The Beast In The Castle

by Daniella Wright

  His chest is moving, so I know he’s alive, but from the way his chest is moving up and down slowly, and his face is pinched with pain, I know he’s suffering right now and needs medical attention as soon as possible.

  I holster my gun and begin running around the clinic, grabbing things I need, while keeping an eye on the man on the floor to make sure he’s still breathing. Once I have everything, I drop down to my knees next to him and begin evaluating his wounds closer. Oddly enough, his head injury isn’t as bad as I assumed it was in the beginning, so I work on making the bleeding stop and then add stitches to his head. He doesn’t move, but his moans of agony are breaking my heart. I hate hurting him, but this needs to be done in order for him to live, so I push past my guilt and continue working on his injuries.

  When I’m done with his head, I go to the cuts on his face, cleaning them before I stitch the wounds together. His eyelashes flutter rapidly, but he doesn’t open his eyes. I study his face, my heart beginning to beat rapidly, and I’m embarrassed to say that I find myself attracted to this man, whom I don’t even knows name. He has the prettiest face I’ve ever seen, sweet while he sleeps, but his dark hair—that’s unruly and curly—adds a certain darkness to him. He’s wearing some sort of green uniform, so I’m assuming he’s a soldier who was injured protecting our planet. My left hand moves on it’s own accord, to cup his perfect face, but I quickly stop myself.

  Focus, Macie, I say to myself and continue working on the man, adding ointment to his cuts before I bandage the shallow cuts that don’t need stitches.

  Five minutes later and I’m finished patching the man up. He shows no signs of waking up anytime soon and that troubles me. We can’t stay here in the front of the clinic, where the Torians can see us, so I have to get us away from here and quick.

  I grab his hands in mine and flinch when an electric stock passes between us. I eye my hands, rubbing them together to get the tingling sensation out of my hands, before I try again, Gripping his hands, I pull with all my might and manage to drag him a few yards before I need to stop to take a break. For a man who looks light, he sure is heavy. Giving myself a minute to rest, I grab his hands again and then manage to drag him another few yards. I repeat this process several more times until I get to the examination room, that has the shelter below it, and close the door behind me, making sure to lock it as I do. I press my hands to the door and bend over, trying to catch my breath, which takes me several minutes to do so.

  This, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason why I’m a doctor and not an athlete.

  When I’m finally breathing normally again, I turn around, only to see that the man is no longer on the floor. I panic, wondering where in the room he could have gone to with his wounds, and walk several feet forward in a daze.

  Did I imagine the whole thing?

  When cool metal touches my throat I freeze.

  What the hell?

  I feel his breath at my ear before he speaks. “Who the hell are you?” He growls out, pressing the knife harder to my throat when I try to move away in fear. “Where am I?” I don’t answer him, too scared to utter a word, and he grunts in displeasure at my silence. He sniffs me and blanches. Removing the knife from my neck, he pushes me away from him.

  I stubble forwards, but manage to remain on my feet. I turn around and my eyes widen when I see his eyes.

  “You’re a human?” He asks, eyes holding shock and confusion.

  I swallow hard and narrow my eyes at him. “Yes. And you’re a Torian.” I say, spitting the words out in disgust.

  I healed him. I saved his life. But at the end of the day, I aided the one man who will be responsible for my death. I feel for my gun—my only chance to escape this situation alive, and clench my fists hard when I don’t find it. Glancing up, I’m pissed when I see that the Torian warrior, not only has it in his hands, but if smirking at me as he twirls it around in his hand. He’s using the wall to hold himself up, still injured, but since he has my gun now, he’s in control, wounds be damned.

  He studies my face and chuckles. “Looking for something, Angel?”

  My green eyes stare into his glowing blue ones and I close my eyes in acceptance. “I’m such an idiot. I should have pried your eyes open before I saved you.” I open my eyes and glower at him. “If I had known you were my enemy, sent to kill my people, I wouldn’t have saved you. I would have let you die, like you made our people die. Innocent people. People who wanted no part in this bloodbath.”

