by K. A Knight
“I am travelling with someone,” I inform him, and then lower my voice, almost whispering, “Lucifer.”
“You are traveling with who, sir?” Jean Paul asks.
Smiling at the snake, I turn away and cover the phone. “I’m pretty sure he’s Lucifer,” I mumble.
“Sorry, I can’t hear you, sir. Are you on speaker again?”
“Lucifer, as in Satan!” I scream, and then look over at said man who is watching me from the passenger seat with an eyebrow arched and a grin curling his lips.
“I prefer Snake or ‘Oh Dark and Powerful One,’ but please, continue,” he comments.
“I will see you soon,” I say to a laughing Jean Paul as I hang up. “We may hop now.”
His face darkens for a moment, wiped clean of amusement, and the car fills with the same black smoke, his red eyes flaming through it, the only thing I can see. “Do not order me, dragon, you will not like what happens.” Then, his eyes blink back to normal and the smoke embraces me. “Shall we?” he offers politely.
And they say I’m crazy.
I drop to my knees as pain washes through me. I’m finally changing, using that power. That face, that skin I stole that’s been waiting to be used flows over my body until I’m panting with my head pressed to the floor.
Taking some deep breaths, I push to my feet and grab the closest large, broken mirror shard, checking out my new skin. Good, I look like a guy, I even have his uniform on. That will help me get into the dungeons. Throwing the shard away, I stroll down the corridor as murderous intent fills me. The council wants to play God? I’m going to show them just how wrong they are.
Sauntering down the passageway, I pause at the bottom of the stairs to the underground laboratory, taking in the two nephilim standing guard at the top near the open doorway.
I don’t have time for this shit. I need to get to my mates, free the monsters, and kill the council before they can experiment on any other poor defenceless women. But nephilim won’t be as easy to kill as humans, so I guess it’s time to put my power, my strength, to the test.
Rolling my eyes, I grab the wall dramatically, panting and looking pained. “Help, please, she’s escaping!” I yell, and then pretend to be dragged backwards with a scream.
Hiding behind the wall, I wait as I hear them storming down the stairs. Come on, you winged bastards. I wait with bated breath as they pass my hiding spot. Stepping out, I block their exit with a smirk.
They glance back and then look around in confusion. “Where is she?”
“Right here, boys. Now, tell me, if your dad was an angel and your mom was a human...does that make you only half asshole?” I ponder, tapping my chin. They glance at each other in bewilderment before searching around again. “Wow, well, you clearly didn’t get their brains. Fuck it, let’s just fight, shall we?”
They reach for the knives at their hips but hesitate, still confused about why a human guard is attacking them. Really, if this is the council’s protection, then this whole mission will be a cakewalk and I’ll be back to having orgies with my mates before I know it.
Transforming my eyes, I let them flash black to see if that will do the trick, but the stupid winged bastards just stare…and Griffin thought sheep were stupid, just wait until I use this against him. Fuck it.
I lunge at them to get the ball rolling, but the new swinging appendage between my legs pushes me off balance and I stumble into the first nephilim. He pushes me away, frowning, and pulls his blade as his friend rushes off into the bunker to undoubtedly search for me.
“Bloody penis getting in the way, can I ask you how you fight with it? Do you tuck it to the side? What about your balls?” I question seriously, reaching into my black pants and pushing my temporary cock to the side. Hmm, not too small actually, congrats to the guy.
“Why are you still talking?” he rumbles, looking very uncomfortable.
“Blade! They are all dead!” comes the yell from the other nephilim, and the one in front of me looks down at me—ah, he’s finally getting it.
“I tried to tell you, also...Blade? Really? How fucking cliché.” I laugh, leaning against him. “Oh, Blade, please don’t kill me,” I mock, my deep male voice breaking as I try to talk in a higher pitch.
Before he can push me away again, I grab the knife in his hand and bury it in his stomach. “Ironic, Blade dies by a blade,” I sneer, as I twist it in deeper. He groans, blood pooling around my hands as he falls backwards. But his wings shoot out and his eyes flash gold. Whoops, angel boy is mad.
