The Rejected Alpha: Mated To The Cursed Wolf

Dictionary:

☾ Genuine lunam: Genuine moon, the genuine alpha's mate. Second in command.

☾ Velut luna: The alpha's mate.

☾ Lunae: Crescent moon, the beta's mate. Her womb is only fertile in the absence of the genuine or velut couple.

☾ Luna cimex: Moon error or moon's insect, the omega's mate. The lowest among the females with no noble value of any kind.

A BABY INSTEAD OF A CUB

"How lucky you are, sister," Ruby said, looking up at the sky.

Emerald said nothing. Really she was very lucky. Born and destined to become a velut luna while her younger sister is just a cimex luna. Even if she found a mate, her sister wouldn't have any noble value within the pack.

"I hope you have many puppies, it will certainly not take long," her voice sounds calm and a simple smile adorns her red lips.

Ruby loves her sister. Among all the wolves of her pack, Emerald's the only one who never treated her badly. However, Emerald had no power to rid her younger sister of all the evil that happens to her inside the pack. An example of that were the bruises on her sister's arms. About three days ago, some of the females hit Ruby as a way to get rid of their anger.

Among their kin, there are lone wolves, and the vast majority of them are omegas and lunas cimexs. Life is much harder when they are on their own. Almost every one of them dies when they leave the pack because they're too fragile.

However, when the omega couple decides to abandon their pack and live on their own, the luna cimex's womb becomes fertile. But the parents cannot protect their offspring properly and end up dying, being attacked by other wolves or starving. None of them can hunt their prey because of their condolence nature. And so they're forced to endure the humiliation caused by their brothers and sisters.

Suddenly a loud howl fills the ears of the females sitting on the fluffy snowcovered ground in front of the frozen lake. Emerald knew the alpha was calling for her. They were going to mate once more.

"Better not to keep him waiting," Ruby said and hugged her knees.

Emerald sighs and transforms. Comparing her lupine form with that of her younger sister, she is three times bigger, her dominance is three hundred times stronger, she's ten times stronger, and she is seven times faster.

Emerald approached Ruby, putting her large furry head over the little one's in a form of a hug.

She stayed like that for a few seconds, but withdrew when she heard her mate's second call.

Ten moons later...

The full moon shines brightly in the sky giving the feeling that even the goddess herself was waiting for the birth of Emerald's first cubs.

What the goddess was really doing was putting into place the warning she gave them years ago and they refused to listen.

That night the stars looked even brighter as the whole pack heard the howl of their alpha announcing the birth of his child after long ten months of waiting. The goddess saw everything and smiled.

Her surprise would surely be shocking for them.

Emerald had a huge belly, could barely stand and spent all her time lying in her lair, in the great room of the Nascent Pack's castle. No one went inside, not even her younger sister because the alpha could see her as a danger to his cub and kill her without any remorse. The only one who could stay close to the velut was him, her alpha, her protector, her mate.

The pack bet that a litter of ten or more cubs would come this time. This was the first pregnancy since the velut luna was introduced a year and a half ago.

When the alpha couple finally manage to have their cubs, it's customary for them to remain in their lupine forms until their offspring reach six months of life. Puppies are born as small wolves, and when they're six months old, the first signs of lycanthropy begin to appear. Their furs begin to fall and their claws give way to fingers, their eyes cease to be black and then they take on their complete human forms.

It was a beautiful night, but the blood flooding the ground makes the alpha sweat cold even in his lupine form. That wasn't common, that wasn't normal and her moans of pain were piercing.

The velut luna was suffering, and so was the alpha.

Outside the room, Ruby hears her sister's groans of pain with a tight heart. It was taking too long for the cubs to be born, she knew that wasn't normal.

Back in the room, something strange happened. The birth forced the velut luna to return to her human form and her groans turned into screams, which took everyone by surprise.

"What's going on?" all the lycanthropes wondered, restless and their howls ceased.

With a final scream that practically tore her throat, only one cub was born without hair or claws.

In the eyes of the alpha, that was a humiliation.

Turning her fingers into claws, Emerald cut the umbilical cord, took the child in her lap and her eyes filled with tears. It was her son, a piece of her being. Love was evident in her eyes and gestures.

But that wasn't right.

When the cubs are born with defects, the mothers eat them and go in search of their partners to mate and generate another offspring, one healthy and strong.

But in Emerald's eyes, her son was healthy and perfect. She didn't smell any disease or deformity on him. He was okay. Everything was going to be okay.

“What did you do?” the alpha asks in a horrifying voice as he approaches his mate.

“I–I don't know, I–"

“You dared to betray me?!” he yelled. If she didn't eat the puppy, then he was born perfect. And if he was born perfect, if that was his true form, then that child was not his son.

“No! I would never do that! And even if I had, you would have smelled it on me and–"

"You sure talked to those witch trash!"

“No, I didn't! Don't disrespect me–"

"Shut up! Bitch! Adulter!" he shouted, making everyone outside fear of what could happen.

With her whole body trembling, Emerald finally noticed her mate's intent. He wanted to kill her cub.

The big wolf leaps towards her, but even though she is weak, she spins on the bed and runs towards the door, opening and leaving quickly. But not as fast as she wanted; her legs are weak and in her arms she carries a human baby who she only knows is alive because of the heat emanating from its little body.

The howling stops, all members of the pack transform and the hunt begins.

Emerald cannot transform to escape, she needs to save her child's life.

With her heart throbbing in her chest, she manages to get out of the castle through a secret passageway. The snow burns her bare feet, but that doesn't matter. Her son's life is more important.

"Ahhhh," she cries in pain.

Then she feels fangs on the skin of her shoulder, which makes her lose her balance and fall to the ground. Not even the impact of her fall on the icy snow makes the child cry and worry floods the mother's chest.

What happens if she's not able to save her cub?

Tears are already flooding her eyes.

MARY VAN HELSING ADOPTS THE BABY

Even though the order was clear, Ruby refuses to follow it and at that moment she declares that she's no longer a member of the pack.

Although her body was much smaller, and her fangs were not sharp like those of the other members, Ruby, in her lupine form, didn't flinch as she threw herself at the Lycanthrope that was biting her sister.

"Run! Save the child," she said to her sister, positioning herself in an attack position to defend her.

"What do you think you're doing?" growled the wolf that rises from the ground and shakes its body to remove the snow from its fur.

"I won't let you kill my velut luna! You're going to have to go over me first!" she said firmly. In her eyes was possible to see the fervor of her words, her fidelity to her velut luna and above all her love for her sister.

"She's no longer the velut luna, she's a traitor! Traitors don't deserve compassion, forgiveness or anything!" snarled the beta, positioning himself in front of the others, taking the place of leader on the attack against their luna cimex and her sister, the traitor.

"She's my velut luna! My sister!" she growled in response.

"Forgive me. Please forgive me," Emerald whispered with eyes full of tears as she rose from the ground. Hugging the baby to her chest, she ran into the forest lit only by the light of the full moon.

Her heart was bleeding; she knew what was going to happen to her sister. The icy wind carried her plea for forgiveness.

A half circle of wolves stopped in front of Ruby. Her entire body trembled. She was never exposed to so much dominance before, and it almost hurt her physically. Her instincts wanted her to lower her head, but instead she didn't lose her ground and did not lower her head. For the first time, she stood up in front of those who had repressed her, mistreated her and despised her all her life.

For the first time in the history of cimex lunas, she was defending something she loved. And that was being seen. She was being seen. In the dark corner of the forest, at the top of one of the trees, the enemy was lurking, watching everything with their red eyes.

"Kill the deserter!" The beta orders and everyone jumps on Ruby, who still tries to defend herself with her small claws and round fangs. But, unfortunately, she had no strength or skills to begin with, so it didn't take her a minute to be defeated.

Ruby howled one last time. In her last moments, she asks for the goddess's protection for her sister and her helpless little cub.

Her lifeless body returned to its human form and her spirit returned to the great moon. The wolves, not satisfied with just killing her, trampled her until she was completely deformed and unrecognizable.

The night sky began to drizzle, fine drops of water from the sky as the goddess wept for the cruel death of one of her beloved daughters.

"We're going after the traitor," the beta declared after approving the job they did on what was left of Ruby.

