Chapter 17 #2
Honesty, I wanted not to care, I was a Vampiress, and they were Wolf Shifter Royalty, that didn’t exactly apply to me. Only, when my gaze fell over the woman, a certain nervousness spread through me.
I had to give it to her; the outfit was elegant, sexy, and modern all at the same time.
The dress she wore accentuated her eyes, but it was fun and short, bringing attention to her curves and toned legs.
She looked young but not as young as my Vampir Mother.
Was she in her thirties? Maybe she was a different kind of immortal?
I really needed to finish that book about the ReinheitWolfe race. Shame it stayed back in Heart Island. Maybe I could borrow one here.
“Our race is not exactly immortal. We can live for as long as we choose to keep shifting, regardless of how long that is, but we still grow old. We develop fast, but once we reach maturity, we age far, far slower than humans.”
Huh. I liked that.
The feeling the queen gave me seemed contradictory. A sweet and loving air exuded from her when her gaze reached her son, but as it turned to me, the fierce queen came to the surface.
“She-wolves are very territorial…” Star informed, getting a kick out of the way Hannes’s mother was looking at me. “Good luck with that.”
Seriously?
When my attention shifted to the king, my panties almost dropped. Holy hell, was that Hannes’s father? He was freaking hot.
“Yes.” Star sighed dreamily. “The Iron King…”
I remembered the title from prior conversations, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he was an Eisen Ritter just like Zelin, which meant he wasn’t born but sent here by the Moon Goddess to protect his charge. That also meant that Hannes had inherited his invincibility and his Beast from him.
When the guards finally reached us, they divided, spreading at either side of their charges so the queen and king could step forward.
“Bow to them Bitch! Do it. Do it now!”
Before I could protest the overwhelming need overcame me and I bent my knee, lowering my head to them.
“What the fuck, Star? Was that you?” Ire rumbled in my chest.
“Of course it was me. I’m not going to let you embarrass us in front of the in-laws!”
Straightening once more, I offered a polite smile to Hannes’s parents, seeing the queen smile brightly at her son as she embraced him tightly.
When she grinned at him, so sweetly, and wholeheartedly, it confessed to me who Hannes had gotten his smile from, only, on him it was dangerously sexy too.
The king hugged him next, and I had to admit seeing him kiss his son’s forehead with so much devotion took me aback. The respect they both offered him in that simple greeting was only surpassed by the affection that emanated from their eyes.
“Is that what a family is supposed to be like?”
I had no answer for Star, but the ache in my chest said it was. Natasha had barely been able to begin experiencing that when it was all taken away.
Their hug was filled with appreciation, nostalgia, and overwhelming devotion. It left me speechless.
“Mom, I’d like to introduce you to my mate, Natalia.”
I stepped forward, feeling intimidated by them for some reason. “It’s a pleasure—”
“I thought her name was Natasha.” She glanced up and down at me from the corner of her eye, leaving me stunned.
“It is. It’s Natalia, Natasha, and Starlight,” Hannes expressed, seeming amused. “She’s currently a triple shifter like me. Woman, Wolf, and Vampiress. You know that, Mom.”
“Right? The fractured soul incident. I remember now. I guess…” Bitchiness spread over her voice.
Oh hell no.
My mouth opened to reply.
“Don’t be a bitch! She’s just being a she-wolf.”
“I’d be careful if I were you, Queen Luna,” Dante interceded. “Natalia’s tongue can slice iron. She loves telling people off, and she’s rather good at it.”
Chuckles fluttered around us from the guards, and I smirked proudly. Oddly, King Will smirked too, blue eyes sparkling with amusement, seeming to appreciate me for that reason alone.
“Please excuse my wife,” he began, silently asking for my hand. “She’s just overprotective of our children, especially my son—she has a thing for boys.”
I surrendered my hand, and he brought it to his lips for a polite kiss.
“I’m Will, and it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Natalia. My son has told us so much about you.”
“Hopefully, he didn’t tell her everything about you.”
“Was that supposed to mean?”
Turning to his wife, the king gave her a behave look and nodded towards me.
“What do you want from me?” she huffed. “She stole my son and then almost killed him!” Her accusatory gaze descended on me with the weight of a thousand tons. “You also, indirectly, took my daughter away. Do you want my husband next?”
Dread spread through my entire being. Hannes had told her about the boathouse incident and my fire.
I blinked away from them, pretending to fix my clothes to keep my composure. Out of everything I’d done, my fire hurting them still haunted me, especially with how bad it had been for Hannes.
“Alyce told her, but only because she was concerned for me…” Hannes’s apologetic tone begged me not to blame his sister, but we would see about that.
“That was not nice of your mother,” Star whispered, seeming saddened, and as rare as it was, I appreciated her words.
“She was just shocked that your fire could get to me… given my nature,” Hannes added, advocating for Alyce, and I hated to admit it, but I understood.
