The beast and the blessed novel by Ashley Breanne novel Chapter 92

Ninety-Two: Natalie

Natalie's P.O.V.

'You seem disturbed." Aurora's soft voice called out, and I glanced over at her with a forced smile.

I trained for hours with Tobias, exhausting myself as I learned new ways to fight against vampires and avoid getting bitten. He still wouldn't talk to me, and I refused to pressure him into it. Whatever his reasons were, they were none of my business.

His silence only seemed to make him all the more terrifying.

I closed the book I was studying as she approached me. She sat in the armchair to my left, staring into the fire.

"My people are about to go to war tomorrow. Many will die. That should disturb anyone." My eyes raked over her features as I still failed to locate any apparent similarities between us. Even though Joslin never had the chance to test my blood with the council arriving, I knew Aurora was being truthful about our connection, but it was still unsettling.

"Yes, I suppose you are correct." She sounded distracted, and I waited patiently for her to tell me why she had sought me out. I had my own questions, but I wasn't in a hurry. I would be getting my answers from her sooner or later. "I'm afraid that I won't be much help tomorrow."

My eyes narrowed when the sudden fear of her leaving settled into my gut. Was this it? Was she going to abandon me again? "What makes you say that?"

She smiled sadly as she turned to face me, leaning her head against the chair. 'You’re growing stronger every day."

'You've said that already, repeatedly.’ My annoyance must have been evident in my tone because her smile fell. Her look reminded me of when the mother who raised me would scold me for something.

I wasn't going to apologize for my irritation when she crashed into my life and refused to give me anything other than vague statements that didn't answer any of my questions.

'We share in the Goddess's gift." She stated as she pulled her eyes away from me, looking dejected. "But yours is unlike anything I have ever seen before. My mother and every woman before her had it. We are at our strongest in The Sanctum. The longer we are away from it, the weaker we get. We didn't know if the gift would die if we were away too long, so we were never gone for more than a few weeks. It is how we recharge.

Eventually, we stayed there, hiding from the people who wanted us dead. We were invincible there. No one could get to us."

My fingers played with the pages of the elemental incantation book I had been reading. No matter how big and beautiful, I couldn't imagine living in a cave. Hiding from the world sounded awful.

"But you only seem to grow stronger each day you are away. I have never seen anything like it in our family." She cleared her throat, adjusting in her seat. It was the first time she had seemed uncomfortable since arriving here, instead of her usual elegant and confident self. "When I had the vision of you as a baby, I thought the Goddess was telling me you needed to be raised away from The Sanctum and among wolves. I left you right where she told me. I watched as they found you a few minutes later and took you away from me...."

Her voice cracked as she continued to stare into the fire.

"I didn't think you were born with the gift since the Goddess wanted you to be raised away from The Sanctum. I know I was wrong now, but I am still so proud of how strong you have become."

I swallowed hard as I wondered what would have happened if I had been stuck in the cavern for my life. Would I have met Killian when he was playing there with Joselin as kids, or would I have been hidden in one of the caves and never experienced the true love of my mate?

"What about my dad? Who is he?" I gnawed on my lip while waiting for the news of his death.

"Your father is a great man." She smiled, discretely trying to wipe a tear from her cheek.

Is.

He must still be alive.

"I met him during one of my adventures out of the cave, and we instantly fell in love. He was the next in line to become Alpha when I met him, and his elders were furious when he introduced me. I wasn't his fated mate, and they resented that I wasn't like them. They didn't know of my

connection to Selene at the time. They thought he would produce stronger heirs with his fated mate than he would if he marked me as his chosen."

She took a deep breath and composed herself as she sat up straighter and turned to look at me.