CHAPTER 1

BELLE inhaled the scent of the various pink and red roses in the courtyard of the castle, the flowers' perfume making her feel slightly lightheaded and dizzy. She was not entirely sure what had brought her outside, though she thought if she remained cooped in her room for one minute more, she'd likely crawl out of her skin like a skin-changer. So, she came outside. She glanced down at the simple gold wedding ring she wore proudly on her finger and twisted it anxiously, chewing on her bottom lip in an anxious fit.

Adam was away in Paris on business for their estate and would not return until a few more days, and she was nearly going stir-crazy with missing her handsome Prince. The man was much changed since his curse had been lifted, though she could not help but to feel a pang of remorse for Gaston. As apathetic as she had acted to him, as cold as she had been forced to behave while around him while all the while rejecting the man's advances, even she had not wished for him to die as he had. Or so it was believed.

She had watched him fall and within days of the curse lifting, Adam and Monsieur Lumiere and a few foot-soldiers had ventured down the ravine to collect Gaston's body to give the man a proper burial, though the former war hero's body had not been able to be discovered.

A violent shudder went down her spine at the thought. She prayed that Gaston's body would be able to be recovered and put to rest, and wolves had not gotten him. Even Gaston deserved to be laid to rest.

It had been a fortnight since she and Adam had wed, though she still could not quite shake the feeling that something was off. Perhaps it was because she was uneasy with her new husband gone, and her uneasiness in her heart was merely a result of missing him, but there was a deeper part of her that suspected something more. She furrowed her thinly plucked brows and looked behind her in the garden.

It was an uneasy feeling. One that Belle was entirely too embarrassed to share with anyone else, for the rest of the castle's staff would surely find her foolish. She did not even think she could tell Papa.

She told herself that it was simply because she was not used to being left alone for so long. Even as she glanced out at the rose gardens, there were no other souls wandering about. As far as Belle could ascertain, she was alone in the Courtyard. But she still felt a pair of eyes on her. It was getting dark. Anyone could be out here on the grounds, watching her, waiting for her, spying on her. Belle ground her teeth and shook her head to herself as she toyed with the ends of her braid in agitation.

"There's nothing there," she whispered to herself and made to turn on her heels to disappear back inside the castle. A low rumbling growl emitted from her stomach,reminding Belle of just how hungry she was.

She'd skipped lunch today. She was getting hungry, no doubt Papa would be too, and she wondered if Mrs. Potts or Mrs. Kittredge, the other head cook in the kitchens, would let her sneak away with a cup or bowl of pumpkin soup. The delectable dish was quickly becoming one of her favorites during her many months spent in the castle. Belle let a faint ghost of a smile flit across her features as she began to walk across the courtyard, marveling at how much her life had changed since she had taken her father's place as the Changeling Prince's prisoner. But Adam was no longer a wretched and fearsome awful Beast.

Now, he was back to being a man. Her husband. A tremor of pleasure went through her at the notion. Though before she could take another step forward, the sound of something scraping against the stones of the rose gardens reached her ears, accompanied by the sound of a low, wolfish growl.

Suddenly, her ears were burning and a fatigued ringing was filling her eardrums. Belle froze, her gasp catching in her throat as she whirled around, the scream that wanted to leave her lips was stuck as her eyes made a quick scan of what she previously thought was Adam, though he had been cursed again. Her fear was so powerful that she could not even speak. She wanted to scream for help, but couldn't, as she found herself staring face-to-face with yet another Beast, identical to what Adam had been cursed.

The monstrous creature that stood in front of her now was huge and hulking, taller and broader in its shoulders and chest than Adam had been. Its paws alone were as large as wash basins and even on all fours as it stalked towards her, it was three times Belle's size. The massive horns that protruded from its head twisted and seemed to stretch to the heavens themselves. She parted her lips to try again to call for help, but all that came out was a breathy squeak. Her voice was not loud enough for anyone to hear.

Her mouth, which was already dry, went dryer still as the creature lifted its head and met her gaze. A yelp left her throat as she looked into the monster's eyes and froze.

Realization dawned on her. Her eyes widened. She knew those eyes, she would know them anywhere.

"G-Gaston?" she whispered, the man's leaving her lips in a hoarse voice. She choked back a bitter sob.

She was amazed that she could even summon the strength in her throat to say the man's name.

She did not understand what had happened to him, or how, but somehow, he had survived, and her husband's curse looked to have passed to him. His strong and tall body was now covered in thick matted brown fur somehow looked taller and stronger than it ever had when Gaston had still been a human.

