57

G E O R G I E

✿

I felt the pleasant warmth that flowed into my body when I suddenly opened my eyes and saw Zaira's face.

I shot out of bed. "Where's Beau?" Was the first thing that came out of my mouth.

Zaira laughed softly and gently smoothed my hair back from my face. "I'm fine, don't worry. He's safe and sound,' she reassured me.

I exhaled in relief. "I want to see him," I said, already jumping out of the hospital bed. A moment later I supported myself unsteadily on the end of the bed.

Zaira came to my aid and gently pushed me back onto the mattress. 'Don't rush, you've only been here seven hours. You need rest until you regain your strength.' Now she was looking at me gravely and intently. “You narrowly escaped death. If it had taken Rowtag and Arrow longer to get to you, you would have died.”

The door opened and Arya's shock of brown hair peeked out. As soon as she saw me, she burst in. "Georgie, you're awake!" Then she gave me a big hug in a way I hadn't given her one. Then she hit me in the head. Ah, there she was again.

“Purasu! Fool! What trouble you got yourself into again!'

I laughed into her hug and hugged her too. "Love you too."

"Stupid girl, I was worried about you, Misahvi!"She broke away from me and looked at me with a warm smile that was very rarely seen.

I looked back and forth between Zaira and Arya. "Are you taking me to Beau or what?"

"Blair wants to see you, as does Isacc and Tiam."

"That can wait," I replied quickly.

Zaira sighed and then smiled. 'No use keeping you away from him anyway. Just promise me you'll be careful with your powers, you're not ready to ask too much of yourself yet."

"Sure thing." And already I was on my feet and, with Arya and Zaira's help, I made my way to Beau. We ran down the stairs and I hesitated as they led me into the dungeon. "He is here?"

Arya, avoiding my gaze, nodded tentatively. "He's different, Georgie."

A queasy feeling spread through me and when I heard the wild growl, my stomach knotted.

“We were hoping that you might be able to help him. Otherwise…” Arya got no further as I suddenly sprinted down the aisle and flung open the door to his cell.

Wolf eyes blazed with red light and Beau bared his sharp teeth while growling loudly and dangerously at me. It wasn't a playful growl, it was a raw, menacing, aggressive growl that could mean death.

I knelt on the floor to be at his eye level and slowly approached him as he leaped forward at me out of nowhere. I backed away, startled, raising my hands to protect myself as he was caught by the chains at the last moment.

My pulse was racing. This wasn't Beau anymore, this was someone else.

"Okay, then we'll take you back," I said, hoping it wasn't too late. Raising my palms, I raised the black mist and called the shadows. They were connected to me, I felt them, heard what they whispered to Beau.

Show us your claws, your fangs and rip her throat.

We want Bluuuuuuuuut.

Then, reaching deeper within myself, I drew out the white light, lured it to the surface, and aimed squarely at the shackles that bound the shadows to Beau. As soon as they sprang to their feet, the shrieking shadows were swallowed up by a swirling maelstrom, damning them back to the underworld.

The brown wolf in front of me blinked. Once twice. Then the red eyes turned to green and slowly I saw the madness and rabies drain from him.

Without hesitation, I went to him, stroked his fur gently and took the wolf in my arms. I buried my face in his fur. "It's okay, you didn't hurt anyone."

Then he turned into a man and a few seconds later Beau hugged me and hugged me tightly. He trembled. "Georgie."

And I've never been happier to hear my name.

✿

Beau introduced me to his Aunt Rose and her daughter April this week. I stood in front of the front door with flowers and homemade muffins and suddenly I was very nervous.

I chewed my lower lip. "And what if they don't like me?"

Beau twisted his mouth into a wide grin that made him look irresistible and his piercing green eyes twinkled. "Believe me, that's not possible."

Turns out Beau was right and Rose actually took a liking to me right away. We talked all evening and Beau and April got so bored with our topics of conversation that they went off for a while and chased out into the woods in wolf form.

Before Beau slipped away, however, he made sure to hug me tight and kiss me deeply in front of his family. My heart was beating so loud in my chest that I'm sure everyone heard it.

Beau hadn't been able to stand being apart from me for long since Minkaujin because the shock of seeing us so close to death still lingered in our bones.

That's why I was all the more amazed that he left me and Rose alone, albeit a little reluctantly, for a full three hours. It must be because Rose was one of his closest confidants.

"I'm so glad Beau found you and that you didn't let go to bring his wall down," Rose said. We sat on the carpet in front of the sofa. It was evening, the fireplace crackled softly and gave us warmth.

I wrapped the blanket around me and leaned against the sofa. How embarrassing! So she knew how hard I had to fight for Beau to accept our bond? Dear moon goddess, let me die. "So you know that?" I asked embarrassed, my cheeks getting hot.

But Rose just grinned cheekily and patted my knee. "Oh yeah. Beau is far too protective of his loved ones to just let you bond with him in a way that he thought would kill you. Everyone who has anything to do with me gets hurt. I only destroy He told me that when I was eleven, with his clothes in tatters and his skin bloodied.”

My heart clenched and I wanted to jump back in time and hug this little boy tight. I could already picture young Beau blaming himself for everything and tearing himself apart over the loss of his family.

He hadn't wanted to lose me too, hadn't wanted to hurt me too. My heart melted and suddenly I desperately longed to be near him. Could you love someone so much it almost hurt?

Rose's face, dancing with the firelight, grew serious and she looked straight into my eyes. "You're ours now too, you know that, don't you? If you're with Beau, you're automatically part of our family.”

