Page 136 of Red's Beast

Natalia cackles as she shuts the door behind her and Lucian. “Home? Sounds like a great idea. We should all go.”

With a wave of her hand, magic tendrils creep out and wrap around each of us. I notice three sneaking out under the door, toward something or someone unseen.

One black tendril wraps itself around my neck, choking me. I reach up and grab it firmly in my hands, trying to make it let go of my neck, but all I can hear is Natalia laughing.

The world fades from view as her magic takes us home. Suddenly, our territory comes swirling into view.

Corbin stands as the tendrils recede. I fall close to him, and he reaches down to help me. Grandmother comes out of the house, her eyes wide in shock.

“What is going on out here?” She sees Natalia and her brows raise. “Natalia?”

“Hello, Grandmother. Long time, no see. I hope you don’t mind. My magic has a tendency to always come back to here, where it all began. My sister and I are excited to be home.”

Emmeline steps out from behind her, a wicked smile on her face as she looks around. “Feels just like yesterday, doesn’t it, Logan?”

She glances behind her. Two men and a woman stand behind her, their eyes wide as they glance around.

“Let me introduce you to Lucian’s parents and brother,” Natalia says with a huge grin. “I bet you three thought you’d never see this place again.”

“What do you want, Natalia? What do you think you’ll gain by being back here?” Corbin steps forward, shoving me behind him as if he’ll protect me.

I growl out of annoyance, but he doesn’t pay me any attention. He’s trying to save me, but I know it won’t do any good.

She glares at him and smirks. “I heard that you two were going to mate, but I had no idea that my great grandson had grown to love her. This is surprising. It doesn’t seem she loves you, though. Oh, well. You two will figure that out. I just want to be free of the curse that was placed on me eight hundred years ago.”

I growl and step around from behind Corbin. “What does your curse have to do with any of us?”

Natalia glances around behind her and then at me. “Everything. Long ago, the Night Walkers and Dark Moon were to be joined. I fell in love with a man named Liam, who was from the Night Walker territory and the heir to the pack. He found his fated mate with a woman from Dark Moon named Adele.”

She reaches out and strokes Lucian’s fur and everything clicks.

“His ancestor rejected you, so you chose him.”

“Yes,” she says with a sneer. “He looks just like Liam. I consider this my revenge for what they put me through. You see, after he took her as his mate on the night of the full moon, I lost it for a few seconds. Can you guess what they did to me? No, probably not. They had Emmeline use whatever powers she had to curse us both. Here’s the kicker. A sweet wolf named Titus once helped us. He went to Dark Moon and became the alpha after taking the beta’s daughter as his own.”

I recognize that name instantly. “Titus -”

“Yes, Lillian. Titus is your ancestor. Emmeline and I had to wander the packs for years and watch you all grow from afar as the witches declined. They mixed with wolves and magic became scarce. We stayed in Dark Sun for a long time, but then we came out two hundred years ago. We saw these sweet boys and thought, oh how perfect. Brothers for sisters. They rejected us too. The rejection led to the curse on Lucian and tying our curseto his, but then I realized one little issue. Titus’s descendants still ran Dark Moon and his mate was a witch.”

“Witch blood?” I ask. No one in the family has ever used magic and I don’t know what she is talking about. “I’m not a witch. His mate couldn’t have been one.”

“It’s so diluted that it will never see the light of day. No, your magic is that little white wolf. Why do you think no one else has one?”

My eyes widen as I take in everything. “But Corbin has witch blood, and he’s gray. I don’t understand.”

She only tilts her head back and laughs. “Well, his case is different, but I’m not telling you that little secret. His family is special. The white wolf is a symbol of peace between the witches and wolves. It was a gift to your ancestors for combining the two, but also a symbol of your history.”

Corbin moves closer to my side, his hand reaching for my arm as he readies himself to pull me back behind him. “Enough with the trip down memory lane. Why don’t you take what you want and just go? Leave us alone.”

“Oh, I guess I forgot the best part, and it’s the reason I mentioned your history,” she says, keeping her voice low. “If you can’t mate with him to free him and kill us, then your blood will set him free. Being a white wolf is an honor because your blood can stop any curse, but I could never let you become his mate. You’d take him from me.”

Natalia quickly pulls a long dagger from her tan belt around her waist and runs her fingers down the blade as she holds it up for all to see. “This may not be as fun as I thought. But it will free us all, since you have special blood.”

Corbin jerks me behind him to protect me from the blade, but Natalia uses her magic and sends him flying into a tree.

Then her magic whips around and covers Lucian entirely. His body twists and morphs until I see the man.

He stands to his full height and I look into his blood-red eyes. They dart around as he takes everything in. “How am I standing?”

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