At this point, the Beast was a little past having his tender feelings damaged, but he did not like the comment for the same reason he did not like mirrors in his castle. He growled softly and flattened his ears back, but said nothing in his own defense. Instead he said, tangled by teeth and restraint, "It is safer here than out there. She wants to stay." In a dramatic shift of body language, he turned the wide blue eyes to look back at Ella again, asking her for confirmation in a way he had never asked for anything before. Tell her, he said, silently, Please tell her you want to stay.