Well, so the fuck am I.
Grabbing the blade, I leap into the air using the human’s strength, and imbed it in his eye, driving it into that golden orb. “Take that, you winged bastard,” I mutter as I drop to the floor and roll, getting to my feet. I watch as the nephilim falls to his knees before tumbling forward to the ground, the blade pushed deeper with a sickening squelch by the force of the fall.
I yelp as I’m smashed into the wall and a hand goes around my throat, cutting off my air supply. The other nephilim pins me there as he snarls at me, his eyes glowing with that same golden hue. “Skinwalker,” he hisses.
“You…are…smarter…than…the…other…one,” I wheeze, bringing my knee up and connecting it with his cock and balls. He drops me to the floor as he falls backwards with a pained howl. “Still weak though.”
He recovers quicker than I thought he would and lunges for me. I duck under his hands and snatch some glass from the floor, cutting my palms, and I slash upwards. Sliding out from between his legs, I spin and throw myself onto his back, then he starts bucking and slamming me into the walls.
His wings take us higher as he smashes me into the ceiling, trying to dislodge me. Grunting from the impact, I wrap my legs tighter around him and use the glass like a weapon. I stab at him, at every inch I can get, again and again, until suddenly we drop to the floor. Groaning, I roll from his body and get to my feet, panting as I glance down to see his eyes open and wide as he gapes down at the glass embedded right into his chest. Blood pumps out quicker than it can heal. Crouching down, I grab the glass and twist it, narrowing my eyes at him. “This is for Griffin.”
His eyes flare at that as I wrench out the glass, letting the blood spurt and drain from his body. I watch him die, a sick satisfaction filling me. Standing, I drop the glass to the floor and step over their bodies. I’m just about to leave when a thought hits me. Looking back, I spot all the wasted blood and a grin stretches across my lips.
Dipping my finger in the crimson liquid, I start to write on the wall, leaving the council a warning. Let them feel the same fear I did, that all these women did. For once they are the prey, and I want them to know it.
I’m coming for you.
Whistling, I make my way back across the property. It takes as long as it originally did to get here with Amos, but something strange happens. A wolf emerges from within the darkness of the trees like it was waiting for me. But it’s no normal wolf, it’s huge, as big as me standing in this male’s skin. Its eyes are a bright, abnormal blue, like the stars are caught in its eyes. Something about it stops me and I stare, it stares right back. Its fur is a deep black with streaks of grey lighting it, and what look like silver hoops hang from its left ear, three of them. The symbol on its head makes me stare—an upside-down crescent moon that seems to glow silver with specks of white around it. What is this wolf?
My heart slams in my chest, my body unable to move, to walk away. What the fuck is happening? Its muzzle opens in a snarl as its head lowers.
Narrowing my eyes, I flash my teeth at him.
“Don’t start, doggy, I know a forest god who will kick your ass,” I warn, pointing my finger at him. He snarls and snaps at me, so I smack his muzzle. “No, bad wolf, no eating.”
He whimpers, a whine catching in his throat as he puts his teeth away and lowers his head before dropping to his belly and rolling over. I snort, bend down, and rub his fur there. “That’s a good little wild wolf, yes it is, who
’s a good boy? Yes, you are. Now go, eat the council for all I care.”
Standing, I start back through the forest but the hair on the back of my neck rises again, so I look over my shoulder to see the wolf trotting behind me. “No! No wolf pets, Griffin will kill me!” I groan and it stops and sits down, giving me those wide eyes. “God fucking damn it. Fine, but I swear if you piss in the house he’ll try to kill you!” Turning around, I rub my hair in frustration. The stupid mutt better be potty trained, how the fuck am I supposed to explain to my mates that we adopted a wolf? Is it not bad enough I’m coming back with a new vampire and a minotaur?
Grumbling to myself, I head back through the training grounds which are empty, pretending that I’m supposed to be here. If I do and anyone sees me, they might not question it. Fake it till you make it. The wolf lopes after me happily, his tongue lolled out to the side.
