She Stole My Seventh Beast, I Smiled Chapter 10

She Stole My Seventh Beast, I Smiled Chapter 10

The days settled into something I’d never had before: quiet, easy happiness.

Slowly, I became the person I’d always wanted to be. Confident. Unburdened. Loved.

Raymond gave me every gentle part of himself.

His friends knew it. The whole kingdom knew it.

The Beast King’s son was completely, hopelessly devoted to his bonded mate.

One evening, I was curled up against Raymond, watching the sunset through the window.

Golden light spilled over us, stretching our shadows long across the floor.

I traced the edge of his collar and asked without really thinking about it.

“Why me, Raymond? You could’ve had anyone. Any eligible woman in the kingdom. Why pick some ordinary human girl?”

Raymond pressed his lips to my forehead. When he pulled back, his eyes were impossibly soft.

His tail curled around my waist, warm and possessive.

“Because from the moment I first saw you, I couldn’t look away.”

“You were out there every day, under that blazing sun, scouring every territory looking for a

beastman.”

“Every time Chloe knocked you down, you’d dust yourself off and keep going. You never stopped.”

“That stubbornness, the way you refused to quit, I thought it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever

seen.”

“I had my people look into what was happening around you. I found out everything, what you’d been through, how much you’d been hurt. And I could tell how badly you wanted someone who was simply on your side.”

“So I decided I’d be that person. I’d give you everything you never got, the attention, the protection, every bit of it. I’d make sure you were happy.”

“Valerie, you were never ordinary. Not to me. You’re the only one. This life, the next one, every one

after that, it’s always going to be you.”

My eyes stung. I blinked hard, but the tears came anyway.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulled him down, and kissed him.

Everything I felt for him, the love, the gratitude, the certainty that this was forever, I poured it all

into that kiss.

Raymond kissed me back, slow and sure.

His hand traced a slow line down my back, steady and warm.

The world narrowed to just us and the warmth between our bodies.

Outside, the last gold faded from the sky. The stars came out one by one, and the moon climbed after them, washing everything in silver.

This was it. This was everything I’d ever wanted.

Raymond beside me. A whole life ahead of us.

The Valerie who flinched, who swallowed every insult, who begged to be believed, was gone.

In her place was someone who was chosen, fiercely loved, and finally, finally free.

And everyone who’d ever hurt me? They got exactly what was coming to them.

Our story didn’t end there. It kept going, happy, whole, and ours, for all the forevers to come.

-The End-