The wolves returned the hunt as the wind carried with it the traces of the traitor. The enemy, intrigued with the baby, jumped from the tree. With their longrange vision, and their extreme sense of smell, they could track the blood on the ground, its smell and its carrier and so they knew exactly where Emerald was.

The former velut luna can no longer run; her leg had broken in a sharp fall at the root of one tree and the constant drizzle didn't help either. If she transformed, she could heal quickly, but she couldn't do that. She needs to take care of the baby. But her situation was too drastic. Her fear of losing the baby was too great.

Her ears detect the sound of someone approaching over the trees. Her heart throbbed in fear, and all her senses became more sensitive.

"Please, moon goddess, don't let anything bad happen to my baby..." Emerald trusted the goddess as she was one of the few wolves who still worshiped the moon as being the force who moved their life, but her request was interrupted.

"Don't you think it's useless to ask her for protection now?" said the voice in the woods.

With her red eyes and black clothes, there was no doubt for Emerald of who that was. It was the enemy, that was clear. But the person in front of her was not only the enemy, it was the dreaded Mary Van Helsing.

"No. She's our goodness, our–"

Emerald was interrupted by the menacing howls of the wolves that hunted her. She gasped in fear. Despite her dominance and force losing only to her mate, she was weak, and they were many. The female was vulnerable, her male should be there to defend her, but instead he wants her and their baby dead and that, the longing for her mate, makes her even more weak.

"They're close. Their smell is everywhere; it's only a matter of time before they find me."

Mary saw the terror in the green eyes of the weak, powerless woman sitting inside the root of a large, twisted tree in hopes of keeping herself and her baby in hiding. In hopes of saving their lives.

"Please. Please," Emerald's lips trembled, not from cold, not from fear, but from sadness. She knew the fate she would have, she knew she wouldn't be able to protect her cub, but she wanted him to live. If he was born this way, it was for a purpose. She believed in it because the goddess never fails. "Please. Please save this child. He has never committed any sin, he's innocent in all of this, so please... Please take him and keep him safe. Please."

Mary looked deep into Emerald's eyes. She knew that at that moment, Emerald was just a desperate mother. Mary also knew that this situation was not normal. A cub born in the shape of a human was something impossible. They were beasts. He had to be born a wolf and only show signs of humanization after his first six months of life.

Mary knew that the baby was something abnormal.

"I beg you, please. Please don't let them kill my puppy."

Mary didn't say a word, just stretched out her arms and took the child.

Emerald smiled, relieved. Even if she died in that place, her little cub's life was going to be preserved and that was enough for her. She could die in peace.

"His name is Rudolf, the mighty wolf," Emerald's voice came out low, but Mary could hear perfectly.

She didn't find the name appropriate for the boy, for it was clear that this child didn't look at all like a wolf. Nothing about him was anything like those terrible cruel beasts.

The wolves were close, Emerald could hear them run in the woods and howl at the moon. Any minute now. She took one last look at her baby's face, committing his features to memory, but Mary didn't extend the farewell. Soon she turned her back and returned to the top of the tree, jumping from branch to branch until she stood at a long distance. But not too far; she wanted to see what would happen to Emerald.

"Thank you, my goddess. I've always trusted you and I'll always..." but Emerald couldn't finish her last prayer to her maker.

The beta grasped the female's head and ripped it from her body without any difficulty and the ground was bathed in her blood. The fine drizzle turned into a great storm, hail fell violent upon the earth, thunder cut through the dark in the sky. Not long after that, the wolves rushed back to their dens inside the castle.

Mary jumped from tree to tree to the nearest base. All the way through she took care that no stone or ice hit the little child in her arms.

"Welcome back, ma'am," the guard who opened the gate greeted Mary who only nodded in response.

"Whose baby is this?" Margaret asked as soon as Mary entered the base.

Margaret was adopted by Mary five years ago after her parents were killed and devoured in front of her by werewolves. Mary managed to save her from having the same fate and since then has she been raising and training the girl.

"He's part of our family now."

THE BIRTH OF THE FEMALE STAINED WITH BLOOD

The cold wind and the thudding caused by the hail on the massive windows ended up frightening the genuine lunam that cowered by instinct to defend her large belly and in it the strongest cub of its entire kind. The heir.

"Looks like someone has enraged the gods," she whispered in thought and licked her belly, in order to show the puppy that they were out of danger.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the heavy door scratching at the floor.

"Come, Kathe, I brought dinner," the genuine alpha, her mate, entered the room with a large piece of mutton.

Kathe got out of bed and went to meet her mate; her mouth salivated as she inhaled the delicious smell that emanated from the meat and the puppy inside her stirred.

"Your belly is so big. This puppy will be born and become even stronger than me and any other that has ever existed, for sure," he said proudly as he watched his female delight with the feast he bought for her.

There was nothing more pleasurable for a male than to see his happy, wellfed mate carrying his offspring.

For ten moons the couple has been waiting for their cub; the genuine lunam can only reproduce once in a lifetime, only a single cub, a male cub, and nothing more.

But, once again, the moon goddess was more than willing to change things, and sure enough, on this night of great storm, another surprise awaited the Lycan race.

As the lunam finished snatching the last piece of meat in front of her, pain took over her body and her howl of surprise triggered the contractions in her belly. The genuine alpha felt his heart beat faster and helped his mate back to bed, then howled loudly so everyone would know his heir was finally coming into the world.

The rain outside grew stronger and stronger. Inside the great den of the genuine ones the grunts of pain frightened everyone. The big female wolf's unsteady breath, her head down, the blood coming out of her center – it was all too intense for Kathe. The genuine alpha felt everything, all the anguish that his mate was feeling, part of the pain. He paced back and forth. Suddenly the den seemed to have gotten too small for his big redeyed black wolf.

Hoping to at least try to alleviate even a little of his mate's pain, he jumped into bed, ignored her growl of disapproval, and approaching with confident strides, he began to lick the place through which his cub would pass. The female relaxed a little. Her male was reassuring her, but even so her heart wouldn't calm down. Her body trembled; it was too difficult for her to have the strength to remain awake.

At exactly one in the morning, the genuine couple had their eyes wide with surprise.

"But how is this possible?" They wondered as they watched the bloodstained cubs on the bed.

The genuine alpha approached to look at them more closely. There were two cubs. Touching his large snout on the black one, he noticed that it was dead, its tiny hairy body getting colder and colder. Swallowing dry, he touched his snout on the other cub and this one was white with several red spots on its fur. Carefully, he turned the cub until its belly was up, and the fright he felt with what he saw made him take a few steps back, almost falling from the bed.

That couldn't be happening. It shouldn't be happening. After a second, he looked again at the dead cub, turning its belly up until its manhood was in sight.

Thunder cut through the sky and lit up the whole room, making the genuine alpha even more frightened. He growled in fury. Soon the genuine lunam understood what had happened. Although she was weak, without strength to even raise her head, she understood what had happened.

And she cursed her cub. Not just her, but everyone else, once they knew what happened, they'd curse the killer too.

Growling, the genuine alpha left the den, returning to his human form and without caring about his nudity, went to the boardroom. He was trying to control himself so as not to break everything around him. His hands closed in fists.

"Bring me the beta," he cried to the omega who was cleaning and filling the jars of water.

Without saying a word, only with a silent reverence, he did what was commanded of him. In less than five minutes, the genuine beta appeared in the boardroom.

"Genuine alpha," the beta bowed his head in a show of respect as he entered the room and took one of the chairs for himself.

"She... She killed my heir, Lacios!" The alpha punched the table and the shrill sound filled the whole room. "What do I do now? My mate will never be pregnant again! Damn her!" He angrily threw the chair on the wall, breaking it.

"I don't understand, Kratos. If the cub died, her womb wouldn't be able to carry another one?" Lacios, the genuine beta, used the logic of lycanthropic reproduction in the attempt to calm the spirits of his genuine alpha.

"Yes," Kratos replied with a red face, "If two had not been born, and if one of them had not been alive!"

He controlled himself not to scream. As he no longer had an heir to protect, he didn't find it in himself the obligation to remain in his lycan form.

"Two," said the beta, still perplexed by what he had just heard. "Two..."

"Are you fucking deaf? Don't keep repeating what I say!" cried Kratos, furious.

