Chapter 24
“What the—?”
“She has Wolf Shifter senses, you Ninnyhammer!”
“Stop calling me that or I swear—". My threat faded when I looked beyond the queen to find Isis standing there—next to the sitting area.
“Isis!”
Before I realized what I was doing, I ran to her, pulling her into a fierce hug.
“Shit. You are actually hugging someone? Who the hell are you and what have you done with the bitch?”
“I’m sorry,” I offered Isis, beginning to let go, but she shook her head, pulling me back into the embrace.
Her arms squeezed me tightly and I felt the darkness around my heart squeeze, stirring the emotion it kept locked inside…. Natasha’s emotion.
I hated to admit it but, we missed her.
“You never have to apologize to me for anything, baby girl,” Isis assured, kissing my cheek and finally letting go. Not before she cradled my cheek and admired me for a moment—as if I had changed since she last saw me.
“Where is Bj?rn?” I asked, sitting down in the chair Queen Luna gestured for me.
“He had to leave.” Holding my hand, she sat next to me. “He’s helping the Knight Force track down the hidden RavenWolf encampments.”
“That makes sense.”
“He’s been very helpful,” the queen assured, joining us in the sitting area, and reaching for a pitcher on the table. “Sparkling pink lemonade?”
“It has sparkling wine, and it’s delicious,” Isis whispered mischievously.
“If it doesn’t have wine or coffee in it, I don’t want it,” Hannes’s mother added, making me chuckle.
“Oh, I like her…”
“I’ll have a glass. Thank you.”
Pleased by my answer, she poured me a glass, handing it to me. “Thanks for coming.”
“Of course. It’s the least I can do after what happened with Hannes.”
A sliver of regret cut through the queen’s expression. “Allow me to apologize again for how harsh I was with you when we first met. I was scared for my son, and even though I should have known better, the she-wolf mama in me was too strong to pull back.”
“I’m in control now. I swear. I would never hurt him on purpose. I—”
“I know…” Her hand rested over mine with her whisper, squeezing it affectionately. “I can’t imagine what you went through that night. Even if you had been in control, after just losing your mother it’s only natural—”
“I rather not talk about that,” I answered, placing the untouched drink on the table as every inch of my chest constricted, something burning inside me with the reminder. “If that’s all, I should go rest, today’s training was intense.”
I stood abruptly, turning to leave.
Both Isis and Queen Luna rushed after me, blocking my path.
“Baby, that’s precisely why we brought you here,” Isis confessed. “Because you need to at least talk about it.”
“Natasha might need to talk things out, but I don’t.”
Exchanging a concerned glance, they stepped closer.
“How are you doing?” Hannes’s mother asked.
Confusion wrinkled my brow. “I’m fine. Just tired.”
“No, honey. How are you really?”
My attention shifted to Isis with her question. “I understand what you want from me, but I don’t do feelings. I’m a Vampiress.”
Exchanging another serious glance, they both offered me a sympathetic smile.
“Please, Natalia, sit down.” Queen Luna gestured to the chairs again. “Let’s share a drink and get to know each other. After all, my son chose you to give his heart to, and that makes us family for life.”
I half expected Star to make fun of it, saying awkward, or something similar. Only, my chest warmth with her sentiment. She seemed to like the idea.
“Family for life…”
Seeing the honesty in the queen’s eyes and Isis’s, I returned to the chairs, taking a sip of my drink. It was really good.
“Do you like it?” the queen asked hopeful, so I offered her a smile.
“It’s delicious.”
“Good!” Isis grinned, finishing her drink and filling the glass again.
“You have a beautiful castle,” I offered, not knowing what else to say.
Happiness shone in her aquamarine eyes with the compliment. “Thank you. I absolutely love it here. Sadly, unlike my children, I didn’t get the chance to grow up in this place.”
Her confession piqued my interest; I thought they’d all had the perfect life. I mean, she was the queen of an entire race, that didn’t just happen from night to morning.
“Really?”
Slowly, she shook her head, like she was glimpsing into a desolate past.
“But she’s the Moon Princess…”
“Unfortunately, I was not afforded that kindness. In fact, you and I have that in common. We were both taken from our parents as a baby, robbing us of the happy childhood and family we deserved. Fortunately, your parents survived the attack… Mine didn’t.”
“Holy shit.”