  The man observes me and takes a step forward. I don’t move back and instead, I stand my ground, which seems to amuse him. He stops walking when he’s directly in front of me and lifts a finger to my face, hovering just over my skin before he trials the finger down my cheek. I’m ashamed to say, I close my eyes and enjoy my killers touch.

  I’m fucked up.

  How can I like his touch when he’s about to kill me?

  “How can a human, my supposed enemy, be so kind?” he whispers. “And so beautiful?”

  His words confuse me, but before I can comment on them, I feel an electric shock where he’s touching me and my eyes pop open. I see blue electricity forming between both of us and when he places a full hand on my face, my body feels like it’s being lifted from the ground.

  “I...no, I couldn’t have…” the man is staring at me with fear and puzzlement, all the while my mind is becoming foggy and my body is growing limp. “It’s impossible.” I hear him mutter out before I lose all control of my body and my eyes roll to the back of my head.

  I feel the man catch me in his arms and hear him mumbling words into my ears—words I can’t comprehend—and then nothing.

  With one caressing touch, this man has rendered me useless.

  Chapter Two

  (Xanrun)

  I glance down at the woman, the mysterious creature that has bewitched me, and sigh. What a mess. With one last lingering look at her, I place her, gently, on the floor and take in my surroundings.

  I’m in a sterile room that has machinery and medical supplies scattered everywhere, so I believe it’ll be a safe bet to assume I’m in a hospital or clinic of some kind, which is good, considering the condition I’m in.

  I gaze at all my wounds and then back at the human on the floor. She said she saved me, and from the looks if my injuries, I’m inclined to take her at her word. She helped me, a Torian warrior who has killed dozens of her kind, and how did I repay her? I held her at knifepoint and shoved her away from me once I realized what she was. We might be enemies right now, but I have enough honor and integrity to admit that I fucked up with my actions with this woman.

  Who am I kidding?

  I fucked up my integrity when I entered this war and killed innocent lives. In my defense, I didn’t know these creatures were innocent until last week, when my squad commander, Zazuna, my squad and I to massacre the peaceful humans who once lived in this town. It wasn’t until that day that I realized that the vast majority of humans who lived on this planet didn’t know about the attack on our planet’s capital. In fact, many of them didn’t want to engage in any activity with our planet, Toria, and wanted to leave us in peace.

  It was their corrupt leader, President Trancy, that started this war that has cost thousands their lives. And he began this war, for what? Power, of course. For power corrupts people and makes them do things they normally wouldn’t. And power is what holds nations together, or in this situation, tears one planet apart.

  I pace back and forth, thinking about the events that have unfolded these last several weeks, and when the pain in my head—which resulted in a bomb exploring in front of me—becomes too much to bare, I go to the human and drop to my knees in agony. Although I know she hates me, I reach my hand out and pull her onto my lap, and instantly my pain subsides. I close my eyes and laugh bitterly.

  Of course, between both the women on this planet and on Toria, I had to have imprinted with a human. How’s that’s possible, I’m not sure, but one thing that I do know is that t
his woman is my mate.

  Again I say, what a mess.

  “If you didn’t disobey orders, none of this would have happened.” I mutter to myself, but in my heart, I know my words are untrue. I believe in destiny and in honor. It would have been dishonorable to kill all those humans in cold blood, knowing they didn’t have any part in the bloodshed of my people and our capital. It was my destiny to go against my commander, just like it was my destiny to get wounded today. I smile softy at the human and sigh. “Was it destiny meeting you, Angel?” I ask, knowing she won’t respond back to me for some time.

  I let myself rest for a moment, enjoying my mate in my arms, but when my head begins to feel better, I let go of the Angel and begin to search the room. There has to be a reason the Angel locked us into this room, and since I see no food here, I can only guess that there’s a secret door or passage in here that leads to where she’s been hiding out during the war. How else would she have been able to survive?

  When I come across a coat closet, I open the doors and smirk when I find a trapdoor on the bottom of the closet. Clever, but not clever enough.

