Episode 5: The transformation

The moment my bare fingers clamped around her throat I waited for her skin to whiten, for her pulse to freeze, and for her flesh to harden into cold, lifeless rock.

That was the rule of my curse.

That was what happened to every fragile, useless creature that I touched.

But nothing happened

Instead, a violent jolt of electricity slammed into my palm and exploded straight into my chest like a lightning strike.

My heart, which had been frozen and dead for three centuries, suddenly started beating again.

I gasped, my grip loosening just enough for her to breathe.

"What... what is this?" I growled, staring down at her.

Genevieve was choking, her hands desperately clawing at my wrist, but her sharp blue eyes never lost their fire.

Even while suffocating, she glared at me like she wanted to spit in my face.

Her skin was still warm.

Still soft.

Still entirely flesh and blood.

I tore my hand away as if I had been burned, stumbling backward. "Why aren't you turning to stone?"

Genevieve dropped to her knees, clutching her throat and coughing violently.

But she didn't waste time crying. She looked up, a mocking, raspy laugh escaping her bloody lips.

"What’s the matter, Monster?" she choked out, wiping her mouth with the back of her chained hands. "Did your little party trick break? Or am I just too toxic for a freak like you to digest?"

My mind was racing, piecing together the shattered fragments of a memory I had spent three hundred years trying to forget.

"Centuries from now you'll find a mate, and knowing you, your cruelty will kill her... Monsters always destroy the things that try to save them." I remembered my mother's cold words.

My breath hitched as I stared at the girl on the floor.

The prophecy.

The cure.

The salvation.

"No," I whispered, a dark, realization washing over me. "It can't be. You?"

Genevieve slowly got back to her feet, balancing her weight, her eyes darting toward the knife on the table. "You look like you've just seen a ghost, King Vergil. Don't tell me the big, bad Blood Demon is afraid of a little wolf girl."

"You are no regular wolf," I murmured, my shock quickly morphing into a cruel, calculating grin.

I paced around her, studying her with entirely new eyes. "You are the key. Three hundred years I have waited for my mother's riddle to solve itself and she sends me an assassin. A broken, ruined little princess sold by her own blood."

Genevieve's posture stiffened. "I don't care about your mother, and I don't care about your riddles. Let me out of this room."

"Let you out?" I laughed. "Oh, little bird, you are far too valuable now. Do you have any idea what you are to me? You are immune to my touch. You can actually survive me. Do you know what that means?"

I stepped closer, ignoring the way she raised her chains defensively.

"It means you aren't a mere sacrifice anymore," I whispered, my voice dripping with cunning malice. "A sacrifice is a temporary fix. But you... you can be my breeder. You will give me the heirs my mother swore I would never have. You will carry my bloodline."

Genevieve stared at me, disgust twisting her beautiful features. "I would rather swallow broken glass than let you touch me again demon. I am an assassin, not your prize mare. If you think I'm going to breed monsters for you, you really are insane."

"You think you have a choice?" I sneered. "I own you, Genevieve. Your brother made sure of that. You have nowhere to run, no pack to protect you, and a fated mate who literally delivered you to my doorstep. Who is going to save you? Eric?"

That name seemed to strike a nerve as a flash of agonizing pain crossed her eyes, but she masked it instantly with a sharp defiant smile.

"Eric is a coward who bows to a rabid dog," she spat, her voice ringing with pure ice. "And as for my brother... I don't need anyone to save me. I survived ten years of my uncle’s torture. I survived a kingdom of wolves who wanted me dead. You think a pretty crown and a sad curse scare me? I've met real demons, Vergil. You're just a lonely child throwing a tantrum in a big, empty house.".

It seemed she had grown even more braver realising she doesn't turn to stone like the other women.

"Brave words for a girl in chains," I hissed, my pride flaring.

But before I could teach her a lesson in humility, a fresh wave of agony ripped through my body.

"Ahhhh!" I roared, falling to my knees as the full moon reached its peak outside the glass window.

The curse didn't care about prophecies.

It didn't care that I had found my mate.

The demon wolf inside me was starving, its bloodlust triggered by the full moon.and it wanted to tear everything apart.

My bones began to snap and reshape at terrifying speed. Thick, midnight black fur erupted from my skin. My jaw stretched, my teeth lengthening into massive, razor-sharp daggers.

No! I fought back internally, screaming in my own mind.

Not her! She is the mate! She is the breeder! Do not destroy her!

But the beast inside me was a separate entity, a feral monster born from divine anger. It didn't want a mate.

It wanted blood.

It wanted to consume.

"Run!" I tried to shout to her, but the words came out as a terrifying, guttural howl that shook the very foundations of the castle.

The second I dropped to the floor, Genevieve ran straight for the wooden table, grabbing the silver knife.

The demon wolf took complete control.

I lost my sight, my vision turning completely blood red as the massive black beast sprang forward, throwing its massive weight right at her.

Genevieve dodged to the side with supernatural agility, swinging the knife. The silver blade sliced across my front shoulder, drawing a line of black smoking blood.

The wolf roared in fury, spinning around with terrifying speed. With one swipe of its massive, clawed paw, it sent her flying across the room as she hit the stone wall and the knife clattering out of her hand.

The black wolf stalked toward her, low growls vibrating in its chest. It pinned her down, its massive paws pressing heavily into her shoulders, trapping her against the cold stone floor.

I was trapped behind the beast's eyes, screaming in horror, waiting for the wolf to snap her neck, waiting to watch my only chance at salvation get ripped to shreds.

Opening it's massive fanged jaw dripping with thick saliva Genevieve cursed at me lungs, her eyes shut, and braced for her end.

"Go on then, you freak," she said, her voice trembling but her gaze still locked into the wolf's eyes. She didn't beg or whimper. She just bared her teeth in a final act of pure defiance. "Do it. Bite me."

The wolf's sharp fangs pierced deep into the side of her neck and bit down hard drinking her blood while she thrashed violently beneath me, kicking and clawing at it's fur.

Her movements began to slow and her arms fell flat against the floor as she began to loose consciousness.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my heart and I began to cough up her blood.

It tasted like melted silver.

Slowly, I felt my beast fading away forced into a deep sleep until I finally shifted back into my human form.

"You... you're still alive?" I whispered staring at her unmoving body.

She had survived my touch as well as my wolf.

I began to crawl across the cold marble floor toward her staring at her neck, my wolf had bitten her deeply on the neck without ripping her throat out. I knew what It meant.

It had claimed her.

It had marked her.

She was my mate.

"You are even more interesting than I thought you'd be, little blondie." I whispered to her, she tried to move, to get away from me, but she was too weak.

You... you bite like a bitch," she whispered, her voice barely a breath.

"I..I hate you Vergil, I'll not die until I have your head...yours and my backstabbing brother." she muttered weakly while I reached out, gently placing my bare hand on her head, softly stroking her tangled hair.

I leaned down closer to her face, "After over three century of being alone," I whispered watching her fall asleep.

"I have finally found you. Mate."