When Gaston took a few steps forward, she took a step backward and her knees hit a stone bench, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the stones on her rump. The impact hurt, but for the moment, Belle ignored the pain, too stricken and overcome with shock to pay much attention to anything else but Gaston right now. Her lip quivered and she tried to clench her jaw to stop it as tears came to her eyes.

The color drained from Belle's face as Gaston in his newly cursed form loomed over her, rage twisting and contorting his much-changed face into something truly monstrous and beastly.

Her own pretty features twisted into something akin to a pained grimace as she watched in horror as the edges of Gaston's lips curved upwards in a smile she could only describe as cruel.

He reached out a paw and wrenched her to her feet, leaving Belle with little time to react at all. Belle shivered and looked up at Gaston cautiously. In truth, she had no idea how to go about this as Gaston's hand, no, his paw, wound around her shoulder and held her in a vice grip. She wished Adam were here.

"…Belle…Help." He spoke her name with great difficulty, his voice sounding a bit like a wooden crate being scraped against the cobblestone streets of their village back home. She could not be sure, but she thought his voice was laced with fear, and perhaps even hope, that she could help him lift his own curse.

Belle tried to wrench away from his grip as though Gaston in his cursed form were on fire and he was burning her, though he did not let go. Belle sniffed as she felt tears prick at the edges of her eyes, stinging and blurring her vision. She did not understand what had happened to him, how he was still alive. Belle furiously shook her head, desperately trying to send away all thoughts and images of the previously handsome soldier from her mind. She did not understand why Gaston had sought her out.

Belle wanted nothing more than to flee the scene, everything about this situation was horribly awkward and frightening. Sensing her apprehension and her fear, Gaston let her go, which momentarily surprised her. She had not been expecting that and she looked up at the cursed man in alarm.

Her lips parted as if she intended to speak to him, though nothing came to her. She could not speak.

All she could think to do in this situation was run. Belle desperately pleaded with her body to turn around and run for the safety of the castle that was now her and her father's home, but her feet felt like heavy stones in her boots. Somehow, by a miracle of God, she was able to force herself forward, the world around her spinning as black spots danced at the edges of Belle's eyes. She did not even want to look back, though she felt Gaston's piercing black eyes penetrating a hole in the back of her skull.

She did not even need to turn to know his expression. Gaston seemed to be yearning to follow her towards the safety and warmth of the castle, but he remained where he was in the center of the courtyard, rooted to his spot, paralyzed by the overwhelming sensation of utter fear at her rejection.

Again. Gaston could only stare with hopelessness welling in his chest, his black eyes now laced to the brim with a horrible antagonizing hurt as he watched the woman he thought he loved walk away from him. She was leaving him now in the same pain that he had felt that had compelled him to venture to the Prince's castle with the other villagers in the first place, only this time, there was an added layer of salt on top of the already tender wound that was his damaged and broken, black wretched heart he wished he could tear into his chest with his newly formed claws and rip it out. He did not like feeling this way. Anything to make the pain just stop, make it bloody stop. He wanted to call to her, to say something comforting at least, that he did not intend her or anyone else in the castle any harm. Gaston had sought Belle out, simply for the fact remained that he had no one left in this world to call his own.

He had woken at the bottom of the ravine a fortnight ago, believing himself to be dead, only to find himself transformed into this hideous ugly wretch with no explanation, and had concluded that whatever witch's hex had befallen the Prince of these lands had since passed onto him.

Though for what reasons, he did not understand why. He had come to Belle as she had experience in dealing with such incidences as what had befallen him now and thought perhaps foolishly, she'd help.

Gaston's thoughts were cloudy as he could see how much of a mistake it was to come here, as Belle barely made it ten steps through the Courtyard towards the precious sanctuary that was her new home, the Prince's lavish castle, before the world around her went pitch-black and the strength in her knees gave out and she collapsed in a heap, her limp body crumpling ungracefully to the cold ground.

Gaston did not catch Belle as she fell, and the last thing Belle heard was the sound of her skull smacking against the stones. The last thing Belle felt before her world went blank was a hot wave of horrible unending shame in that she should have tried to reach the man better.

She should have made more of an effort to tap into the goodness within the soldier she knew had to exist. As the tides of sweet relief came for her in waves as she slowly slipped into unconsciousness, she let out a fitful sigh and slipped into a deep sleep. She was not awake to feel Gaston lift her in his arms.

She was not awake as the newly-turned Beast carried her bridal style in his arms, though instead of taking her back towards the castle, fearing that he would be lynched if he were seen, he turned and took her to the only place that the hunter knew was safe for him to dwell within these days.

Into the woods.