A/N: Hey guys! Thanks so much for all of the support and reviews for the one shots I've been posting the past few days. This one actually isn't a request, it's an idea I've been playing around with for a while and I hope you guys like it :)

Mal's POV

As Evie holds on to my wrist and continues to lead me away from the disaster that is Family Day with Jay and Carlos I can't help feeling bad that I'm leaving Ben there by himself. Suddenly a loud, terrified roar emits from behind us and I freeze, somehow I know that was Ben.

"E let go" I say as I try to pull my hand out of her grip.

"What?! why?!" she asks innocently, not letting me go.

"Damn it Evie I said let go! My mate needs me!" I hiss as I yank myself out of her grip and race back towards the party, ingoring the shocked expressions on my friends faces.

'Hold on Ben, I'm coming' I think to myself just before I round the corner of where the party is, only to freeze in my tracks.

"Ben?" I call out gently, and the mass of fur and torn clothing looks up from his spot on the ground in the middle of a circle made up of his friends and their families, and lets out a whine as soon as he sees me. Ben is now in beast form, and looks almost exactly like his father's statue only his fur is the same honey brown color that I've come to love since I first came here.

"Ben" I repeat and he whines again, looking up at me sadly. I carefully work my way through the crowd and ignore the odd looks I recieve from from his parents and the utter look of hatred from Queen Leah. Without a second thought I mumble a quick spell and I'm suddenly in my normal vk outfit, and I ignore all of the cries of shock I recieve at this action. He looks up at me pleadingly and I keep moving towards him until I'm finally able to crouch down in front of him.

"Oh my Hades, Ben what happened?" I ask gently and he whimpers, looking down at his lap in shame.

"I-I don't know" he says, and I hate the little tremor of fear and confusion in his voice. His voice is still the same, just a bit more deep and husky.

"Come here" I say gently as I open my arms for him. He immediately accepts my embrace and curls himself closer to me, as if I'm his life line.

"I'm scared" he mumbles and I just pull him closer, nuzzling my face against his shoulder.

"It's alright, I've got you" I say comfortingly, moving out of our hug in favor of crouching beside him and taking his much larger paw like hand in my small pale one.

"I don't wanna hurt you" he says as he tries removing his hand from mine.

"You won't" I say reasurringly, giving him a small smile.

"But-" he begins to protest.

"No Ben, look" I say, gesturing down to our joined hands. He looks down and watches in wonder as my arm changes in front of him. From just below my elbow to the tips of my fingers my whole arm is covered in purple scales, and my nails have sharpened themselves into slightly curled up claws.

"You and I are the same, we both got the short end of the stick and got stuck with the remnants of our parents curse" I say as he holds my hand gently in between both of his, treating it as if it was the most delicate object he's ever seen. He smiles slightly as he rubs my palm gently with both of his thumbs and I smile at him, glad he's finally calming down.

"Beautiful" he sighs, bowing his head so his forehead is against my wrist.

"And so are you, we're not monsters Ben. We're just...different" I say with a small laugh.

"You know someone once told me that we're not automatically like our parents, that we get to choose who we're gonna be" I say with a fond smile as I remember our first date, and he looks over at me with a matching smile.

"You said you could look into my eyes, and tell that I'm not evil" I continue, and I see several Auradonians looking at me in surprise but I don't take my attention away from my mate.

"Well I'm looking at you and I can tell you're not your father" I say and I see the King frown at my words, but I don't take them back because I know everyone here needs to hear this.

"Your father was a selfish and cruel man when he was our age, and that lead him to being turned into a beast. He got what he deserved" I say, gaining strength in my voice.

"Now I don't know what kind of person he is today, I only know him as the guy that damned me and my friends to live on a island of filth and be tortured by our parents" I say and a lot of people wince at the reminder, including Ben,his parents, and Fairy Godmother.

"But I do know you...and I can honestly tell you that you don't deserve this. You're the nicest person I've ever met, you're loyal, sweet, and just a very very caring guy that has so much to offer the world" I say honestly and his eyes get a bit teary at my words.

"If anything you're exactly like your mom" I say with a grin and a tear falls down his cheek and I wipe it away, enjoying the softness of his fur.

"And I can honestly tell you that me and your mom already have one thing in common" I say and he cocks his head to the side curiously.

"What's that?" he asks and I smirk.

"I'm not going to allow you on the couch" I say playfully and we both laugh at the reminder of what he told us on his tour when we first got to Auradon.

"I had that one coming" he giggles and my smile widens.

"And we both care about our beast" I say before lifting our joined hands and kissing the back of his warm furry one. He looks at me with a mix between happiness and love in his still teary eyes before pulling me to his chest and hugging me close.

"I love you" he mumbles into my hair.

"I love you too my little beastie" I whisper to him and he begins to change in front of me. I wrap my arms around his neck, letting my scales and claws disappear before playing with the hair at the bottom of his neck, and his now smooth pale face nuzzles its way against where my neck and left shoulder meet.

"Thank you" he mumbles against me and I smile as I close my eyes and lean my head closer to his neck.

"That's what mates are for" I say softly before kissing his cheek.