Beast (30 page)

She stood up, walked toward me, and sat down a few feet away. Then she pulled something out of her coat pocket. It was her necklace.

“This is why,” she said as she handed it to me. “You see, after Lanelin arrived at our doorstep, he did not really talk about what had happened; he only told us that something strange had happened in the forest.

“Sometime afterward, he finally told us that a beast-like creature had saved him from another smaller creature. He explained that the beast knew our family by name and especially spoke about me. Once I saw the necklace, I knew that it was you.

“Not long after he told us about you, he told me that you wanted him to ask me to marry you. The next thing he told me was that you said you did not care that you were dying—that you would die many times before you would let something happen to our family.

“The second I heard that you were dying, my heart began to break; I knew that I needed to come see you. My family tried to talk me out of it because they did not understand how sweet and tenderhearted you are; they did not know the real you that I was able to see during my stay here. It was not until then that I finally admitted to myself that I was in love with you.”

My heart rejoiced. I had never expected to hear those words.

I grabbed on to her hands, which finally fit together perfectly with mine.

“So when you arrived, was I still Beast, or was I human?” I asked.

“Yes, you were still Beast. When I was riding through the forest, I could not find the castle at first, even though I had the rose with me. When I was about to give up, it appeared out of nowhere. The wooden doors were slightly open, so I pushed on them as hard as I could. I struggled for a while, and then I was able to fit through and run in to find you.

“While looking for you, I became lost because speaking to the air no longer worked. Once I finally found you, you were on the floor, and Buttons was next to you, licking you. I threw myself on top of you, attempting to stop you from convulsing, and began to weep.

“After I told you that I loved you and you said that you loved me, your body stopped moving; I placed my hand over my mouth and wept because you no longer had a heartbeat. You were dead. I thought I had not made it back in time.

“Suddenly your body was lifted off the floor. This frightened me, so I grabbed Buttons and moved away from you, over to the wall. While your body was in the air, it was surrounded by many bright, blinding blue lights. Once the lights faded, your body slowly descended back to the floor, but you were no longer Beast; you were a man. I did not know what was going on.

“When you began to breathe again, I did not know what to think.”

She moved closer to me and placed her hand on my chest.

“I love you, Beast, so much! I never wanted to admit it, because it frightened me,” she told me as tears of joy filled her eyes.

“Well then, Mirabelle, I have a question to ask you,” I said as I placed my right hand over hers on my chest.

Her face lit up, and a huge smile came upon her lips.

I gazed into her grey eyes while holding on to both of her hands.

“Mirabelle, my wondrous beauty, the love of my life, please make me the happiest man alive. Will you marry me?”

“Yes!” she shouted at the top of her lungs the second I finished the question. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

She leaned in and kissed me. I closed my eyes and kissed her back, holding her as tightly as I could.

Afterward, she looked at me as if she were contemplating something.

“Okay, Beast, now that you are no longer a beast, what shall I call you?” she finally asked.

“You can call me your husband, the love of your life, maybe ‘my king,’” I joked.

“No, what is your name?” She rolled her eyes while giggling.

“Well, it is not a name that I have been called since I was six. But my name is Gareth.” I smiled.

“Gareth—I like that.” She smiled back.

Then she wrapped her arms around me. We were still sitting on the ground where my body had landed. Buttons came over, purring, and tried to sit in both of our laps, which caused us to laugh.

Then I heard the kitchen door open. We turned our heads and saw Deleena, Leala, and Russel walking into the room. I jumped up and ran over to them, telling them how much I had missed them. Mirabelle then stood up, came over to me, and grabbed my hand.

“Mirabelle, this is Deleena, Leala, and Russel. They are some of the people you spoke to when you needed something,” I explained.

“Well, it is very nice to finally see and meet you all.” She hugged them.

“It is nice to meet you too,” they said one by one.

I turned to Mirabelle and grabbed her other hand, bringing her close to me.

“I have a surprise for you.”

“Really? What is it?” she asked.

“Your family is more than welcome to come live here with us.”

“Are you serious?” she asked excitedly.

“Yes, I am. Nothing would make me more joyful—besides marrying you, of course—than to have what will now be our family here with us.”

I kissed her forehead.

“Oh, Gareth! I love you more than words can say!”

“I love you too, Mirabelle!” I said, bringing her closer to me as we kissed.

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I want to thank God for a mind to think and imagine and the gift of words.

Thank you to my family, Mommie, Poppi, Dasha, and Kacie, who always have been so supportive, helping me by voting on names and listening to me read pages over and over.

Thanks, Kaitlyn, for always supporting me in any venture I decide to do.

Thank you, Ashley Tingley, for taking the time to help me shoot amazing pictures for the cover. You captured what I imagined and so much more. To see more of Ashley Tingley’s amazing photography, visit
http://www.ashleytingleyphotography.com
.

Thank you to my “sister” and “brothers,” Tori, Spencer, and Chandler, for y’all’s help in the beginning and for reading draft after draft. I love you three so much!

Thank you, Matthew, for being so supportive and wanting to help make my dreams come true and for allowing me to bounce ideas off of you and talk incessantly all the time. I am so blessed by you! I love you!

Thank you to Robin McKinley and her book
Beauty
: a beautiful retelling of
Beauty and the Beast
. She and her book inspired me to write and specifically inspired me to write
Beast
.

Thank you to all my fans. I hope that this book inspires you to go after your dreams. I am thankful for each and every one of you. Y’all are the best ever!