Star’s desolation spread through my chest, gripping me. “Goddess. I’m so sorry to hear that, Queen Luna—”
“You can just call me Luna.” She smiled softly. “No need for all that pomp and circumstance.”
Isis reached for the queen’s hand, offering her comfort,
Something inside called for me to do the same, but I suppressed the urge.
“When I was finally brought back here, and I found out the truth, it felt like my entire world was flipped on its axis. I was in shock. It was too much to process and wrap my mind around. I mean, wolf shifters were real for goodness sake!”
“Wait. You didn’t even know supernaturals existed?”
A humorless chuckle escaped her.
“Not even a little… I mean, I had found Will by then and learned his secret—my sexy Beast.” Love burst from her eyes with the playful comment.
“But going from learning about his curse and suddenly believing in Withes, to a human turning into a wolf naturally was kind of a stretch.” She shook her head, incredulous.
“Never mind learning that I was the last descendant of a race the Moon Goddess herself had created.”
“That’s crazy!” Star gasped.
“It really is.”
“So, you had never shifted before?”
“Nope.”
“Wow. That is a lot to process,” I admitted.
“It is… and although I accepted it as the truth, I also kind of shut down. My response to the pain was to look for the closest bed and hide under the covers.” Her nose wrinkled as though she could have handled that better.
“You did not,” I challenged, giving her a dubious glance while taking another sip.
Isis and the queen chuckled.
“Not literally, but I was so emotionally exhausted that it resulted in me passing out a couple of times. Gustav was taken from me too, and at the time everything seemed so impossible. I really just couldn’t deal.”
“But you got him back,” I reminded. “I loved meeting him and Zelin.”
Joy returned to her expression, and the queen nodded.
“Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better. We went through a lot, Will and I, and some things I had to face without him. But even if I sometimes I needed to block the world and just let the pain roam free, it helped me rise stronger the next day and do whatever I had to do to reclaim my kingdom and my family.”
Reaching for my hand, she held it in both of hers.
“I’m sorry I failed you, Natasha, Natalia, and Starlight.
I meant to create a world where no other Wolf Shifter ever had to experience the same hate, prejudice, or loss we experienced.
We fought the wars, we eliminated our enemies, and still, I somehow failed to realize how far the RavenWolf envy of our race had spread. ”
Her eyes glistened and she paused to gather herself.
“I knew those kids left the Black Forest; I looked the other way because I thought they deserved a second chance. If I’d only known, then you and your parents would have never had to go through that…”
A certain heaviness settled in my chest with the knowledge of her sacrifice and regret, but I pushed it as far as it would go before it could take hold. However, I did squeeze her hand in turn because I might be a bitch, but I wasn’t completely heartless.
“It was not your fault, Queen Luna. You couldn’t have possibly known what would happen,” I assured, trying to ignore the inflection my voice had taken.
“Children aren’t born with hate,” Isis added. “They are taught by others. You couldn’t have imagined that those kids you let go free, would continue to the hateful ways their parents initiated against humans and the ReinheitWolfes.”
“I know,” the queen sighed in acceptance. “But my heart still hurts knowing everything you had to endure because of them.”
Her words were for me, and I felt them in every cell of my being. The darkness stirred inside my chest again as my throat began to burn.
“Thank you,” I whispered to her and then tried to reinforce my heart. “Stop it, Star. You know I don’t do feelings.”
“Is not me…”
Damn it.
We took another sip of the sparkling lemonade, our silence extending and acknowledging everything we’d been through in our lives… Part of me couldn’t help but think of everything that was still to come for me.
“After I escaped the human’s attack on our pack, I, too, was in shock,” Isis offered, breaking the silence.
“I couldn't believe that the people we had spent our lives protecting had turned against us just because they learned of our true nature. One moment we lived happily among them, as their guardians, the next we were the monsters they feared and fought to eliminate.”
Her wavy hair bounced as she shook her head, looking into her glass while sadness clouded her gaze.
“The humans we loved turned against us, and we didn’t even fight back because we legit could never hurt them.
Even after I barely escaped with my life, I couldn’t bring myself to blame them.
For months on end, I roamed territory after territory, clinging to the hope that I’d find another shifter like me, desperately trying to prove that I wasn’t alone in the world.
Meanwhile, I low-key made excuses for them—they were scared, they didn’t understand, they were just trying to defend their families from the unknown, they didn’t know what they were doing… ”
Sighing, she looked up and took a long sip.
“It turns out that Denial is not just a river in Egypt,” she snorted.