Chapter 19

Nineteen: *

*P.O.V.

I couldn’t sit still. Every time I moved, her scent seemed to grow stronger. I had searched every part of
my office and couldn’t find the source. It was almost like she had left something of hers in here just to
drive me crazy, and I was completely oblivious as to where she had hidden it.

I had known having her in my office was a bad idea, but now I was positive that nothing good could
come from having Natalie around.

The only thing I could admit out loud was that I enjoyed having her in my bed. Before her, I slept for
only a few hours a night, and they were not consecutive. Now with her in my arms, I could sleep the
entire night, and most of the morning if I wanted to.

But that was it. I had to keep reminding myself that Natalie was not here for anything more than the
upcoming battle and our future children, my heirs. Everything else I needed to force to the back of my
mind and lock it away.

I could not let her in. Loving her would be too painful in the end.

Joselin appeared before my desk. Her scent had been revolting to me today, and I had been shorter-
tempered with her than usual. Everything about her seemed to *me off, and I didn’t want her near me. It
was something that hadn’t happened before during our long friendship. I knew she was getting
frustrated by my attitude, but she bit her tongue for the first time in her life.

I was surprised when the most intoxicating scent came from her, and I reached over the desk and
grabbed her arm, lifting her hand to my face. I knew that scent anywhere. It had been burned into my
brain since I first met her. It filled my office even after I was left alone in it.



It was my mate.

Her scent was more potent, toxic almost, and I felt myself losing control. My eyes burned as my beast
came forward. As I unconsciously took in a deeper breath, I moved up her hand to her forearm. A
growl. ripped free from my chest at the sudden change from sweet to rancid. Joselin’s smell was
offensive today when she normally had barely any scent.

“It’s Natalie,” She said with annoyance, seeming uncomfortable as I released her hand, and she wiped
it on her thigh.

The uncertainty about what to say had her *opening and closing before she took a deep breath and
settled herself. “What I’m going to say, please hear me as a friend and not as your underling. I mean no
disrespect, but you’re going to break her, lan. Natalie is in her heat right now, and she’s not doing well.
She just accused me of having an affair with you behind her back. Her eyes were glossy and crazed.
For a moment, I thought she was going to shift because she was so angry. You pushing her away is
only hurting her.”

I stood up straighter at her words, the realization sinking down in my gut that maybe I had been
pushing her too far. There had to be a balance where I could protect myself and keep her happy here.

It wasn’t like I could kick her out after the battle. I needed a queen. I needed an heir. I needed a mate.
But I wanted it to be her. I hated to admit it, even to myself, but she was it for me. She was the only one
I wanted to be with. That was how I knew it would *me when she left me or cheated.

The last thing I wanted to do was drive her *the way my mother had done to my father.

Whether I admitted to it or not, I was starting to care for her, and that was a dangerous game. The
more she forced her way into my life and heart, the easier it would be for her to destroy me. “She is
fine.”



The words left my *, but even I didn’t believe them. Natalle had been pushing, trying to get to know me
or, at the very least, be around me, and I pushed her away each time. I had no reason to believe that
she would be okay during her first heat, especially if she was going through it alone.

“No, *. She’s really not.” Joselin said as she sat back in the chair on the other side of the desk. “You
need to mark her already. At the very least, go *her so she can stop stinking up the castle. Your men
are fighting over her as we speak, and you’re sitting her while she is all alone and in pain.”

“She is mine!” I growled as I stood, towering over Joselin. The thought of anyone else fighting over her
when she was not theirs to win made me furious.

“She’s waiting for you.” She said with a smirk before flickering out of the room.

My anger *me forward, and I rushed out of the office. As soon as I hit the hallway, I could smell her
scent thickening around me. It was pulling me in, designed specifically for me. But by the sounds of the
other men in my pack, I knew it was calling to them too. She was their queen.

They would be pulled in, wanting to serve her…to please her.

I let out a loud roar. Satisfaction filled me as it echoed through the castle, warning every man and
woman from laying a hand on my mate. She wouldn’t want them, not now that she had found her
soulmate, but it didn’t mean that her scent wouldn’t lure them to her.

A young pup rounded the stairs in his half-shift state as I reached the banister, moving past it toward
my room. His red eyes were frantic as he sniffed the air, following the scent of my mate. My woman.

I didn’t spare it a second thought as I grabbed the teenager by the back of the neck and threw him over
the banister. He would live, but the impact of his landing would do him good to help him regain control
of



his beast.

