Natasha plummeted toward the ground like her body weighed a thousand tons, but I didn’t waste a single moment.
Still in my Beast form, I leapt off the sand, easily soaring through the night to meet her. At the same time, Dante’s shadows shot up, and D dashed towards her as fast as his wings would take him. I reached her first, wrapping her delicate form in my arms, and never wanting to let her go.
We landed softly a couple of seconds later, and I cradled her to my furry chest protectively, wanting to hide her naked body from prying eyes.
“You are safe now,” I whispered in her ear. “I’m your shield,Meine Prinzessin. I’m not going anywhere.”
Natasha blinked up at me, trying to fight the exhaustion with everything she had when D landed next to us.
“Mmm, soft little pup,” she murmured, nestling her cheek against my fur and placing her tiny hand on my chest before passing out fully.
That was it.
I was the fucking, indestructible Beast, and she was calling me a soft little pup. My lips began to stretch into a wolfish smile until Dante extended his arms toward us.
“Give her to me. I can get her to her room with my sha?—”
My lips peeled back, showing sharp canines as the most dangerous growl I had ever uttered awoke in my chest in a warning. The sound reverberated in the air threateningly, the clicking in the back of my throat telling him to back the fuck off or lose both hands.
Dante’s palms slowly raised in surrender. “Fine. I get it. It’s your turn.”
My ferocious gaze went to D, daring him to try to take her from me too.
Surprisingly, he shuddered at me instead. “Sorry, my dude, but that growl is still so fucking creepy… You’d think I’d be used to it by now.”
With a grunted huff, I turned my back on them and began to run towards the estate with long, bouncy strides. Leaving everyone behind, I passed the now-finished battle that left both evil Vampires and Wolf Shifters dead on the blood-stained grounds.
The flames that had fully consumed the boat house flickered out of existence while I effortlessly jumped onto the large estate’s structure, using the balconies and brick ledges to get us to the fifth floor. Seconds later, I soared through the terrace and into Natasha’s room, kicking the doors open.
Gently, I laid her sleepy form on the mattress while shadows swirled, and D flew through the balcony after me. Dante materialized on the other side of the bed, but I ignored them both, pulling the sheets over Natasha’s dainty body to cover her. Once she was safe, the Beast receded, and I knelt next to her, a man once more.
Reaching for her hand, I brought it to my lips as the images of what her fire had just put me through attempted to disrupt my resolve.
A resigned breath attempted to leave my lungs when the sound of crackling fire sliced through the room. Before confusion could fully grip us, theEternal Blazeignited in our mate again, forcing Dante, D, and I to stagger away from the bed.
Heart pounding against our ribs we witnessed her wings renew from the flames, expanding in size at either side of her, and fully curling around her protectively, forming some sort of?—
“Cocon de Vampir,” D gasped in Romanian, clearly taken aback.
“Vampire cocoon,” Dante echoed, instantly translating it.
Thanks to Countess Dariah, we all knew what that was but…
“What the fuck does it mean for her?” I growled.
“It means her transformation is not over…”
With D’s answer, Dante stepped closer, my large robe materializing in his grasp. He draped it over my shoulders to cover my naked body.
Every inch of me tensed when the three of us watched Natasha’s blaze begin to consume her bed too.
My gaze never left Natasha, not as the blue fire spread over the sheets, and mattress, before it jumped to the wooden bed frame, destroying them all. Instinctively, I leapt into action, trying to carry her before her unconscious body hit the floor—instead, the flames jumped onto my body.
D flashed toward us, pushing me out of the path of destruction before doing what I hadn’t been able to do—catch our mate. His venom rushed out of his pores with the flames’ contact, creating a silver film over his skin—like a fluid shield.
No, I couldn’t look away. Not even as I slammed against the far wall from the force of D’s shove and the scorching fire rushed over my arms and torso, catching my robe and setting it aflame.
The unbearable pain I’d felt the first time returned with a vengeance. Enraged that I’d somehow escaped its obliterating power, it spread over me like I needed to be punished for surviving it.
