Free Fated Ties: A Werewolf Paranormal Romance Novel (The Twisted Destiny Saga Book 3) by Franca Storm Page A

“Whore!”
    Nathanial was on him in a second, his hand wrapped around his throat, hoisting him into the air. “You do not speak to her that way! How dare you? Apologize, immediately!”
    “She will pay for her betrayal,” Vazra choked out.
    “You will not touch her! She is mine!” Nathanial hissed as he tightened his grip, choking the life from him.
    Vazra laughed. “You cannot stop me. You are realms apart.” His eyes flashed with flaming silver and then he said, “Look up. Time for you to leave.”
    Marella looked up. Terror gripped her as she saw the sun forcing its way through the thick clouds surrounding them. A single ray touched his shoulder and he hissed as it burned his skin.
    “Stop, Vazra! You will kill him!”
    “If he leaves, that will not be his fate…for now.”
    Several more rays of sunlight forced their way through the clouds, assaulting Nathanial’s entire body. He hissed and broke his grip on Vazra. He grunted against the assault.
    Marella ran to him as she watched smoke emanating from him. He was seconds away from bursting into flames.
    “Nathanial! Go! Now!” she screamed.
    He turned to her, the flesh on his face peeling away from the sun’s brutal assault. “I cannot leave you,” he rasped, collapsing to his knees.
    She was on him in a second, wrapping herself around him, trying to protect him from the sun above.
    “Please, Nathanial. I am begging you. Leave. Wake up. I need you on the other side.”
    “Marella—”
    “I love you!”
    Their eyes met and she saw his desperation to protect her. “I…love…you, angel.”
    “Go,” she pleaded. “Now.”
    He nodded sadly. And, in the next second, he was gone.
     
    #
     
    Nathanial’s eyes snapped open and he jolted upright in bed. To his surprise, Ryan and Orion stood at the foot of his bed. Ryan was yelling at him. It took him a moment to realize what he was saying.
    “Vazra,” was his only answer.
    “How are you…burned?” Ryan asked, gesturing to his face and naked chest.
    “It will heal,” he responded distractedly.
    He bolted out of bed and started to pace the room frantically as he tried to think. He knew Vazra was going to punish Marella for her supposed betrayal. He had to get to her immediately. But he had to be careful. He had to remain levelheaded. If he didn’t, he risked starting a war with the White Realm. That would be catastrophic for everyone.
    “Tell me what happened, Nathanial.”
    “He…he took her…burned me…he’ll…hurt her…he’ll….”
    “Marella? Vazra took Marella? He knows about you two?”
    “Yes.”
    “You can’t just burst on into the White Realm without Vazra’s permission.”
    “I realize that!”
    Ryan gripped his arm, forcing him to stop pacing. “But I can with Cora’s White Realm blood running through my veins. I have an idea.”

 
     
    CHAPTER 10
    Cora! I am sorry! Help me, please! Only you can break it! Help me!
    “Argh!” Cora exclaimed, clutching her head.
    “You okay?” Josh asked.
    She blinked hard and looked at him sitting across from her on the floor of his room. They were playing poker and he’d kicked her ass on every single one of the five hands they’d played.
    “Yeah. Fine,” she answered, studying her cards. “I just thought I heard something…in my head. I’m probably just being paranoid, because of the whole Oriana thing.”
    “You’re not supposed to be thinking about her, Cor. That was the whole point of us playing…to distract you from all of that until Ryan and your son return.”
    She smiled sweetly at him. “You’re right. Sorry.”
    He adjusted his weight on the floor and told her, “You gonna fold again, sweetheart?”
    She rolled her eyes. “I know what you’re doing, Josh.”
    “And what is that?” he asked, his eyes wide with innocence.
    “Hustling me.”
    He laughed. “Yeah. And you’re so easy, sweetheart. I can’t believe, in all the time that you and Ry have been together, that he never taught you any of his