My hands clutched the blanket because oh big moons, I wanted a family so badly. "Really?" I asked cautiously, almost afraid she might take her words back.

"Yes," Rose said softly, spreading her arms. The smile on her lips grew bigger. 'Come here, darling. I've always wanted a second daughter.”

My heart did a somersault and I rushed into her arms.

"What happened to your parents, huh?" Rose asked quietly.

I stared at the flickering fire as the familiar pain burned in my chest. "Hades killed her," I said harshly, automatically squeezing closer to Rose as tears clouded my vision and shame made me almost choke on my next words. 'But it was all my fault. I didn't want to obey, I didn't want to go with him and my parents protected me. If I had just followed him, if I had just listened to him and not refused, then-' my voice broke. “Then they would still be alive today. Then they wouldn't have died."

Rose rubbed my back comfortingly. “Maybe darling, but maybe not. Hades would have killed her anyway. You might have had a few more solar orbits with them, but who says Hades didn't drain them energetically right away?” Rose objected, then gently pulled away to meet my eyes. “In the end, it's not your fault, no matter how much you might think so. It's not your fault your parents are dead, any more than it's Beau's fault his family is dead. You both need to let go of the guilt and self-loathing or it will warp and destroy you inside.”

My jaw tightened and I clenched my hands as if I could rub the weight that was on us with my own fists. "I won't let it destroy Beau."

Rose looked at me with pride. "Good this way. Then make sure it doesn't eat you up and you stay by Beau's side."

I didn't want anything more, but... "I don't know if I can do that," I whispered honestly, suddenly feeling naked. That my parents had died because of my resistance was a fact and not a day went by that I didn't miss my parents.

I should have died that day, I should have received Hades' deadly powers, it should have been my screams that echoed through the tomb, mine and not my parents'. They had given up everything for me, paid with their lives when it was my failure.

Rose kissed my forehead motherly, pulling me out of my gloomy thoughts. “They were your parents, what parent would not do anything to protect their child? I would willingly throw myself under the knife if it was about you three sweethearts. You would say the same of Beau and your children one day."

Tears welled up in my eyes at her words. "Of course," I replied, my heart suddenly beating faster in my chest at the thought of one day having a baby from Beau.

"You see. Your parents would be proud of you, and they certainly wouldn't like to see you make your life miserable and lock your wolf out just because you feel you need to be punished and locked up."

How? I pulled away from her to look at her. I opened my mouth, startled and perplexed. "You think... I did that to me?"

"It wasn't Hades, was it?"

No, he had assured me of that, and why shouldn't he have been telling the truth on that point? I shook my head.

She looked at me sadly and stroked my cheek. “Darling, you can break curses. Why shouldn't you be able to untie them too? And that on yourself?'

I was speechless. Was Rose right? Had I suppressed and locked out my wolf myself? Had I cursed myself to be a cripple?

The door slammed open and an energetic redheaded teenage girl burst into the house, immediately snuggling up next to Rose and me. She was followed by a handsome, broad-shouldered man whose shirtless shirt paired with a pair of threadbare jeans made my mouth water.

Beau looked sexy as hell.

As if he had felt my eyes, he jumped over the sofa and placed himself between me and the couch. Then he pulled me between his legs and wrapped his arms around me.

Burying his face in my hair, he took a deep breath and whispered, "So, did you miss me?"

Goosebumps seized me and I shuddered when I felt his hot breath on my skin. "I'm not sure, should I?"

He laughed hoarsely and bit my neck as punishment. "Careful, my wolf just came out."

"Isn't he always?" I goaded back, leaning back and relaxing. Beau had that effect on me. I felt safe, comfortable and settled whenever I was in his arms. This is where I belonged.

"Maybe," he said, blowing a kiss on the marker. Then he became very calm.

I turned and looked up at him. "What is? Something wrong?"

"You three. You three are the most important thing in my life.” He closed his eyes briefly and then looked at me. The hardness in his eyes disappeared and something soft, almost tender, took its place. His arms suddenly pulled me tight against him and his hand closed around my neck as he looked at me, eyes sparkling with green light. "Especially you."

I melted away. My arms wrapped around him and I curled up on top of him. So we stayed the evening, snuggled together with our family, until the sun went down and the forest was bathed in moonlight.

After we said our goodbyes, Beau closed the door behind us and we walked side by side through the woods.

"Rose has a guess as to why I can't transform anymore," I blurted out.

"Oh yes?" he asked, slightly surprised, grabbed my hand and kissed it lightly. "Which one?"

I took a deep breath and told him. He listened to me, remained calm, and then surprisingly said, "Come on, let's go home."

I frowned. I would have expected any reaction, but not this one. "You want to go home now?"

"Yes, unless you want to try it right away."

I definitely shook my head, no, not at all.

"I thought so." He tugged at my hand. "Come."

"And what are you going to do then?"

Beau stopped and lifted my chin. He looked me in the eyes seriously. "I'll hold you. I will be there for you, chase away your nightmares, hold you tight in my arms and be with you the whole time until you fall asleep.”

My heart went mad at those words, doing thousands of somersaults in my chest. I pulled his head down towards me, cupped his face and kissed him with everything I had. "You know I love you?"

He hugged me and whispered against my lips, "I'm yours, baby. I will take care of you, love you and make you damn happy. And if you have a shitty day, I'll be shitty by your side again. You are not alone, you have me.' Then he kissed me very gently on the mouth. "I won't let you go, Georgie."

And that was all I ever wanted.