This man hit people the moment he got emotional. Anyone he liked was just unlucky. She clenched her jaw, deciding she couldn't waste any more time. She would use the beauty cursebug on Natalie by force. "Honey! Hold that girl down!" Then she barked at Cassian, "You! Take her gun!" She spun on her heel and sprinted upstairs to grab the beauty cursebug. All she needed to do was shove the beauty cursebug into Natalie's ear and add a drop of her blood. Then she could steal the girl's youth and beauty for herself. With a face like that, the trade would be more than worth it. But her plan fell apart almost instantly. Her husband obeyed like a loyal dog and lunged at Natalie, but the handsome man didn't follow orders. Instead of taking Natalie's gun, he kicked the husband across the room with brutal force. The sound of the impact echoed through the place. The woman froze, her voice shaking. "Why are you not listening to me?" Natalie gave her a look full of disbelief. "Why the hell would my man listen to you?" The woman ignored her, her eyes locked on Cassian. Her tone turned sharp and desperate. "Didn't you hear me? I said take her gun!" Cassian's response came in the form of a single, crushing punch. She staggered backward and slammed onto the floor. The ringing in her ears grew loud enough to drown everything out. That was when it hit her—the man hadn't been infected by her heart-binding cursebug at all.No matter how different men showed affection, once her cursebug took hold, they always listened. Always. She coughed out blood, her eyes burning with fury. "You're toying with me, aren't you?" Natalie smirked. "Wow. Finally caught on, genius?" The husband crawled toward her, panic in his eyes. "Wait—you didn't drink my water?" Natalie gave him a glare. "I don't do bugs." The woman blinked, stunned. "How did you know? That's not possible!" No one could ever detect her heart-binding cursebug once it dissolved in water. She wasn't going to talk about her storage space. Natalie's tone turned cutting. "Because I'm not stupid like you." The woman's face twisted in rage. "You little bitch! I'll kill you!" She pushed herself up and stumbled toward them in fury. Natalie didn't underestimate her. The woman might look harmless, but anyone who could handle cursebugs was dangerous. She could have something hidden, something deadly. Natalie took two careful steps back and drew her gun, ready to shoot. But instead of attacking, the woman spun fast, yanked the door open, and bolted outside into the snow. Natalie and Cassian froze, stunned. After all that screaming and drama, she ran? Even Lucky, sitting by the wall, tilted her head. Well, someone's a coward.Cassian and the pets snapped back to reality and darted to chase her. Natalie was about to teleport after the woman when the husband threw himself at her, wrapping his arms around her and locking her in place. "Babe! Run!" he shouted. The "babe" he had nearly died protecting took off at lightning speed, not even glancing back. The sudden shift left Natalie frozen mid-motion, her body tensing just as she was about to step into her storage space. Cassian and the pets reacted instantly, their expressions hardening. The man might have been disgusting, but his instincts were sharp. He had spotted immediately that Natalie was the heart of the group. Targeting the leader first was smart, and within seconds, he had everyone's attention on him. Cassian and the pets dropped everything else, ignoring the woman who had fled. Every bit of focus turned toward the man clinging to Natalie. He had bought his wife a few seconds of freedom, but in doing so, he had invited the storm onto himself. Cassian's flying kick landed first, followed by Baron's iron punch, Lucky's snapping jaws, and Cash's vicious peck. The man's body convulsed as pain exploded through his head, stomach, thigh, and eyes. He screamed and fell hard, only to be silenced a moment later by Natalie's bullet. The gunshot rang through the room like a thunderclap. His eyes went wide, then dull, his body stilling completely. Natalie slapped at her clothes in disgust. Cassian stepped in close, his voice steady. "You okay?"Natalie gave a small nod of her head. "I'm fine." Just disgusted, that's all. The man had been filthy. Just being touched by him made her want to toss the clothes she was wearing. After confirming he was dead, the two of them and their three pets didn't waste another second. They rushed out to chase after the woman. But the short delay had been enough. The woman was gone. The snow, though, gave her away. The couple had cleared the snow in front of their inn earlier, but they hadn't gotten far with it. Everything else around them was still buried under untouched white.