Meows for attention.
Adjusting to the longterm company of strangers had not been easy for the Beast, though he had since resigned himself to the presence of the two females in his group. Ruby had come first, all youthful exuberance and optimism about their shared curse—and Blake, the cat, had been their most recently acquired companion.
He’d fully intended to leave her where they’d found her. More mouths to feed, he’d said derisively, to which he’d only received a look from the Rose. They both knew he had plenty of money to burn between all three of them, and besides, she’d chimed, she has a curse to break too.
Her predicament was an inconvenient one, that much Adam had been forced to admit as time wore on. To be mortal only at night and then turned to an animal for the duration of daylight… Yes, he knew his share of suffering when it came to beastly transformations. Hers was nothing so macabre, but still…
The cat had been silent in the safety of his shirt for the past few hours as he’d checked the perimeter of their newest dwelling. Abandoned cabins were not uncommon near these woods, but they were often abandoned for good reason.
All ignorance his princely childhood had allowed of him had been wiped away with his greater humanity when the curse had been thrust upon him, so Adam was all too aware of what might lurk near them. It took a monster to know the truth of what other monsters were capable of.
So he stalked through the woods, quiet as death and almost as deadly. It was a good sign, he thought, that nature remained noisy and active around them; there had only been a few instances of complete silence as he’d journeyed past, and it was those areas that he’d pinned down as potential threats on his mental map. Relatively safe compared to other places they’d had to sleep before. Still, it would do them well to remain quiet and on guard. Perhaps take turns keeping watch while the others slept?
A meow pierced the quiet and he was torn from his musing, masked gaze dipping to the bundle of fur nestled in his shirt. Intelligent golden eyes met his own. Adam steeled himself against the power such a gaze could hold—no, he told himself firmly, he would not risk their lives in a potentially dangerous forest in order to coddle the feline just because she felt neglected. That he’d let her come with him at all was already an error of judgment that should never have been allowed.
She meowed again.
The Beast grunted in annoyance—why did he let Ruby convince him to keep this creature? why were cats cute?—and reached up, nudging a gloved digit beneath her soft chin to pet the cat accordingly. His motion would continue until Blake began to purr, and only then did he retract his touch.
“Hush,” he said in a decidedly grumpy manner. “You’ve gotten what you wanted. Try not to get us killed with noise now and I’m sure Ruby will pet you plenty later.”
He would, too, but he wasn’t going to say that. It would give the wrong impression.















