by Lexi Blake
Beast
A Faery Story, Book 2
Lexi Blake
writing as
Sophie Oak
Beast
A Faery Story, Book 2
Published by DLZ Entertainment LLC
Copyright 2019 DLZ Entertainment LLC
Edited by Chloe Vale
ISBN: 978-1-942297-27-7
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.
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Table of Contents
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Beauty
About Lexi Blake
Other Books by Lexi Blake
Dedication
This book is for Liz Berry, tireless champion of authors both big and small—and for her Wine Wednesday girls. Ladies, I believe you’ll find this one goes with a nice red.
Dedication 2019
I originally dedicated this book to a woman who had become a good friend at the time. I liked Liz Berry. She was funny and sweet and loved books. It’s been nine years since that first email between us and my sweet, funny friend has become a force in the industry she loves. I’ve watched you take a dream from an idea that maybe, might, if you hoped enough, work, to one of the best run companies in the publishing industry. You are still sweet and funny. You still love books. And you are fierce, an example for all women of how to value ourselves and each other. You are both beauty and beast. I love you, sister of my heart.
Prologue
The Werewolf Plane
Kaja looked up into the eyes of the woman who had raised her. Helga had not been a kind mother. The older wolf wasn’t her mother at all. She’d been designated by the First as her keeper when Kaja had been orphaned. But Helga had been the one to ensure Kaja survived. Helga had given her food and grudging shelter when the weather was too cold for any wolf to stand. Helga had only beaten her when there was no other option. Kaja was aware that she was far too thin for a woman of four and twenty, but that was only to be expected. She had no mate, and Helga must think of her own children first.
“What does it mean?” Kaja asked.
She didn’t understand what had happened. It made no sense. Her hands shook as she pulled the thin shawl around her shoulders. She thought about changing. She always changed when she felt this anxious. Fur and fangs and four strong paws seemed more solid than her two-legged body. She held fast to her human form since she needed to understand how her life had changed following the wise woman’s pronouncement.
The wise woman, a large, sturdy wolf, had stood up in the middle of the evening meal and spoken. Kaja had been at the edge of the dining hall, as was customary. She wasn’t allowed to eat until the rest of the pack was done. Though she hadn’t been able to hear everything that was said, she’d felt the eyes of the pack turn, seeking her out. They had stared, some with open sympathy, most with sneers.
She did not understand what was happening.
Helga’s eyes were anything but kind as she looked at Kaja. “It means you are outcast. Do you understand the word, girl? You are no longer welcome in the pack. I risk the First’s anger by even speaking with you, but you are too stupid to be expected to understand on your own.”
“Why?” Her voice was as small as she felt.
She ignored the insults. They were as ordinary to her life as breathing. She’d never been particularly welcome in the pack, but it was the only home she knew. The world was a cold place. How would she survive on her own? It was winter, and there was barely enough food to feed the pack. She couldn’t compete with the warriors on her own. If she was outcast and they caught her poaching in their territory, they would kill her.
Sven would kill her.
Tears pooled in her eyes at the thought of the handsome Second. He was every inch his father’s son. He would be First someday. She’d fought him, but he hadn’t taken no for an answer. She’d hated the mating, but somewhere in the back of her mind she’d wondered if Sven wouldn’t help her. He desired her. That had to mean he cared about her. She had always known that Sven would not ask her to be his permanent mate. He would select a much more suitable she-wolf for that honor. But he had promised her the role of concubine. It was not without its benefits. She would be respected as the Second’s mistress. She would be the she-wolf who held his heart. She would be fed and have a place of honor.
“Sven will not allow it.” Kaja felt her face firm as she said the words.
He’d said she was beautiful. He wouldn’t allow her to be thrown out of the pack. He couldn’t. He’d been the one to pursue her. Surely that meant he cared.
Helga sighed. “He’s done with you, idiot child. He’s going to permanently mate with the wise woman’s daughter. Did you think she would allow her daughter’s future husband to keep you as a concubine? That is an embarrassment she could not endure. You should never have given yourself to the chief’s son.”
“I did not realize I had a choice,” Kaja said bitterly.
She remembered that first night. She had not been given a choice. Sven had come for her with his friends at his side. His friends had held her down as Sven took her. She had fought, and she had lost.
Helga frowned, and for the first time there was sympathy in her dark eyes. “You didn’t, child. You haven’t had a choice in anything. It would have been kinder if the chieftain had left you on the mountainside to die as I suggested. Now, go. I will not risk my place for you. I am fourth among the women now. I am the keeper of this long house. I eat well and have good shelter. I will not lose my standing for the daughter of a traitor. You must go.”