"Sorry," Lacios said, trying to think rationally. "The cub that survived..."

"It's a fucking female!" Kratos answered without waiting for Lacios to ask the question.

"It cannot be possible," his eyes widened.

The wind whistled hard from the outside and another thunder cut through the sky.

"It's all that woman's fault!"

"Whose fault?"

"The goddess! Damn her!" "Kratos screamed, walking back and forth around the room.

"I thought she was just a legend."

"No, she's real!"

Kratos remembered exactly the day the goddess promised she would end the lineage of lycanthropes. And that made him even more enraged.

Kratos' thoughts were interrupted by someone knocking at the door. By the smell he already knew it was an omega.

"It's better to be something very important, you fucking omega, because if it's not, you can already prepare yourself to have your head shredded!" He cried out to his omega brother as soon as he opened the door.

"News of the Spring pack has arrived."

"And what the fuck do I have to do with this..."

"The velut luna was killed for treason after she birthed a human cub, and a luna cimex rebelled against her pack to defend the velut and the child. They were both killed, but no one found the child"

"When did this happen?" Lacios asked.

"About three hours ago. Their genuine alpha is now burning in fever because of his mate's death."

"Another problem. One more," Kratos took a deep breath.

If the genuine alpha is to die without having an heir, he has an obligation to ensure the rise of a beta as the new alpha through the disputes.

"Send our best healers there. I don't want to have to take the reins of another pack."

Upon giving his order, Kratos sat exhausted in a chair.

"Now you can go," he commanded and closed his eyes.

"Genuine," Lacios draws Kratos' attention back to him. "Since you don't have an heir, I think it's better to organize a tournament among the alphas to mate with your cub. So the lineage will not perish." Lacios thought fast.

"You are right. Since a female was born, even though that should be impossible, surely she has none intended. She must be able to carry cubs from anyone," the genuine smiled. "I'll select the strongest alphas to face each other and thus earn the right to grant me an heir!"

For him, that was the perfect plan and the goddess would not triumph.

A pity that her creations would never be greater than their creator.

Kratos just didn't understand that.

Yet.

WHY DOES HE HAVE TWO?

Sixty moons later…

Another winter left the fluffy ground with a thick white blanket of snow, the flakes falling from the clouds shone as the faint rays of the sunset bathed the frozen soil.

"For how long are you going to be here?" Margaret questioned sitting in bed with her book in her hand.

"Why do I have two?" He answered her question with another one without taking his eyes off the falling and melting flakes touching the ground.

"Two what, boy?" She turned another page of her book.

"Two names, I don't understand," he leaned over the window. That has been bothering him and not knowing the answer made him angry.

"Ask who gave it to you. Now let me finish reading my book, I'm in the best part!"

"Another thing I don't understand– why do you like reading these books? They don't even have stickers!"

"They don't need to have stickers, just the good old imagination, which by the way you don't have, "Margaret smiles and turns another page of her romance novel between angels.

"Margaret, Occisor, come eat!" Mary screamed from the kitchen.

Margaret sighed and marked her book, leaving it on the bed. Occisor followed behind his older sister.

Margaret was now a twentyyearold girl, her long red hair grew down below her buttocks, her eyes were large, a brown like honey and her small mouth adorns her thin and delicate face. But, as they say, anyone who sees face doesn't see the heart, and in Margaret's case, no one saw her fists and her thirst for blood.

Occisor, despite being only five years old, his body appears to be ten years old. His hair was back as the night, his eyes equally black, though again, his understanding grew according to his body and not his age, which was counted in the human form.

Taking care of Occisor as a puppy was not easy; Mary thought that he really was the result of a betrayal and was just a human cub, but soon noticed that she was wrong. She doesn't know why he was born in human form, but now she knows he really is the son of an alpha.

"Was he destined to be an alpha, just as his father was?" Mary wondered when she noticed the cub's strength when he was little. There was no way of knowing; the child to that day never showed his lupino side.

"It smells good!" Occisor said.

"Only you like to eat this thing" Margarets sat in her chair.

The feeding of the three members of the Van Helsing family was totally different. Margaret ate human food; rice, beans, salad, and vegetables. Mary only drank blood collected by the government and Occisor ate almost but not quite raw meat from animals, another proof that he was not a human.

"Mary" Occisor called when he finished his meal.

"Yes."

"Why do I have two names?

Margaret even stopped eating to pay attention to Mary's response. She never told anyone the truth behind the little one's story.

Mary took a deep breath. She knew that he was growing up too fast, and that sooner or later, she would have to have a serious conversation with him about his true past.

"At birth, your mother told me to call you Rudolf, the mighty wolf. To me, that name didn't seem appropriate for you, but out of respect for her I followed her wish. However, I also gave you the name of Occisor. It suits you." Mary said and drank her last sip of blood.

"What does Occisor mean?" he asked even more confused.

"Killer," Margaret answered and finished eating her potato.

"Why would a name that means that suit me?"

"I feel like we'll find out soon," Mary said and stood up from the table, starting to collect the dishes ."The sun has set, better go to sleep," She said and kissed Occisor on the forehead.

"Have a good night," the little one left the kitchen, leaving only Margaret and Mary in the room.

"It's your time to go to bed, too."

"When will you turn me?"

Mary rolled her eyes. Three years ago Margaret decided she wanted to be transformed and since then she asks Mary every single day about it. She wants to be powerful. In her vengeful mind, she needs this strength, if not, she can never avenge her parents and all the humans who died on the hands and for the pleasure of the Lycanthrope monsters.

"Don't make that face, you promised! I've been waiting ten years for this!"

"You still have a lot to enjoy in this life. Meet other people, a guy..."

"I don't want to meet anyone!" she said and crossed her arms over her breasts.

"You love reading novels, don't you want to live one?" Mary wipes her hands on a cloth.

"After we're done with these monsters, maybe."

"And how are you going to live a romance being a corpse? You know we live in this area because the sun can kill me! Do you want to live like this? Stuck in the darkness?"

"If that's the price to pay, yes!" Margaret said.

Mary sighed. For years she has been trying to get this idea out of the young woman's mind, but it seems to be impossible. She's impossible.

Living forever in the darkness, being held hostage of the night, it wasn't a pleasant thing.

But Mary– she's not a pureblood vampire. She was transformed after her father, Julios Van Helsing, sold her to the bloodsuckers. Her buyer wanted her to use her as a sex toy, but her human body couldn't take it, so he turned her and forced her to live in the darkness.

"You don't know what you're saying, child!

Mary turned her back, leaving the kitchen.

"I'm not a child!" Margaret cried, and Mary covered her ears. She couldn't talk about that again.

With short steps, Mary walked to Occisor and Margaret's room, opened the door and saw that Occisor was sitting by the window.

"Can't sleep?" she asked, entering the room.

"I'm still thinking. What really happened to my mother?"

"She is now in heaven, my dear, and she asked me to take care of you," she said and embraced him from behind.

"If I... If I hadn't been born, she'd still be alive... I'm a monster, a..."

Mary interrupted him by turning him sharply in front of her.

"Don't say that. Don't ignore everything your mother has done to ensure your survival! She believed the goddess of the moon had a purpose for you!" she said firmly and wiped away the tears that flowed from his eyes to the face of the small and innocent Occisor.

"Who is the goddess?"

"The creator of your kin."

"And what is my kin?"

Mary didn't know what to say. l besides the truth.

"Let's sit down, I think it's time to tell you your true story."

The little boy felt a mixture of euphoria and fear. If she hid the truth until then was it because it was painful? What did Mary keep from him for so long? The question was the only thing on his mind.

He was about to find out.

TEARS OF HATE

At the very moment Mary opened her mouth to begin telling the truth to the young man sitting beside her on the bed, a frosty, strong wind blew opening the wooden windows of the small room in a loud titof, scaring Occisor. Mary rose silently and closed the windows.

Once again she took a deep breath. Though many saw her as a cold, heartless being – as she didn't really have a heart – she cared too much for both Occisor and Margaret. They were her family, and for them she was capable of anything.

"Do you know what a velut luna is?" Mary asked.

"Yes, I read in one of Margaret's books that the female with that title is the companion of the alpha male." he said. He was so smart.

