Chapter 23
NATALIA
“This is your fucking fault!” I raged, taking over our body during another endless drill of shifting back and forth between Vampiress and she-wolf.
It had been Hannes’s brilliant plan to “help” Star and I “work together,” and find “balance”. That man was infuriating.
How was it possible that one moment I wanted him to fuck me, and the next I wanted to kick his ass?
“He’s just trying to help,” Star defended, taking my wings from me, literally, and shifting mid-air.
“If you make us crash, I swear to the Goddess—!”
“Stop.” Hannes rubbed his temples as if we were giving him a headache.
“This isn’t working!” I huffed, taking over our body again and landing as a woman. “Honestly, I don’t know what you were thinking.”
“I was thinking you would stop fighting for control and give in to one another.”
I snorted at that. “She can’t even call me by my real name, she calls me Bitch. Do you really think she has anything but contempt for me?”
“You hurt my mate!” Star argued, shifting back to her wolf self.
Ugh.
“Clearly, I didn’t do it on purpose. I wasn’t even fucking conscious! I said I was sorry. How many times are you going to throw that in my face?”
“As many times as it takes to make me feel good.”
“Now who’s the bitch?”
“I said STOP.”
Star sat on the ground while Hannes marched toward us, extremely pissed.
She whimpered, lowering her head to look away from him.
The single action took the ire out of him.
Reaching for her face with both hands, he lifted it so she would look at him. “Never lower your gaze from me, you understand? We are Alpha equals, Starlight. We are mates, and I will never be above you.”
Hannes placed a kiss on her nose and let go, looking into our eyes.
“The two of you still don’t get it, do you? This isn’t about who’s out longer or who can take over. It’s about embracing all the sides of you and uniting toward one goal.”
Turning around, he ran full throttle and jumped, turning into the Beast as he hurled through the air, and then landed on all fours. His wolf turned and began to strut toward us, changing into the Beast again, before stopping before us as a full, sexy, lumberjack man.
“Am I the only one aroused by that?” Star asked, and he sighed.
“Star, you are literally making him hate us right now.”
“It’s Starlight, Bitch!”
I sighed too, standing as a woman. Thankfully, Dante had adjusted the spell on the new clothes he gave me, so I wasn’t naked anymore.
“You know what? Forget it.” He snapped. “Just forget about working together. Let’s start with imitating what I just did. Can you do that much?”
“He’s not as hot when he’s all pissy like that.”
I grinned, seeing him throw his arms in the air. We had driven him crazy already. “I don’t know. I kind of like it.”
His lips quivered with my response, but he bit his lower lip not to laugh and accidentally encourage us to misbehave.
“Nicely done, Bitch.”
“Thanks. I love it when he bites his lip too.”
“Let’s start simple,” he continued, ignoring us. “I’m going to yell out a command, just like I did with the fire exercise, and you do as I say. Is that simple enough for you? No fighting for control, just do as I say.”
“Cause that won’t be a disaster,” Dante mumbled, doubling over when André punched him in the stomach.
I snickered.
“Do I make myself clear?” Hannes growled, knowing I wasn’t paying attention.
“Yes, Sir.” I gave him a military salute.
“Your wish is my command, hunk.”
“Goddess…” He sighed in our minds, making me grin. “Okay, Natalia and Starlight, I’m going to call your name and tell you to do something. One at a time. Whoever I call shows up and does whatever I say while in that form. Easy enough?”
“What do we get exactly? You know... if we do this for you?”
“You are not doing it for me—”
“I mean, I would like an incentive.”
“Me too.”
His lips quivered again, and he crossed strong arms over that sexy, broad chest of his, making his muscles contract. “Are you really going to extort me when I’m trying to help you?”
“How about another kiss?” I proposed, licking my lips in anticipation and calling his gaze to my mouth.
“Yes! That was fun…”
The guys chuckled behind us.
“I mean, this takes effort, and I just think a little hands-on action would be a great reward.” I looked down at my nails as if I wasn’t that interested.
Before I realized it, Hannes was on me, yanking me into his chest and pressing me fiercely to him. The breath left me when I noticed his glowing eyes.
“You’ll do what I say because I say so… and then we’ll see what you get.”
Oooh.
“Spank me, Daddy!”
“No, thank you,” I replied, trying to hide how badly that had messed with me.
His nostrils flared, making him look dangerous and so sexy.
Starlight whimpered in response—she liked him bossy.
“Fine. I’ll play.” Winking at him, I stepped out of his arms and walked to the other end of the clearing, swinging my hips just for him.
I mean, we kind of liked doing as he said, so why not give it a try? Apparently, we liked our men bossy sometimes.
“Natalia.” He smirked. “To the sky.”
Good boy.
I shot into the air, enjoying how effortlessly my wings came out of me now. Hannes’s exercises were very helpful, both with my flight and my fire.
“Starlight… run!”
“It’s my turn, it’s my turn!”
“Fine.”
The second I landed my body shifted, and Star began to run free along the clearing.
Her emotions captured my chest, letting me feel everything she felt. Star’s glee for being set free without a fight coursed through me, and I kind of felt bad that I hadn’t ever offered her to shift.
No wonder she’d had to force it; she’d been trapped inside this body for so long… like I was.
“Jump!”
Like a good girl, Star jumped for him, her leap taking her higher than I could have imagined she could.
“Flip, land, and run.”
Her form twirled in the air, and she perfectly landed on all fours without missing a beat. Unlike me, she was in full control of her ability as a wolf.
“Natalia… run!”
“Go, go, go!” Star shouted excitedly, letting go so I could resurface.
Smiling, I shifted back mid-run, dashing past him toward the guys.
“Faster!”
