The beast and the blessed novel by Ashley Breanne novel Chapter 76

Seventy-Six: Natalie

Natalie's P.O.V.

Not knowing who I could trust was hard, but being without Killian was even more challenging. I had tried to reach out to him several times, but there was no answer. Either our pack link was broken, or I wasn't doing it right.

Since I could talk to other people through the link, neither option seemed viable. But I had to trust that Killian was okay. I knew deep inside that he was okay and that I would feel it if he wasn’t.

Charlie had been pleasant around other people, but I hadn't gotten to talk to her one-on-one in the week that Killian had been gone. A week of worry and anger.

It made me lethal in my training, and I had improved more in the past week than in the few months I had been here. If Killian insisted on being in as many of the battles before the war, fighting with his men, then I wanted to be strong enough to fight beside him as his mate and queen.

Rona had been spending time 'tuning up’ Joselin's spells, as she had referred to it. After she walked in and saw me training in my fur, I had lost hope in keeping my secret, but she became a different person. While she was still openly a bitch, she was more respectful and willing to talk and help than I had imagined.

It was the other council members that should have been arriving any moment that had me biting my nails.

The worst of the best... that was how Joselin had described them, and it was a unanimous agreement between the Amery siblings and Joselin that there wasn't a single pleasant member of the council.

If I thought Rona was hard to deal with, I couldn't imagine what the others were like. I didn't even know how many more to expect, and I wasn't about to ask Rona and let her know how ignorant I was on the topic.

Charlie sat beside me on the stairs, and my eyebrows raised as she bumped her shoulder into mine in a friendly gesture. Yet, the petty woman in me was still angry that she had been treating me differently and was clearly talking about me to the women who hated me. I wanted to ask her what she said, but I didn't want to let her know it bothered me.

That was one good lesson I learned in my old pack when they beat and bullied me. They only did it more if I let them know how much they had hurt me. It brought them more pleasure when they realized they were making an impact. Then things would always get worse.

"He'll be home soon." She whispered as she stared ahead at the sizeable grand entrance to the foyer. "He might have a few new scars, but he'll come back to you."

I closed my eyes and tried to fight back the tears that wanted to be free. The thought of him being injured and in pain made my chest hurt.

"Thank you, I just wish I could contact him."

Charlie's shoulder brushed against mine as she leaned back on the steps, resting her upper body on her forearms. "He does this. Every time he goes to battle, he shuts himself off. I wasn't even sure he realized he was doing it at first until he became the king, and people needed to talk to be able to report to him. Now I think he does it out of habit."

My hand was cold as I rubbed it over my left eye and cheek. "He could at least tell me he's okay every few days."

I ignored Charlie as she shook her head, staring back at the doorway as if he were going to walk in any moment and sweep me off my feet.