"So you know a lot about the lycanthropes, don't you?" She finally walked again, returning to bed and sitting next to the boy.

"Not much. Margaret said that wasn't a book for my age, I disagreed, but she wouldn't let me read anything else. She's so boring!" He shouted and Mary held the urge to laugh with the little one's sullen face.

"I understand. Have you ever wondered why you like to eat only and almost raw meat?"

"I know why, it's because they're delicious! What I don't understand is why neither you nor Margaret like them." Mary laughed. "Look how strong I am!" he stuffed his chest and crossed his arms, yet in less than three seconds his arms fell, one on each side of his body. "But... What does that have to do with my mother?"

Mary again took a deep breath, and Occisor didn't fail to observe this. Outside the room, Margaret had her ear placed in the door. She also wanted to know the truth about Occisor; all she knew when he arrived was that his mother and aunt had been murdered by the cruel wolves and that Mary saved him from having the same fate.

"She was a velut luna," Mary said bluntly and observed the boy's reaction. Nothing. He didn't say a word, so she continued. "What I'm going to tell you now is not a beautiful story. Are you ready to hear it, or would you rather wait a little longer?"

"I'm ready," he said firmly, but she saw his eyes tremble.

"All right. Five years ago, in a harsh winter, the moon shone brightly in the sky and the velut luna gave birth to a cub. The werewolves, when they generate their proles, they...

They stay in their lupine forms until the cubs reach six months of life, and the cubs only show signs of humanity after those six months," Occisor interrupted Mary and completed her sentence, already losing some of his patience.

"Yes, you already knew that. However, when you were born..."

She stopped for a few moments to look at him. The boy's prying eyes were cloudy.

Does he already know what happened? Mary wondered as she watched him..

"Childbirth forced your mother back into her human form and then you were born, as if you were a baby with only human blood, with no Lycanthropic characteristic.

"Why?" he whispered, but Mary ignored the question.

"What... What was my mother's name and my aunt's?" he asked with his eyes closed. He didn't want to cry, not in front of a woman.

"Emerald, that was your mother's name and your aunt was called Ruby."

"How… What were they like?"

Occisor had his eyes closed tightly, the tears wanted to come out at any cost.

"Your mother had long black hair and green eyes. Ruby had reddish brown hair and amber eyes. The two were extremely beautiful, strong and...

"No, they were not!" Margaret finally appeared and opened the door in a bang. "Never will that cursed race be beautiful!" They're all horrible! Cruel! Miserable! They're..."

"Shut your mouth!" Occisor shouted. The burning in his eyes grew even stronger.

"Are you gonna cry? Those bastards left your aunt with an unrecognizable body, trampled her until there was nothing left of her and your mother had her head cut off! They did that to their own kin and they just didn't do the same to you because...

"I said shut up!" This time he released a growl that made Margaret's eyes widen.

"You've got to be kidding me. I don't believe it, Mary!" A tear came down from Margaret's lonely eyes.

"Margaret, listen..."

Margaret didn't listen, she turned her back and ran down the hall. Mary looked at Occisor and decided to let him ingest the whole story, alone. Now she needed to find Margaret.

With her supernatural speed, Mary caught up with her in seconds and turned her around. Seeing the tears in her eyes made Mary sad, she didn't want to see them there. She lied to Margaret saying that Occisor was simply a human baby. But I always knew that sooner or later the day would come that she was going to have to tell the truth and it wouldn't be easy. And it wasn't. Carefully, she lifted her thumb to the young woman's cheeks and wiped away her tears.

"Why did you do that? Why did you lie? He's one of them."

"No, Margaret, Occisor is one of us. He, like you, is a Van Helsing. You're both my children!"

Mary hugged the young woman who cried as if there was no tomorrow. After sniffling a lot, she let go of her guardian's arms.

"What if... If he ends up like those monsters? If he..."

"I'll never be like any of them! I'm gonna kill those monsters! I'll hunt them down one by one, I reject them, just as they did to me, I will do much worse to them!" Occisor uttered every word with his fists clenched and trembling by his side.

Margaret startled, she hadn't noticed the little one's presence. She stared at him hesitantly, but soon any doubt was extinguished from her mind. From Occisor's eyes, tears kept falling, but the firmness in his gaze, the hatred he felt for those who killed his mother was transparent.

"I'm in!"

THE GENUINE ALPHA'S DAUGHTER

The dining table was full. On the dark stone walls of the great hall, every fifteen meters there was a torch lit with the dancing fire on them and the last rays of sunlight illuminated the dining room. The genuine couple was the first to feed, when they were finished, it was the betas couples' turn and then the omega couples'. When the table was practically empty, with not much left, it was released for the last one's meal.

"Now you can help yourself, Bloodstain," ordered the genuine to his cub, who kept her eyes on the table, her mouth salivating and her stomach growling every time she saw someone chew on any piece of meat, but waited patiently for her turn.

"All right, papa."

"I told you not to call me that!" cried the genuine, interrupting the small hand of picking up one of the bones on the table. "Go to your den, you won't eat today!"

"But..."

"You want to get beaten up?" Bloodstain felt her body tremble all over at the murderous look her mother cast upon her.

It has been three days since the little one ate. The first day was because she transformed and ran through the hidden forest, she was caught lying on a tree with large roots that protected her from the snowflakes. The second was because she didn't clean up the blood in the torture room after the genuine one had fun slicing up a middleaged human, and now this. Tears cascaded through the little girl's almond brown eyes, her belly growling, but the fear was much greater.

"You know I don't like it," Kratos pulled her black hair, almost pulling it out of Bloodstain's scalp, causing immense pain and forcing her to lift her head. "Don't make me lose patience with you, you disgrace!" He shouted and spat in the girl's face, who closed her eyes and swallowed her crying, unable to control some sobs that came out of her mouth without her permission and she knew that this was irritating the genuine even more.

"Sir, she..."

"Stay out of it!" He growled at the luna cimex who tried to intervene on the girl's behalf.

Bloodstain, like the other pack's members, blasphemed against herself, saying that if it were not for her existence, her brother would be alive and would be loved by all for being the next genuine alpha.

Bloodstain didn't die as a puppy thanks to luna cimex Guila, who was the only one who took care of her. Guila was the one who remained in her lupine form to warm and protect the puppy. The hardest part of all of that was when the little one was hungry. The genuine lunam refused to feed Bloodstain; the most she did, and just because it was her mate's order, was to pump her milk and put it in a clay pot.

Guila would wet a cotton cloth with the milk and put it in the little one's mouth, over and over again. She had to do that in her human form, but soon afterwards she would return to her lupine form and nest the little one in her warm fur so that she could sleep peacefully.

The genuine's daughter's den was always cold and not at all illuminated, there was no bed of straw covered with bear skins. There was only the icy floor to lie on, so as not to freeze to death, Gulia could only sleep in her lupine form on the cold floor. When Bloodstain positioned her hands to take off her battered and torn dress, her ears detected the sound of footsteps approaching. It was Guila, the only one who cared about Bloodstain.

"You shouldn't be here..."

"I know," Guila replied softly. She entered the den and sat on the floor next to her. "Here, take it."

From inside the pocket of her dress, Guila pulled out a small piece of dried meat, it was the rest of the food destined for human slaves. But that was better than letting the girl starve to death.

Bloodstain's eyes flashed, she had to control herself too much not to let the drool drip. With eyes fixed on the small piece of dried meat in Guila's hands, she lifted one of her hands and, with her fingers trembling from the anxiety of finally being able to eat something in days, the young woman took it and ate it in just a single bite. It wasn't enough for her hunger to pass and her stomach growled asking for more. It hurt Guila's heart to see her like that.

"Thanks so much, Guila. You saved me as always."

Bloodstain thanked her with her head down and a tear trickled from her eyes. The blood on her forehead was still dripping, but the pain of that didn't compare to the pain she felt inside.

"Why don't you treat me like the others? I know I shouldn't have been born, that because of me, my brother..."

"Don't talk nonsense, girl. The goddess is never wrong. Everything that happens is because..."

"What goddess are you talking about, Guila?" Bloodstain looked at her in confusion.

Talking about the moon goddess was forbidden. Nobody believed in her anymore and the genuine alpha would even kill anyone he saw thanking or talking about the moon goddess.

