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 well-being 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.