Chapter 28
NATALIA
My fingertips lightly traced the claw marks along my eye as I stood before the mirror, the ones that had influenced my entire existence. For so long, they had been a symbol of pain and fear for me. Used to instill hate in me against my own kind.
It was true that a Vampir had given me this scar, but not out of rage or malice. It had been out of the fiercest kind of love.
Mom had pulled strength she didn’t have to try to save me, to get me back.
Watching a memory that my baby mind had somehow captured and repressed, only served to fill me with unshakable determination. I was going to get my mother back even if it was the last thing I ever did.
“They just arrived,” Dante let me know through our shadow link, and I turned around, leaving the bathroom.
André, Hannes, and Dante stood from my bed the second they saw me, and I was grateful for them. During the last few days, they had been nothing but supportive, and I truly appreciated that. “Where are they?”
“With my mom,” Hannes answered. “Just touching base.”
“Let’s go.” I nodded, walking through my door, straight for the queen’s lounge.
Silence stretched between us while the guys walked with me. Truthfully, it had been this way since we all witnessed the attack against my parents and me.
Even Starlight was nowhere to be found, remaining quiet—if anyone could believe that.
It was hard to witness that, so I couldn’t blame any of them. What could they possibly say? Still, they had been there for me, and I truly loved them for that.
I low-key missed Starlight, though. More like A LOT.
Taking a settling breath when my chest constricted with the weight of her absence, I gripped the golden doorknob and entered the space, my gaze instantly traveling toward Isis and Bj?rn.
“Dearie!” he greeted loudly and filled with joy at seeing me, his arms opening wide to receive me.
I couldn’t help the smile that captured my lips; Bj?rn had stolen a piece of my heart from the start. Meeting him halfway, I let him pull me into his arms. I sank against his chest, and my eyes closed, fully enjoying his embrace.
“I missed you,” he whispered in my ear, kissing my temple, and then squeezed me before finally letting go.
“I missed you too.”
“Woah, cool eyes.”
Everyone chuckled around me while I just rolled my eyes.
“Yeah. I’m apparently going through another transformation. Hang tight, I may turn into a unicorn.”
Bj?rn’s laughter danced around me while I hugged Isis too.
“Are you doing okay?” she asked, caressing my hair.
“I remembered the Hunters’ attack against my parents.”
Trepidation and shock widened her gaze. “But you weren’t even two years old then.”
“Still, I saw it.”
“I’m so sorry,” Isis whispered, briefly hugging me again. “How are you doing with all of that.”
“Surprisingly well,” I confessed. “It’s like the last piece of the puzzle has finally fallen into place, and as horrible as that was, knowing what happened gave me relief. Clarity. Purpose.”
Understanding illuminated her expression. “Tragedy tends to do that once you are able to come out on the other side of the darkness, doesn’t it?”
“It does.” My gaze shifted back to the guys, who were trying to pretend they weren’t listening. “Plus having three hotties willing to comfort you doesn’t hurt.”
They all grinned at that, and I narrowed my eyes at them. “Incorrigible,” I sent into our shadow link. They were thrilled I had welcomed them back.
“But you love it…” Dante teased.
“Hotness never hurts, baby girl,” Isis assured me when my attention returned to her.
“Especially not my mates’.”
“Well, I’ll see you all for dinner. I have a few things to follow on,” the queen offered, her gaze focusing on me. “We just received news the Knight Force took down the last known RavenWolf pack in the U.S.”
“So, they are all gone?” I breathed a sigh of relief.
“For good this time,” Queen Luna vowed, giving a grateful head bow to Bj?rn.
He’d been helping them locate the packs along his search for my parents.
If her Royal Knight Force had taken those packs down, it meant the RavenWolves were finally eradicated.
“I’m working on the last arrangements for all the children and the women to be brought here,” she continued. “They’ll need housing, clothes, school, therapy… So many things. I’ll see you all later.”
“Thank you so much,” I called after her, remembering the women and children in our pack who had been completely innocent and ignorant of what Arnoldt and Ryker were doing.
It spoke volumes of the kind of woman she was that she would take in the innocents from the other packs, help them overcome what they’d been through, and watch over them.
“Is remembering the attack why you wanted to see us?” Isis asked once the queen left.
Shaking my head I glanced back at Bj?rn. “I need to talk to you.”
The three of us walked toward the sitting area, the guys joining us.
I took Bj?rn’s hand in mine after he sat next to me. “It was you, wasn’t it?”
“Oooh, no. Whatever it is, I didn’t do it. I’m being framed; I tell you. Framed!”