Emotion tried to grip my throat, and I still couldn’t lift my eyes. “Stop it, Star. You know I don’t do emotions. Don’t feel sad for me.”
“Do not speak to my mate like that again, Mom,” Hannes calmly warned her, surprising me. He took my hand in his and kissed it too.
He was defending me?
I lifted my gaze to look at him.
“Neither Natasha nor Natalia had any fault in what happened that night. And you know that. That’s not something you should be using against her.” There was actual pain in his voice, and my heart squeezed again.
“Star, please stop.”
“She didn’t steal me from you, Mom,” he continued. “She didn’t even know I existed. I chose her. I went willingly. And so did Alyce after she met Vanessa, remember?”
Wait, he chose me? I blinked again. What did that mean? “I thought the Moon Goddess had chosen our mates.”
“Me too…”
Hardening myself, I faced the queen, lifting my chin.
“I apologize for taking your son away, Queen Luna. To be honest, I didn’t have a choice in the matter.
But I’m truly, truly sorry for hurting him.
I didn’t have full control of my power that night, especially not as my mother and I were attacked.
As I assume you know, my mom was taken, and my father is gone because of it.
But I understand your concern. If you don’t want me here, I’ll leave. ”
Regret and shame marked the queen’s expression, her eyes glistening with pain. Her previous overprotective stance gave way to the compassionate and loving mother Alyce and Hannes knew.
“Dear Goddess, I was a total bitch to you, wasn’t I?”
“You were,” her husband answered without hesitation.
“Okay, I did not expect that.” Star seemed shocked, but so was I.
“I’m so sorry, Natalia.” She reached for me, pulling me into her arms tightly until it felt like love was emanating from her.
Trying not to tense in her hold and seem rude, I just let her, counting to three. That was an acceptable amount of time to let someone hug me, right?
Thankfully, she pulled away at three, but true remorse wrinkled her features.
“Forgive me for being so harsh with you, sweetie. Hannes is right, I never should have spoken to you that way. I don’t have an excuse. It’s just my children are everything to me, and I would destroy anyone who dares—”
“Hurt them? I understand,” I conceded. “It was never my intention to hurt Hannes, but I am ashamed I did.”
“I’m shocked at how sincerely nice you are being.”
“Shut up.”
“I forgive you… Can forgive me?”
“Of course, Queen Luna.” I offered her a polite smile.
Her expression transformed instantly, a warm and brilliant smile illuminating her eyes, and she wrapped her arms around me. Again.
Ugh. Why so many hugs?
My entire body began to tense, but before I realized what was happening, my arms wrapped around her tightly.
“Star, stop this shit right now!”
“It’s the queen of the freaking Wolf Shifters, Bitch! Like, the entire race, you have to hug her back!”
“Starlight…” Hannes growled, and she released me, letting my arms fall to the sides.
“Sorry, mate.”
“Is the split personality situation strange?” Queen Luna asked, stepping back.
“You don’t know the half of it,” I huffed, and the others chuckled.
Looking at me fondly, King Will pulled me into his arms too, and I was honestly surprised. I hugged him back before Star could take over my will and force me again.
I mean, he wasn’t hard on the eyes, so I wasn’t exactly suffering.
The Iron King was like an older version of his son. He had chocolate brown hair, soft sky blue eyes, and a perfectly ripped body that he thankfully passed on to Hannes. So yeah, the king was sizzling hot, to say the least.
He looked handsome in the white button-down shirt and dress pants he wore, but I now knew he wasn’t as young as he seemed.
“Welcome to our home, Natalia,” the queen finally declared.
“And call me Luna, everyone does.” She turned to the guards at either side of us, who bore amicable smiles now.
“These are my knights.” She gestured to the men on our right.
“Leon, Luka, Niklas, Stefan, Hans, Karl.” Then she looked to the left.
“Liam, Mika, Jonah, Paul, Maximilian, and Dominik.”
“You can call us Max and Niko,” the last man offered, gesturing to the one right beside him.
“Are you writing this down?”
“Me? Why me?” Star retorted.
“I thought Wolf Shifters were your thing.”
“Oh.”
“Pleasure to meet you all,” I answered, taking the safest route. There was no way in hell I was remembering all those names.
“Let’s go have breakfast, everyone else is waiting for us.” Queen Luna offered, looping her arm through mine and pulling me forward with her like we were best friends now.
“Just give it a day, everyone loves my mom…” Hannes pleaded through his pack link with Star. “You’ll see.”
My eyes narrowed at him over my shoulder while I was dragged away by a queen who after being a bitch, suddenly seemed a little too excited and friendly.
She kind of reminded me of Star.
Hannes chuckled in my mind.
Were all wolf shifters this crazy and lovey-dovey? They seriously needed a talk about personal space.
I kind of preferred the grumpy Beast at this point.