I use the entrance Veyo pulled me through and easily find the steps down to the dungeon, then I take a deep breath. I willingly go back down there to the monsters that are waiting.
The wolf follows me as I pass the many, many cells, trying to remember all the twists and turns that will lead me back to Dume, but my power starts to falter. I’ve been wearing this skin for a while, not to mention I stored it and it feels like it’s stretched too tight, like it might snap.
A groan leaves my lips as I stumble into the wall, breathing heavily as sweat beads on my brow, and when I try to step forward, needing to get to Dume before I change in the hallway, I tumble to the ground.
Back bowing, hands scratching at the cement, I stop the scream in my throat as the change takes me by surprise. When it’s done and I’m back to being Dawn, I hear a snarl and look up, spotting the wolf. Fuck. He watches me in confusion, sneaking closer, and I freeze, wondering if it’s going to try and eat me again. But then he whines, and his tongue comes out, licking my face.
“Good boy,” I coo, rubbing his neck.
“What the fuck, Vasculo, is that a fucking wolf?” Griffin yells, and I turn to see him with an apron on and two trays held in each hand as he gawks at me.
“I can explain...are you wearing an apron?” I ask, cocking my head to the side. “Cute. Will you wear one at home and nothing else?”
He drops the trays to the ground and the wolf bounds over and starts to lick up the food as Griffin rips the apron away, his expression transforming into one of anger, his eyes flashing with that familiar madness that has my thighs clenching. He storms my way and yanks me to my feet, pressing his hand to my throat. “What the fuck were you doing up there? Where did he take you?”
“Oh, just out for a creepy stroll through the woods.”
Griffin roars, pushing me away and staring down at my wolf friend who is snarling and biting at his leg, trying to pull him away from me. Griffin looks up at me with an expression as if to say ‘see?’ before pushing him away and growling at the wolf.
“He doesn’t understand, he thinks you were attacking me.” I huff and get to my knees, stroking the wolf. “Did big bad Griffin scare you? He’s all bark and no bite, sweetie.”
“I’ll fucking bite you! Look what it did to me!” he yells, and I look back to see blood seeping through his pants, the material ripped along his leg.
I scoot closer, placing myself between them as Griffin glares down at the wolf who is now snarling at the fallen. Pressing my hand against the wound, I kiss around it. “Is that better? My big bad fallen, look at your wound,” I coo, and when I glance up, he sniffs and crosses his arms. Hiding my smile, I kiss my way up his body until I dot them across his chin. “Did the wolf hurt you, my love? Need me to make it better?” I whisper huskily.
“Yes,” he snaps and then sighs, melting under my touch. “You’re not keeping the wolf.”
“Yes, I am.” I grin, kissing along his face until I reach his mouth.
“Fuck,” he mutters, knowing I always get my way.
I watch the blonde female they call Dawn press herself against the large male and a snarl escapes my muzzle, my wolf feeling possessive. He wants her attention again, those hands stroking through our fur until we purr like a pup. Embarrassment shoots through me at how easily she controlled my animal, making us nothing more than an oversized dog rolling onto his back for scratches.
I have been trapped in this body for so long, trapped in my wolf, but she called to me. Brought something out in me. I had been lost to the animal side, giving myself over to it knowing I would never be free, and then I felt her all those moons ago.
When I found her in that forest with that god, I had watched from the shadows, more wolf than man, wondering who she was, what she was, and why she pulled me to race across Earth to find her. I didn’t show myself to her, I observed and waited from afar, each day my mind returning more and more until I was simply a man in a wolf’s body.
But then she was taken. I had sprinted through the forest alongside the vehicle and watched as they brought her here, a howl of agony and grief leaving my maw. I feared I would never see her again, so when I felt her move outside, I took the chance. But it wasn’t her, it was a man.
That tug was still there, however, that calling, unwilling to let me turn away until I watched her turn back to the blonde I had been tracking. It filled my wolf with joy, he had known all along it was her, I didn’t. She can shift like us, but with faces. I wonder what else she can do. I want to ask, I want to reach out.