If he had managed to get past the guards, then who else had?

I moved faster, feeling my heart thumping quickly in my chest as I approached the siren that was calling
me to her. Joselin stood at the entrance to my wing of the castle, finishing what appeared to be a
barrier spell before vanishing once more.

The thick air enveloped me like gelatin as I moved through it to the other side of her spell. I heard
Natalie’s heart beating quickly, and I could practically taste her skin the closer I got.

A thud followed by a yelp of pain sounded from behind me, and I looked over my shoulder to see
another one of my guards in their Lycan form, laying on the ground outside of the barrier. Knowing he
had been coming after my mate, had me wanting to turn back and rip his throat out.

But the sudden drop in her scent made my heart stop, Had someone made it into the room before me?
Was she with another man?

The jealousy that pumped through me helped me to understand where she was coming from about
Joselin and me. Even the idea that she was with someone had me shifting into my Lycan form, ready to
challenge them to the death.

I threw the door open, my hand leaving an indent on the metal of the brass doorknob, and I rushed past
the sitting room to the bedroom. I could feel the pull urging me forward to follow her scent into the
bathroom. So, I did.

Her head was thrown back against the tub as she lay back in the water with her brown hair pulled off
her neck in a bun. I could see the peaks of her breast just below the surface as I stood in the doorway.
But it was the slight ripple in the water, signaling movement that had my attention. Her arm was



completely submerged, but she had one leg up and on the edge of the tub. Goosebumps covered her
flesh as she let out a low moan, increasing the speed of her hand between her legs.

My body shifted back as I stared in awe at the beautiful siren touching herself in the water before me.
She was mesmerizing, and I took a step forward when she moaned out my name softly.

“*.” It was a soft sigh of pleasure as much as it was a plea for help. My clothes had ripped upon my
shift, and I stood *and hard in the cold bathroom as I watched my mate continue to rub her clit.

My hand moved down to grab my *, pumping it slowly in time with the movements of her hand. “Yes,
little one?” I asked lowly, feeling myself grow impossibly harder in my hold as she sat up suddenly in
the water, her breast on full display as she stared at me in shock. Her wide eyes and lips open in
surprise made her the picture of pure temptation.

The water ran down her neck and chest, and I licked my lips, wanting nothing more than to follow the
trail with my tongue.

“I..” She stammered, knowing there was no way to explain what I had seen beyond telling the truth.

“You seem to have some confusion about my loyalty,” I said as I moved forward, releasing my *and
enjoying the way she swallowed hard at the sight of it. “Stand.”

The order was not that of a king, but that of her mate.

She did as I asked, and I watched as she pulled herself up, a thin layer of steam rising from her skin
from the heat of it in the cold water. I eyed the newly exposed areas of her body, from the curve of her
delicate waist to the neatly trimmed hair between her legs, to the toned legs themselves.

I felt the desperate need to have them wrapped around my hips as I *into her, but instead, I held out my
hand, watching as she shivered when our skin touched before helping her out of the tub.



“There is no question about it. I know why I am here.” The bitterness sank into her tone, but as I walked
around her to enjoy the view of her slender neck and the dimples above her pert *, I could smell her the
heat returning. She was enjoying my attention on her. She wanted my touch on her skin to ease away
pain and warmth.

I would be happy to give up, but I also prayed to the Goddess that Natalie would understand that it was
just for tonight, just for her heat. It couldn’t mean anything more than that, not to me at least.

As much as I wanted to keep the distance between us for as long as possible, I was driven purely by
my animalistic need. I knew I would regret it in the morning, but tonight I would be breaking my own
rules. I needed this woman more than I needed to breathe. I wanted to sink deep into her and *her until
the world stopped spinning.

“You are here as my mate,” I said as I stopped in front of her, grabbing the back of her neck gently, my
fingers tangled in her hair. She moved with me willingly as I tilted it back until I could brush my lips.
against hers easily as I spoke. “I will always be loyal to my mate. I expect the same.”

Natalie blinked once, glancing into my glowing red eyes as she let out a deep breath and whispered.
“Until my last breath”

Update of The Beast And The Blessed

Announcement The Beast And The Blessed has updated Chapter 19 with many amazing and
unexpected details. In fluent writing, In simple but sincere text, sometimes the calm romance of the
author Ashley Breanne in Chapter 19 takes us to a new horizon. Let's read the Chapter 19 The
Beast And The Blessed series here. Search keys: The Beast And The Blessed Chapter 19




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