"The goddess of the moon. It's thanks to her that we exist. She's our absolute goddess, she's the one who dictates our fate," Guila said quietly.

"And why are you almost whispering? You can't talk about it?"

"Your father doesn't like us talking about her."

"Why?"

"You don't have to know now, you just need to know that the goddess has a purpose for you."

"Then why did she let my brother die? She made me born just to be hated by everyone and what's the point in that, Guila? I'm sure she doesn't care about me."

"Stop with this blasphemy. They don't treat you like that because of her! The Lycan race fell into disgrace because they so wished, because they didn't listen to her. They changed their own path. She has nothing to do with the wrong decisions of our kind."

"Then why, Guila? What's the point of living like this? I don't want to suffer any more!" she cried. .

"In time the answers will come, child, one day, I'm sure, the goddess's plans for you will make sense. Until then, don't talk anymore nonsense, and always ask her for protection. She'll listen to you. She's fair!"

"I want to know more about her," Bloodstain said as she wiped her eyes. Her head throbbed, the cut on her eyebrow burned.

"You better transform, so you can heal this wound," Guila said gently and so the girl did.

She got up and took off her dress and transformed; in her lupine form she was still a puppy. Transformed, she was almost the size of Guila's wolf. That was another proof that Bloodstain didn't look any weaker than a cimex luna, even though she was treated worse than one. The girl was a noble Lycan.

Bloodstain lay down beside Guila, who patted her fluffy head.

Bloodstain's fur, in Guilla's eyes, was beautiful, so white. Guila could see beauty even in the small red round patches scattered across the back of the cub wolf in her lap.

On the rest of her limbs, those stains represented her brother's blood. That's why they named her Bloodstain. From Latin, it means bloodstained.

"Sleep, my little one."

Guila said and took the girl's head from her lap. Her heart ached every time she saw the pitiful way in which the genuine's daughter was treated. The girl didn't have any privilege, being treated worse than a servant. And it hurt so much not to be able to do anything. Guila's heart hurt for her. The most she could do was watch and hope that the goddess would rid her of the cruel fate that this poor girl's father had prepared for her.

And the goddess had been watching all along. Her trial was already in progress.

HANDTOHAND FIGHT

"Mary, please tell me. When?" Margaret insisted once more.

"It's dawn, we have to..."

"You promised, Mary," Margaret crosses her arms at breast height. "I thought you were a woman of your word, but from what I see now..."

Mary rolls her eyes. Not even half an hour since the timid rays of rising sun passed through the windows and Margaret was already on her feet tormenting her with a promise she made ten years ago.

When she saved the little tenyearold child from being enslaved or devoured by the Lycanthropian beasts, in order to get her out of the deep depression that possessed her body, Mary promised to train her and transform her so she could take her revenge. Mary thought that in time the girl would give up on this idea, however, nothing would get it out of Margaret's head, and it frustrated the redeyed vampire immensely.

"In three months. "In three fucking months!" she said in a loud tone that scared the young woman, who tensed all her muscles on alert. "On that same date, three months from now, if you ask me again, I swear Margaret, I swear I will fulfill my promise." Mary decreed impatiently. "Now go and have coffee!" she shouted, pointing to the table.

"Aall right."

That was all Margaret could say. She was happy, after so long now she has a date set and it made her anxious.

"Hey! Stop yelling!" Occisor entered the kitchen covering his sensitive ears.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your ears," Mary apologized. She knew that Occisor's hearing was more sensitive than hers.

Although only Margaret needed to have breakfast in the morning, the three of them sat at the table at every meal to keep her company. The other two members ate only at dinnertime.

Mary still remembered how to cook and so she made the dishes with great pleasure for Margaret. It was one of the only things she could still do normally and it always brought back memories of when she was just a human. She misses that time, the time before everything was ripped away from her.

"Good morning to you, too," Margaret said to Occisor who gave her an impatient look.

"Eat up, creature, don't delay me, I want to train!"

"Don't talk to her like that, Occisor, or you won't have any training today!" Mary scolded him firmly, but Occisor didn't feel the slightest bit frightened.

"If not with you, I will train with anyone else. I just need the basics, the rest I can improve on my own," he replied boldly and Mary took a deep breath.

"Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, you've got to be kidding, the two of you decided to rattle me! Bloody hell!" She said angrily.

"Look, kid, you're barely out of your diapers and you think you're a man? Wake up, naughty boy."

"I don't think I am, I know I am and I know what I'm gonna do! And if you don't want to help me, don't get in my way."

For a tenyearold, his tongue was too sharp. Everyone knows that the development of a lycanthropist after six months of life tends to be accelerated, but it was impossible for this to have happened in just one night, one night when he spent practically all of his time crying.

"Look, puppy, don't forget who it was that saved you from death!" She spoke very close to Occisor's face as she suspended him by his collar.

"As if you would let me forget!" He rolled his eyes.

Mary's eyes changed color, when she is calm her eyes are red, when angry, black. And at that moment they were turning black.

"Calm down, Mary. Occisor has not yet digested the events of last night," Margaret intervened and reason reigned again in Mary's brain. She released the boy who settled back on the table.

"May this attitude not be repeated," she said at last and sat back down at the table.

It took only ten minutes for Margaret to finish eating the spiced bread that Mary had prepared.

"Ma'am, the room is already ready," one of the guards entered the private kitchen.

"Thank you, but next time wait for us to get out of here," she scolded him.

Mary hated having to live on a government base. Privacy, that's all she ever wanted, but it seemed to her that her will wasn't the priority.

The intruder guard was called Derrick, his hair was dark brown and wavy, and he was only five years older than Margaret. Also, he was in love with her.

Derrick was the son of a king, a kingdom killed by Lycanthropic beasts; his mother gave her life so that only he could escape. The government found him and his tutor, who had looked after him for thirteen years and died on the battlefield.

Derrick got lost in time when he looked away from Mary's face and paused on Margaret's beautiful eyes. She loved him too, but she had her priorities and unfortunately love didn't come first. She didn't want love, not at that moment.

"You can go back to your post now, Officer Derrick," Mary brought him back to reality and he tilted his head in a nod and walked back out of the private kitchen.

"Now can we go?" Occisor questioned as he rose from his chair.

"Let me just wash this first..."

"You've never washed your plate in the morning. Is all this just to avoid that officer?" Occisor loved to tease Margaret because he knew she liked the boy.

"Go to hell!" She cursed, picking up her plate and going to the sink.

"Will you stop it? And let's go already," Mary said and started walking, being followed by the other two in silence.

The training room was upstairs. The base had three floors, the second was the private one where only the three lived, but the officers never respected their privacy and always entered their quarters uninvited. The base had no elevator, so they needed to climb two flights of stairs to get to the top floor.

The third floor contains five rooms, which are:

A interrogation room for humans;

Mary not only had the responsibility to hunt the supernaturals, but she also had to deal with serial killers. The government didn't want any police officers to die dealing with these kinds of people, so it was Mary's duty to hunt, interrogate and kill those serial killers.

The second room was an interrogation room for superhumans.

That room was intended for werewolves, vampires and witches. A few years ago, the three races went to war, and that had terrible consequences for the humans. The death of many innocents, the trafficking of virgin women, vampires took them to generate their heirs and witches to complete their ritual. The enslavement of humans to werewolves.

The third room was a human torture room.

This room was destined for the accomplices of serial killers or even those who betray the human race to make it difficult for agents to hunt supernaturals.

The fourth room was another human torture room.

Unlike serious killers, supernaturals are not only entitled to death, before that they go through torture. And the only one capable of that so far is Mary. Each race has its weakness, and she exploits each and every one of them very well.

The fifth room was the training room.

The room that Mary intended to use for handtohand combat training. Inside there's various materials for various kinds of fights. This room is divided in two parts: one for combat and the other for target training guns, knives and arrows.

"I still think they should install elevators here," Margaret grumbled.

Despite her good physical fitness, she hates the stairs.

"It must be pretty cool to go up by just pressing a little button."

Margaret always found the idea of elevators fascinating, she only stepped on one once and felt like she was floating. But the government didn't want to pay for it.

Occisor and Mary could already be on the third floor, but Margaret was walking at a much slower pace than they were.

