Content To Be Claimed (Beauty And The Beast #1)

Final Chapter

My heart skipped a beat from pure fear.

I pressed myself closer to Warren, struggling to catch my breath. I was caught between intense pleasure and sudden, blinding fear.

It took me a moment to make sense of what I was seeing. Warren had lashed out, grabbing for Victor's neck... And Victor had evaded him easily by simply sidestepping and leaning his head away from the blow.

Warren froze, bloodlust still rolling off him in waves, and glared at my best friend. Said friend stood gazing at me, an impish grin on his face and his hands in his pockets.

It took me half a minute to register all this. I blinked and Victor raised a hand, tapping it carelessly against Warren's outstretched wrist as he admonished, "Uh-uh." Then, completely ignoring the panther alpha, he stepped towards me.

Warren turned to me, fuming, and ground out, "May I kill him?"

I let out a breath and relaxed against the balustrade. "I just might let you," I muttered, then glared at Victor. "You scared the hell out of me!"

He raised both hands, grinning now. "Sorry. I only just heard about your party." Then he turned to Warren, raised a brow. "Give us a minute, will you?"

I saw Warren angle his head and curl his fists. Uh-oh...
I was just about to intervene when Warren turned his eyes on me. I saw something flicker there, then he ground out, "A minute." He spun on his heel and stormed to the other side of the balcony.

I watched my boyfriend go, wondering what was going on in his mind. Victor came up to me, leaned on the stone next to me. "Hey."

"Hey," I smiled easily. I finally took a good look at him. He was dressed in ripped blue jeans and a black button up shirt. And on him, it looked amazing. "You got all prettied up, I see."

He shrugged. "This party's being thrown by the snobbiest person I know. I figured it'd be all fancy and stuff." Then he ran cool eyes over me. "Guess there's one advantage to a swanky party. You look like a fairy."

A beat passed, then I snorted a laugh. "A fairy?"

"Hey, they're called fairytales for a reason, you know," he shrugged again, smirking.

"Yeah, they usually have princesses," I pointed out.

"Silly, spoilt rich kids," he dismissed. "Nah, I mean the ones with like fairies in them. Breathtaking creatures that look like they don't belong in this world, like they're made of magic." He reached out and ran the back of his fingers over my cheek, featherlight, and traced a path down my throat. His eyes suddenly flipped behind me, where I knew Warren was watching.

Something passed in Victor's deep blue eyes, and then he dropped them and cleared his throat. "You're not expecting another gift, are you?"

I shook myself out of my haze. "Uh, no. I'm still trying to live with my attachment to the last one."

He hopped up, sitting carelessly on the slim banister. "Well, then I guess I'm done here."

"Wait, you're leaving?" I frowned.

"Yeah. I just came because I don't want yet another lecture for missing important stuff, and so that I could see you, interrupt a moment and steal more than a minute with you." He laughed at my impressive blush. "Though it sucks that you're taken. Means I can't just steal you from this party."

I smiled softly. "I don't wanna be stolen from this one."

He rolled his eyes at my mushy tone, then he gestured to Warren, a dangerous smirk appearing on his face. "Okay, you can carry on now!" He dropped off the balcony with another laugh as I made an outraged sound, blushing deeply.