Chuckles left Isis, and she smacked his arm playfully. “Be serious.”
He winked at me, loving it.
“You once told me that you owed my mother everything… The day we sat in front of that beautiful carousel in Central Park, remember?”
The amusement left his face, replaced by a mixture of sadness and fierce devotion. “I do owe her everything.”
“Then it was you, wasn’t it?” I asked again, seeing recognition glisten in his kind, light amber eyes.
He knew exactly what I was asking him.
Swallowing, Bj?rn nodded.
“Thank you for saving them,” I offered, tears brimming in my eyes.
“Saving who?” Dante asked, and Isis glanced up at him.
“Bj?rn found Anastasia and Dresden after Arnoldt left them for dead,” she confessed, confirming she already knew. “He saved their lives.”
“No. I didn’t.” Bj?rn stood, refusing the praise.
I stood with him, wiping a tear that escaped him. “Yes, you did. I met my parents and felt their love because of you. So, thank you.”
A tortured gleam clouded his gaze. “I could have saved you all if I’d only checked on her earlier.
I stopped keeping tabs because she was so happy.
I didn’t think—” Emotion clogged his throat, forcing him to pause.
“Then I felt the life force draining from her… When I got there, I thought I was too late.”
“But you weren’t.” Holding his gaze, I placed my hand gently over his heart. “Don’t torture yourself with what-ifs.”
“I took them to Countless Dariah,” he confessed. “Her blood brought them back from the brink of death.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” André asked.
Bj?rn slowly shrugged. “Because it was a night I’ve tried everything to forget.”
“And yet, you didn’t hesitate when my mom called you to ask for help getting me back.”
The dazzling smile that made him glow like the sun itself returned to his lips. “Never, it was the best decision I ever made.”
Boundless love and gratitude engulfed my heart while I glanced up at him with glistening eyes. “You saved my parents, Bj?rn. You helped them save me, and now I owe you everything.”
My arms wrapped around him, and he instantly held me fiercely to him.
“You don’t owe me anything, dearie. Your love is all I need,” he whispered in my ear, squeezing me tightly as if this moment finally brought him closure.
“And then you told me you’d do anything for me too, and you had no idea what you were getting yourself into,” I playfully added when we stepped out of the hug, making Isis chuckle.
His menacing scowl descended on my mates. “What did they do? Whose ass do you want me to kick first?”
I chuckled; I truly loved this sweet Fae.
“I’m not afraid of your beast,” Bj?rn warned Hannes, making me snort.
“No, but he might be afraid of yours.”
Bj?rn grinned at that, we all knew Hannes’s temperamental Beast didn’t fear anything.
“Be serious!” Isis chided, glaring at all of them.
“This is serious,” I agreed, chuckling just as a phone rang.
A phone?
I looked back to find André’s eyes widening at a cell phone. My cell.
I didn’t even remember I had a cell phone… My dad had gifted it to me.
“It’s Dresden.”
I snatched the phone out of André’s hand before I could reason, answering the call.
“Natasha!”
My dad came on the screen, but he wasn’t the dad I remembered.
Wolf claw marks that seemed to be taking too long to heal spread along his forehead, neck, and chest. There was dried blood all over him, and deep bruises spread along his arms and bare chest. He had on a pair of tattered pants that fit him wrong, telling me they weren’t his.
“Dad!” I gasped, and everyone gathered around me.
“Listen to me, baby. I don’t have much time. This place is surrounded by power blockers.” He shifted the phone to show what looked like towers in the near distance.
“Are those cell towers?” André murmured behind me.
“They are the only reason I was finally able to call you, but they are also powered by something else. Whatever technology they are using won’t allow certain powers,” Dresden explained.
“It blocked me from sensing him,” Bj?rn realized.
“We are trying to destroy one of them so I can shift again,” Dad informed, restlessly looking around him while loud clangs came from the other side.
Shift again?
“He is too vulnerable without his wolf,” Isis whispered but then tried to mask her worry for my benefit.
“Have you found Mom?”
“Um,” he blinked, seeming confused and exhausted as he rubbed his face. “They have her somewhere around here, but we haven’t been able to reach them. This place is bursting with Vampiri. It’s like they formed some kind of cult.”
“Where are you, Dresden?” Hannes urged, fearing the connection might get cut.
“It became evident immediately that we couldn’t fight them head-on, so we followed them here.” He sighed, shaking his head. “They built a makeshift fort here in the desert. There are a lot of them here… It took everything for us to even get this far.” Dad looked around again.