The beast and the blessed novel by Ashley Breanne

Twenty-Two: Natalie

Natalie's P.O.V.

Even after a cold shower, I was fuming. I wanted to give Killian an earful and make sure that he understood just how damaging last night had been to our relationship... whatever relationship we had.

I knew he wouldn't care, but that didn’t stop me. My first stop had been his office, but when I found that empty, I tried every common room that I knew of, including the gym and the training field. Yet, he was nowhere to be found.

It was like he knew I was on a warpath, and he vanished.

Although the rational side of my brain told me that he wouldn't be scared of me, a human. Perhaps he was trying to save me from publically embarrassing myself further after I had shamelessly thrown myself at him last night. It was bad enough that the servants would be seeing the blood on the sheets from when his claws had punctured my hips and the proof that we had not been trying for the heir that the kingdom was expecting.

When it was discovered that I wasn't pregnant and that I didn't bare their king's mark, 1 would be seen as a failure.

I stopped in the middle of the garden, glancing around the grounds and ignoring the eyes on me. There were hundreds of people that I had seen in the past hour, but none of them belonged to my alleged mate.

I turned to Tobias, lowering my voice even though there was no one in my immediate vicinity. “He is hiding. Is he not?”

My bodyguard smirked as he stared at me, refusing to give away any information on his beloved king.

“Fine,” I grumbled as I thought back to where he might be. I had the feeling it was where I would find him, but I really didn't want to be right. To have him go there after the night we had together felt like it would be the final *to my already beaten confidence. It would destroy me.

But as I turned back into the castle, I found myself making my way toward the infirmary and stopping before the mystery door. I was terrified of what I may find, even more so when Tobias stopped several paces back and took his stance against the wall

I could feel the hurt in my chest as I worked myself up to open the door. Would he be on the other side, sleeping in someone else's bed? Would she be wrapped in his arms the same as how he held me while we slept?

“Please don't be inside,” I whispered to myself as I grabbed the door handle. This was the one place I didn't want to find him. It was the only bedroom I had seen him sneaking out of, but it didn't mean it was the only one in the entire castle that he had been sneaking away to.

The room was brightly lit as I pushed the door open, so I knew he wouldn't be asleep, but he wasn't there. It was the woman lying in the bed that took my breath away. Her chest rose and fell slowly in time with the machine next to her. The low beeping of the monitor showing her steady heartbeat, made me freeze. I had seen portraits of her before, but I had never seen her in person.

I never thought I would. She was supposed to be dead.

Her dark brown hair matched Killian's, and I knew if she opened her eyes that she would have bright emerald irises staring back at me. There was no crown on her head, and she was wrapped up in a hospital gown with a blanket tucked around her. But she was just as stunning now as she was at the prime of her life when she had been chosen by the king and had produced his heirs.

There was a thickness in the air, a darkness that felt suffocating, and I knew that she was closer to death than life.

“Your highness,” A voice called out from behind me, and I looked over my shoulder, not realizing that I had been moving closer to the comatose queen. The young healer who had helped me with my ribs several days before stood in the doorway with an IV bag in her hands.

"Why hasn't she been healed? How long has she been like this?” I didn't want to ask the question that was at the forefront of my mind, but I was sure it was as clear as day on my face. Why were the people of the kingdom told that she had died?

“We have healed her as much as we can. Her wolf is gone, and her soul has suffered a great deal with the loss of her mate. Even we cannot treat the soul.” She moved to the other side of the queen, Lillian Amery. She hung the bag from the metal post, efficiently switching it out for the almost empty bag that had been there before.

I glanced back to the woman who had led our country for decades. She didn't deserve this. She just wanted to be with her mate, but her body and soul were holding on to this world, forcing her to stay here for reasons unknown to me.

The clearing of a throat made me turn to the doorway, and I watched as Tobias raised his eyebrows at me before taking his place back against the wall. It was only seconds later that the familiar sight of the king rounded the entrance and stopped short as he stared at me standing next to his mother. His eyes glanced from her and back to me. “Natalie, what are you doing in here?”

The tone he used was not what I was expecting, and stared at him in surprise. After this morning, I had. been ready to yell and fight with him until I got the answers that I deserved. But he sounded defeated as he held my gaze.

"I didn't realize this was your mother's room,” I said, not answering his question but also not needing to. I still had a book full of questions for him that I knew I would never get answers to. “This room is off limits. Do not come here again.” He demanded with a firm tone, and I looked to the healer from the corner of my eye, grateful when she continued to work as if she didn't hear the king scolding me.

"Yes, Your Majesty,” I replied with a calm and respectful tone, but I hoped he understood my anger toward him by the glare I sent his way when my back was to the healer. His eyes softened as he watched me. curtsey before walking past him and out of the room.

While I had been tracking him down to discuss last night and this morning, I had been hoping I could do it in a private setting as there was bound to be yelling involved.

"Did you get seen to?” He asked, and I froze just outside the door. He stood still as I glanced over my shoulder at him. I knew he was discussing my hips. After he realized he had punctured them, he spent several minutes licking and cleaning the wounds. It had been erotic last night, but now I knew he was more than likely doing it instinctively and not because he cared for my well-being.

“That would be a waste of time. I can heal just fine on my own.” I responded as I looked away and began. down the hall again with Tobias falling line behind me.

“Natalie,” Killian called out behind me.

“I am just fine on my own.” I snapped back as I spun to fully face him as he stood in the doorway of his mother's room. Tobias stepped to the side, moving back against the wall and clearing the path between Killian and myself.

He stared at me blankly before nodding once and regaining his stoic composure. Oh, how I hated that

side of him with a deep passion.

“My sister has returned home,” Killian said, and I stared blankly at him. It was the first thing about himself that he had voluntarily provided me. He had a sister. If it wasn't already public knowledge, I might have been happy that he had given me information about his life. “She will be joining us for dinner.”

“Great,” I said, my tone full of sarcasm as I turned and made my way back toward the bedroom, muttering to myself. “Now, I have to deal with two of you.”