Mending Her Beast (A NaLu FanFiction)

Chapter Thirteen: Unleashed

Chapter Thirteen: Unleashed

"What did you just say, Sting?" Igneel whispers, his voice harsh. It had been a long time since he has heard his long-lost son's name. The familiarity of it burns his chest with a fire much strong than anything he has felt before.

"Uncle... there is this girl that goes to our school, and she... well, she's been beaten pretty badly..."

"What has that got to do with anything?!"

Sting flinches from his uncle's furious voice, before swallowing loudly. "She said his name, uncle... She asked us to help him. And there is something else..."

Igneel takes a few deep, measured breathes, his eyes burning as smoke rises from his throat. He grapples with the beast inside him, his hand gripping the kitchen counter in a crushing grip. The phone makes a small cracking sound against his ear, and he fights to loosen his grip on the device before he breaks it in half completely.

"Please help Natsu..." Lucy cries softly, her body rocking with frightening strength from her sobs. Sting's heart burns at her distressed self, "She's been claimed, uncle... I think it was Natsu..."

Igneel drops the phone onto the counter, both his hands gripping the marble and splitting it in half. His roar deafen's Sting, as a stray tear falls from the corner of his eye. He looks back in the direction of the house he had seen Lucy being dragged from by an older man, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Grandeena runs into the room, her long pink hair hanging loosely down her back. "Igneel, what is it? What's wrong?" Her eyes are frazzled, searching for her husband's eyes for an answer. But he looks down at the phone resting on the broken countertop, Sting's name still lighting up the screen. He takes long, heavy breaths as he tries to calm his beast. His mind is running a mile a minute, and he can't keep up.

"Hunter..." Lucy whispers, her head lolling as her stomach rolls uncomfortably. Rogue and Sting both look down to her, their eyebrows furrowed. Rogue knows not to speak to her in his state - not when he can barely contain his beast with the anger and frustration that is coursing through his veins right now.

"What did you say, Lucy?" Sting comes in close to murmur, still holding the phone to his ear. Igneel hears his voice through the speaker of his phone and quickly brings the phone back to his ear, careful to mind his grip.

"He's a... hunter..." she breathes. Lucy's eyes are growing heavier, as the black dots in her vision grow bigger and darker.

"A hunter? The man that has him?" Sting looks back to the house, before back to her again. He knows that they need to get her somewhere safe, and he considers the idea of taking her to his uncle's house instead, where his Aunt Grandeena can heal her.

"Father..." Is Lucy's final word before the darkness swallows her. Her head lolls over Rogue's arm, her blonde hair stained with her blood as he falls to his knee.

"Shit, Lucy, stay awake!" Sting cries out, lifting her head gently. But her eyelids don't flutter. And her breathing slows dangerously. "Shit! We need to get her out of here, Rogue!"

"Bring her here, now! Tell me where you are, Sting!" Igneel roars into the receiver, startling his wife as she inches closer to her wild husband. Her eyes are wide with confusion and worry, as she watches her husband's control deteriorate.

Sting quickly rattles off the address, before adding, "Lucy thinks he's a hunter."

Igneel doesn't miss a beat before he replies, "I don't care. If he has my son, I'm going to nail him to the ground and set him on fire."