“You are killing it!” Dante and André encouraged when I hurled passed them, going around the expansive clearing.
“Starlight!”
She shifted, with me receding to the back.
“Wings!”
I felt the wings come out, taking us higher but we were still a wolf. Exhilaration coursed through our being as we looked down at our mates.
“You are flying, Star! You are flying!” I screeched, disbelieving.
“I totally am! Look at me now, Bitch!”
Laughter escaped me. For once, we were actually enjoying ourselves.
“Natalia!”
I swirled in the air, my wings flaring with dancing flames and taking me higher. Legitimate happiness engulfed my being, but I also found it a bit disturbing how much I liked it when this man told me what to do.
Feminists all over the world face-palmed themselves in that moment.
“Fire!”
Creating a blazing ball of blue in my palm, I sent it hurling through the air at one of the protected trees. The flames exploded, expanding through the branches.
“Starlight… Retrieve!”
“Wait, what?!”
The statement went unanswered when Star landed and ran straight toward the fire, filled with purpose.
My heart jumped to my throat with fear.
What the hell was Hannes thinking?
She wasn’t like him.
She wasn’t the Beast.
“Starlight, stop! My fire is going to burn you!” I screamed just as she ran through the raging blaze…
As we crossed it my flames followed her, clinging to her white fur like they belonged to her.
She came out on the other side, unscathed, while our entire wolf glowed blue.
Stunned, I looked down at her paws while she strutted toward Hannes.
The fire danced over her body, finally receding into our essence when she stopped before him.
His hand reached for her head, caressing her fur and sending tingles through us.
“I knew you could do it!” he gloated, caressing her cheek. “I told you that you were so fucking incredible.”
Lost in his proud gaze, I barely realized I was standing before him as a woman again. His hand curled around my neck, and he pulled me in, claiming my lips. Hannes kissed me passionately until I was weak in the knees.
“More please.”
A dangerously adorable smile captured his mouth when he pulled back, and I finally heard the ruckus my other two mates were causing. They were shouting, high-fiving, and fisting the air repeatedly. They even bumped chests in celebration.
I rolled my eyes, secretly ecstatic like they were. I still couldn’t believe Starlight had taken the fire back too.
“You called me by my full name,” she whispered, taken aback. As if me using her actual name was more amazing than a flying wolf with wings of fire.
“Yeah, well. Don’t get used to it.”
“I Won’t, Bitch. I won’t.”
“You are far more than you allow yourself to be, Natalia.” Hannes’s arms pulled me into his chest again, and he kissed me.
“You are going the wrong way,” Star complained as I snuck through the castle, trying to find my way back to my room. “Also, you told everyone that you were just going to the bathroom and left them all in the dining room. Goddess only knows what they are thinking.”
“Would you shut it?” I snapped. “Hannes’s mother wanted to see me after lunch, and I’m not exactly the cozying-up-to-the-mother type, so I’m going back to my room.”
“Your room is not this way, Bitch. You already met her. This won’t be so bad.”
“Exactly. When I met her, she accused me of stealing her son, trying to kill him, and wanting to take her husband too—I mean, he’s hella hot, but still.
That would definitely get too weird, so no, I don’t plan to take King Will too.
I already have three men that drive me crazy. I don’t need another one.”
“She was just being an overprotective she-wolf. She apologized and was very nice to us after that.”
Ugh. I hated it when she was right.
“Besides, this hallway is only taking us away from the bedrooms.”
“How do you know?” I argued.
“I can smell it, you Ninnyhammer. I’m a Wolf Shifter.”
Right.
“Ninnyhammer? Is that supposed to be an insult?”
“You are not the only one who learned something from those books… Now turn around, will you? Before we get even more lost in this place.”
Grunting, I turned around, only to smack into the chest of a very amused shifter prince.
“Looking for my mother’s room, I suppose?”
Hannes’s eyebrow rose defiantly, and I had half a mind to jump him right here in the middle of the hall.
“Of course!” I gave him my sexiest smile. “She wanted to see me so I thought I might just be able to find it myself. You know, with Star’s wolf senses and all, but she failed.”
“I swear to the Goddess—”
“Shut up.”
His lips quivered into a sigh, but he took my hand in his, guiding me down the way we came.
It suddenly occurred to me that this was the first time Hannes and I held hands like this, and my heart started doing the weirdest thing.
“Aww, you are so cute, getting all nervous and shit.”
“I’m not nervous. I just want to jump his bones. I’m horny, that’s it.”
Hannes’s laughter escaped his chest, robust and free, echoing through the large hallway. “You remember I can hear you both, right?”
Right. “So, when are you getting the hell out of my head?”
He didn’t answer.
“It’s our pack bond, Bitch! Leave it alone.”
I sighed, ignoring Star while we headed through a different hallway once we reached the main staircase.
My gaze got lost on the ornate tile work in a multitude of colors that adorned every inch we walked, the marble archways, and even the stained glass windows along the way. This place was unreal, absolutely breathtaking.
We made it to his mother’s faster than I expected. Hannes stopped before a set of huge double doors carved in mahogany wood and the nerves returned, twisting my stomach.
“There is no need to be nervous. Mom is the sweetest person you’ll ever meet.
” Lifting my chin and placing a kiss on my lips like he’d been doing it his entire life, Hannes turned to leave but stopped.
“Just don’t piss her off. Vampiresses are not the only ones with a bad temper, and you do not want to get my mom riled up. ”
My eyes widened and he wickedly grinned, leaving me there.
Asshole.
“Well, are you going to knock, or…?”
My hand lifted, but the door opened to reveal Queen Luna.
“No need for you to knock, honey,” she assured, stepping aside so I could enter.