Kaja turned. There would be no moving her foster mother. When Helga had mentioned her father’s perfidy, she knew there was no argument that could sway the older woman. Her father had challenged Sven’s father and lost. That was what made him a traitor. Kaja knew if she’d been born male, she would have been slaughtered along with her father. Perhaps that would have been easier.
As her father’s female pup, she’d been allowed to live, but never given a place in the pack. Now that she thought about it, she’d been outcast all of her life.
She looked around the long house. It was the only home she’d ever known. She was allowed to sleep in the back where they kept the cattle. Kaja never told them that she didn’t mind. It was warmer near the cattle.
Where wou
ld she sleep this evening?
She was pulled from her misery by a rough hand. Kaja looked up and saw it was Sven’s closest friend, Stellan. He looked sad with his unkempt beard and dark eyes. Though his hand was tight around her thin arm, it was not painful. “Come. You must go now.”
He began to drag her along. She saw the door to the long house. It was dark outside, and she could feel the cold from here. Once she left, she knew she would never be allowed back in. “Please, take me to Sven. He won’t let this happen.”
Stellan sighed. He stopped and looked down at her. “Oh, little one, who do you think ordered me to escort you out?”
She felt sick to her stomach. All around her the pack was watching with judgmental eyes. She was weak, and they hated weakness.
“Out!” one of the women shouted. She tossed a rancid tomato at Kaja’s face. It struck her firmly and her eyes burned from the juice it spat out.
Stellan hurried them along.
Others joined in on the fun, and she was covered in food and bruised by the time Stellan maneuvered her out. The cold struck her as hard as any of the objects they’d thrown at her. The snow was deep, and she had no shoes. Shoes were a luxury. She was barely allowed food. When she turned, she saw the light glowing from inside the long house. Her heart ached. She had not known an ounce of real kindness there, but it was safe. It was warm.
“Sven is an ass,” Stellan said, not unkindly. He shrugged out of his fur-lined coat. “He never keeps a mistress for long. You were an easy one to get rid of. I would offer to keep you myself, but he’s made it impossible.” He held out the coat, easing it around Kaja’s shoulders. “You have to run. If they find you, they will tear you apart.”
“I’ve never been on my own,” Kaja muttered, feeling the cold seep into her bones. Though she had not been particularly welcome in the pack, she had never been without them. She had always been surrounded by wolves.
“That’s funny because I would say you’ve always been on your own. Perhaps Freya will be kind. Perhaps she will show you the way to a better place as she showed the People when we left the first plane. There are other planes with other people.”
Kaja felt her eyes go wide. “That is sacrilege. There is only this world.”
“No, they want to keep you ignorant. This is a barbaric world, but it is home. My father traveled to other planes. He went to many worlds, some of which he should not have gone.” Stellan smiled a bit at the thought. He pointed to a place far in the west. “Beyond that mountain, that is where he said the door is. If you can find it, a whole new world waits for you. Do not waste yourself trying to get back into favor with the pack. They will never accept you. Find a new pack.”
Kaja stared at the mountains to the west. They loomed in the distance, mighty giants rising from the ground to touch the sky. Could she make it? Were the stories real? She shook her shoulders and let Stellan’s coat slide off into her hands. She gave it back to him. She wouldn’t need it.
In a blink, she changed. Her limbs neatly adjusted themselves, and she was wolf. Her senses were a thousand times sharper, and she no longer felt the cold as keenly.
Stellan shook his head as he looked down on her. “Sven thinks the wise woman ousted you for her daughter’s sake. I believe differently. You are strong. If they ever fed you properly or gave you a moment’s training, you would be First among the women. Perhaps even the men, and that is what they all fear. Go, little wolf. Your destiny is not here.”
Kaja ran, her wolf legs eating the distance despite the thick snow. She ran, and she did not look back. Stellan was right. There was nothing for her here.
Chapter One
The Vampire Plane
Dante Dellacourt watched his family and friends as they stared at the floor-to-ceiling projection from the comfortable seats of Dellacorp’s media room. The room that was normally used for conferences had been done up for a party, but he was worried no one would want to celebrate at the end of the show. His whole family, a large group of their friends, and several key members of the corporation were rapt with attention, watching everything that happened on this final episode of the most popular DL in the States.
Dante tried not to laugh at the image of himself pondering the decision he was about to make. The producers made sure he thought about the intensely important life decision he was making via reality television in various states of undress. During filming, he’d spent an awful lot of time with his shirt off, but he had to admit, he looked good in a tux, too. He stood at the edge of a lovely, romantic pond, surrounded by greenery and flowers, waiting for the helicopters that would bring the two final women to him.