  I open it and peer down, seeing that there’s a ladder leading down into the hidden shelter. I turn my attention back to the Angel and head across the room to grab her into my arms. I place her over my shoulder, hissing lightly when I feel a twinge of pain shoot through my body, and proceed to climb down the ladder, keeping one hand on the ladder while the other on my mate.

  Once I’ve reached the bottom, I see a bed on the far side of the room and promptly place the girl on it. I was going to search for something to eat—since I haven’t eaten in a couple of days and I’m famished—but I’m frozen where I stand, hypnotized by the Angel’s beauty.

  It wouldn’t surprise me at all if her name really was Angel, with how beautiful and pale her skin is, and how bright and sweet her green eyes were. And her hair, blonde and practically glowing, just makes her look even more like an Angel. She’s represents light, while I symbolize darkness. And yet, I want her. All of her and I fully intend on making her mine.

  She’s my mate, my partner for life, and she’s also my enemy.

  But is she?

  After all, I turned my back on my people when I refused to kill those humans and when I was injured, after being assigned a deadly scouting mission as punishment for refusing to follow orders, my fellow Torian warriors, my family, turned their backs on me. They left me for dead, only for a human, this beautiful creature, to patch up my wounds and heal me, both my body and heart.

  But now I’m faced with the dilemma of where my loyalties lie. Yes, what my squad commander did was inexcusable, but I cannot forget the reason why I’m on this planet to begin with. Many of these humans came to our planet and killed hundreds of our people, one of those people being my little sister, Hyzia, so they aren’t completely without fault. Those people, who planned this war, needed to pay for what they have done and I fully intend on destroying Trancy, and all the people reasonable for taking my little sister away from me. But…what happens when this war is over? And will it ever be over?

  I want to get revenge, but my people want to completely destroy this planet and every human who inhabits it. And when they find my Angel, what will I do? Will they accept me back, after they left me for dead? And will they understand the mess I found myself in and accept my mate with open arms?

  I snort. Yeah, I know the answer to that question is a big fat no.

  Averting my gaze from the woman, I glance around the room and smile when I see the entire shelf of non-perishable foods on the opposite side of the room. There’s even a heating plate and some old pots for me to cook the food on.

  I open up two cans of soup and cook them until it’s warm, but not too hot that we have to wait to eat them. I devour my portion of soup within seconds and when I see that the Angel is still not awake, I eat her soup. I’m opening another can of soup when I feel the hairs at the back of my head stand at attention and I turn around just in time to grab the Angel’s hand before the knife can connect to my flesh.

  I smirk and quickly disarm her. “That was cute, Angel.” I say, chuckling when she glares at me for taking away yet another weapon of hers. Where the hell does she hide all of them? I examine her, from her feet up, and when my eyes get to her ample breasts, which are spilling out over her simple tank top, I have to clear my throat and avert my gaze. If she could hear my inappropriate thoughts right now, she would try to stab me again. “But the next time you try to kill me, make sure you follow through.” I smile at her and turn back to her soup.

  She doesn’t respond back and I hear her walk away from me a moment later, just for her to come running back at me. I roll my eyes and turn back around. I disarm her in record time, grab her arm, and twist it behind her back. I’m not twisting or holding her hard enough to harm her, for I would never harm my mate, but I’m holding her firmly enough that she cannot get out of my reach. She’s struggling in my arms but freezes when I press the front of my body against her back, moving my lips to her ear. “Didn’t you listen to me earlier, Angel? I told you the next time you try to kill me you have to follow through. Did you, Angel?” I ask, brushing my lips against the shell of her ear. She tries to fight her attraction to me, but when her body shivers, I know she’s just as drawn to me as I am to her. My eyes begin to glow brighter and my shaft hardens in my pants, which the Angel can feel, if her shocked gasp is any indication. I kiss the spot, just below her ear, and relish in pleasure when she moans in response. “I’m going to let you go now, Angel, and I’m going to trust you not to attack me again, no matter how much it brings me amusement to see you come at me with a knife. For such a petite woman, you’re fearless, aren’t you?”

