The beast and the blessed novel by Ashley Breanne novel Chapter 38

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?"

Her head snapped up, and her eyes melted to black as she growled at me. Her hand grabbed my legs, ripping my knees off the floor and sending me tumbling backward, only to be caught by Killian.

The terror of the situation was replaced by confusion when she began to run her fingers over the dried blood where my knees had just been.

'You tainted it." She whispered as her wolf receded back into her mind, and my body continued to shake as my mother's nails dug into the blood, pulling it up from the hardwood. She took in a deep breath, closing her eyes. "There."

"Natalie," Killian said as I righted myself and tried to move back toward my mother.

"Mom? I don't understand." My 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 too close to her.

She blinked up at me, and I watched as recognition covered her face. 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 was red and purple, seeming to visibly throb as she stretched her neck to be able to meet Killian's eyes behind me.

'You! Show me mercy!" The coarse plea was followed by a rough round of coughing that speckled my forearm with her warm and tainted blood.

"We have doctors that can help you, mom," I said louder than before, but she didn't hear me. She was in a trance, staring at my mate like he was the moon.

"Send me to him,' She cried as she continued to trail her finger over the flooring.

Him? Not the Goddess.

It was then that I understood. I had assumed it from the moment we arrived, and I had seen how upset Haylee was. But I couldn't believe it until now.

"Mom, where is dad?" I asked, tearing my horrified gaze from her and the blood beneath her, glancing around the room.

I jumped when her cold hand latched around my arm, pulling me in closer to her. Killian growled but allowed it as I looked back into my mother's eyes. They were lifeless and dull.

'He begged for the pack to take you in after we found you. He didn't know you would be human. We would have left you out there if we had known." Her hold on me tightened as I tried to pull my arm back.

'What do you mean 'found me'? I'm your daughter. I was born into the pack. ’ I insisted. Hearing the words from her mouth made everything clear. I didn't look like them. I didn't act like them. I couldn't shift like them.

"No, you're not." She was speaking to me, but I 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 baby. Abandoned. Alone."

As her fingers loosened, I pulled my arm free, cradling it to my chest." Mom, it's the venom from the bite talking. This isn't you."

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

"No!" My mother screamed as 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 me to him."

"It is too late for her,' He said, void of emotion as he stared down at her. He placed his arm around me, trying to push my lower back to move me toward the door.

"I'm not leaving without her! We can... we can help her. She can be healed, Killian. Please!" I begged as I lifted my hands to cup his cheeks. I wanted him to look at me, so I would know that he heard me, but he grabbed my hands in his and held them to his chest.

"Natalie, it's too late. Even if we could get the poison out from the bites, without her mate, she won't be strong enough to recover." Killian stared at me with pity as I fell into his chest, my mother crying softly behind me from her position on the floor.

My mouth opened to protest, but my mother spoke first.

"Please, show me mercy!" She begged. I turned, stepping back as she pushed herself up and began to crawl forward. Her hands grabbed the edge of the couch, pulling herself up as she stumbled forward. "Kill me!" She screamed as she fell against Killian, grabbing the front of his suit. ’ Send me to him!"

My head shook back and forth as my shaking hands moved up to cover my mouth. Killian's eyes shot up to me as he grabbed my mother's elbows. Her knees gave out as she sobbed, gasping and begging for him to kill her.

"No, please!" I whispered as the tears flooded over and streamed down my cheeks. My legs began to pull me back, toward the open exit of the house and away from the horrors that we had seen today. "Please, no!"

"Kill me!!" She screamed again. I flinched as I watched the woman who raised me beg my mate for a fast end to her life.

"Killian, that's my mom! You can't do this! Please, don't do this!" I begged as I heard someone else enter the home. I knew they weren't a threat as Killian nodded to them once. Arms wrapped around my waist as I kicked against the newcomer. "No, no! That's my mom!"

'Kill me! Kill me!" She begged as she pulled at his suit jacket.

My hands reached out to grab the door frame as I was pulled from the house, stopping my movement long enough to meet Killian’s gaze as he placed his hands gently on my mother's shoulders, silencing her.

'I promise to make it quick, my mate." He said to me before looking away and glancing back down at my mother. I gasped as I felt my lungs give out. It was as if my heart had been ripped from my chest.

His words allowed a calm to settle over me, and while I was violently opposed to what he was about to do, one last look at my mother told me it was exactly what needed to be done.