After another ten minutes of climbing the stairs, they walked down the hall heading for the last room in the corridor. Mary opened the door and gave the other two space to enter as well. Margaret and Occisor only observed the place. He had never been there before.

"Margaret, today you will train with the targets."

"Alright."

Margaret assumed her place, leaving only Mary and Occisor in the handtohand combat area.

"Listen, Occisor, when your training is over, you will have the responsibility to deal with the humans."

"I just want to hunt the..."

"Don't interrupt me!" Mary said harshly and Occisor shut up. "The government supports us in order to deal with Vampires, Wizards, serial killers, accomplices and werewolves."

"I don't want to get involved with the other races!"

"If you want to hunt the werewolves down, you will have to do that, if not, you will also be hunted and will be accused of being an accomplice to the vampires and the witches!"

"This is bullshit!"

"Watch your mouth!"

"I'm not a kid anymore, Mary."

"Then be a gentleman and respect the ladies present here."

Occisor rolled his eyes in response, his rebellion making Mary even angrier.

"Today I'll teach you the fight of the eight guns."

"I thought it was going to be handtohand combat."

"But it is, the eight guns' fight is known to utilize various parts of the body. Let's start with the base."

And so Occisor's training began.

THE BOOK

Exactly thirty minutes after the sun rose, only to remain hidden behind the dense, gray clouds. The sounds of strides echo through the stone floor in the long hallway and soon the genuine couple appeared. At the entrance to the room, two slaves were responsible for opening and closing the heavy doors. When the couple positioned themselves in front of the door, the slaves opened them and the noise caught everyone's attention.

"Is everyone already here?" The genuine alpha asked as he entered the meeting room.

"Yes, the seven alphas, sir," the omega replied with his head down.

"All right. You can leave now."

"Excuse me."

The omega bowes to all the alphas and left the large room, closing the door behind him. The genuine alpha sits at the head of the great table and the genuine lunam sits at his right side.

"Have you found an heir yet?" Kratos questioned Rolf, the alpha of the Rising pack.

"No, I'm still in mourning," he replied without looking at the other alpha.

"You should leave soon. After all it was you who ordered the execution of your velut luna," he said impatiently. The other alpha's mourning had lasted for five years, it was more than enough. "And to this day you still refuse to kill that abomination of yours."

Rolf closed his eyes and his hands in fists tightly. Remembering that he wasn't able to keep his female in line makes him feel ashamed of himself. A show of weakness, and because of that, the honor of his pack is below all, thus losing the name of his star of honor.

"I know," he replied with effort. "I've tried to mate with the lunae of my pack, but just smelling their scents made me angry and I was afraid I was going to kill them, so I stopped and..."

"That doesn't matter," Kratos interrupted him. "I want to take care of another matter."

"And what would it be?" asked the alpha of the Diphda pack.

"Surely it must be of the utmost importance, to gather everyone here," the alpha of the Acrab pack concluded.

"Did the witches and the vampires attacked us again?" the alpha of the Markab pack questioned.

The Lycan race, to that very moment, contained seven packs, apart from the one ruled directly by the genuine. The others were:

• The Diphda pack, having Lucan as its current pack alpha.

• The Rising pack, having as current pack alpha Rolf.

• The Acrab pack, having as current pack alpha Dário.

• The Markab pack, having as current pack alpha Sebastian.

• The Nebula pack, with Raphael as the current pack alpha.

• The Merak pack, having as current pack alpha Apollonis.

And the Sonstellation pack, having Nicollas as its current pack alpha.

The second generation Lycanthropian of history, the stars and constellations formed the familiar branches of the wolves, their pack and their names millenia ago. While the moon represented the genuine alpha's family.

"As everyone already knows, something unusual has happened and in place of an heir, I have a female offspring," Kratos stopped and observed the attentive gazes coming from all the wolves present.

Everyone was silent. No one understood what actually happened, no one even knew that the moon goddess herself had direct contact with the genuine alpha. And no one had the courage to question any of that. The genuine alpha was not someone known for being kind. If he didn't like something, he didn't even stop to think before killing someone.

"That female shouldn't exist, because of her my heir died, but I can't change the facts," said the alpha. "And since she shouldn't exist, I'm sure her mate doesn't exist either. So her uterus should be fertile for any male."

Everyone listened attentively, but no one could say why the genuine alpha chose to gather all the alphas in his castle.

"Five years from now, she'll be at an appropriate age to mate. I want to create a competition and whoever wins will have the right to mate with her and father my heir."

Everyone in the room was taken by surprise, but they managed to disguise it well. "Will this be possible?" they whispered between themselves.

While the meeting was taking place, Bloodstain gained permission to be able to stroll through the forest, being accompanied by Guila. The white floor and the fresh air, the warm rays of sunshine, all that put a beautiful smile on her face.

"Shall we go for a run? Please?" she pleaded, clasping her hands together.

"Come!" Guila smiled. She didn't want to run. She was no longer young; seven hundred years have passed already and she only had three hundred more at most.

They both removed their dresses and tucked them under a tree, in a root that lay above the ground.

They both transformed and for anyone who saw them from the outside, they would think Bloodstain was the oldest of the two because she was much bigger than Guila, but those who knew her better knew that the big wolf was still a puppy.

Bloodstain's paws sank over the fluffy ground through the snow, and that gave her, even for a few wee moments, the feeling of freedom. Feeling the icy wind blowing against her snout made her eyes sparkle with joy. It was so rare for her to be allowed to walk outside the castle, it only happened when people came from outside, like that day. No one wanted to have the displeasure of being in the same room as the killer.

Excited, Bloodstain forces her legs to work faster, running into the white forest. Guila no longer had such strength, and because she was a luna cimex, it was like she was a normal wolf. She tried her best not to lose sight of the girl, but it was very difficult to keep up with her.

With the icy wind blowing softly on her snout, with the cold she could feel on her bones, with the fluffy snow all around her and with the illusion of being free, Bloodstain was feeling like she was in the clouds. But it was only an illusion. Freedom was something she'd probably never have.

Upon arriving at a frozen lake, the girl finally stopped running and waited for Guila. The both of them decided to rest by the river.

Lycanthropes had the power to communicate through the mind with one another, but that wasn't for everyone. That power was restricted and only the members of the same pack could hear each other with their minds. There was only one being able to listen to all lycanthropes and also be heard, and that was the genuine alpha. Guila always wondered if Bloodstain would inherit that power when the genuine died.

"Guila?" Bloodstain said without lifting her head from the fluffy ground.

"Yes?"

"Tell me more about her. The goodness. Why did she create us?"

"She wanted to save her beloved's life."

"What do you mean?" Bloodstain raised her head and looked at Guila intently. Guila in turn sniffed the air to make sure they were alone.

"The goddess was in love with a man, a king, his name was Lycaon. Her brother found out and blackmailed her. He tricked her and made her almost kill her beloved. Then, to save him, she turned him into a werewolf."

"I want more details, Guila! Who was her brother? What's her name? How was this man that she fell in love with? After she turned him, they stayed together? What happened to the brother? Where is she now, the goddess? Who were her parents? What..."

Bloodstain stopped to regain her breath. Guila was stunned.

"I really wish I could answer all these questions," Guila said. "But this could put us in danger.

So..." "But then how can I know more about her if you don't tell me?" Bloodstain put her head on the ground again and stared at the frozen lake.

"I'll figure it out. But we'd better go back now."

They got up and made the way back slowly. They arrived at the castle around noon and the genuine alpha's guests had already left. The castle was empty.

"Where is everybody?" Bloodstain asked as she entered the patio.

"Hunting. They must be in the woods. It's a good thing we didn't crash into them, they would definitely want to fight."

Bloodstain agreed. She hoped that she could have dinner too. But what she really wanted was to learn how to hunt. However, if the omegas didn't have that privilege, a killer shouldn't either.

"I'm going to my den," Bloodstain said and turned around, leaving the room.

Guila nodded and also started walking toward her den.

Guila walked to her bed and pulled out a blackcovered book. It wasn't heavy or too thick. That was the only book she could save from being destroyed. The last book about the story of the first lycanthropist. It tells how it all happened and gives details about the moon goddess and her history with him.

