Beastly Desires

Chapter Thirty-Nine

"Lord Sébastien." Alexander greeted. Sébastien strode towards the side of the bed to stand at his side.

Alexander tried not to shrink back from the horrid beast of a man. He was more beast then he was man and it didn't matter if he dressed himself in human attire and walked like the Noble Lord he claimed s himself to be. Alexander knew he was a beast, through and through. There was nothing humanly about those coal fired eyes.

"Mister Moreau. How are you feeling today?"
The sincerity in his voice did not reach his eyes and Alexander clutched the paring knife he took from breakfast a couple days ago beneath his blanket reassuringly. He would not be mauled so easily.

He cleared his throat. "Well. I feel good enough to ride if I wasn't crippled from the waist down." He would not hide the bitterness in his voice. He did this to him. He threw him in a cell and gave him the luxury of dying slowly on a full stomach rather than a quick death at the jaws of a wolf. He should have known what that butler was doing when he wrote to him asking for his name and place of residency. He had groaned out a response thinking perhaps they were decent enough to inform his daughter of his death. How foolish he was to think death was at his door so soon. No. His fever raged on, fighting the infection from his wounds and he was still conscious if not halfway delirious when Colette had found him.

Relief had came upon him like a tremendous weight and just to see his daughter's face once more opened the doorway to accepting death. His body was halfway there and he knew if he just let go it would soon find peace. But he also knew his daughter. She would not let him go so easily as she fought to save his life. But instead he only damned her to this castle and its beastly prince. What horrors did she face during the day? Was this beast stalking her door at night? Did he loom behind her in every shadow she passed? Had he laid his hands on her yet? At that thought, spiteful hate blossomed inside of him as he stared into the eyes of a monster.

Sébastien seemed to sense his distaste and casually stepped back. He had his paws clasped behind his back and Alexander wondered if he strained to keep them from slashing his throat.

"I'm sorry for your condition. I know what it feels like to have something robbed from you."

Alexandre turned away from him. "I have lived my whole life as an invalid. This is nothing I cannot handle. I cannot fathom that you turning into a beast isn't a fair repercussion for the assault you so eagerly did to that poor young girl." Disgust laced his voice.

Sébastien sucked in air through his mouth as his nostrils flared. His whole body tensed up at the accusation and he looked like he was ready to pounce. Alexander dug the end of the knife into his side, waiting. But Sébastien only exhaled deeply before rolling his shoulders. Alexander was mortified at the smoke that fell from his mouth. What manner of beast was he that fire burned inside of him?

"It was unfortunate what I had done to that girl when I was a young boy." He gritted out. "But I cannot change the past and I will not allow it to rule over me now."

"No. But I know my daughter is beyond normal beauty. She is breathtaking and if you so dare as to sniff her shoulder I will find a way to end your life by whatever means, even if it meant that I would die at your... your monstrous claws!"

"Enough!" Sébastien barked, fury blazin in his eyes.

He grabbed the edge of the blanket that covered Alexander and yanked it away. Sébastien growled when he saw what he had in his hand. "You foolish old man. Do you think a paring knife would inflict a wound serious enough to harm me? You're a fool!" He snarled.

Everything inside of Alexander yelled at him to run. His body betrayed him in that sense and he had to muster whatever courage he had left in him to stare down the beast beside him. One precise stab to his chest and even that wound would likely kill him. Slowly, but surely. A damn fool he was.