“I am.”
“Again. What the fuck are you talking about?” Natalia threw her arms in the air.
“No time to explain… I have preparations to make.” Turning around, I stepped out of the room.
“Hey! Come back here, Beasty boy. I’m not done with you!” Natalia yelled after me, making my smile widen.
With each stride I took away from her, the Beast let go, and I transformed back into a man. I may not be able to talk to my Beast side like Natalia did to Starlight, but he was going to get a piece of my fucking mind anyway because the last thing I needed was to cock-block myself.
Briefly stepping into my room, I changed into fresh clothes—ones not enchanted by Dante. I wasn’t going to lie, the regular flannel shirt and jeans were a direct challenge to the Beast not to take over, or I’d be left naked in front of everyone next time I changed back.
Let’s see how long that took… Not that I minded being naked. I was a Wolf Shifter after all.
I reached for my cell phone, dialed, and headed for my sister’s room.
Alyce opened the door just as the line began ringing. “Is Tasha okay?”
“Yeah, she’s far stronger than we give her credit for,” I answered, stepping inside and giving a nod to Vanessa, who sat on the bed, hugging a pillow to her chest.
“You two might want to pack. We are leaving tonight.”
“Where are we going?” Both Vanessa and Alyce asked just as a new voice came through the line.
“Hi, thing number two. What’s up?”
My mouth stretched into a huge smile. “Hey, Aunt Zelin. Whatcha doing?”
“Making hot cocoa. What do you need? You only call when you need something.”
“Aunty Z…” Alyce whispered, glancing back at her girlfriend a moment before her eyes widened in recognition.
Chuckling, I shrugged. “How about a ride home?”
“Is it time?” Alyce asked just as Vanessa jumped off the bed, going to her side.
Lowering the phone from my mouth for a second, I smiled at her. “It’s time.”
“Why not?” Aunt Zelin answered, tugging my attention back to her. “We deserve a vacation, and I’m sure Gustav wouldn’t mind a week in the Great Alps.”
11
NATALIA
With my blue fire crackling just under the skin, I crossed my arms over my chest and gave averypointed look at Dante and André. “Anyone care to explain?”
“I’d love to,Cuore mio,but I also have arrangements to make.” Shadows surged from the room, swirling around Dante before anyone had a moment to object. “Good luck, dude.” His words echoed through theTwilightas he disappeared.
“Coward…” André mumbled.
“Your heart, my ass!” I yelled after Dante, seeing André’s lips quiver. “I guess it’s your turn now.” The bite vanished from my voice as awkwardness swiftly settled between us.
Oh, I was still pissed they had somehow managed to defuse the situation, but the tension between André and I now that I wasn’t his sweet, and innocent Natasha anymore was turninginto a monster. I didn’t want to be blamed for destroying yet another part of Natasha’s life.
Clearing his throat, André took a step back from me, as though he needed to keep his distance from the “anomaly” before him and placed both hands in the pockets of his jeans.
His response to me only served to infuriate me again.
“What the fuck is his problem?!”I asked Star, getting nothing but crickets.“Fine, give me the silent treatment, but you know I didn’t do it intentionally. Both you and I were affected by the attack; I wasn’t even conscious…”