  “Let me go.” She says, but her voice is strained with lust.

  I chuckle. “Say please, Angel.”

  “Fuck you. And stop calling me Angel! My name is Macie!” She shouts out, but moans when I kiss her at the spot behind her ear again. Macie. Such a beautiful name, but I’m going to keep her nickname since it fits her better. She closes her eyes and sighs. “Fine. I’ll play nice, for now.” I let go of her, believing her words, and she spins around to face me once I do. She stares at me, eyes still dilated from lust, but also holding anger in them as well. “But don’t expect me to trust you, Torian. As soon as I have the chance, I’m going to try to kill you again.” She smiles sweetly at me. “You invaded the wrong planet, buddy. And you have pissed off the wrong girl.”

  I smile and caress her cheek, loving the way the fight leaves her body once I touch her. She might not want to admit it, but she’s as drawn to me as I am to her. Her heart knows it belongs with me, but I’m going to have to convince her brain that she belongs to me too. “No. I have the right girl standing in front of me.” I mutter out.

  She opens her eyes in confusion, but I don’t explain myself to her.

  We might have started off enemies, but we’re destined to be lovers.

  Macie doesn’t know it yet, but she’s mine.

  And I’m hers.

  Chapter Three

  (Macie)

  I’m falling for an alien.

  I know, you must be looking at me like I’m crazy, but it’s true. I tried my best to hate Xanrun over these last couple of weeks and I made good on my threat to try to kill him, several times, but each time I attempted to take his life, he ended up stealing a piece of my heart instead.

  He’s a Torian warrior—my enemy—and yet, he treats me with the upmost respect and has never tried to harm me since breaking into my clinic. All he seems to want is a safe place to hide out and food to eat. Oh, and he wants me as well. I’m not an idiot and I see the way he looks at me when I’m not looking. Hell, he looks at me that way even when I’m looking at him, smirking as he does, like he doesn’t give a shit that I see him checking me out.

  At first, it annoyed me to a point where I would lash out at him, but Xanrun is a masochist because he likes when I get mad at him. Fighting with me seems to b
e his favorite pastime and considering we’re stuck down here, waiting out the end of the world together, I can’t really blame him. There’s nothing to do here besides banter with each other. And I won’t admit it to him, but I love interacting with him as well. He’s opinionated, funny, and stubborn. He challenges me at every turn and that fact alone turns me on. I’ve never met a man like him before and I know feeling this attraction to him is wrong, but I can’t help it when it feels so right.

  Xanrun has flirted with me constantly since day one, but unfortunately, he has yet to touch me like he did when I first attacked him. I shiver at the memory, remembering his lips at the back of my ear, kissing the sensitive area just below the lobe of my right ear. I remember how wet I grew when his breath and lips made contact with my skin and my nipples harden at the memory.

  “It turned you on, did it?” Xanrun whispers into my ear, scaring the shit out of me. I try to turn around, but his hand holds me in place as he moves his body closer to mine until I feel his growing hardness pressing against my ass. My cheeks are flaming in embarrassment and arousal and Xanrun chuckles knowingly. “I remember that day as well, Angel. I remember how your body came alive with only a slight touch of my lips.” As to prove his point, he brushes his lips against the shell of my ear and moans when my body shakes with need.

  “H-How do you know what I’m thinking?” I stutter out, my eyes rolling into the back of my head when Xanrun moves his hands up to my breast and cups my left tit into his hand. He doesn’t squeeze it, but just the feel of his hand, cupping me with possession, is enough to drive me crazy right now.

  “You don’t want to believe me, but I was telling the truth when I told you about Torian’s imprinting on a mate.” He kisses the side of my neck now, trialing soft, feather-like kisses up and down my neck. “When we touch our true mate, or they touch us, a bond is instantly made and cannot be broken, no matter what. I’ve never heard of a case of a Torian imprinting with a member from a different planet before, but I somehow bonded to you, Angel.”