Chapter 182: I Am the Storm

Words : 1602 Updated : Sep 21st, 2025

Chapter 182: I Am the Storm Natalie~ I had lost my mind. I mean that quite literally. There was something about watching Alex—my Alex—crumpled in my arms, blood soaking through his tiny shirt, that cracked something in me. Not just a crack. A break. A fracture that went so deep, it splintered across every version of me that had ever lived and died and loved before. I wasn’t Natalie Cross in that moment. I was wrath. I was memory. I was divinity reborn. And I remembered everything. My fingers trembled as I brushed Alex’s hair away from his pale forehead, my knees digging into the dirt where I’d dropped, clutching him close to my chest. His breath was shallow, and my heart stilled with every second that ticked by. I whispered his name over and over like a prayer, like a promise. "Alex... baby, I’m here, I’ve got you..." He blinked up at me with those same bright eyes that made Zane melt. Eyes that called me Mom even before the word ever left his lips. Someone had dared to hurt him. I felt something inside me tear loose. The pain. The rage. The betrayal. It all surged forward—years of being hated, rejected, used, marked like cattle, thrown away like garbage. The loss of my parents when I was only thirteen. The nights I starved in the cells, the mornings I woke up to fists or frostbite. The shame of being a werewolf without a wolf. A mate’s rejection like shattered glass in my soul. I lived in shadows. I begged for crumbs. I slept in shelters where even hope was afraid to visit. And then... Alex. Zane. A home. Love. They gave me something I hadn’t dared believe in anymore. Family. And someone thought they could take that from me? They picked the wrong girl. No. They picked the wrong goddess. I would not let anyone treat me like trash again. No more hiding. It was high time they knew who they had messed with. Flames licked at my fingertips before I even realized my body was moving. Jasmine—my wolf, my true self, my soul—screamed inside me, not in pain but in fury. Our voices blended, echoed, shook the trees. The guards hadn’t even seen me coming. Their weapons dropped first, like metal knew better than to defy me. The air tightened, thick with heat and the scent of ozone. One step. That’s all it took. I raised my hand—and the first guard screamed as he burst into flames. I didn’t blink. A flick of my wrist, and the second’s bones snapped like twigs. A whisper, and the third collapsed to the ground, clutching his skull, sobbing something about shadows. They weren’t men to me. They were threats. Obstacles. They had touched my son. I don’t even remember all of it. Just flashes. Steel fangs. Screams. Blood like spilled ink across the dirt. And Alex’s weight pressed to my chest, grounding me, reminding me of why I was burning the world down. Tiger had appeared first. Of course he had. "Natalie," he said, voice low like thunder under soil. "This is not the way." I turned on him, eyes glowing white-hot. "The way," I snarled, "is mine to choose." He tried to step forward. Brave, even for an Earth Spirit. But I was shaking too hard, vibrating with raw energy. I remembered. I remembered everything. Lifetimes. Lovers. Kingdoms that burned because they touched what was mine. The first time I’d lost Alex—centuries ago, in another form—and how I brought an empire to its knees just to hold his hand again. Tiger raised a hand to stop me—but he couldn’t. Because by then, I had cracked the sky. Lightning spider-webbed above as I screamed, "I am the damn storm!" And the wind obeyed. One moment the sky was clear—eerily still. The next, it shimmered with heat and pressure like it was holding its breath. Then he came. Eagle. Of course he did. Word must’ve reached him—someone always blabs in this family. He ripped through the skies above, silver eyes flaring like twin moons. His wings caught the dying light, radiant and terrifying. He dropped from the heavens like a blade, his voice carried by the wind. "Natalie—what have you done?" Silver gusts wrapped around me, chains of air tightening around my arms and waist like living serpents. I laughed—a deep, wicked, goddess-born laugh—and looked up. "You really think wind can hold me, Eagle?" With a snap of my glare, the wind shrieked and unraveled, vanishing like frightened birds into the clouds. Eagle hovered midair, stunned. "Natalie... you’re glowing." "I should’ve killed him the day he looked at me wrongly," I hissed. "Zane’s father. The so-called King." Eagle’s wings faltered. "Don’t do this. You don’t know the full story—" "I DO!" My voice cracked across the sky like thunder. "I ripped the truth from that guard’s skull. I saw everything. The