Chapter 25

Twenty-Five: Natalie

Natalie’s P.O.V.

Killian was shocked that night when he got back to the room and found me curled up in the armchair by
the balcony. His eyebrows were raised as he examined the throw blanket I had wrapped around me
and the pillow I had taken from the bed.

“Natalie,” He started after I stared at him in silence for several minutes, waiting for him to crack and
speak first. I didn’t need to be the king to know that was the first rule in negotiation, not to speak first. ”
We need to talk.”

My hands clasped together on my lap, and I stared blankly at him. All my anger from earlier had melted
away, and while I wanted to still yell at him, it almost felt like I had no ground to stand on anymore. I
was nothing to him. Yelling and venting my feelings would do nothing if the recipient had no interest in
them.

His hands tightened into fists when he realized that I would not respond, but I watch with curiosity as he
let out a deep breath and relaxed once more. “Only those that need to know about my mother do. You
will need to keep what you saw today to yourself.”

My lips pursed out as I dropped my gaze in frustration and nodded as it dawned on me. I was not in the
need to know. Whether I was to mate with him, *for him, or rule by his side, I was not one of the people
that he trusted to know about his family. If I were to be his mate and queen, he would have told me
about it. I would have needed to know. But he didn’t because I was nothing to him.

“Is that an order or a request, Your Majesty?” I said, letting my frustration sink into my words and my
bitterness into his title. In the privacy of our bedroom or in public, I would no longer call him by his



name. Not until he had earned it and proved that he was more than my king and I was more than his
underling.

Killian almost flinched as I avoided his name, and I watched as his shoulders fell a fraction of an inch. If
I had blinked, I would have missed it.

“It is a requirement of your position to keep classified information to yourself.” His avoidance of my
question answered me. It was an order.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” I said before glancing at the balcony doors and staring out at the bright city below.
Their world lit up the night and took my breath away from the beauty. I had to wonder what it would
have been like to have made it to the human city. What would I be doing right now if I were a part of the
people and not being stuffed and prepared like a *on its way to the oven?

Of course, the apple in the * *was not as glamorous as the silver and diamond pendant they placed
around my neck, but the outcome would be the same.

I would be served up to my captures and my remains would be discarded of when they were done with
me. My lips twitched as I acknowledged my own dramatics, and I tensed when Killian moved up to
stand next to me. His gaze was not on the city. I could feel his eyes burning a *into my head as I
refused to look up at him.

“You used to call me Killian.” His statement made me scoff as I curled my lip. His name. I was very
aware. I had moaned it hundreds of times last night, just before he shattered what was left of me.

“That was when I thought you were more than just a king,” I said, the words slipping past my lips, and I
heard him take in a sharp breath, making me instantly regret opening my *. The memory of him. ripping
out my packmate’s heart in front of me had me shaking as he stood unmoving next to me. “I shouldn’t
have said that. My apologies, Your Majesty.”



He seemed to pick up on the tremor in my voice but didn’t acknowledge it beyond taking a small step

away from me. “You are scared of me.”

“Is that not what you prefer? For your people to be scared of you?” The greater distance between us
meant nothing. He could still just as easily rip my throat out before I could take my next breath, but he
didn’t.

“No. My people do not fear me. They respect me. It is the others who fear me, the ones who live
outside. of my walls. They remain under my rule, but know nothing of loyalty or the lengths my people
go to for them.” He sounded so sure, that I wanted to shrink away until I was absorbed by the cushion
behind me and disappeared.

I didn’t know what to say, needing to discuss last night, but not wanting to start the fight that I knew
could either end my life or end my life as I knew it.

“Was I too rough with you last night? Did I hurt you?” His question took me by surprise, and I turned my
head to look up at him only to find he had looked away from me and was now staring out at his people.
His eyebrows were pinched together, and his hand was flexing at his side.

“No,” I whispered, feeling my body still and my fear melt away. It was the pained look on his face as he
considered having hurt me that told me that he never would. What he did to my hips had been
welcomed and the rawness between my legs today was delicious. “You hurt me the next morning when
you treated me like I was a common *that you had paid for with clothing and jewelry.”

“I know I have been distant but I am doing my best. I have given you everything that you could possibly
want to be happy here.”

A *laugh left me at his words, and I glared at him. “What makes you think you know what would make
me happy? You know nothing about me! This is the most you have ever even spoken to me.”



Killian moved forward as he turned to face me, pressing his back against the wall next to the double
doors that led to the balcony. “So, tell me.”

“Excuse me?” I blinked at him several times in shock as he waited for me to respond. It was the look on
his face that had me the most surprised. I had only seen it a few times. He rarely let his guard down
and acted as a man instead of the king.

Yet, as he kept his intense gaze on me, I was stunned into silence. Did he want to get to know me
now?

“What would make you happy? I can give you anything in the world. What would you like?” His hand
gestured behind him toward the city, and I glanced past him and toward the town of people.

I pictured all of the people below us. The families tucking their children in for bed. The couples cuddled
up, stealing kisses and discussing their day.

“Civility,” I stated plainly, and I watched as his eyebrows pulled together as he contemplated my answer
before I added to it. “Consistency.”

He didn’t seem to know what to do with my request, and I let out a sigh as I adjusted the blanket
around my body before elaborating. “Since you brought me here you have been hot and cold with me.
You treat me like I am this prized possession that you are scared to break at night but as soon as the
sun comes up, you are cold and *.”

“*? I have never been *to you!” He argued as he pushed off the wall and stood staring at me with
incredulity.

“You may not have been violent with me, but that does not mean that your actions haven’t been *.” I
pushed the blanket onto the floor, as I stood with him, not liking that he was glaring down at me. While I



was significantly shorter than him, minimizing the space between us made me feel more confident.

He pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. “You wish for me to
be

consistent but not cold or *.”

I bit the inside of my cheek as I watched him calm himself. “If I am going to have to *for you, the least
you can do is treat me like I’m not some great burden that you are stuck with. You don’t have to love
me, but you can at least be civil toward me.”

Killian’s eyes widened as they melted into the burning red of his beast, and I stepped back an inch until
my legs hit the chair behind me. “Why the *would you *for me?”

About The Beast And The Blessed -

The Beast And The Blessed is the best current series of the author Ashley Breanne . With the
below Chapter 25 content will make us lost in the world of love and hatred interchangeably, despite
all the tricks to achieve the goal without any concern for the other half, and then regret. late. Please
read chapter Chapter 25 and update the next chapters of this series at novelebook.com


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