Of Beast and Beauty (Complete)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - A History of Fae Folk

Alina jumped back, out of the way of the barreling William. As she maneuvered, she tripped over the carpet and fell to the floor, smacking her head soundly on the ground. The room shook for an instant and twirled. She tried to get her bearings, but the tears of pain filling her eyes only distorted the world more.

"William, stop!" Elizabeth said with a bit more force, but clearly still drained from the ordeal it had been to tell Alina what little she could of the curse. She began hacking that deep, fear-inducing cough once more.

Alina couldn't see, but she heard a deep guttural growl in response. She assumed that did not bode well for her.

"What are you doing in here?" A low, menacing voice cut in.

Alina's body relaxed slightly, sensing she was safe from danger. This new person, she knew, would protect her. William growled in response to the question.

All at once, there was a large crash and Alina managed to push herself with her elbows into a sitting position. One hand on her head, steadying herself, she looked at the scene. Christian, half the size of William in sheer bulk, had him pinned up to the wall. His face was fierce and feral as he snarled at the larger man.

"Get out!" He ordered, squeezing William's neck until he turned purple.

"Milord, please!" Elizabeth begged softly from the couch.

Alina gently stood and carefully walked over to Christian. He glanced at her once, his eyes becoming even more ferocious before turning his focus back to William. Cautiously, she reached out her hand and touched his forearm.

"I'm okay," she said calmingly. "Let him go."

He said nothing, but colour began to return to William's face as his grip lessened.

"Christian, let him go." Alina said sternly and Christian dropped his hand from William's throat.

William fell to the floor, gasping for breath and Christian just stared down at him with disdain.

"I never want to see you anywhere near these quarters again," he said to William. "Take Elizabeth and get out."

William stood and walked over to the couch, picking Elizabeth up and walked out of the room, head down. Christian stood there, his chest heaving.

"I'm alright." Alina affirmed again.

"Alright?" He roared at her and she stepped back slightly. "You were so afraid I thought my heart was going to rip itself out of my chest! And look at you!"

"Look at me?" She said weakly, reaching back and using the couch to steady herself.

"You have blood streaming down your face." He reached down and picked up the hand that she had used to steady her hand. It looked like she had put it into a can of red paint.

"I tripped."

"You tripped?"

"And hit my head off of the floor. William came at me, but he didn't hurt me."

Christian marched over to her wash basin and picked up a cloth that was set out for the next morning. Turning, he stormed back and passed it to her.

"Use this to wash off the blood and apply pressure. I'll see if you need sutures after that."

He was still angry. His shoulders were tense and he refused to look at her as she washed the blood from her face. The cloth quickly turned a deep red. When she finished that, she folded it over and placed it on the area she could feel the cut, pressing down.