The Beast And The Blessed

Fourteen: Tobias

Tobias's P.O.V.

I growled as I threw another collection of old, stained floorboards into the back of my truck. It wasn't often that I drove it. I despised the sound of the large machine, and being trapped inside the cage felt suffocating, but in times like this, I had no other choice.

Neighbors, who had done nothing for years when they heard the crying or screaming inside my childhood home, were outside watching as I gutted the house as quickly as possible. The new flooring order wouldn't arrive for a couple of weeks, but I felt my chest grow lighter with every floorboard I ripped up.

The longer I stayed in the house, the less I seemed to notice Ana'sscent. It hurt to know that the last piece of her I had was about to be thrown out. Still, as I dropped the last load of the blood-stained wood into the truck bed, a little bit of the guilt I had been carrying lessened.

It was a step closer to leaving my past behind and moving forward to the future, toward Joselin.

I worked until the sun started falling, returned home to shower, and then went to the dining hall.

The head table was empty, and I glared at the door impatiently to catch a glimpse of my witch. Her smell was so unmistakable that it was as if she were in the room with me, and my nerves drove me wild. I needed to tell her about Ana and that I was finally getting closure. I needed to ask her to consider giving me a little more time.

My spine straightened as the doors were pulled open, and Joselin walked in, her hand in the crook of another man's arm. I felt my stomach twist, and I saw red. Her gaze slid right over me as if I was just another face in the crowd, and I wanted to jump over the table, throw her over my shoulder, and take her back to my house.

Asickly, sweet smell rolled off her as she walked by, and I growled as I saw a bite mark on her perfect flesh. Siren.

Had she not learned her lesson the last time?

Joselin's head turned, looking over at me at the sound, but she kept her lips pressed together as she walked by.

I knew exactly who the man was. We had been warned of his arrival in the castle, but I hadn't expected my witch to be with him.

He smiled brightly at her, enamored by her beauty, and it made me want to kill him. But he was Natalie's brother, technically a member of the royal family. As much as I wanted to kill him, I had to restrain myself.

Still, he needed to leave before I took his departure into my own hands.

man offered Joselin a piece ofbread as he boasted about her, and she accepted

knew she had my back. Joselin turned to glare at the queen before looking

right, baby.

look away from Joselin to the newcomer. I had gone all day without seeing her, without her scent and her touch. If anyone took her away from me now, I would

years, maybe?" His tone was getting under my skin, and I was ready to throw my knife at him and skewer him to his chair. The fact that he knew how long Joselin had been in my life told me that she had told him

soft response coming across her lips like a defeated sigh. Joselin cleared her throat, shifting in her chair as she forced her eyes away as one of the servants

feel me. I knew she could. Her perfect legs pressed together, and

baby. Don't you worry. I'll ease that ache for

as I watched her lips wrap around the utensil. Everything about her was unintentionally

to her brother, but I ignored them, focusing only on my woman.

said, tearing her eyes away from her plate to look at the

burn as they turned black when my beast came forward. One more word from his mouth, and I would issue

keep up with me." She smirked, but I didn't miss how she lit up at

to the date my woman had just agreed to. I waited until Joselin was done eating, making sure she had her fill before I stood. Joselin looked back up immediately, seeing my clean, untouched plate before me, and held my gaze. No words needed to be said as 1

the hallway next to one of the conference rooms down the hall, and only a second later, she emerged from the dining room. Her long hair looked windblown and wild,

woman confidently walked, her chin up and back straight, her heels clicking on

greeted, stopping a few feet away and facing me head-on. The sound of my name on her lips was torturous, and I wasted

I spun her, forcing the conference room door open. She

dangerous game." I growled, nipping her earlobe gently. The smell of her desire was prominent, and I

You are." Her words were hard and clipped, but her hands rested on my shoulders as I pushed her against the wall, cupping her

a sweet little sigh that made me grow hard. "I'll make

mine, back arched off the wall. My lips brushed against hers as I spoke, and she trembled in my hold as the hand around her waist slid lower until I slipped my hand beneath her top

My tongue slid across her skin where my mark would one day lay, and she moaned loudly, her hands moving up from my shoulders

in my chest with relief, knowing I hadn't lost her just yet. She was still mine. She just needed a little reminder of what we were both working toward, what we could

scraping against her skin, but knowing it wouldn't be fair for me to mark her just yet. Not without talking to her or asking her if she wanted to be mine. "I have watched you play this game with others for too long. You've had your time to enjoy yourself, and now I am claiming