Of Beasts and Power (Forged By Fire #3)
Chapter 1
HANNES
Her fire was all-consuming.
Her fire was everywhere.
She was fire…
The roars of battle muffled in the background.
Arnoldt’s blood was still splattered on my form after ripping his head, and the rest of him off piece by miserable piece.
The pleasure I got from ending Arnoldt SchwarzWolfe’s miserable life should be disturbing, but it filled me with a sense of virtuous justice I couldn’t deny, and frankly, I didn’t give a fuck.
He was no longer the Alpha of the new RavenWolf pack in the U.S., but most importantly, he would never be Natasha’s tormentor again.
Arnoldt was nothing now. He was gone.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t say the same for the second loser in command.
Ryker had escaped my claws alive, but not before I put the fear of the Moon Goddess in him.
Those fucking Vampires with fake powers had gotten in my way but they, too, would pay for that.
The next time we met, they would learn what ReinheitWolfe justice felt like.
In an ill-fated twist of events, Arnoldt’s blood now mixed with my own through the disintegrating white blazer. The fire burned through what was left of my suit, scorching my skin and muscles like I, too, was nothing.
As though I weren’t the motherfucking Iron Prince.
Untouchable. Indestructible. Unshakable… until today.
“I’m not afraid of anything, Natasha. I’m your shield, remember? Nothing can hurt me…”
The words I’d uttered mere seconds ago danced in the night, mocking me as Natasha’s fire managed to accomplish what nothing else ever had… hurt me.
Shock, disbelief, and alarm ran through me even as Dante shot his Twilight at me over and over, desperately trying to extinguish the power that was turning my skin molten—like plastic.
Then, there was the pain.
Natasha’s hand flew to her mouth, attempting to muffle the sobs trying to escape her; her rare, blueish-silver eyes filled with horror.
The sight of her anguish destroyed a piece of me her fire could never reach. I wanted to tell her it wasn’t her fault. Tell her I’d be okay, but I was too busy swallowing the debilitating agony I was experiencing for the first time in my entire life.
Strangled grunts left me as I struggled to breathe and keep myself alert until Dante finally extinguished the vicious flames, the ones trying to consume my being.
Already healed, Vanessa bit her wrist open for me, offering me her blood, which I accepted without hesitation because I needed to heal, to be there for my mate.
Sadly, with this being the first time something happened to me, I had no fucking clue how my body would react. Did I even have the normal Wolf Shifter healing outside my Iron Prince nature? The hard truth was, I wasn't exactly sure because I’d never needed it.
“They took her! Go after them. Go!” Dresden roared somewhere in the distance while Vanessa’s blood rushed through me.
Eventually, her venom began to heal my wounds, sending a much-needed breath of relief into my lungs. Unfortunately, her healing came much slower than anticipated from Vampire blood, as though the remnants of the blaze on my skin were still fighting to destroy me.
With the relentless scorching carving my being in merciless waves, I collapsed to my knees, the muscles of my chest jerking and contracting around the melted skin and fried nerves.
“I got you, big boy,” Vanessa whispered sweetly, lowering herself next to me so I could continue drinking from her as long as I needed.
“They didn’t take me, I’m right here!” Natasha shouted, her voice getting lost among the pounding in my head, urging every inch of me to go to her.
Chaos seemed to renew around us with her words, but I couldn’t go to her. I’d never felt as useless as I did right then.
I was her shield… I should not be on my knees.
“You are okay, Bruderherz. I’m here. I’m with you.” My twin sister knelt before me, placing a gentle hand on my cheek. The evidence of blood splatters all over her said she had destroyed a few bastards too.
Any other time I would have scoffed at her “little brother” endearment. There was nothing little about me, but when her gaze connected with mine, I realized that although Alyce’s words were sweet, true fear gripped her heart.
Fear for me.
Letting go of Vanessa’s wrist, I lowered my gaze to my throbbing chest, capturing the sight that had her so distressed.