Guilla thanked the goddess for not having anyone else around and with the little book in hand, she walked quickly to Bloodstain's den. Guila hated going through the slave wing, she felt very sorry for these humans, but she couldn't help them even if she tried. She couldn't even defend herself. Even though she had a mate, if he had a guest and they wanted to have her, he would allow them, even though he knew that almost killed her.. But nobody cared.

Bloodstain was sitting in a corner of her den. Guila saw the sadness in her eyes.

"I brought something for you. Don't let anyone see you reading it," Guila said as she approached. "Read this and you will know everything."

Guila handed the book to the girl and kissed her forehead.

"Now I have to go," she said and made for the door.

"Thank you, Guila."

Bloodstain whispered and smiled as she opened the cover of the little book in her hands.

LEARNING ABOUT THE ENEMY

"Thank you for the meal," Margaret says, wiping her mouth, and leaves the kitchen while Mary and Occisor are still eating.

She walks in quick strides. She wants to at least see, if only for a few moments, the officer. It wouldn't be for long and she knew she'd find him soon. That night he was working on the east tower, she knew.

"Hi," she says when she finds him. Derrick looks at her with a beautiful smile. Margaret admires him for a few moments; she notes that his thigh uniform does an excellent job in defining his muscles. As always.

"Hey, beautiful. You want to see the moon with me?"

"It would be my pleasure," she slips through the iron door and closes it carefully behind her.

Margaret knew that if Mary found out she was meeting with Derrick, she would use it as an excuse not to turn her. So it has to be a secret. But, even though she has feelings for the young man, he would never come first in her life.

With confident steps, she paces until she stands in front of the Officer. She turns her back to him and leans on the small wall, pushing her ass towards him, who didn't hesitate to look at it.

He takes a step forward, gluing his body to the young woman's, leaning on the wall with one hand on each side of her body. He comes closer to her neck and kisses her skin, making her gasp. She turns and without hesitation, he takes her lips with fervor in a delicious kiss. She responded with passion, their tongues playing with each other's.

Back in the kitchen…

Mary sighed now that only she and Occisor were left in the kitchen.

"I wash and you dry," she says and begins to wash the dishes.

Occisor nodded without saying a word, the task was already customary for him. If he ever saw Margaret washing or putting away the dishes, that would be a sign that she was sick or that she wanted Mary to give her something.

The task didn't take long, they didn't have many pots to wash other than the one Mary used to treat Occisor's raw meat.

"Mary, I want to know more about my species," Occisor says as he finishes his task. "I want to know how they are, what they do, who commands them, how long they live and how they divide their rankings."

Mary wipes her hands on a cloth and sits down, waiting for the boy to do the same. Too bad Margaret is in her room reading her novel now. Or so she thought.

"The wolves have an absolute commander, his title is…"

"Genuine alpha, I already know the titles, Mary," he says impatiently.

"Then why did you ask me?she asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I know the titles they take, but I don't know who has them, or how they get them," he says and stops for a few seconds thinking about his mother. "And I want more details about… ah… the packs."

Mary looks at him. Occisor was very intelligent; in just one day of training he managed to learn and memorize all the bases of defense of the eight weapons' fighting. Mary really was impressed, she didn't expect him to learn so quickly. But she remembered that for lycanthropes the time it takes to reach adulthood is short. In just ten human years they grow and become adults. And then time freezes and only comes running back when they're close to completing a millennium of life.

"Titles are determined at birth."

"What do you mean?" He flicks his eyebrows, confused.

"The cub's size and the color of its fur, that's how you know if they will be an alpha, beta or omega. Currently, there are seven packs, but two of them were decimated by the witches' attacks and one of them lost its name of honor... And that's the one your mother belonged to."

"What am I? If I am an omega, I won't have a chance against them. I read in the book that omegas are only good for serving and being punching bags," he comments disgustedly.

"I don't think you're an omega. When you were a puppy, you were pretty strong, but since you never transformed, I always wondered if you could be a beta or an alpha."

"Will I ever be able to transform?" He asked himself, but Mary heard him. However, she preferred not to answer because she doesn't know if one day he will ever be able to transform.

"The genuine alpha has the power to hear and speak to all lycanthropes in the world through his mind, while others can only communicate with their own pack. Even the genuine alpha's mate doesn't have this power, it seems to be exclusive to him."

"When I was getting to the part about the females, Margaret took the book from me," he reports sulking as he remembers. But that was before he knew about his history and before he decided he was going to kill his own kind.

And so, like Mary Van Helsing, Occisor Van Helsing is in the process of becoming a traitor to his own people. He doesn't care, he just wants to avenge his mother, his aunt and himself. He now wants to become the thing the wolves, all of them , fear the most.

"The females also have their degree of importance in the Lycan hierarchy. If an omega is seen as a servant, a luna cimex is seen as a prostitute, even if she has a mate, it does not matter to them. And that's how your aunt was treated."

"They're a bunch of bastards!" Occisor shouts and closes his eyes to control the hatred that was boiling in his heart. Even though he was still too young, he understood exactly what Mary was saying. Her aunt was raped by those monsters.

"Lately, I've been looking for opportunities to kidnap females who have destined mates," Mary continues

"What are destined mates?" he asks, coming back to the present.

"Well, I'll try to explain in an easy way. The moon goddess creates wolves in pairs. She chooses who belongs to who and, when they find each other, they become mates."

"That's too vague."

"Then I'll give you a book with more explanations about the goddess."

"Right, but why females with intended mates?"

"Because if I torture them, thanks to the moon goddess's punishment, the males will also feel the pain. And that will weaken them."

Occisor thinks about it for a second and nods. He likes Mary's plan.

"It's a good strategy. Do you already have any females in mind?"

"Yes, in a pack nearby. Her name is Nebula. Her pack had many casualties; the last confrontation with the vampires didn't work out for them."

"And what are you waiting for to attack them?" he asks, rising from his chair.

"It's not that simple," Mary signals with her hand for him to sit down again. He obeys. "This pack is known to be good at fighting. They only lost because of their numbers and because they were attacked by surprise, but still managed to maintain their territory. Even though I have a lot of combat experience, I can't enter their den alone. I'd be dead meat in an instant."

"I'm going to become stronger and then I'll hunt them down, one by one!"

Mary just looked at him.

"What?" Occisor looks at her with confusion.

"Do you think you have an intended mate?"

Occisor's disgusted face almost makes Mary laugh.

"If I do, I'll kill her, too. I don't want to be connected to any of them. She'd be just another disgusting monster."

Mary just observes him. "Talk is easy, boy, but how would you do that? The goddess has punished this race, your kin, for mistreating their females. What do you think she'd do to you if you killed your mate?"

Mary thinks about that for a few seconds. She didn't know the answer to that. The only thing she could do now was wait for time to pass.

Mary's heart clenched as she thought about the children under her protection. She wanted them to be able to live peacefully, without being hatred, or feeling pain or anguish or loneliness. She didn't want them to end up being punished for their insane desire for revenge and blood.

I'm really getting old, she thinks as she stands up..

Unlike werewolves, vampires could live for up to two millennia. Who was the vampire's creator? Who was their god? Mary wasn't sure. In the manuscript kept in the library, they reported that vampires in general are the fruit of an unsuccessful pact of the witches with Hades. The god who can't stand the sunlight and delights in the suffering of others. So, who created the vampires? Witches or the god of the underworld?

"Mary, why is there a war going on between these three races over the humans?" Occisor questions getting up from the table and walking in front of Mary out of the kitchen.

"One wants to be superior to the other."

"What about the humans? What do they want?"

"This is more complex. $ome of them want peace, some want revenge and many others want control and power over the others creatures."

"Humans are weak beings, but they feel superior. Four species of creatures and they all want superiority. Regardless of the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. But the humans are fools."

"I'm sure they are. Alone they will never be able to get out of the bottom of the food chain. After all, this is how everyone else sees them, as food."

"I'm not gonna lie to you. I would like all of us to live in harmony, but I'll never forgive the Lycans for rejecting me and murdering my mother and my aunt. And if for that I have to face the other species too, so be it. Nothing will stand in my way. But I can't guarantee to live to protect the humans. I know all they want is for me to be a puppy under their rule."

