All Chapters of Taken By The Beast: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

The air in the castle felt different. Lighter. There was something missing, and I couldn’t pinpoint it. Maybe it was the absence of Priscilla torturing me, or maybe it was wishful thinking. I didn’t know, but it made me afraid to enjoy it. Not that I needed much more enjoyment for one day. I’d spent the mid-afternoon basking in the glory of our time together in the closet. I'd never felt so connected to someone in my entire life. It was ... wonderfully frightening.Seeing him standing there looking at that ... thing had hurt me. It showed a side of him, a vulnerable side, that I admired. Even if I happened upon it, he didn’t turn away when I saw him. He let me see him that way, and it chipped off a piece of the ice around my heart. Seeing him face his curse with so much emotion softened me. It’d been on my mind well into the evening, and then when Vivian called us down to dinner. William and Zander were both there at the table when I arrived. My gaze swept over the steak dinner an

What’s wrong with me? Zander’s kind eyes chipped away at my heart, piercing and gutting it until I feared it resembled the one in Zander’s closet. Trapped. Caged in its own self-pity. I’d slipped from his arms after what felt like a decade, and sat down at the breakfast table. My stomach begged me to eat but every bite tasted bitter. Zander’s gaze fell on the covered window, where I knew he could only see the silhouette of the trees. I longed for him to be free, yet, I was the one standing in his way. “I need to take a bath,” I whispered. Zander’s gaze shifted toward mine. “You hardly touched your food. Don’t let them get to you, Piper.”The smile on his face didn’t touch his eyes. It looked like I wasn’t the only one affected by William’s outburst or his lack of dignity by disobeying Zander’s request to keep dark magic out of the house. “I won’t be long.”I stood and walked toward the door. Zander caught my wrist and dragged me close to him. He buried his face into my stomach

Henry looked irate when I walked out of Zander’s room. Which was strange since I felt like I was walking on Cloud 9. My entire body felt warm and relaxed. Being with Zander did that to me. Henry reached out and wrapped his hand around my upper arm. “You’ve seriously been screwing this man, Piper? I was with you for years, and you wanted to wait until we got married." Thank God for that. A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. I hadn’t slept with Henry because it didn’t feel right. I had wanted to on occasion, but something stopped me. Now I knew it was my gut. My gut told me not to sleep with him until he was completely committed to me. And it turned out Henry didn’t have a faithful bone in his body. “Why are you so surprised, Henry?” I asked, snatching my arm away from him, and watching his eyes widen. “You were screwing some random blonde in our shower.”He scoffed. “So that means you find some man in the bayou to pledge your love to? You’ve completely lost it, Piper. I neve

Zander pulled me closer to his side as fear started a lake of nausea in my stomach. I watched helplessly as William used all of his strength—which I knew he had a lot of—to pull open the door, with no luck. “What is going on?!” my father asked again, his voice growing louder. I could hear the fear in it even though he tried to mask it as anger. “Is it Douche Boy,” Amanda asked from behind us, over the rim of her coffee. “He did leave a while ago didn’t he?”I knew Henry didn’t have the strength to hold the door closed against William. Even if he used something to barricade us in. Wolves were stronger than that. Zander glanced down at me. We both knew who was behind it. Priscilla had locked us inside. I didn’t know why, but it couldn’t be for any reason that was good. “I’m not sure,” Zander said, his voice calm. Dad’s eyes widened. “Is this some sort of sick game you’re playing? Has Piper been locked inside all this time, too?”“Dad, no—,”He lifted his hat and ran his palm over

The tears in my eyes blurred my vision. My father’s tugs became harder, and it only made me cling to Zander. I tried to blink the tears away, in an attempt to see him for one more second. I just needed one more second ... Zander gave up his life for my dad. That reality was a bittersweet poison sliding down my throat. He’d given up our chance to be together to save my father. I wore his mark on my neck, and he gave it up. To save a man that didn't want me to be there. It didn't seem real. It all felt like a dream, a nightmare come to life. Dad tugged me harder, urging me to stand up. “Get up, Sweetheart. We have to find a way out of here.”The bittersweet taste in my mouth turned to acid in my throat. I turned my gaze upward toward my father’s ashen face. “I don’t want to leave. Zander’s dead. He saved your life, and you’re still trying to run! They saved your life!”My father stepped back and stood up straight. “Piper. I know he did, but we have to leave before another one of tho