My skin was more than melted. Natasha’s fire had burned long enough to carve small craters into me, exposing things one should never be able to see.
Golden embers somehow still shimmered through the layers of my skin.
“Hannes!” Alyce gasped, reaching for me when I fell forward.
A new wave of scorching heat attacked my chest.
My fingers impaled the snowy ground as I fisted my hands, and my entire body strained to hold on. Natasha’s fire raged, fighting back against the Vampire blood trying to heal me because I, the Iron Prince, was its greatest conquest, and it wouldn’t let me go so easily.
Fight it, damn it!
“Aaargh!” A roar escaped my mouth as my mystical nature took over.
I wasn’t just a Wolf Shifter, and I sure as fucking hell wasn’t just our race’s prince. I was the son of the greatest supernatural warrior, the Iron Knight, one created by the Moon Goddess herself and sent to the human world to protect not only our shifter race but all humans.
She’d gifted me with indestructible power too, so no, I was not going down like this because like my father before me, I was also the Beast.
Patches of white and soft brown fur swiftly erupted along my skin while a ripple of cracking bones effortlessly reshaped my body, causing Vanessa, Alyce, and Dante to stagger away from me. Not because they feared what I might do to them, but because they knew exactly what was coming.
Turning into hindlegs, my legs extended and bent as the rest of my body transformed. My muzzle formed, canines sharpening and protruding with the development of my werewolf head. What was left of the white suit enchanted by Dante was torn to shreds.
My obsidian claws curved dangerously from every finger while another roar erupted from me, feeling the cavities in my chest fill once more with the strength stolen from me by Natasha’s flames.
Muscles regenerated, nerves awoke and reconnected, and new flesh stretched over me, mending the once-burnt patches.
I stood to my full height, lifting my face to the moon and unleashing a howl of pain, uncertainty, and motherfucking werewolf rage.
“Well done, fur boy. I didn’t doubt you for a second,” Dante praised as though I were a pup, needing his reassurance.
Panting, I opened my eyes again, only to find Natasha and D fully engulfed in her blue fire while hovering in the middle of the night sky.
Exchanging a shocked glance, Dante and I lunged into action.
“André!” Vanessa dashed towards the beach with Alyce by her side just as Dante vanished into the shadows, reappearing by the shore the next second.
Urgency gripped my every stride, and I jumped clear over structures, gardens, and even the loyal Vampires still fighting the RavenWolves who had somehow made their way onto the private island with Arnoldt, only to be left behind as a distraction and collateral damage.
I landed on the sand next to Dante a few seconds after him, my gaze meeting his to find our mate writhing in pain in D’s arms. Raw fear cut through our shadow link immediately.
“Dante! Where are you?” D shouted.
“We are down on the beach, waiting for you to come back.”
“Natasha needs your healing, her fire started hurting her too.”
No!
D’s fear swiftly captured Dante and me, both painfully aware of what her power could do, just as he began to lower her.
Dante immediately readied to receive her, shadow bands charged with healing magic swirling around his fists, but Natasha pushed D off her with her awakened Vampire force the next second…
Then, she began falling.
Before I could react, her fire exploded in the sky, making her briefly hover while her body glowed with bright blue flames that danced off her skin.
“Are those…?” Words failed me as I witnessed something that shouldn’t be possible.
“Wings of fire,” Isis breathed, reaching Dante, Vanessa, Alyce, and me by the shore.
Our stunned gazes connected briefly, and I caught the clawed gashes on her neck and chest healing, the blood drying on her skin.
Natasha’s fire wings flapped once, twice, as though tasting freedom for the first time, golden embers sputtering out of them with each movement. The sight entranced me, and I sure as hell wasn’t the only one.
We all looked up, speechless, while her form floated in the sky like a goddess, until the fiery power fueling her amplified. It abruptly exploded out of existence, taking our mate’s consciousness with the blast.
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—”