Beastly Desires

Chapter Sixty-One

The castle jutted up from behind its massive stone walls. A steel colored monument that sat atop a hill. Its black gates offered little respite from their cold, hard iron appearance. Colette felt her stomach twist again at the sight of them. She remembered the sound they made as they closed her in. Its loud clang sounded a promise that they would meet again.

Her father steered their cart up to the front of them. Their mare faced its iron bars. She gulped and peered up at the tower where Sebastian's study was. She could hardly make out the wain candle light through the crusted window.

Snow blanketed the ground beneath them and covered the tops of the walls. An icy breeze blew behind them as if it came from the forest itself. The sun was to begin its descent soon as the sky deepend into a golden orange. 

Colette felt herself wanting to empty her stomach again and she reached towards her father. "Father, I..."

Then she saw him. Coming from out of the gardens. He wore a black tunic over black trousers. His eyes, a simmering shade of red-orange was the only thing that stood out from all the blackness.

She felt her chest swell with an emotion she hadn't felt in a while. Sébastien looked ethereal like a glimmering black shadow against the stark white of the snow. Her father reached for his gun and gave her a hard shove that sent her falling out of the cart and into the snowy ground below.

"Argh!" She grunted, landing on her side. The snow was unforgiving and hard. She felt her bones and muscle groan in agony as she wobbled to her feet.

"Father!" She yelled. Why did he push her off the cart? What was he thinking?

"Colette," Sébastien roared, running towards them. He clamped his claws around the black bars of the gate.

She saw him wince from the connection but stayed there, gripping the bars as some  unseen pain filtered through him. His eyes squinted against it but his gaze never left hers.

So many emotions swarmed his eyes and Colette found herself tearing up.

"Father, please. What is the meaning of this?" She asked, twirling around towards him.

"Father," she breathed, bringing her hands up to her shoulders. Her heart faltered.

She saw his stormy eyes over the long barrel of his gun he had pointing towards her. Dread filled her inside and she didn't understand what was happening. Did her father intend to kill her? Why?

Sébastien let out a low warning growl towards her father. He bared his teeth through the gates.
Her father shot him a disgusted look. "Put your canines away, beast. You want to save your precious little play thing then come and get her. So help me I will pull this trigger."

He cocked the gun towards her and Colette fell back on her hands and scrambled away. The icy snow grated against her skin and she felt her fingers go numb.

"No! Father, please. Sébastien, don't. Don't come out the gates!"

Fear raced through her body. Fear of dying. Fear of Sébastien risking his life to save hers. Fear of what was happening before her. Her father had lied to her. He lied to her? Sudden realization dawned on her as her fathers body trembled from his perch on the cart.

He didn't want to kill her. He hoped Sébastien would walk through those gates to come rescue her knowing full well that he would die instantly. She filtered through her mind as what to do but she knew nothing she could say would sway him, would keep Sebastian from coming after her.

"Father, please." She cried, climbing onto her knees. She would beg him with every last breath she had if it meant Sébastien would live. She knew deep inside of her that maybe he didn't deserve to. After all the things he had done. All the people he had hurt, including her father. The amount of blood on his hands. She kneeled over and cried.