It looked bewildered, curious, captivated.
She was no mythical creature, but the beast's mouth hung open in fascination. Sophie's blood rose to her cheeks.
"You shouldn't have come here." The beast grunted, lifting itself to its feet. It scanned Sophie's compromising state with unreadable eyes before offering her a hand.
Unexpectedly thoughtful.
She took it, the beast's claws terrifyingly sharp in comparison to the softness of its palms. Once standing, she felt the extra weight of her muddied skirt. Ugh.
"Really? Not even a thank you?" She shouldn't provoke it if she wanted to live, but the words left her mouth before she could think about it.
Sophie looked up at its terrifying mass, only now noticing the height difference.
"A thank you? For what? Running around like a headless chicken?"
"You would've been content living the rest of your life as a feral dog? In that case, no need to thank me." She spat back.
"Acting like a feral dog sure seemed to earn your affections. Tell me, what sensible person does that?"
The beast's words offended her to no end. Ungrateful!
For a moment, Sophie could pretend she was just conversing with another ungracious lord.
The beast played the role well enough, brash and strangely snobbish for a creature of the woods.
Sure, its long horns frightened her, its teeth were more than capable of ending her pulse, and now that its tail was visible, it might have been as big as Sophie, a long trail of scales leading to its back.
But it had an impressively muscular stature, moved like a human man, and had eyes so bright she had to admit they were, in a way, very pretty.
"Whatever." She dismissed it.
Her companion wore defensiveness like armor, so what was stopping Sophie from spitting disrespect at its face? It was no member of proper society, after all. It was a beast!
"You must be the strangest human in a world full of insolent humans."
Sophie was offended. "I am not strange. I am a lady with virtue."
"Virtue. Is that what compelled you to caress my face as if I was your beloved?" The beast whispered into Sophie's ears, goosebumps rising where its hot breath reached.
She wanted so badly to smack that devilish grin off its face.
"I'll have you know that I wouldn't have done that if I wasn't put in a life and death situation by an uncouth beast."
Sophie turned away from the beast. Her back facing its piercing gaze as she walked away, trying to make sense of her surroundings instead of rethinking her life decisions out of frustration.
"You must be positively insane if that's your first survival instinct."
"I am alive now, aren't I?" She retorted, unwilling to admit that she was sneaking glances every time she thought the beast was distracted. "What even are you? Beast does not seem to encapsulate your entire being."
The beast's grin doubled in width at the question. "If you are so eager to know, I am a god amongst men. I've awoken from my slumber and I am here to restore the world to its former glory."
She rolled her eyes. Even in the form of a beast, all men were the same. "I do not care about your cause or your weary monologues. Explain to me why you had a crazy look in your eye a moment ago."
"You tend to get feral once you've been asleep for a few hundred years. My instincts must've awoken before my consciousness could."
She couldn't imagine that happening to her.
Being controlled by one's urges sounded like a terrifying condition to be in, especially for someone who originated from a society where impulses were looked down on.
Would losing her senses be freeing? Deep inside, she was tempted to find out.
Sophie scoffed. "I am starting to realize that I do not care. Tell me which part of the woods this is before I scream and lead a group of hunters to where we are."
The beast didn't strike Sophie as threatened. Figured.
The woods were much too large for a single lady's screams to be heard by a moving group of hunters; it surrounded the entirety of the kingdom, after all. And if the group did arrive for her, they were under more threat than the beast was.
Goosebumps rose on Sophie's skin as she remembered the bloodlust shining in those hypnotizing eyes moments ago.
She shouldn't be so comfortable around it.
"You amuse me as much as you irritate me, little human."
Sophie sat on a fallen tree, the exhaustion of running through the woods finally catching up to her. "And your fiendish ways do not amuse me, beast."
"You held me as if I was a delicate flower and now you are calling me a beast." The beast teased, dragging its tail to stand in front of her.
He looked like a god of gods under the light of the moon, just as he claimed.
He? When had she humanized the beast? She ended that train of thought before it went too far. Whatever, it was a creature of the woods. That was it.
"John, beast, Mister Poodleton. I do not care what you wish to be called." Sophie snapped. "I just want to find my husband."
The beast looked conflicted, the amusement on its face no longer in sight. Sophie was too drained to question why. With her shoulders slumped, she sighed. How long until she would run into Luke?
"He must be the greatest man in history to have such a devoted lover. You risked your own life following him here." The beast commented after a long, peaceful silence.
Was it concerned now? After hunting her for miles?
"There is not much risk in the woods other than you." She snarled.
The beast only grinned at her agitation.
"You're mistaken. Because of me, all the beings in the forest are too afraid to be a risk."
For once, Sophie viewed the woods with more fear than fascination.