Marked by the Demon Wolf

RULE ONE(13)

I can't move.

I'm back to that dark place again.

"No, no, please…please, father. Don't take me to him again, I beg you." The choked plea of a girl echoes out in the empty space. "I'll do whatever you want, please." She begs, she knows he wouldn't listen but she begs anyway.

I am that girl.

"This is you doing whatever I want, child."

He says and drags her by the collar because she is worthless like that. A coward.

Coward.

Coward.

The word comes rushing from all corners. Repeating itself like a broken mantra.

"STOP—" she screams. Her father looks into her eyes, all he sees is a monster. A monster who killed her own mother.

"Stop…" she sobs now. They are near that place. She has run, looks around only to met thick, unforgiving darkness.

"Vionne? Vionne!!" A faraway voice calls out. Blaring through like a binding ray of light. I gasp and hang on to it like a drowning sailor.

"Vionne!"

My eyes fly open. My body feels foreign and stiff to me, save for the loud thudding of my heart against my ribs. Celeste is kneeling over me, brows furrowed.

I sit up slowly under her stare. Sure enough, my back drenched with sweat is sticking to my skin like glue.

Her expression is unreadable as her piercing gray eyes study me. "What?"

"You were screaming in your sleep."

"I-I was?"

"Crying too." My hands fly to my cheeks and find cooling streaks of tears there.

"Oh." Is the only response my brain can provide.

"Could you like to tell me what that was all about?"

I let out a small laugh, dragging a hand down my face. "Aren't you supposed to be avoiding me at all costs now?"

"Maybe I should. But I figured out your outlash may be due to the coming Red Moon."

"Right." I wish it was.

"So will you tell me what your dream was about or is there anything I can do to help?"

"So all is forgiven?" She shrugs in response. "Just like that?"

"Do you want me to keep being mad at you?"

"No, no…it's just…I mean, that was fast. Like I haven't even have the chance to ask for your forgiveness."

"You did apologize the moment you snapped out of it."

"You heard that?"

"I was shocked, not deaf." She laughs.

I lean against the cool wall, still in doubt any normal person forgives that fast. She leans alongside me too. For a moment, we both stay silent, engulfed in issues of our own.

The words come tumbling down on their own. "My father was…." I trail off, considering these are bits of me I never showed anyone. "Let's just say he wasn't an ideal one. I wouldn't wish him on my worst enemy."

Celeste blows a shaky breath. "Same here." I turn to her, surprised. "He was really abusive to my mom and I. Would beat s**t out of us in his fits. Even worse when it was a full moon. My mom couldn't take it anymore and ran for her life. I wasn't that lucky." Sorrow pools in her eyes as she speaks.

"I am so sorry you had to go through that."

She shakes her head. "It's fine."

"Is he the reason you have trouble sleeping sometimes?" I point out, remembering one of our earlier conversations. She nods.

"He liked to catch people unaware, in the sense that, if I in particular did a thing that displeased him, he'd stall his time. Wait till I was dead asleep before he'd go in my room and wake me abruptly with a heavy smack. Most times — all of the time — if I'm sincere, it never ends there. I'd prefer if I just took my punishment in the moment and not jolt awake to his terror. It did affect me just the way he wanted. I can't sleep without that fear. Sometimes, I still smell the sour reek of liquor he always had on him."

"Gods, that's so…"

"f****d up?" She completes it with a sad smile.

"Yeah."

"Don't worry about me. You seem to have it worse than I did."

"It's not a competition. It's different for everyone."

"Sure is. I am kind of surprised our fathers didn't get along well. Evil men usually prefer to flock together."

"Tell me about it." We both laugh. A strange warm feeling flushes into my chest and belly. I feel lighter.

Then remember something and look out the windows. Sure enough, it's dawn.

"Shit." I curse, jumping from my bed like I've been scalded in the ass.

"What's wrong?" Celeste asks. I hesitate, not knowing if I should tell her or not.

"I have to meet someone at dawn."

"Oh?" Her eyes sparkle with a mischievous glint as she wriggles her eyebrows at me knowingly. I ignore her, stripping out of my previous wear to head to the bathroom. Azrakel's remarkable nose would probably sniff me out if I went there without taking a bath and he'd make a snide remark about it. We wouldn't want that now, do we?

Celeste is grinning than it should be allowed by the time I'm done. Even interferes when I am trying to get my hair up in a bun. "Don't bundle it up, it looks sexy when you let it down." She says with a wink.

