Alyce simply shrugged.
“She doesn’t have one,” I admitted, it was something my parents and I never understood.
“So, what I’m hearing is the Beast is a misogynistic asshole who only chooses men?” Her eyebrow sharply arched when she looked at me, promising pain for the Beast while the others chuckled.
Vanessa adopted a fighting stance next to Dante and her brother, who spread out his wings.
“Challenge accepted,”Starlight growled a little too excited.
“Let’s do this.”I smiled.
“There, I managed to fight all of you without dying,” Natalia announced, turning her head to spit blood onto the snow, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. “Can we do the powers thing now?”
The split on her mouth from where Alyce had slammed her against the tree trunk was already healing, the tiny flames rushing toward the cut on her cheek. Needless to say, the exercise had gotten rough, but that didn’t deter her.
Our mate fought back with everything she had, and she’d actually gotten past us to the tree line.
I shifted into a man while André’s wings went back into his back. He’d used them in a few aerial attacks, but she caught on fast after the first one, learning how to avoid them or fight back in the sky.
My sister shifted back to her woman form too, limping, but only for a moment since her ankle swiftly healed thanks to hernature. Vanessa’s claws and crimson eyes receded, her venom rushing over the scratches on her arms.
Panting from the exertion of the last hour of sparring, they both glanced expectantly toward Dante, André, and me.
Their gazes pleaded for us to put a stop to this madness but as much as it killed us to admit it, Natalia was right.
“I hate to say it, but we have to at least try,”André conceded through our shadow link, exchanging a glance of concern with us.
“I could place a protective spell on her, but that won’t defend her against supernatural abilities like Vanessa’s. There are too many variables for me to accurately create a spell against each one. Even if I did, a spell against each ability could mean infinite spells.”
“My body can take anything they throw at her,”I added. “I can rip them all to pieces to protect her but if whatever power they use gets to her before I can get to them…”I shook my head.“We have to see how far her fire healing goes so we can be prepared.”
When our attention returned to our mate, André nodded, giving in.
Natalia smirked as he faced his sister.
“I’m not doing it,” Vanessa protested.
“You just have to start small,” he reasoned.
“No! Tasha is my friend. I mean, Natalia. Ugh. That one right there.” She pointed at Natalia who tried to repress a chuckle. A defeated sigh let Vanessa. “She’s the sister I always wanted… You can’t expect me to want to hurt her.” Fear shone in her eyes when she glanced at us.
I half expected Natalia’s sarcasm to return, but appreciation and understanding surfaced in her instead. She walked toward Vanessa, pulling her into her arms for a caring hug.
Vanessa clung to her, missing the gesture.
“You are also the sister I never had, that’s why I need you to help me, Vane.”
“I saw what my voice did to you the first time. I want to help but?—”
“Just give me a taste of it at first,” Natalia offered. “Just a little birdy tweet.”
Vane chuckled at that.
“Then start to increase the intensity each time I am able to take it. The hope is that my fire will recognize the attack and create some sort of a barrier. Maybe?” She glanced at us for confirmation.
We nodded, that was our guess too.
“Do you remember what happened last time?” Vanessa asked as a last resort.
