Dresden ran toward a second helicopter lifting off the ground. Jumping, he transformed mid-air, landing as a huge white wolf inside it. The Countess ordered some of her men to join him, and they jumped into the chopper with some of our guards to help Dresden catch Ryker and rescue Natasha’s mother.
Once they disappeared in the sky, I turned around, glancing back to where Star had stayed. Countess Dariah was standing before Natasha now, her expression filled with both torment and strength while she spoke to her.
My gaze connected with Star’s when Natasha’s shout of pain rippled through the night.
She’d lost them. She had lost her parents after just getting them back.
Natasha ran past me to the beach, falling to her knees while she called after her mother.
André went to her side to comfort her…
The rest of it was a blur, but through it all, my eyes never left Star’s. I walked back to her side, knowing full well that she blamed me for this… Not just for Natasha, but what everyone else had suffered under my fire’s unleashed power.
The worst part was being unable to deny it.
I sensed the power of the crystal leave my temple once it was all over, but even when my awareness returned to the room, my mind was still back there. Savagery had taken over a night supposed to be a celebration, a final welcome home to Natasha, and I couldn’t unsee what I’d just witnessed.
My eyes remained on the far wall beyond the Countess for several moments, until the increasing warmth on my right hand called my attention.
It wasn’t that Hannes, the man, held my hand in his that alarmed me; he’d promised he would—regardless of the form. It was the fact that I found white fur just under his fingers when I looked down… it extended to my elbow.
Jumping to my feet, I shook my arm violently, willing for the grey, crystal-like curved claws and the fur to retreat. It didn’t.
“Star, stop it!”
“Fuck you!”
“Are you okay?” Hannes asked, troubled by my reaction, but I just shook my arm again, trying to force it away.
“Let me go!”
Thankfully, the third time was the charm… until blue fire erupted from my now human hand.
A flame surged with vengeful fury, almost reaching Hannes’s face, and he staggered backward—the Beast taking over him.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to!” I blurted, gripping my fist against my chest and extinguishing the fire.
When I looked up at him, the expression on his face tore through me. A dangerous warning growl began in the back of the Beast’s throat, startling me, but Hannes successfully silenced it.
“I’m okay, Natalia.” He spoke softly, his voice deep and gruff, but sounding more like the man. “I promise.”
“Don’t you dare fucking hurt him again…”
Star’s “or else” was clear, but it wasn’t her threat, nor the sudden thundering of my heart that made me step away from him…
It was that word,again.
The scene replayed in my mind while I looked into his eyes, and I saw him fall to his knees on the blood-covered snow as his chest melted. He’d fought my fire with every ounce of strength he had, trying to stop the flames from destroying him but only the Beast had succeeded.
Dragging my gaze away from Hannes, I walked past André and Dante to the bookcase, pretending to search for a book while knowing that everyone behind me was probably exchanging aWhat the fuck?look.
No, I hadn’t fallen apart, but the experience shook me, not that I would ever let them see that.
“Give us the room,” Countess Dariah ordered, and everyone retreated without a sound, even our mates.
“Do not ask me if I’m okay,” I forewarned her after the door closed, picking out a book about the 80s. Flipping through it for a few seconds, I placed it back on thealready-readside—making a mental note to watchBack to the Future.
“I won’t,” she assured me. “I already know how you feel.”
