A Beast of Beauty

#5

Recap:

Nodding in agreement, Hank reached out and touched her forehead. Within moments the world around her grew black and she found herself slamming down into the middle of her kitchen. Disoriented, Nova simply lay on the ground, trying to dispel the weakness and ache in her bones and muscles. A tired smile lit up her features; she was finally home.

Chapter 5:

Theodore Dominic Moore groaned as the pain from his various wounds jolted through his system. Rising from his healing sleep earlier than advised hadn't been a smart move on his part. It'd left him at the mercy of pain, courtesy of his wounds. Laboriously he managed to sit up in the bed, he let out a breath of relief as the pull on his wounds lessened once he settled in. He could feel snow flakes tangling within his hair and gathering on his shoulders, but he was far too exhausted to dust them off.

His family dutifully ignored the discomfort he was going through as he attempted to do it on his own. His parents, three brothers and only sister stared down at him in pity. They knew he wouldn't welcome their help, and he was grateful they didn't take away his last few ounces of pride. His injuries were numerous, but due to his shifter heritage; none would leave even the hint of a scar, let alone prove to be fatal. His body just needed some time to heal. Dom was still smarting from the fact that he had let some for-hire-goons get the better of him.

Gods. He was a disgrace to his family.

He watched in silence as his uncle Hank attempted to bring his parents and siblings up to date on the happenings.

"I cannot believe you did this, Hank." Dom's mother glared at Hank. "You are my twin brother and you hid this from me! You made us think my son was as good as dead. I mour-mourned him." She eyed her brother accusatorially as tears leaked from her eyes.

Dom's heart hurt watching his mother's tear streaked face, he tried to sit up straight but immediately winced at the blinding pain from his ribs. "Mother, it was a necessary evil." He sighed, his uncle had acted in the best possible way. And taken the necessary steps to ensure his survival.

"Theodore, please don't overexert yourself. You still have to finish healing!" His mother was the only one who called him that, everyone else knew him as Dom and he preferred it that way.

Dom had multiple stab wounds - the bastards had stooped low enough to use human weapons on him. Along with severe burns from the dragon fire, and innumerable claw marks to accompany. He was pretty sure one of his ribs was broken, and his other bones felt pretty damn fragile too. But he wasn't going to tell his mother that, his uncle had gone to great pains to keep the extent of Dom's injuries from her.

"I'm fine. I have aches and tenderness. Nothing that will kill me." Dom hating lying to anyone, least of all his own mother.

She ignored his protesting and promptly burst into tears. The weeping female by his side only soured his mood further, if he had been more vigilant he could've avoided all of this mess.

Putting him in a remote cabin in the middle of a harsh Himalayan mountain range was a bit intense, but it had done the job. Thoughts of the cabin flashed back into his mind, along with the curvy temptress who had haunted his every waking moment ever since.

Dom sighed at his internal debate, phasing out most of the conversation happening around him, he tried to sort through his muddled thoughts. He didn't remember most of his time at the cabin, and he wondered if he didn't remember something vital about that woman? His woman's face popped up in his mind once more, beautiful with a liberal portion of danger. He vaguely recalled her gorgeous breasts, he didn't know how that came to happen, but he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.