The beast and the blessed novel by Ashley Breanne novel Chapter 180

Four: Charlie

Charlie's P.O.V.

There were three things I knew for sure:

My mate had the most incredible voice in the world. The way he let my name roll off his tongue had been replaying in my head all night, keeping me awake.

I didn't even like my full name. I preferred Charlie.

There was no reason for me to have given him my full name, but it came out instinctively like I was trying to impress him with a long, classy name even though I bathed in a river and slept in the forest. I had hoped he would reciprocate and give me anything in return. His name would have been nice.

He came after me last night, which meant we were making progress. I felt butterflies in my stomach at the idea that maybe, with time, he would be willing to have a real interaction with me.

I didn't chase him when he left me beside a fresh carcass yesterday. Instead, I watched him go, shifted, and ate my fill. It obviously hadn't been his intention when he left it there, but eating the kill of my mate satisfied my beast in a way I hadn't been expecting. He had provided for me... even though I had done something to spook him away from his food and then stolen it. It still counted.

Okay, so it didn't sound so romantic when I thought about it, but somehow it was also the best-tasting meat I had ever had.

Growing up in a castle and being served only the finest, hand -crafted meals, it had been a startling realization that the bloody, raw meat was my new favorite meal.

I was done allowing him to send me on these wild goose... well, bear chases. We had broken down a wall between us yesterday, and I wouldn't humor him anymore in playing these games.

At first, I thought they were cute. I thought maybe my mate was leading me somewhere.

Instead, he was just keeping me busy. I felt his eyes on me the entire time, and each day I got more excited than the one prior.

The thoughts would flow through my mind, 'Was today the day he was going to introduce himself to me?', 'Was he taking me somewhere beautiful he wanted to share with me? ', or the most humiliating one... 'Was he taking me to his den?

That last one was the hardest because I allowed myself to get my hopes up. I had ignorantly thought that maybe he had been taking me back to his den so we could spend time together without the possibility of anyone stumbling upon us. We didn't have to do anything intimate or physical, even though I was eager and nervous to finally be with the man I had saved myself for.

Just talking would have been nice, but he didn't want to do that based on the three words I had gotten from him over the past week.

At the end of the first day, the realization that he had been trying to throw me off his trail and keep me away from him hurt. It hurt so much that I almost stayed in camp on the third day after giving him a second chance and humiliating myself again.

But like the stubborn woman I was known to be, I kept going. Whatever this test was, I wanted to pass it. I wanted to prove myself.

Today was different because I was done playing by his rules.

If he wanted me to leave him alone, all he had to do was reject me.

My stomach hurt as I got ready for the day, wandering around camp and making coffee over the fire while the others slept. They would be up as soon as the sun started rising, but I was too impatient to stay in my tiny tent and sleep in.

I stared into the flames, watching them grow higher as the water pot heated. My mind was swirling with thoughts of my mate and my past. Did he know who I was? Was my past the reason why he didn't want me?

My family and childhood had been less than ideal, and I still had the heavy burden of my title weighing on me since my brother was so resistant to finding a mate and having an heir. Until he did, I was stuck as his backup.

It used to be the two of us against the world until he ascended to the throne, then it became the king versus his

heir. If Killian didn’t think I wasn't doing enough to help him with his workload, I was failing my duties. If I had done more, going above and beyond to support him and earn his respect, he said I was trying to take control and needed to learn my place as someone beneath him and the crown on his head.

Yet, for some reason, I kept going back home. I would feel homesick after a few months and want to see my older brother and be around the familiar faces I had grown up with.

As soon as I vocalized an opinion or suggestion that deviated from his by even the smallest amount, I made was shut down.

If I told my brother publicly, he would berate me for being unprofessional. If I did it in private, he was free to lay into me and remind me that my opinion did not matter since I did not wear the crown; he did.

Eventually, I stopped caring and just started talking to him as my brother. Public or private, I no longer gave it a second thought. All I wanted was for him to hear me. As soon as he gave me his memorized speech about when and where I could open my mouth, I would leave.

Getting away from the castle was one of the best decisions I ever made for my mental health.

A large hand landed softly on my shoulder, and I turned to face Barley. The giant man smiled at me as he sat beside me. "You okay, kid?"