THE BEAUTY THE BEAST

The Scars She Hid From The World

REGINA MCBRIDE

The heavy iron gates of the Wilderness Correction Camp groaned as they released me after three years of state-sponsored hell. I stood on the dirt road, clutching a plastic bag that held my entire life, waiting for the family that claimed they sent me there for "rehab." My brother, Brady, picked me up in a luxury SUV only to throw me out onto a deserted highway in the middle of a brewing storm. He told me I was a "public relations nightmare" and that the rain might finally wash the "stink" of the camp off me. He drove away, leaving me to limp miles through the mud on a snapped ankle. When I finally dragged myself to our family estate, my mother didn't offer a hug; she gasped in horror because my muddy clothes were ruining her Italian marble. They didn't give me my old room back. Instead, they banished me to a moldy gardener’s shack and hired a "babysitter" to make sure I didn't embarrass them further. My sister, Kaleigh, stood there in white cashmere, pretending to cry while clinging to her fiancé, Ambrose—the man who had once been mine. They all treated me like a volatile junkie, refusing to acknowledge that Kaleigh was the one who planted the drugs in my bag three years ago. They wanted to believe I was broken so they wouldn't have to feel guilty about the "wellness retreat" that was actually a torture chamber. I sat in the dark of that shed, feeling the cooling gel on the cigarette burns that covered my arms, and realized they had made a fatal mistake. They thought they had erased me, but I had returned with a roadmap of scars and a hidden satellite phone. At dinner, I didn't beg for their love. I simply rolled up my sleeves and showed them the price of their silence. As the wine spilled and the lies crumbled, I sent a single text to the only person I trusted: "I'm in. Let them simmer." The hunt was finally on.

Modern Revenge Scheming

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Unknown POV

Darkness.

My life had always been like this, the moment I learned to cherish life itself.

Since then, the only thing I could see was red, the only thing I could smell was blood, the only thing I could hear were screams, and the only thing I could taste were iron flesh. All my senses are heightened to kill, but the only thing I'm hesitant to touch was...

This?

Unfathomable depths of unfilled spaces hovering over my line of sights, until one mere moment, sparks of lights speckled over through the abyss of my senses. It was still faint, as if, it just currently sprang to life, but I was sure it was coming from someone near.

My vision slowly cleared as I took in the source of crying in front of me. Something wrapped inside a basket with masses of rags topping it. I quickly, yet carefully unwrapped the clothing covering it as it cries seems muffled. As I did, something in me stirs, the beast in me is on the edge and both our attention was focused on what's inside the bundle.

An infant?

The little thing cried louder and I'm tempted to end its life right here right now, but I can't seem to. I finally moved up to leave it, while having a mental conflict over my beast for control. He wants to hold it and I don't, though I know part of me wants to.

"Fuck it!" I snapped, sitting back down and glaring at the little bundle. I leaned down closer to it and sniffed it's scent. Vanilla...

I haven't even realized I've leaned in too close, until its little hand touched my nose. Sparks erupted from where it touched, causing my eyes to jolt open in surprise. What's this? It's almost pleasurable to hurt, and I've never felt something like this before...

My beast purred at the sensation, and the longing itself had made me bury my face in the tiny figure. I only snapped back to reality, when it started stirring and talking gibberish.

I huffed and sat back, frowning as the little creature now had a huge smile on its sweet face.

"So, you're a girl, huh?" I mumbled, lightly poking her as she struggled to crawl on her knees, out of the object she's in. "Rest assured, you're going go die here, sweetie." I laughed out harshly, which sounded like I've been choked.

Hearing this she turned towards me, her blue orbs widened in curiosity as she titled her head sideways. I'd say its too adorable that even I can't hide the smile creeping up my face.

I growled in attempt to scare her, though she just giggled me off. What a weird cookie.

I finally decided to move up once more due to the footsteps approaching from a mile away. And no, I can't take that kid even though most of me wants to just keep it under my pocket my whole life. Though, likely, I can't.

Realizing my movement, she started to cry, and not a even a second had passed, I found myself kneeling back down to her.

"Damn it!" I cursed, balling my fist in irritation. I've never been attached to beings like her before, to be exact I've never been attached to anyone for hundreds of years I've been living. But, the only thing I know is that I can't take her with me, I can't let her die either. Knowing the fact that she's outside a pack's territory and she's human, she'll likely end up dead the moment I turn my back away from her.

The footsteps approaching fastened and a plan immediately creeps its way to my head.

I took the little thing on my arms, making sure I'm only touching the basket, not the body, and wrap my aura on both of us to hide in our presence. It's sort of a superficial thing, since I have a beast in me, not a wolf.

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