Chapter 4

Nik stood in the doorway looking at a sleeping Bella. If he did not know any better, he would have thought she had never woken up from when he had left her to surrender to the Armory. Rebekah, his younger sister, sat in the corner watching over her. They silently engaged in a hug as she left the room to give him some privacy with his mate.

His brothers and Marcel had come to the drop off site that Bella and Freya had located. The sedative that they had given him was just wearing off when he heard fighting taking place outside of the temporary location where they were holding him.

He was in pain from the battle, but he forced himself to shift into his wolf form. He was not sure what was happening outside, but he was ready to at least make it look like he did not want to be there.

The door burst open and he saw the face of his adoptive son, Marcellus.

"Klaus, I know you enjoy being a wolf, but I think we will need your vamp speed more" chuckled Marcel as he forced the cage door open. Nik purred at Marcel as he forced himself to change back to his human form, it was true he would rather run on all fours in the woods then vamp speed any day.

"Dude, cover yourself," laughed Kol from the door as he threw Nik a pair of sweatpants. Elijah joined him at the door wiping blood from his mouth, "we need to go before the others come looking for their friends."

"Is she okay?" asked Nik as he gathered himself.

"That mate of yours is a firecracker, bro," praised Kol. "She held her own against our sister and she really fought for you. She is very powerful. You are a lucky man!"

"What happened with Freya? I told you all about Bella so that you would keep her safe if something were to ever happen to me, not to use her or her powers" raged Nik as he walked out of the building and into the early morning air. Taking a deep breath, he turned towards his family and wondered what life would be like with them and his Bella.

"Niklalus, do not blame our older sister; she was just afraid for you. You know how protective she is, and she did not think of the consequences of her actions. You know she would rather ask for forgiveness than for permission."

"True" he stared ahead with the men joining him, "It is the Mikaelson curse: doing whatever to protect each other. But Bella is a Mikaelson too, ever since I imprinted on her, she has been a part of this family. Understood."

The men understood what he meant and agreed that they would treat her just like they treated Freya and Rebekah.

"I am a lucky man, and I am ready to get back to my girl" answered Nik. They all raced home at vamp speed.

"YOU'RE BACK!" came the high-pitched scream of Bella as a huge smile came to her face. She leaped from the bed she was lying on and jumped into his arms. He opened them a second before she reached him. After the last time they had talked, he was shocked at her excitement to see him.

"I guess you are no longer afraid of me, huh" laughed Nik as he twirled her around. Bella laughed at his silliness. Rolling her eyes, she put her hands on his shoulders causing him to look at her. They stared into each other's eyes, and Nik placed Bella on her feet. She continued to stare at him, raising her hands to his face pulling him down to her lips. She placed a chaste yet sweet kiss onto his lips.

"What I was going to tell you before we were rudely interrupted" she kissed his lips again quickly interrupting her confession. "I don't know how to NOT be afraid of you. But I also KNOW that you will not hurt me. I KNOW that I want to be around you. I feel complete when I am around you. I've never felt that before."

Nik's face was bewildered at Bella's confession and her kiss. He picked her, placing her on his lap as he sat in the chair by the door. Cradling her in his arms, he kissed her deeply and passionately.

"So, the Beast fell in love with the Beauty…" he murmured as his forehead rested on hers. She looked away, hiding her eyes as a thrill ran through her at his words.

"What a stupid Beauty," she sighs.

"What a sick, masochistic Beast" he smiled, finally feeling that the curse of the werewolves was worth every moment of pain as he stared into the eyes of his love.

The Armory was still out there, and they would not stop coming for him...for them. Yet, he knew that no matter how many enemies he had; she would be right there by his side.

He knew that at least for Bella he was not the villain in her story. He was…the Prince.

FIN

A/N: I just want to thank the coordinator of this year's FAGE, Deonne, you have done an amazing job! This story was edited by my mom and the banner was made by me, shoutout to