The Beast's Virgin Claim

"Is this a good time?" I ask.

"Yes. I have just returned home."

"Really? Then may I ask what your final perspective of my pack is?"

"Strange." He replies without another thought and I giggle extending my legs farther getting into a more restful position upon the couch. My back and feet are truly killing me. "Have you eaten yet? I suppose it is morning in Italy."

"Yes it is and I haven't eaten. Ira is fetching me something."

"That is nice of her. And how is my five-month-old nephew? Kicking you like a ball as always?"

"He hasn't kicked me at all today and he is napping I can hear his snores," I reply with a smile tenderly patting my inflated belly.

"That is good, I am happy that you can retain food in your stomach now. No more nausea, I was frightened you would get weaker."

"I am all right, I am actually doing quite well. The food here, Cronus I do not even have words to describe it. It is so nutritious and scrumptious. I wish to kidnap the main cook and take her back to my pack."

"How is it that every time we speak you only talk about food?" He asks with a sonorous chuckle and I grin. But after a few seconds, the playful nature of our chitchat dissolves and eerie silence envelopes us as I stiffen to the tension I feel even though we are not in the same room. "So you have made up your mind? To return?"

I gulp anxiously and clutch on the phone tighter bringing it closer to my lips. "I...still have not." Guilt swallows me whole and I clench my eyes shut unable to bear the war of my mind and heart.

"That is all right. I was merely asking. I suppose you wish to know...about him."

"Y-Yes. How is he doing well?" My worried yet curious question earns a deep sigh from my brother.

"I really did not wish to tell you but I do not think it will be right of me to keep things from you."

"Tell me." I urge the beats of my heart quickening.

"Your male is not doing well. Something is terribly...wrong with him, Theia. I cannot really pinpoint it but it is like I cannot see what he is thinking or what he is feeling. It is like he is made of ice that no heat can liquefy. And his eyes are so very void and...emotionless to the point that I could admit they disturb me and nothing ever disturbs me. Each month I detected different stages he was passing through at first he was fine and quite strong-willed I would say in his search for you but as the months passed something rose within him like ghostly darkness that he was able to mask well from his pack but not from me. Before I left and said my farewells it felt like he had lost something. Not you, but something he only recently gained. I could not speak to him much but we did have a late-night talk yesterday and with alcohol racing in his bloodstream, he did unveil a part of him to me."

"What did he say?" I weep clamping my palm over my mouth to suppress my gut-wrenching cries.

"That he could not breathe well, that he felt as though his lungs had been blocked his throat clogged. His nights are plagued by nightmares of failing you. He blames himself for being reckless with you and slurred something about a tent? That he should stayed instead of leaving, I did not understand that part. He thinks that your mate bond has been unfair for you and he does not know if he should continue his search or let you go Theia. He said the farther you are from him there is a high chance you would truly attain happiness. Your male thinks...that the moon has made a mistake pairing you with him."

I sob harder uncontrollable tears gush down my cheeks and I slump down to lay flat over the sofa. Ira comes out from the kitchen carrying a tray of steaming food and when she sees me her eyes show distinctly her unhappiness of beholding me this way.

"And what do you think of his judgment? Do you think the moon made a mistake?"

"Yes. He does not deserve me and I...do not deserve him. Our love is continually tested there is no prolonged peace between us. I cannot be who he wants me to be, who he needs and I am not the queen of beasts Cronus." I speak in between my wails and it takes some time for me to deliver my truth but Cronus is patient with me giving my emotions time.

"I had once thought the same about another couple. That the moon had made a blunder pairing them together for she was everything I had longed for in a mate. I thought her male did not deserve her for he was putting her through hell. But I had been blind for over time did I finally understand the truth. That there were actually valid reasons they were paired together and in the end, there was only one thing I was sure of and I had made sure to tell your male that last night. Do you wish to know what it is?"

"Yes."

"The moon makes no mistakes, Theia."