"Did he talk you into this or what?"

"So you are indeed going to meet him…"

I groan, dragging a hand down my face roughly. I reach for the door and stop for a beat, giving Celeste one last look.

"Thank you, Celeste."

Her lips press into a thin line. "I didn't do anything."

"You already did more than I could ever ask for."

—--------

I practically jog my way to his personal quarters. Then run into an amused looking Sebastian on the way who gave me directions as to where Azrakel was because according to him, I looked like a lost sheep.

The said instructor is already seated on the floor, barefooted, dressed in simple black slacks and shirt. His criminally smooth hair is tied back as usual, with a few strands escaping and curtaining his sensual eyes.

"Darling, you don't find his eyes creepy anymore?"

"Shut up."

A hint of irritation flashes through me. Does everyone else's wolf behave so unruly, or am I the cursed one?

"You are late." Azrakel announces, his gaze on me as still as stone.

"Er. I may have overslept a little."

"You overslept?" He repeats incredulously. "You knew you had training today and overslept?"

My cheeks warm in embarrassment at his accusing tone. "I am here now, ain't I?"

A moment of silence passes. He leaps to his feet.

"So, what are you going to teach me exactly? I am sure you know very well that I am far from an amateur."

"That's for me to decide." I scoff, eyes scanning the intricate rack of weapons, ranging from jagged knives and battle axes to sleek swords.

A dagger of deep purple embellishments catches my attention.

I pick it and swing it in his direction. "I don't need training." He doesn't even blink at the dagger whistles right past him.

"The contest is majorly hand to hand combat style." He says flatly.

"If I had my way, I wouldn't participate at all."

"Good thing you won't have your way."

I give him my best glare.

"I assume you are good at hand to hand combats too?" He asks

"Very good."

He nods. "Even under the pressure of shifting? Or whatever you almost did back then?"

That gets me speechless. "It comes at random."

"You know it comes when you are riled up or when you are trapped in uncomfortable situations."

I frown. "I have been in uncomfortable situations all my life. How is this any different?"

"The people you'd compete against are Alphas who spent decades of their life training. You are simply a child to them. Giving them even the slightest edge could be fatal."

"Which is why I shouldn't participate."

"Which is why you should win." He gives me a pointed look.

"You just said they had their whole life training. Who I am to compete against them?" I say, spreading my arms to show my helplessness.

"You have an advantage of both speed and strength. That should do."

"How would you know?"

"I saw you fight once."

"You did? When?"

He shrugs. "During the hunt when I was just passing by."

"You expect me to believe you were just passing by when you personally signed me up for it?"

"Yes, I put you in the hunt for my own entertainment, happy now?"

For his own entertainment? I almost died for someone's entertainment. Wow, sure happy to know.

He touches his chin and continues. "Though you managed to kill Issac, it was an incredibly sloppy job."

My jaw hurts from how much I am clenching it. I roll my neck and crack my fists. Today, I must get at least one punch on this bastard.

"You know what? Let's have just one spar. For training purposes, of course."

"Not here."

Before I can ask where, the ground caves in and I fall with a scream.

Azrakel looks down at me from where he stands in a condescending fashion. "Rule one, always be aware of your surroundings."

"How the f**k was I supposed to know you had an underground chamber?

"Language." He warns before jumping in and landing a lot smoother than I did. Offers me his hand.

"f**k you." I ignore his hand and stand up. Not without quickly darting a look at him, there's no telling what he'd do next. He gives me an unnerving smile instead.

Not sure if my head got muddled from the fall but his eyes look less dead than they did when I first met him.

I avert my gaze and take the opportunity to look around. "Where is this place?"

"Just a little something." Except that it's not little in any way. It's a never-seen-before massive underground facility stretching wider than any cellar I have ever seen before. In its center is a glass enclosed sparring ground. The rest is just full of machinery and weapons I have probably never seen before.

He strides towards the sparring section while I follow.

The inside is a different humidity, a totally different atmosphere. It feels like I am not quite walking anymore but floating instead. Like I'm about to jump out of my own skin.

"I'm sure you must have noticed the difference by now. It's a Fae forged chamber, designed to amplify your senses — emotions."

The pressure in the air is doubled till every bone in my body is pulled taut and tense. Till I am tethering on a dangerously familiar edge.

"What you'd be fighting today is a stimulation. Good luck, Red." He says, before his figure blurs in place altogether and smoke like magic invades the space.

Standing before me is…a dead man.