want for you to be as alone as the Moon Goddess has made me." 

"Misery? That's your price?" I could feel the tears coming, but I blinked them back. I refused to bend to his will. "If misery is all that you're looking for, Xander, just lock me in a tower with you for the rest of my life. Take me as you wish and bend me to do your will, because that is a million times worse than killing the man that I met six months ago." 

"Do you hear that, brother?" He leaned down to Damien's ear. "She loves you so much that she's willing to let me have her for the rest of eternity." 

He looked up to me, but his eyes seemed to have drained of all color. They were completely black, and not like they were before. They were not black with lust, but with something much worse than anger. 

It all happened quicker than any of us could register. There was a sheer white light emitting from the windows, and then an eardrum-shattering pitch that caused all the windows to break inward. All of Xander's men cowered and covered their faces, Xander included. Damien and Lyon took this chance to slip out from under the burning silver. A glowing white light emitted from the middle of the room. It made out a woman, but it was nearly too blinding to see. 

"Your Highness," Damien breathed.

I had seen a lot in these past six months, but nothing had brought Damien to his knees quite like the sight of this woman. As she turned around, she smiled at me, and I realized who it was. The Moon Goddess was showing her true form for the first time since eternity began. 

"Well look who it is," Xander wiped blood from his brow that the glass had cut. "I would say that it's a pleasure to see you again, but the last time I saw you, you ripped my mate from me, so I'll pass on the pleasantries." 

"I thought you would have learned your lesson, Xander," she sighed at him almost in such a was a mother would talk down to her child after he had disappointed her. 

"You banished me to the mountains, without a lover for all of eternity. Did you expect to get a thank you card in the mail for that? I owe you nothing."

"I wanted to let you walk among the living. Cyan is human, Xander. If you had been able to love her like a human would and not rely on a mate bond, you could have had a chance. That is why I brought her into this family. That is why I brought her into your life; to test you. You failed." 

Although part of me saw her logic, the other part of me was hurt by her actions. The Moon Goddess had simply brought me into this world to be a pawn that was responsible for teaching a loveless man how to feel again. Was the bond that Damien shared with me even real, or was that a lie too? 

"It is as real as any other pairing that I have destined from their mother's wombs, Cyan," she replied. 

I looked to Damien in guilt as I lowered my head. He wrapped his arms around me from behind, sighing as he rested his forehead on my shoulder. 

"So what now? I didn't pass your little test, so what happens to me now? Eternal damnation?" 

"That would be too kind for a man as heartless as you," she replied calmly. "Xander, you are hereby sentenced to eternity in this mansion. You will never age, you will live as a human man. The moonlight will burn your skin, and silver will kill you just as you have tried to kill another. You will only shift at the height of every full moon, but you will not be in control. You will be livid with the anger and hatred that you have shown towards others, and whoever resides in your mansion shall be murdered gruesomely." 

And so Xander's Curse was released. 

THE END  

I know, how mean of me, right? To end the book on such a gruesome note, or telling you what happens to the newly wed couple, or Alessia, for that matter. I've set this book up for a sequel. I want to make a sequel, but I'm not sure if you want a sequel. So, here's the part where you guys come in. Leave comments talking about who you want to hear more about, whose stories you want to hear more of. Tell me what relationships you want me to focus on, and who you love and who you hate. The next book is going to be all about what you want. 

I hope you've enjoyed the beginning of the journey, loves. Who knows, it might just become a trilogy...