Dante took a long drink of Scotch as he watched the drama play out. He hoped the alcohol would relax him fairly quickly. He hadn’t had much of an appetite. He desired neither a meal pill nor an actual warm-blooded dinner. His gut was not in a good place. On an empty stomach, the Scotch should work fast. He had the feeling that he was going to need it once his parents saw the way the final stock ceremony ended.
On the high-definition screen, the luxury helicopter landed, and a gorgeous vampire stepped out showing off her long legs and perfect figure. She wore a designer gown and looked like a woman on a mission. Veronica. Even her name made him shiver.
“I knew it.” Susan practically shouted at the screen. Dante had to grin slightly. His big sister was a high-octane, type-A version of himself, right down to her red-and-gold hair and green eyes.
His sister hadn’t liked Veronica at all. It had been a mistake to put two alpha females in the same room together. They’d practically had a knock-down, drag-out when he’d brought Veronica home to meet the family. The producers had been thrilled. It made for excellent television.
“They always dump the first one,” Susan said with a vicious fist pump. “Take that, bitch! I knew my brother would pick the consort.”
Susan’s husband, Colin, gave his wife an affectionate pat. He nodded Dante’s way. “Thank you. She would be impossible to live with if you brought that one home again.”
Dante noticed his mother was crying slightly. It made him nauseous at the thought of disappointing her. Her manicured hands came out to pat his shoulders. “I knew you would make the right choice. The consort is lovely. I can’t wait to begin planning the wedding. I know you’re contractually obligated to stay apart from Sheila until after the final airing, but I wish she could have been here. I can’t wait to welcome her into our family.”
On the screen, Veronica was rolling her eyes and vowing corporate vengeance. Her long red nails reminded Dante of talons. She’d actually scared the crap out of him. He’d been afraid to dump her before the final ceremony. More than one corporate war had been started because of this particular series.
His father walked up behind him and gave him a hearty pat on the back. He could feel the satisfaction coming off his father in waves. “I didn’t think this was a good idea. Your mother had to convince me this wouldn’t ruin our corporate image. Playing around in hot tubs is no way to find a wife, I say. You should have done what your cousins did. You should have bought a consort at the marketplace. Still, I liked Sheila. You did good, son.”
There was a loud snort from the back of the room. Dante looked up and saw his aforementioned twin cousins sitting in the small crowd with their market-bought wife between them. Six months of marriage had only brought the three of them closer together. Cian, the more sarcastic of the two, was watching the screen raptly. It didn’t stop him from making his opinion plain.
“I think you’re all crazy,” Cian said, his musical Fae accent filled with humor. “Do any of you know Dante? Seriously? I bet you all a thousand gold that he dumps them both.”
“Shut up, you bastard,” Beckett Finn said, slapping at his brother playfully. “You don’t have a thousand gold.”
“He won’t need it. Let him make the bet,” Meg Finn pronounced, her eyes narrowing on Dante. “He dumps them both.”
On the screen, a second helicopter was settin
g down on the top floor of one of the most luxurious high-rises in Manhattan. Dante had been happy the producers of the DL had chosen to film the end in New York rather than his own hometown of Dallas. Romantic music was playing. Sheila, a consort from the Faery plane with an amazing backstory to go along with her sweet good looks, got out of the helicopter. Her face beamed as she looked up at him.
“I’ll take that bet, Cian,” Dante’s father replied, his Texas accent thick with pride. “There’s no way my son lets a consort that beautiful get away. She saved twenty children from the civil war. She’s a healer and a philanthropist. She’s everything a vampire could want in a consort. Sheila reminds me of my wife. She’s quiet and elegant. She’s a true lady.”
“Now, you see editing can really change a person’s perception. They leave out all the bitchy parts,” Dante said, feeling a bit hot under the collar.
He thought Sheila had been reading far too much of her own press material. She was stuck-up. When the cameras weren’t rolling, she’d barely talked to him except to ask about his cousins. She was interested in the true kings of the Seelie Fae. Not so much in him.
It didn’t matter. He knew what was coming. At the time, it seemed like a funny adventure. He hadn’t expected everyone to get caught up in it. He certainly hadn’t expected his parents to get invested in a made-for-DL relationship.
His sister was standing now. Her mouth thinned as she studied him. “You asshole! Ci’s right. You dumped both women. How could you?”
Dante pointed to the screen where the quiet, demure consort was slapping him silly, completely forgetting that oath she had taken to do no harm. She pushed him back until he fell ass-first into the romantic koi pond that would have made an awesome place to propose had he actually fallen in love with someone. “Does that look quiet and elegant? They don’t show you the fact that she tried to throw one of the cameras in that pond with me. She tried to electrocute me. And they totally made her look like she wouldn’t put out in the fantasy suite, but she did.”