Seduced by the Beast by Jaide Fox

her,
inexplicably. 
                Perhaps he
respected her enough to obey her wishes?  Was that possible?  Was he not wholly
a savage as she’d been led to believe her whole life?
                Disturbed by the
direction of her thoughts and her reaction to it, she changed the subject
abruptly, forcing a light tone to her voice.  “Surely such a task as this is
too menial for the lord of the hunters?”
                He was silent a
long moment.  “It is best for now if I see to your needs.  Now, before I take
you to your homeland--”
                Swan gaped at
him, so stunned by what he had planned that it took her several moments to
react.  “No!  I cannot go back there, not as I am, not with him there!  He
would kill me on sight were I to return.”
                Raphael bade her
sit on the bed’s edge.  Standing with legs braced apart, he crossed his arms
over his chest.  “You’d best explain.”
                He’d promised to
help her.  As uncomfortable as it made her to tell the whole, sordid tale, and
the blind naiveté that had led her to such a pass, she couldn’t expect him to
walk blindly into danger.
                She thought it
over for several moments, but decided she must begin at the beginning of her
troubles.  “I came to rule Avonleigh at a young age.  I would by far have
preferred the lives of my parents to the power that was my birthright and my
responsibility, however.  Other than my younger sister, I had no one, certainly
no one to guide me.  Morvere, my father’s sorcerer, seemed… an ally, a man I
could trust to advise me.  He was always there for me over the years. 
    I knew not that he craved our
lands ... and me in his bed.”
                She shivered in
revulsion, toying with the cheese she’d taken from her plate before continuing.
“Finally, he revealed his lusts to me.  When I refused his advances, he cast a
changeling spell upon me, taking my finger as his prize to clip my wing.”
                Uncomfortable
with the admission, she found herself unable to meet Raphael’s gaze. “Morvere
has a malicious humor.  By day, I am cursed to be a swan, as my namesake.  By
night I return to my human form.  I believe he expected me to die by sending me
here.  I have only scattered memories when I’m transformed.  More than
anything, the helplessness, of not being able to fly strikes me most.”
                Strangely, she
found when she had finished that it was a relief to have someone to talk to, to
finally have the sordid mess out in the open.  For some reason, she did not
feel so hopeless now, having told him.
                “I sense you’ve
not told me everything,” Raphael said quietly.
                “No, I have not. 
I told the truth before, in the woods.  I knew not how I came to be here. 
Morvere is powerful, more so than I ever imagined.  Some spell transported me
here ... to die....”
                Raphael studied
her for a long moment, as if searching for the truth in her eyes.  Finally, he
turned away, pacing the room, deeply in thought.  Swan watched him, hopeful,
unnerved also that a solution had not immediately presented itself to him. 
                “If what you say
is true,” he said at last, “I must consider another possibility, rather than
taking you directly to Avonleigh.”
                Swan nodded,
feeling relief seep through her. “What is that?”
                “Magic can only
be fought by magic.  I know of a mage who may have answers for you.  Have you
finished eating?”
                She looked down
at her nearly full plate in some surprise.  “I’ve lost my appetite.”
                “You could lose
more than that before we are done.  Come, follow me.”  He strode toward the
door, but her voice stopped