Chapter 7

• He's testing my limits. I realized, even so, I couldn't help the furious blush that spread across my cheeks. I have no immunity towards men; I spent all my time training and fighting and never once bothered with thoughts of romance.
• Kanjax had gone the extra mile when testing my limits, and I couldn't decide whether I liked it or not. At first he wove his fingers within my own, clasping my hands tightly before he hauled me up and out of my chair. At that moment I was far too surprised to react properly and could only marvel at how strong he had to be to be able to lift me like that without so much as breaking a sweat.
• By the time I came to my senses he had already wrapped his muscular arms around my waist, pulling me tightly against him. His flesh melded to my own, his strength pulling us flush against each other with my arms stuck firmly to my sides. Where our flesh met a warm zapping like feeling spread, almost like when static electricity shocks you. He nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck, my short bob brushing against his slicked back golden locks.
• Warmth that I've never felt from any other embrace flooded my body in a sudden onslaught. For a moment I melted within his embrace, the heat and warmth so enticing. He even smelled good too, was it his cologne or perhaps just his natural scent? I couldn't tell but my mind was becoming fuzzy with confusion as my emotions attacked each other.
• If you come any closer I'll bite you!
• My previous words flashed across my mind. With those words in mind I stiffened before rearing my head back and elongating my canines. Once my canines were fully extended, quite a few inches, I bit down into the muscular flesh of his shoulder harshly. Kanjax flinched around me, grunting as he winced in pain.
• Oh? Nice pain tolerance. He might be fun to spar with.
• His blood flooded into my mouth from the wound I inflicted on him, and I couldn't help but to gasp. For some reason it tasted so good. Better than the blood sausage this morning, better than all the hunting I did in the previous hours. The ravenous hunger deep within me twitched from within its sated sleep, taking interest in the blood that now slipped down my throat. I greedily drank the blood that poured from the wound, waiting for the flow to slow. Once it did I slowly retracted my canines, trying not to tear up his flesh any further. Almost on instinct I lightly lapped at the wound, licking away the excess blood and coating the bite in my saliva. Oddly enough the wound started closing, healing quicker than a normal wolf's wound should.
• "Fuck." Kanjax groaned, almost groggily, still not releasing me.
• "Fuck is right you little bitch. I told you if you got closer I was going to bite you." I responded immediately, no malice in my tone but rather slightly teasing.
• "Why do I always portal into the most awkwardest of situations?" Aaron asked from in front of me, groaning as he glanced over our intertwined forms, eyes narrowing at my blood stained lips.
• Both Kanjax and I stiffened, embarrassment wafting through the air from the both of us. Even so Kanjax seemed almost regretful to release me rather than to feel guilty for his actions. I watched him with a watchful gaze as he slowly released me, tapping his head against mine lightly.
• "I hope to be able to speak to you later, Alpha Ruslana-Slava." He said lightly, his warm breath fanning across my face.
• I looked into his stormy eyes without hesitation. "Oh? Even after I just bit you, tore into your flesh? What are you? A glutton for punishment?"
• He chuckled lightly, smiling warmly at me for some reason. "Perhaps. Besides, I invited your violence by forgoing your warning."
• With that he released me, standing and turning towards the door. He nodded once at Grandpa Aaron before exiting my office, leaving me sitting atop my desk in an awkward silence. Huffing I slowly slid off my desk before sitting in my seat, motioning for Aaron to take a seat as well.
• Aaron sat down silently, something that was awfully odd considering it was him. Even odder still, he had a rather serious expression on his face as he glanced over me before muttering a few things in Latin.
• Impatience buzzed through me as he continued to stare. "Well, Gramps? Aren't you going to tell me anything?"
• "I will, once your brothers get here. I notified them when I arrived, so they should be here soon." He said in a rather dim tone for someone who is always playing tricks.
• Nearly ten minutes later Vladislav and Alexei walked in, looking only slightly stressed. The fact that Vladislav leaned against the wall with relaxed shoulders notified me that he must've found something. If he hadn't found a body by now he would be very stressed.
