Constantine Brothers

I’m a beast pacing around my cage waiting for the next fight. It’s all I have, those brief moments of rage and destruction. It’s a sort of freedom. Then I go back into the cold, dark emptiness. That’s why I don’t speak anymore. What’s the point? I stopped being human a long time ago. I’ve given up on anything but that cycle of violence and isolation—until they throw him into my cage. They expect me to kill him as soon as he gets me through my injuries. That’s what I usually do.

I’ve been keeping secrets from my boss. I have to. Because how the hell do you tell a straight man that you’ve been in love with him for years? If he found out, everything would collapse, and I’ve worked so hard to hold my life together, all these pieces that I don’t deserve: a home, a position, trust. But it’s only getting harder because he keeps watching me, keeps touching me—and I can’t handle it. I try to tell myself that it’s in my head, but it’s not. Something’s changed between us, and I don’t understand.

For years, I wasn’t human and didn’t want to be. It was easier to be the Beast, pacing in my cage until my handlers let me out to fight. I didn’t speak, didn’t have a name. My existence was brutal, but it was simple. I understood it. Accepted it. But everything changed when Lucas was thrown into my cage with me, when I claimed him as my own—when I realized I would do anything to protect him. That meant getting us out, to somewhere safe.