King gave the order. He wanted me gone. And they used my son—my baby—as bait!" Gold flared under my skin. The ground trembled, split open like a wounded beast. Trees bent backward, their roots howling. And then Jacob arrived. Because of course he did. My infuriating, always-serene, always-in-control, older brother. He didn’t walk. No, he unfolded from the shadows—quiet, composed, as if the world around us wasn’t collapsing under divine rage. Fox and Bubble flanked him—Fox crackling with fire, eyes gleaming with mischief, and Bubble calm but clearly stressed, his hands glowing with blue vapor. "Natalie," Jacob said, his deep voice like an anchor. "Breathe." "Don’t you dare tell me to calm down," I snapped. "He bled, Jacob. My son bled on me. On my hands." Jacob didn’t flinch. "He’s healed now. You healed him." "I shouldn’t have had to!" My voice cracked. "He’s a child! He’s mine—I and Zane’s! And that coward of a king thought he could—" "Don’t," Fox muttered to Jacob. "She’s not ready. Let her set something on fire first." I turned to Fox, gold heat rising off my skin. "You volunteering?" Fox shrugged with a smirk. "Just saying—the palace could use a bonfire." "Stop encouraging her," Bubble groaned, rubbing his temples like a man with a migraine. Behind them, Tiger and Eagle landed with heavy thuds, forming a circle around me. A divine intervention. A celestial blockade. I wasn’t impressed. Jacob’s barrier shimmered like a dome of protective energy. But I could smell him. The King. Still alive. Still breathing. Still laughing somewhere behind these barrier. "Move," I said, stepping forward. Jacob squared his shoulders. "No." "I will get to him. One way or another." "And then what?" Jacob challenged. "Slaughter the King? Paint his throne with royal blood?" "Yes," I said, without a blink. Fox gave a low whistle. "Remind me to never steal her fries again." Jacob’s jaw clenched. "Zane wouldn’t be happy with that choice." "Zane almost lost his son because of that man!" Jacob stepped closer, grabbing my wrist. "Natalie. Little moon. You are not the girl who once cried in the shelter corner. You’re divine. You’re powerful. But you are not a monster." I looked at my hands—glowing, shaking, bloodstained. Smoke curled off my fingertips. I was shaking... but not from fear. From memory. Jacob reached out and took Alex from my arms, handing him over to Fox. "I—I don’t know how to stop it," I whispered. "It’s all coming back. I remember now. All of it. The pain. Losing Alex—in two lives, Jacob. Two. You were there. And now my son... I can’t. I won’t survive it if that happens again." Jacob took my hand—solid, grounding. "Then don’t let it consume you," he murmured. "Use it. But don’t become it." I pulled away, trembling. "They touched what was mine, Jake. I’ll never forgive that." "You don’t have to," he said. "Just... wait for Zane." At the sound of his name, my heart twisted. Zane. That infuriating, beautiful, noble pain in my ass. My love. My strength. The Lycan prince who taught me how to breathe again. He wouldn’t want this. But I wasn’t listening. I fought to be free. They tried to hold me. My god-brothers, each terrifying in their own right. Jacob with unimaginable powers, Eagle with winds, Fox and his infernos, Bubble with water whips, and Tiger—silent, deadly, earthbound. But I was beyond them. They fought me for hours. Gods against a goddess. Skies cracked, mountains trembled, morning came, then afternoon and then another evening. The estate itself became a battlefield of myth. In the end, they made one mistake. They left me alone for a second. That’s all I needed. I closed my eyes and vanished, heading straight for him. ********* When I appeared at the palace, what I saw wasn’t what I had been expecting. It should have been quiet. It should have been bracing for war. But instead— Music. Laughter. A freaking ball was in full swing. Light shimmered off crystal chandeliers. Nobles in golden silks spun across polished marble floors, sipping from goblets and gossiping. And there, at the far end of the grand ballroom— The King. Alive. Smiling. Laughing. He tipped back his glass and laughed with his generals like the world wasn’t bleeding. Something in me snapped. The glass walls of the ballroom exploded as I crashed through like a star reborn. The music died. Screams echoed. Guests dove under tables. My feet hit the marble with a god’s fury, sending cracks racing through the floor. Every head turned. The King slowly rose, goblet still in hand. And I smiled—wild, wrathful, radiant. "Hello, your Majesty," I said, voice honeyed with vengeance. "Miss me?"

Chapter 182: I Am the Storm

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