"Understand this: They will never ever be a burden to me so any offers you might have of taking the burden off my hands you can forget right now," Dia's voice is stern, leaving no room for argument. "They are my responsibility and it is a responsibility I will never regret taking."

Once he gets that off his chest, though, Dia's voice softens considerably, "How The Beast sees me is complicated. He has called me his mate from even before Set and I got together and yet he obviously doesn't see me as an equal like Set does. To him I am something fragile that needs protecting. A little baby bird that could very easily be crushed by the world.

"And yet he enjoys fighting with me. Pushing me to my limits and then some. Often when he hurts me the worst, he is actually trying in his own way to protect me. That is why I will sometimes let him lightly injure or restrain me. More than once that is all it has taken for him to calm down. A few cuts or scratches is nothing really when you consider how much damage he could do if he were to get free."

Well, honestly it was actually more like a few broken bones and concussions, but she didn't need to know that.