Fated To The Beast (English)

Chapter 12

Bella was touching her lips while still staring blankly at Beast. After he kissed her, neither of them managed to say a single word. In truth, she was utterly confused by everything happening between them. It had only been a few days since their paths first crossed, yet it felt like a long time had passed, and too much had already happened.

Suddenly, Bella thought of meeting him as a total disaster. Everything is such a mess. She was also annoyed because ever since she met Beast, it felt like she had lost her rationality. It was as if she had become reckless, unable to think straight whenever he was around.

Something’s wrong… What is really happening?

When Bella saw Beast taking a step closer to her, she raised her hand to stop him. It seemed like he had something to say, but at that moment, Bella no longer cared.

“Just stay there,” Bella said, her gaze serious. “Don’t come any closer, and don’t say anything either,” she added before slowly stepping back.

“But, Bella—”

Beast didn’t get to finish his words because Bella shook her head.

“I said, you don’t need to say anything!” she shouted angrily. “And don’t you dare follow me!” she warned before running away, still feeling completely lost.

When exhaustion caught up with her, she stopped running and stared blankly at the ocean. Earlier, while she was running, she had no idea where she was actually headed. All she knew was that she wanted to get away. She wanted to escape.

And now, her feet had led her to the place that calms her soul.

Bella started walking towards the water. A smile crept onto her lips when she felt the waves dancing against her skin, which eventually led to a flash of a memory from last night.

“That man is so annoying! What did he do to me for me to feel this way?!” Bella said in frustration, stomping at the water until, little by little, she found herself crying.

She wanted to hold back her tears, but she couldn’t. It felt like she needed to lighten the weight pressing against her chest.

Bella immediately stopped crying when she saw a man and a woman not too far away. The man handed the woman a bouquet of flowers, and afterward, they embraced. Seeing that, she was once again reminded of what day it was.

To hell with Valentine’s Day!

Bella frowned as she stood up and walked away from the couple.

Most people in the world were probably looking forward to this day. But for Bella, it was starting to feel traumatizing because of all the frustration it had brought her since the morning. Instead of it being just another normal day, she now wanted to erase it completely.

“Bella!”

She automatically turned around upon hearing her name. Her face twisted further in frustration when she saw that the man responsible for her frustration was the one approaching her.

“Didn’t I tell you not to follow me? What are you doing here?” she snapped at him, rolling her eyes before continuing to play with the water.

“I didn’t follow you. But I was worried about you, so I looked for you. Something might have happened to you,” Beast explained, his expression serious as he watched her play in the water.

“There’s a greater chance of something bad happening to me when you’re around, Mr. Cliff Alvarez, Beast, or whoever you really are! So, please, stop following me. Just go!” Bella scolded him.

But when she saw a smile appear on his lips, she was momentarily taken aback. She had already seen him serious. She had already seen him smirking and mocking her. She had already seen him angry.

But she never expected to see him smile.

“W-why are you smiling?” Bella asked, stammering. She even looked away from him because of the strange feeling suddenly building up inside her.

“Huh?”

Beast was caught off guard by her question and quickly returned to his serious demeanor. “Nothing. I just remembered something,” he lied, even though the truth was that he smiled because he liked hearing her say his name.

Even Beast himself was confused about what was happening to him. Ever since he met Bella, he found himself doing things he never thought he would. And there was nothing he could do to stop it because his emotions were stronger than his logic when it came to her.

He said he just remembered something… Yeah, right. Bella mumbled to herself before deciding to ignore him and continue walking. She knew he was still following her, but for some reason, she felt like she had grown tired of stopping him. A small voice inside her told her to just let him be.

Several minutes of silence passed between them before Beast finally decided to break it. He grabbed her hand to stop her from walking. Once he succeeded, he stepped in front of her and looked at her seriously.

“I think we need to seriously talk, Bella…”

Bella glanced at his hand holding hers before slowly pulling away.

“What else is there to talk about?”

“About us… About what happened… About everything between us…”

Bella looked at Beast seriously. As she stared into his eyes, it was as if she was being pulled into another dimension.

They say the eyes are the windows to a person’s soul.

And as she gazed into his, she realized that the saying was true.

But she shouldn’t be swayed by the emotions in his eyes. She shouldn’t be swayed by her own emotions because she was starting to feel afraid.

She was afraid of where these emotions might take her again.

“Well, Mr. Alvarez, there is no ‘us,’ so there’s nothing to talk about,” Bella said seriously before forcing a laugh. “Whatever happened between us, let’s just forget about it. I think that’s what’s best for me, for you, and for everyone.”

“I can’t just simply forget that. You can’t simply forget that,” Beast said seriously while looking straight into her eyes.

Bella could feel the intensity of his gaze. The way he spoke each word made it seem like he was absolutely certain of what he was saying.

But despite the strange feeling his presence gave her, Bella refused to back down. She shot him a sharp look, challenging him with her next question.

“And why not?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

When Beast took another step closer, Bella still didn’t waver and held his gaze. Even when he was only inches away, she didn’t back away or break eye contact. Even when he took her hand, she didn’t show any emotion.

Not until he brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of her palm while looking at her eyes mischievously.

Bella froze. She didn’t know what to do or how to react.

“You cannot just forget me because I’m Beast,” he said as he let go of her hand.

He just kept staring into her deep, round chestnut brown eyes before shifting his gaze to her pinkish, plump lips, perfectly shaped like a cupid’s bow.

He wanted to touch her and kiss her again.

But Beast restrained himself.

Instead, he looked back into her eyes and continued.

“No woman ever forgets me, Bella.”

Before Bella could even react, Beast turned his back on her and started walking away… leaving Bella all alone on the shore, still dumfounded.