Heart of a Beast

Chapter 16 | Crystal

Crystal was terrified when something snapped in Tiberius and her brother lunged at him. Terrified that her mate would kill her brother in one swift movement because she knew he was fully capable of doing so. And she was terrified to see him frozen in place, his mouth open with large teeth ready to rip flesh, his massive paws with razor sharp claws raised over his head, and struggling under the witch's spell.

She was terrified that whatever caused him to snap would only enrage him more and he would freeze to death under the witch's spell.

Crystal had to act. She was compelled to step away from her alpha and reach out to her mate.

He had always had the power to calm her, could not she do the same?

When he relaxed into her touch, she realized she had been holding her breath and slowly released it as he wrapped his arms around her. He whimpered softly as his body shivered and pressed his nose into her hair.

When Madame Papillon dismissed them and they left, Crystal had more questions than answers.

Who was Catherine and what had happened between her mate and this witch? What kind of a witch would cast a curse strong enough to cripple them both before eventually killing them? It seemed as though Tiberius knew the cure all along and that upset her.

Why wouldn't he tell her something so important?

She didn't want to bring up the secrets he held in front of the others. How could he respond anyway? There was no point in asking when he had no means of answering.

Even though she knew a witch was responsible for his curse, she had never thought to ask him what he had done to warrant it. Madame Papillon said his curse was a powerful and malicious one that would have taken time to conjure up. What had he done to warrant such a death sentence?

She hugged her tattered cloak around her as they wove back through the throngs of supernaturals shopping at the Market. Tiberius was as protective as always, and with the herbal potion still effective in her system, she looked about her with a curious eye instead of shrinking away like she had before.

The Market wasn't so frightening and all her stress and anxiety seemed stupid now. Her first encounter with witches had been friendly and somewhat informative. They may not be so nice if threatened, but then neither were werewolves. They had every bit of right to defend themselves as the next being, which again begged the question as to what Tiberius had done to get cursed?

They climbed back into their van and dropped the vampire slayer off at the church.

Tiberius had stopped shivering then and still pressed his body as close to hers as he could, curling around her in an attempt to absorb more of her warmth. He licked her wounds and the dried blood from her arms as the night's adventures played over and over in Crystal's mind.

When they arrived home, her brother and Alpha Jackson helped her out of the van and asked if she was okay.

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" she asked, glancing at them and reading their concerned expressions.

Justin narrowed his eyes at Tiberius as he climbed out and Tiberius curled his lips up.

"Be more careful," was her brother's warning to her mate before he turned and climbed back into the driver's seat.

Alpha raised his palms to Tiberius and uttered "Blessed be the night," before he too turned and climbed back into the van.

Her mother was waiting for them, stifling yawns, and ushering them inside to bed as the van pulled away.

Deciding to take a quick shower, Crystal glanced at her reflection in the mirror and noted that her dark brown roots were starting to appear on her scalp. She'd have to dye her hair again soon, but as she looked at herself now, she wondered if she should dye her hair black again. She felt different. She didn't see the same fearful, dejected, emo werewolf staring back at her.