The beast and the blessed novel by Ashley Breanne
Chapter 21

Twenty-One: Natalie

Natalie's P.O.V.

Never once did he let me go that night. He *me in every way possible, making sure to keep my heatat bay. The mixture of soft, loving, and hard, dominating touches had me curious about what hewould be like when he wasn't holding himself back.

*had scraped his teeth against my neck countless times during the night, and my breathing wouldstop as his tense body held very still atop mine. I wanted him to mark me. It would not only solidifymy. place in the kingdom, but it would confirm my place in *life. I wouldn't have to question what Iwas to him. I would officially be his mate. I would be his queen.

I had also hoped that it would help trigger my shift.

But he never bit down. He never placed his claim.

I moaned as he pulled out of me, *before laying on top of me. The morning sun had just begun torise, illuminating the room in a soft glow. I could feel my body returning back to normal. I wasexhausted, but the heat was gone.

*rolled off me and onto his back, one hand on his stomach while the other held his forehead.

I didn't like the way that he had *down. What had been the best night of my life seemed to be onethat he regretted deeply. His jaw was clenched *, and the hand over his abdomen was in a tight fist."x" I called out softly as I rolled onto my side, lifting my arm to place my hand on top of his fist. Hejerked away from me quickly, dropping his arm to the bed on the other side of his body. I looked upat his face to see the cold mask had been restored. Only this time, there was a hatred in his eyesthat made my ribs close in on my heart and lungs. “What did I do?"

"Your heat should be over now.” It came out like a statement, but I answered anyway with a nod ofmy head. He stood from the bed without looking back at me. “Get some sleep.”

I pushed myself up into a sitting position, suddenly feeling very exposed as I sat on what he haddeclared last night as his bed instead of ours. He was right, of course. The king is always right. It washis bed, his room, his kingdom. I was just the toy that belonged to him for him to play with.

He had claimed that I was brought here as his mate, and as his chosen mate, I would be a breeder.Yet, not once did he *in me last night. It told me that it wasn't part of his true intentions. He nevermeant to make me his breeder or to mark me as his mate. He only kept me here so I could sacrificemyself for him when the time came. Something that I was leaning further away from evenconsidering doing.

He had lied when he said that I was to be treated as his mate and as the queen even without amark. I was *to ever dream that I would be more than an omega, let alone a queen.

Without the mark, I was no one. When I died for him, he would be just fine to go about his merryway and replace a new mate. A true mate, whether chosen or fated. He would replace someone he couldmark and start a family with.

I glared at his back as he walked into the bathroom without sparing me a single glance, closing thedoor behind him and starting the shower.

I wanted to break the door down and yell at him. If I had to guess, he was probably feeling goodabout himself, having helped the poor damsel in distress from a night of agony. He wasn't a hero tome. He was

a*

If he was going to go right back to hating me, he should have just let me suffer or at least kept itstrictly.

physical. The was no need for the way he kissed me, held me close to him, and looked into my eyes.For all that I cared, we could have just stuck with doggy style the entire night with no talking andkept any intimacy out of it. Now I was stuck with the false memories of last night and the heartbreakof his rejection this morning. I *it.

I felt cheap and *

No mark. No shifting. No mate. No friends.

I had no idea when this war would happen, but based on the recent murder of one of the guards, itwas going to be soon. Without being mated to a wolf or having shifted myself, I wasn't even sure if Iwere to be returned to the Goddess when I died, or if I would be sent to the God of the humans.

I pulled the top sheet up and over my legs, moving my knees up to hide my chest as I sat on thebed. My stare was locked onto the duvet bundled up at the foot of the bed, where it had gottenstuck, wrapped around the bedpost.

I felt numb and didn’t bother to look up at *as he exited the bathroom, buttoning up his *dressshirt. It was just another day in the office for him.

From my periphery, I saw him stop, but I prayed that he would just keep walking. I knew as soon ashe opened his *that he would just make this situation worse. This side of him, the one I had grownto *, only ever did damage.

“l." He paused, and I swallowed hard as I felt my anger start to rise. “Natalie.”

His tone hardened as I refused to look up at him when he addressed me. I knew the truth now. Hewouldn't hurt me. While he was doing a *job pretending to be my mate, he still needed me. I coulddo or say anything I wanted.

He could do nothing about it because, at the end of the day, it was me who Joselin saw dying tosave him. I was the one who made it so his heart would beat another day and allow him to crush thespirit of others or *them if he was so inclined.

I pulled my arms around my knees in a failed attempt to shield myself from him, and the pain Iknew his words were about to cause.

“I really am sorry, Natalie.”

The scoff that left me got lodged in my throat, and I felt myself fighting the urge to cry. Thebitterness behind my statement seemed to take him by surprise as I looked to glare up at him,meeting his hazel eyes. “You're a king, *. It's beneath you to apologize when you don’t mean it.”