With that being said, Occisor turns his back to Mary and walks to his room. When he opens the door, he notices that Margaret was not in her bed. He sighs. He already knew where she was and who she was with. He walks a few steps and lies down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. A few minutes later, the bedroom door opens again and Margaret enters, smelling like him.

"If you don't want Mary to find out, you'd better shower first thing in the morning. The officer's scent is all over you."

Margaret said nothing, just walked to her bed and lay down. The night was once again cold. Her lips were still red and swollen from Derrick's kisses and they only had the moon as a witness.

"How I wish I could forget the past," she whispered to herself.

But that was never ever going to happen.

CURIOSITY ABOUT LOVE

Although it was day, the sky was gray, the heavy clouds didn't allow any ray of sunlight to pass them. A heavy storm was expected that afternoon. The wind whistled bringing with it the cold, which forced them to close the windows, so the torture room had to be lit with torches.

Despite being a heavy and inappropriate job for the genuine's daughter, even more so when she's still just a puppy, it was her own father who forced her to get her hands dirty with innocent blood, in the obligation to leave the room clean for the next victims who would perish in that large and cold room.

The smell made the young woman sick. She felt bad that she couldn't do anything. She couldn't understand why they had to be so mean.

If my brother were alive... would he also participate in this? Would he take pleasure in making others suffer? She questioned herself with disgust. Surely, he would, after all, he would be raised and trained to be that way. He'd learn how to step on his weak brothers and sisters, how to mistreat, destroy, hunt and kill them. All that would be ordinary things for her brother if he had lived instead of her.

Bloodstain wanted to be trained, not to subdue other beings, but to be able to defend herself, to protect herself. She wanted to be independent. But because she carries the bloodstains on her back, no one wanted to teach her how to hunt, or any other feat on how to survive in a forest. The contempt they feel for her was too severe, and her body was too small.

She was forced to watch everyone eat, and always be the last to do so and, when she did, she'd only get bones. And so her body was too thin, it was possible to count the bones of her ribs.

Bloodstain had her attention stolen by Guila, who knelt beside her and with a brush began to wipe away the dried blood on the floor.

"You don't have to do that."

"It's too heavy of a job for only one person."

Bloodstain smiled. After reading a few pages of the book Guila gave her, she now thanked the moon goddess for at least giving her one person who cared for her.

"Guila?"

"Yes?"

"I've read some parts of the book. I got to the part where she talked about love. How does it work?"

"For the Lycans, love is destined. That is, you are born to be someone's person and they are born to be yours. This is called being mates," she smiles and continues softly. "When you find him, your heart will race and your mind will scream mine. The same will happen to him"

"If… If I find him, will he do to me what all the others do? I mean... He'll also see me as a murderer and despised me, be disgusted with me and probably left me for…"

"He will love you," Guila interrupts her. "He has an obligation to make you happy. The males of our kin, when they meet their mate, any bad feelings you feel, or pain, they feel that too. He has a duty to ensure your wellbeing because if he makes you feel miserable, he'll be miserable too."

Bloodstain sighs dreamily. The image of a man caressing her face warms her heart.

"That's so beautiful. I hope to find my destiny," Bloodstain smiles. She wanted so badly to find someone like that. To share the pain, the fears, to be protected, to be loved by someone. "Would he teach me how to hunt?"

"No!" A raspy voice echoes throughout the room, frightening the two females who were so distracted that they didn't notice the presence of another being. In reaction, they widen their eyes and turn toward the genuine alpha that enters the room with heavy strides.

Did he hear us talking about the goddess? Guila questions herself as she closes her hands into fists so as not to demonstrate the tremor in them. Fear was the most common feeling among the weakest in the pack.

"And you know why he won't teach you?" Kratos approaches slowly and with cruel eyes fixed on the young woman." Because he doesn't exist!" He smiles as he sees her frightened blue eyes fill with tears. "Nor should you exist! Your existence is a disgrace! Because of you my son died, you bastard! You're a mistake, you're much worse and wort less than a luna cimex."

Bloodstain's tears glided hot across her cheeks. She bites her lips hard so they won't shake and lowers her head. Her reaction makes a wicked smile open up in her father's mouth, who is obviously delighted to see the little girl's suffering.

"What did you expect? I mean, look at you," he said, looking at her like she was trash. "Your body has the stains of a killer, you are a disgrace that happened in our species, a freak. Do you really think someone like you is going to have a destined mate? Don't make me laugh, stupid girl."

Guila's heart clenched and Bloodstain's bled from hearing such words. If she could choose, she would never have been born. And Guila, she swore that if she was strong, she'd kill him right now.

"But don't worry, you'll have a male in your life, and he'll be handpicked by me. Look at that as a privilege."

Bloodstain raised her head and looked at her father with hope. Did he said... She'd have... He would give her something to be happy about? She thought that was an act, a proof of paternal love and felt hppe. The genuine alpha, hearing her thoughts, smiled even more.

"Don't think you'll be loved, girl. You don't deserve any kind of happiness. You'll continue to be humiliated because that's what you deserve and you'll always be nothing besides what you really are, a murderer! You'll never be happy! Your life will always be hell, and that I promise you!"

After that, he turns and leaves the room. The tears once again filled the young woman's eyes and Guila hugged her tightly. "Poor child," Guila feels her heart shatter as she hugs and feels the warmth of the girl's tears on her skin.

"I'm… I thought," she sobbed and Guila hugged her even harder. "That... Even if it was just a little... That he… That he cared about me."

"Don't listen to him, little one," Guila whispered quietly in her ear. "Remember that the goddess is absolute, and you do have a destiny. No matter what others say, the goddess decides your destiny and is sure isn't it. It can't be"

Bloodstain nodded and hugged Guila tightly. Although poorly fed, the girl had great strength, and the embrace was leaving Guila breathless.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

Please, moon goddess, grant this poor girl a mate who treats her well. She suffered enough and did nothing to deserve it, Guila prayed to the goddess and Selene listened loud and clear.

"Better finish this soon," Guila said after a while, returning to the task at hand.

Bloodstain waited a few seconds until she stopped sobbing, wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and smiled at Guila, returning to work.

In the nascent pack…

"Any news?" Alpha Rolf asked his first beta.

"No, Sir."

"Where the hell did that creature go?"

Even after so many years, Rolf was still hunting the cub his late mate had. He could feel it in his bones that the child was alive. And that pissed him off a lot. That's why he couldn't mate again, or so he believes.

"Alpha, I don't believe the child is still alive. He would have no way to survive out there, alone in the forest..."

"Have you seen him?" The alpha interrupted impatiently.

"No, Sir."

"Yeah, no one's seen him because none of you are looking for him!"

"But he was just a human baby, and with the rain, with the storm that night… There's no way he could have survived a weather like that."

"That child is alive! I'm not crazy!!" He yelled at the beta that shut up immediately.

Everyone in the pack thought that the alpha was going crazy, not only for the search of a child that everyone thought dead, but also because of his mate's death. Even after five years, he couldn't tolerate the touch of any females; even if they were the most beautiful beings the pack had ever seen, the alpha could only look at them with hatred.

"Alpha, I need to tell you something," the beta said after he took a deep breath. He was going to betray the other betas, but that didn't really matter. He was loyal to his alpha and no one else.

"Just say it!"

"The other betas, they're planning to challenge you... They're saying that you're going crazy and that it's your fault our pack has its name in the mud."

Rolf sighs. Although he's yet to overcome his mate's death, he still knew how to reason perfectly. And giving up his place as alpha was out of the question, and he would not admit such treason.

"Thank you, Antonis. Summon the other betas. Tomorrow night we will have the challenges, but speak in front of everyone.

"Yes, Sir. Can I get you anything else??

"No, you can go now. And once again, thank you for your loyalty, my brother."

Antonis nods and leaves the room.

The alpha sighs again. He didn't think his pack would ever attempt to make a move against him and his ranking. But it was a possibility and it was happening.

I will not allow myself to be killed or out ranked by my own pack. I will raise this pack again and bring back our name of honor, he promised himself.

Between the seven alphas and the seven packs, he was the only who didn't have an heir and, as such, he was also the only one who had the right to claim the genuine alpha's daughter.

It will be easy, I just have to beat some puppies, he thought and smiled.

But the goddess was not in favor of any of the plans made by them.

And soon, everyone would see who she chose.