Chapter Seven

"Only a man who truly loved the sisters could have found them," Leo told him.

"You followed your nose throughout a terrible storm," Cole spoke gently. "You didn't even need to smell Prue's shirt. You already had her scent. It's a part of you." His mind marveled at that fact. He wished he had Piper's scent so well kept within him, but as it was, at least he had the grandest treasure of keep them all kept closely to his heart: her love and their eternal connection as soul mates!

"You found her while still in your Werewolf form," Leo continued, still glowing with a reassuring, pulsating light. "You did all you could to save her, and you never once hurt her."

Brendan gazed at them in disbelief. "In my Werewolf form?"

They nodded. "Yes, Brendan," Leo answered verbally.

"The question's simple really," Cole put in. "If you love her, kiss her. If you don't want to lose her, kiss her."

"Because if you don't," Leo finished, "you will lose her. We will all lose her."

"We're waiting on you," Phoebe spoke up. "Will you save our sister, Brendan?"

"Do you love her," Piper pressed, "enough to keep her from dying?"

"Of course I do," he whimpered, his torn emotions shining clearly in his shimmering brown eyes, "I love her more than I even ever thought I could love any one! I'm evil! I'm not supposed to be able to love!"

"But you do," Cole gently said, "just as I love Piper." He took her hand in his and squeezed it softly. Then, still watching Brendan, he lifted her hand and brushed his lips in a gentle kiss across its back.

She squeezed his hand tightly in return and whispered softly, batting away her own tears, "I love you too, Cole."

"Every living being," Leo spoke, "has a heart, and every heart is capable of loving. We're incredibly blessed to be able to find the ones we truly love, the ones who complete our souls." He took Phoebe's hand, squeezed it, and kissed it, as he had seen Cole do for Piper.

Phoebe grinned and squeezed his hand in return, whispering, "I love you."

Brendan slowly nodded. "I love her," he said, his voice no longer sounding quite so much like a whimper. "No matter what, I love her! I just don't want to hurt her!"

"You won't," the four lovers assured him together.

Brendan whimpered as he gazed down into his beloved Prue's beautiful face. She was so beautiful, so sweet, and so wonderful, and he was nothing but a lowly, filthy monster who could never deserve her! He had always believed that he would kill her if his Werewolf was to ever be around her, but yet it had been his Werewolf side who had hunted throughout the city to find her and had done just that. Without the monster that lurked within him, always far too eager to come out and kill, his beloved Prue and her sisters, who he knew meant the world to her, might well never have been found.

He whimpered again as he softly caressed her raven hair. It felt every bit as soft and luxurious as he'd always thought it would, and every inch of his body thrilled at the touch. {Down, boy,} he growled to himself, knowing that the rush of excitement and love he was feeling for this amazing woman might well reawaken his Werewolf. Just because he hadn't killed her yet didn't mean that he could trust himself around her.

He was a monster, pure and simple. He had learned his family was right the morning that he had awakened to his pet goldfish in his mouth. He was a monster who would kill any one he dared to love and destroy anything he touched, but yet he loved Prue. Could she truly love him too? How could she?

He wasn't a bad looking man, Brendan admitted silently, and she didn't know of the horrid monster within him. She only knew the man. She only saw his tender smile, his brown eyes, and his shoulder-length, brown hair that, admittedly, was far too shaggy and hinted to the beast within him. Yet Brendan knew he was handsome for girls and women alike had chased him far more than he cared to consider.

He'd never had a problem keeping them at bay, but the very first time that Prue had smiled at him, she had slipped underneath his skin. He loved her, and there was nothing he could do to stop himself from loving her. All of his efforts and all of his sessions with Ola in which he had tried to get her to find a way to keep him from loving, and thereby endangering, his marvelous Prue had been for naught. Nothing could stop the way he felt about her, and her family said that nothing could stop the curse that she had been placed underneath save a kiss from her true love.

He couldn't be her true love for to be so would mean that they deserved to be together and he could never deserve a lady as fair and wonderful as his beloved Prue. He was a monster who was not even fit to walk upon the same ground as she touched, but he loved her. One kiss from her would pour excitement and love into his soul and would reawaken his monster, but still he had to try, for if he didn't at least try, Prue might never wake up. Taking a deep breath, gathering all his courage to him, and doing his best to think only of his love for Prue, Brendan finally lowered his head and dared to touch his lips to hers.

Prue's consciousness instantly surged through her still body at the touch of her soul mate's lips upon hers. Warmth, passion, and love flooded her soul. Her eyes fluttered open and confirmed what her heart was already telling her. Brendan was kissing her at long last!

She reached up, wrapped her arms lovingly around him, and pulled him closer to her. She deepened their kiss, giving to him all the love and passion she would ever feel for him alone. Now that she had her man, she would never let him go again!

To Be Concluded . . .