• "Any news for me?" I asked Vladislav, seeing as Aaron didn't seem ready to speak yet.
• Vladislav glanced at me before nodding. "All those on patrol are accounted for, and we did find a body. Two in fact. Christ it was gruesome. You had made a den in a hollowed out fallen oak tree, bringing each kill into it to feast on. Smelt like the seventh ring of hell in there, and took us a while to find the bodies. You tore the poor bastards to pieces, ate everything that was edible. Nothing left to identify them by. But it was human, not wolf."
• "Thank God!" I exclaimed, fist pumping the air for a moment.
• Alexei and Vladislav sent me a questioning look.
• I shrugged in response. "I'd rather eat a human than one of the people I'm governing. I don't want our wolves to fear me because I'll eat them. I want them to fear me out of respect of my strength and position."
• "Fair enough." Alexei said before looking at Aaron. "Now what's going on, Grandpa? Ruslan's never lost control to her blood lust before. If she keeps it up though she'll be a danger to all of us. There aren't many wolves that can match her strength... And their all of our blood."
• Aaron sighed, rubbing his face harshly for a moment. "Okay. In simplistic terms, I've done fucked up. And I am oh so screwed for it."
• I raised an eyebrow, motioning for him to continue.
• "All the other warlocks and witches, once they catch wind of this, of you, are all going to have my ass. The curse I put on your mother was kind of okay in terms of side effects. Seeing as she was human there wasn't much I was too worried about. What I didn't expect was for her to be able to pass it down to her daughter; curses aren't generally hereditary unless you forge them that way.
• "Before I go further let's have a little history lesson so you can understand everything. Demons are all beings that were once human. They're souls that became corrupted either after passing or due to all the fucked up shit they did as a human. Seeing as you and your mother kill the nastiest of bastards you both pick up bits and pieces of the most corrupt souls. You pick up these partial souls through the living ink tattoo, since it draws of the power of the souls for the enchantment to work. Granted it wasn't supposed to be a problem but magic is unpredictable. Your mother inherited a hellish demonic form, one she couldn't control and eventually drove her mad. It took a lot of mending to repair her mind afterwards, the demon form eventually had to be sealed.
• "Now, while I knew how it affected your mother I was hoping it wouldn't affect you because you're a werewolf. Generally you can't be more than one supernatural creature at a time; nature just doesn't work that way. For example, if a warlock was turned into a vampire he would lose his connection to magic and eventually be unable to practice it. Seeing as werewolf genes are dominant I had hoped that they would suppress whatever Sylvan passed down to you.
• "Obviously what you are is a case of co-dominance of genes that shouldn't be able to coexist! You're a miracle that warlocks and witches haven't been able to create for centuries. Either that or I'm a genius. Either way we're so screwed." He finished.
• I cocked my head to the side and raised an eyebrow. "And why exactly are we screwed, Gramps?"
• "What you've become, due to my curse that I can't reverse since its woven into your DNA, is what used to be known as a Demon Wolf. An extinct race of werewolves that we warlocks and witches, even White Sorceresses took part in this genocide, erased from the very halls of history." He replied.
• "Like she wasn't deadly enough, Grandpa." Alexei stated, chuckling lightly.
• "Why did your race destroy Demon Wolves?" I asked genuinely interested; I've never heard of another werewolf race before.
• "Demon Wolves were a race of werewolves that were a perfect mix of demon and werewolf. They were capable of using magic, having endless lifespans like demons and the shifting abilities of werewolves. The only thing they did lack were mates, seeing as they were not created by the Moon Goddess they were not granted other halves. The first Demon Wolf was born when a werewolf, whose name has been long forgotten, seeked more power in the darkest corners one could seek within.
• "He formed a contract with a demon, intertwining the formless demon with his soul within his own body. Unlike the rest of his kind he was unable to use magic and didn't have such a hellish lifespan. Rather his sons had mutations within their genes which accepted the demons they were born with completely. The first Demon Wolf was a man and so all following him were men, using other races for breeding purposes. Just as your genetic mutation with your curse will now only pass down to your daughters, and your daughters’ daughters.
