The beast and the blessed novel by Ashley Breanne novel Chapter 38

Thirty-Eight: Natalie

Natalie's P.O.V.

The door had been ripped clean from the frame and was now leaning up against it as a barricade against the elements. The front window had a large hole in the left side that had webbed through the rest of the glass.

I wrapped my arms around my torso as I approached, terrified that the slight disturbance of air caused by my walking would send the shards tumbling down.

"Why are you here?' My mother asked. Her hoarse voice made me flinch, but I remained calm as Killian moved forward and lifted the door before placing it off to the side.

As the interior of the house was revealed, I felt my lungs collapse in my chest.

Blood was splattered on the walls, and the rancid smell of vomit washed over me, making me grimace. All of my childhood memories were scattered over the flood, destroyed in the battle that had occurred here.

I stepped in carefully, hearing the glass beneath my foot crunch as I moved into the living room. Killian was close behind me. I could feel his chest gently brushing against my back as he stood alert, scanning the surroundings when I came to a stop.

My mother was only a few feet away, curled up in a ball against the living room wall with a puddle of dried blood the size of a bear. I knew from looking at her that it wasn't hers, but someone had suffered from a fatal blow in that very spot.

She looked gauntly and pale. Her veins were purple beneath her skin as they struggled to pump blood through her body.

"Mom?" I asked as I rushed to her, crouching down until my knees hit the floor. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Her head snapped up, and her eyes melted to black as she growled at me. Her hand grabbed my legs, ripping my knees off the floor and sending me tumbling backward, only to be caught by Killian.

The terror of the situation was replaced by confusion when she began to run her fingers over the dried blood where my knees had just been.

'You tainted it." She whispered as her wolf receded back into her mind, and my body continued to shake as my mother's nails dug into the blood, pulling it up from the hardwood. She took in a deep breath, closing her eyes. "There."

"Natalie," Killian said as I righted myself and tried to move back toward my mother.

"Mom? I don't understand." My hand reached forward as if to touch her, but her body was coiled up like a snake ready to spring at anyone who dared to come too close to her.

She blinked up at me, and I watched as recognition covered her face. She turned her head to turn to Killian, and I gasped as I was able to see the infected bite mark on her neck. If I had to guess, it wasn't the only one she had. But the raised edges of the wound were dark like they had been burnt over a fire. The center was red and purple, seeming to visibly throb as she stretched her neck to be able to meet Killian's eyes behind me.

'You! Show me mercy!" The coarse plea was followed by a rough round of coughing that speckled my forearm with her warm and tainted blood.

"We have doctors that can help you, mom," I said louder than before, but she didn't hear me. She was in a trance, staring at my mate like he was the moon.

"Send me to him,' She cried as she continued to trail her finger over the flooring.

Him? Not the Goddess.