The Beast And The Blessed

Thirty-Eight: Natalie

Natalie's P.O.V.

The door had been ripped clean from the frame and was now leaning up against it as a barricade against the elements. The front window had a large hole in the left side that had webbed through the rest of the glass.

I wrapped my arms around my torso as I approached, terrified that the slight disturbance of air caused by my walking would send the shards tumbling down.

"Why are you here?' My mother asked. Her hoarse voice made me flinch, but I remained calm as Killian moved forward and lifted the door before placing it off to the side.

As the interior of the house was revealed, I felt my lungs collapse in my chest.

Blood was splattered on the walls, and the rancid smell of vomit washed over me, making me grimace. All of my childhood memories were scattered over the flood, destroyed in the battle that had occurred here.

I stepped in carefully, hearing the glass beneath my foot crunch as I moved into the living room. Killian was close behind me. I could feel his chest gently brushing against my back as he stood alert, scanning the surroundings when I came to a stop.

My mother was only a few feet away, curled up in a ball against the living room wall with a puddle of dried blood the size of a bear. I knew from looking at her that it wasn't hers, but someone had suffered from a fatal blow in that very spot.

She looked gauntly and pale. Her veins were purple beneath her skin as they struggled to pump blood through her body.

"Mom?" I asked as I rushed to her, crouching down until my knees hit the floor. "What happened? Are you okay?"

eyes melted to black as she growled at me. Her hand grabbed my legs, ripping my knees off the floor and sending me tumbling

replaced by confusion when she began to run her fingers over the dried blood where my knees

shake as my mother's nails dug into the blood, pulling it up from the

and

hand reached forward as if to touch her, but her body was coiled up like a snake ready to spring at anyone who dared to come

She turned her head to turn to Killian, and I gasped as I was able to see the infected bite mark on her neck. If I had to guess, it wasn't the only one she had. But the raised edges of the wound were dark like they had been burnt over a fire. The center

me mercy!" The coarse plea was followed by a rough round of coughing that speckled my forearm with her

doctors that can help you, mom," I said louder than before, but she didn't hear me. She was in a trance, staring at

me to him,' She cried as she continued to trail her finger over the

Him? Not the Goddess.

was then that I understood. I had assumed it from the moment we arrived,

I asked, tearing my horrified gaze from her and the blood

pulling me in closer to her. Killian growled but allowed it as I looked back into

He didn't know you would be human. We would have left you out there if we had known." Her hold on

you mean 'found me'? I'm your daughter. I was born into the pack. ’ I insisted. Hearing the words from her mouth made

watched as she turned and made eye contact with Killian in a direct challenge. "You're just a human that we found in the woods as a

arm free, cradling it to my chest." Mom, it's the venom from the bite

head as I got to my feet to stand next to Killian. "We have to get her to the infirmary. Someone has

her claws extended, puncturing through the hardwood floor to prevent us from moving her as she laid her cheek back down on the dried blood. "Send

stared down at her. He placed his arm around me, trying to push my lower back to move