• "Now, because these Demon Wolves were capable of dark magic warlocks and witches had many skirmishes with them. The two races became mortal enemies, fighting each other for many centuries. In fact the Salem Witch trials was just another one of our battles, Demon Wolves and warlocks or witches taking turns burning each other at the stake. Eventually the Demon Wolves were over powered and we destroyed the last of their bloodline since we had far more troops.
• "You are the first female Demon Wolf, and the first of your kind for many, many years. As such, as the warlock who made this possible I am so screwed. Of course, seeing as the souls within you are slightly different than the ancient demons that bonded with the original Demon Wolves you'll probably miss a few of their perks. My guess is that you won't be able to use magic or have an oddly long lifespan. Perhaps that is what will redeem me within the eyes of my race."
• "Dude," I paused looking into Aaron's eyes. "You revived a race that was totally wrecked by your own in years past. You are screwed."
• I couldn't help but to laugh at the way the blood drained from Aaron's blue face. He was just as fun to tease as my brothers.
• "Alexei, Vladislav. You guys should go call Mama and Otets and fill them in, also figure out what time they'll get here." I said, shooing my brothers out of my office.
• Once the door closed and the sound of their footsteps receded I looked back towards Aaron. "You still have a few things left to say, net?"
• "Yes. I didn't want to alarm you brothers, but, one thing Demon Wolves were known for perhaps even more so than their aptitude for magic was their insatiable hunger for human flesh and their unquenchable thirst for the blood within the flesh. Demons are born of dead souls; they lack vitality. So, in a sense, Demon Wolves also lack a certain amount of vitality and so they took it from their victims through their life blood. They just happened to eat at the same time." He said, wincing as he finished; Demon Wolves seemed like a hellish race.
• "That's why I was so hungry, why animal meat didn't do it for me. What I was lacking was the human vitality the souls within me don't have." I said in realization.
• Aaron nodded. "Indeed. Although you didn't attain their magical abilities it seems you did attain their preferred diet. And that's just shit luck right there."
• "And how do you know all of this? Even warlocks wouldn't know such finite details of another race, net?" I asked.
• Aaron sent me a small smile. "Indeed. It's because I was friends with a few Demon Wolves. Despite what many warlocks or witches will have you believe there were tame Demon Wolves; not everyone is evil because of the race they're born into. These Demon Wolves often relied on their lovers for sustenance, drinking their blood every so often. Seeing as it would sate them more than a random human because their lover wanted to help them, their blood wanted to support them and so it did."
• "Lovers for sustenance..." I said, trailing off as the image of my canines within Kanjax's neck flashed within my minds’ eye. "I haven't met my mate, and even if I do, what if they aren't human?"
• Some unknown emotion flickered within Aaron's eyes before it disappeared. "A mate is a mate, lover a lover. It won't matter their race, as long as they truly wish to support you. Besides, as a half-blood you're going to have a hard time finding your mate. Not all your wolf senses are as sharp as one's should. Something I've noticed that you lacked is a wolf's sense and drive to find their mate. Often at sixteen or older wolves would often go searching for their mates. You never had that urge."
• I shrugged. "Whatever. I've got enough problems right now, I'll save searching for a mate later. Right now I have to secure my position and try to stop myself from eating the humans that live in the surrounding area."
• "You know, if you found your mate you wouldn't have to worry about eating people. You'll only want to eat him." He finished with a snicker.
• I narrowed my eyes at him. "Oh hardy har har. You're so fucking funny, Gramps. Get outta’ here, enjoy the festivities. I'll wait in here until Mama and Otets arrive. After all, I don't really like loud and bustling areas."
• "If that's what you wish, Little Ruslana, of course I'll comply. Happy ascension day by the way." Aaron said as he leaned over my desk and pressed a light kiss on my forehead while pulling me into a gentle hug.
• With that he left my office as requested, leaving me to ponder what I've become.