I want her to touch skin, not fur, but I can’t.
I can’t even reach for her mind. She might as well be a million miles away, and when she looks over at me, I know all she sees is a wolf. Not a man. Fine, if this is all it can be, if this is the closest I can get, so be it. I will walk through this life by her side as her pet wolf, it’s better than receding back to that dark, dead place as my wolf takes over.
Maybe one day I will find a way to reverse the magic that keeps me trapped like this and I could be at her side as a man. But that would require a miracle, a touch of destiny. The fates told me once I would never walk this Earth again until I learned how to love, how to care and not destroy.
But that is what I am, it is why I was born. To destroy. I was raised to prevent that, to keep me under control—not that it worked. They feared me, feared what I could do. The gods who raised me, they tried to entrap me. The first two attempts failed, but I grew complacent, believing I was stronger than them and they won. They locked me in this form, so far under the earth that I could never harm anyone. It is said I will lead the end of this world and kill the gods.
They feared what had not even happened yet, and for that I was cast aside. Magic entrapped me, but one day a woman appeared to me. She told me I would be free, but what I did was my choice. I could complete the prophecy, killing this world, or I could save it.
She spoke of love.
Love. Who could love a monster like myself?
Even the gods feared me, no, no one will ever love me. But before my death or theirs, I will ensure this woman is safe. I don’t know why it is important, but I have to. My wolf is unable to take a step away from her.
She turns to look at me then, those eyes flashing black and for a moment. For just a moment I believe that just maybe the fate wasn’t wrong. But then she turns away again, bestowing a kiss on the male and I growl in anger.
Fate was wrong, I am nothing more than a destroyer and this woman will not be able to stop me, she will burn with them all.
Throwing a glare at the wolf, I look back down at a grinning Dawn. “Fine, if he pisses anywhere, he’s dead.”
“Thank you.” She grins, kissing me again.
Groaning, I grip the back of her head and kiss her harder. She gasps into my mouth, plastering herself closer, while I ignore the growling wolf as I back her into the closest wall. I was so worried when I saw her with Veyo and Amos, but here she is. I need to ask what happened, but I can’t rip my mouth away. I do, however, run my lips down her cheek and shoulder to her arm where he gripped her. She sighs as I kiss the red mark
better and then meet her gaze. “I will kill him,” I vow, meaning it.
He can torture me, try to break me, I don’t care. Touch my mate? They are dead men walking, they just don’t know it yet.
“Fine.” She pouts, her eyes lighting up. “I get to kill everyone else.”
“Bloodthirsty little thing.” I grin and she kisses me, her lips moving against mine, making me ache for more.
“You know it,” she whispers against my mouth. “Tell me, fallen, are you still serving?”
“Serving?” I echo with a frown, confused, and she giggles.
“Yes, because I could do with a service.” She wiggles her eyebrows, making me groan.
“That was terrible,” I mutter, but my cock jerks in my pants as I pin her to the wall.
“Fine, fuck me, fallen. Right here and now, make me feel alive. Prove to me that I’m more than what they say,” she demands, almost begging. What the fuck did they do to her?
Madness surges through me, and my movements become jerky as I grab her and hoist her up the wall. She wraps her legs around me, her eyes locked on mine with a need so strong it makes me falter for a moment. I know it’s reflected back in my gaze. As much as I hate it, I need her more than air.
Always do, always will.
“They almost got me this time,” she admits. “Almost killed me.”
“What a fucking waste of a perfect body that would be,” I growl darkly, and she laughs even as she kicks me.
“Asshole.”
“Always.” I nod seriously, my lips curving into a smirk as I reach between us and cup her pussy through the too big trousers she’s wearing from her transformation. “You want to feel alive, Vasculo?”
“Yes,” she pants, shamelessly rubbing herself against me.
I grip her harder, making her groan. “Admit it.”
“Admit what?” she inquires in confusion, but my madness is driving me now, from being away from her, from seeing her with others. It’s jealousy. I’m jealous and feeling mean.
