Heart of a Beast

Chapter 36 | Part 1 - Crystal

Crystal's heart hurt as she watched Tiberius storm out of the backyard.

She wanted to chase after him, but her father urged her to give him some space.

Rubbing her arms, she paced back and forth on the deck, not knowing what to do with herself and unable to sit down and relax with her mind running a mile a minute and Tiberius' mind closed firmly from her.

"I don't understand why everyone hates Stone so much," she mumbled, glancing at her father without meeting his gaze. "He's Aubree's mate and she loves him a lot and looked so happy with him at the wedding."

"He's a controversial male, Cricket," Dad said. "He became even more controversial when he and Aubree sealed their bond. You remember what happened last year."

Holding herself, she nodded and looked out over the pool to the far end of the backyard. "Aubree explained everything to me. She's so strong. Their world is so harsh."

"The lycan world will be your world soon," Dad said. "And I think the Blauwald Pack will be the best fit for you both, if you can help your mate see that. Don't forget that his family just rejected him. He's hurting right now. It's going to take some time for him to come to terms with that."

She nodded again and resumed pacing, not sure what to do with herself when she wanted nothing more than to run after her mate. She wanted to comfort him as much as to ask him why he hated Stone so much. Admittedly, she didn't know the alpha personally, only what Aubree disclosed to her, but he was kind enough to her during their brief interaction at the wedding. Even her brother and sister were still not sure what to make of the male, but as long as he treated Aubree right and followed the Lycan Code, there was no reason for them to hate him.

"I'm going to take Bruce out for a walk," she mumbled.

She walked the German Shepherd up and down the streets of the gated packland, but didn't see Tiberius anywhere. She reached through the mind-link and pressed into his mind to ask him if he was okay and was relieved when he let her in and told her he was fine and needed to be alone for a bit.

Returning home, she let the dogs out to play for a couple of hours until her father fired up the barbecue and she went inside to prepare a salad.

Relief washed over her when Tiberius returned as she was setting the salad on the patio table and wrapped her arms around his waist. He held her close, burying his nose in her hair and heaving a sigh.

He stayed silent during dinner, which made Crystal nervous and wanting to ask him questions but told herself to wait until he was ready to talk about them.

When they were alone again, he built a small campfire in the firepit and spread a blanket out on the ground. She sat down on the blanket and watched him build the fire until he was satisfied and then made himself comfortable behind her, wrapping his arms around her and burying his nose in the crook of her neck.

"Are you okay?" she ventured.

He swallowed. "Yeah."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, but I know I should."

"We don't have to talk about it tonight if you don't want to. There's always tomorrow."

"I..." he trailed off, heaving a sigh and brushing his fingers over her arms, making her shiver. "I never thought they would refuse my return. I mean, I thought about it, hoped it wouldn't happen..."

"I know. Me too."

"I don't know what to do, Beautiful."

His anguish seeped into her bones despite the warmth of the fire against her flesh.