371- Owned, Marked, and Devoured
POV Viktor Averwyn:
“They said it was stress, that they would help me. They knew potions, herbs, things tied to magic. For a while, it got better. Then it came back. And I kept it to myself, began to pay attention, to feel that it was real.”
“You didn’t tell anyone out of shame? Fear they’d think you were insane?”
“Distrust.” Seraphine frowned. “I felt danger around me. Lies. Some kind of threat nearby. I didn’t know if it came from the Elders or the other alphas. So I distanced myself and built a fortress here, always expecting the worst. I believe my parents were murdered, and our lack of memory was deliberate.”
“But you can’t prove it.”
“No. Either way, those memories changed when my mother grew closer, more present, telling me things, giving advice. She said my brothers would find their destined mates among wolves—but mine would be human.”
Seraphine looked surprised, curious.
“Did your mother also deal with magic? Like my father, a Shuvano?”
“I think she had intuition… visions. I don’t know.”
“You believed her.”
It sounded childish, like an illusion. I nodded, uneasy.
“She said that woman would come from an ancient people, tied to the occult and the supernatural. A witch or a gypsy, as I imagine. It became intense, created a need in me to find her. Around the same time, I passed through Vila Rósia on business and felt drawn to the place. It became an obsession.”
“And then you fell for the first woman there.”
“I already told you—love has nothing to do with this. She chased me as soon as she saw me, and I was attracted. When she asked to come with me, I brought her.”
“Do you still remember the first one?”
“Every single one.”
Seraphine shifted, attentive but tense.
“My father said there were many. Some were promised in marriage. None of them ever returned. In the village, they call you the Cursed One.”
“I know.”
“How did she die?”
“She got sick after a while. I even took her to a human hospital, but no one could explain it. One day she just… died.”
I felt trapped there, wanting to leave, to escape all of that. The fear returned—of putting her at risk.
“But… you had marked her?”
“Yes. And fucked her a lot. I thought she would get pregnant eventually. Like the others. Some lasted longer, others less. They died with or without the bites. Until I realized I was a serial killer. And I stopped. Do you know what that means?”
“That the same could happen to me,” she whispered.
I only looked at her. No need to explain further. I expected panic—or for her to run. Not that steady gaze, as if she wanted to come closer and hold me.
“It didn’t happen to my great-aunt.”
“It did. I killed her—but with my own claws and fangs.” I barely held back my anger.
“What I mean is—she stayed here for months, pregnant, healthy. Is that why you married her? Did you actually marry, legally?”
“No. We just lived together here.”
“Was it different because you felt something—or because she got pregnant?”
“Unlike the others, I didn’t bring her here when she asked. I took her in the forest near the village—more than once. The sex was good. She knew how to persuade, how to take risks. Then she asked me to mark her. I didn’t. Even so, she showed up pregnant. Said I was the father.”
“There was no way to know. With humans, it’s different.”
“Exactly. But I wanted to believe. Either way, I would know when it was born. The scent of a pup is unmistakable—it would have to carry my genetics.”
“I know the story. She killed the baby after giving birth in the forest—you saw it and killed her.” She shifted, uneasy. “Whose child was it?”
“Konrad’s.”
“My God… did he know?” I nodded. “But if every wolf wants to find their destined mate, to have heirs, why did he let her stay with you? Why didn’t he mark her?”
“She had no mark or scent of another. I believe it happened early on. Or maybe she wasn’t sure who the father was. I only know he had arranged to take the child once it was born. They would make up some excuse, and she would return to my arms, crying.”
“So she wanted to stay with you.”
“Or deceive me. They’re both dead—I’ll never hear their confessions.”
I rose from the tub, water spilling, furious at the memory, feeling like a fool. I stepped onto the floor, grabbing a towel, not caring about my erection or her startled gaze.
“Go to your room, Seraphine. You know everything now—the risks included. Stay away from me, and I’ll respect your decision.”
I dried myself, my back to her. My blood heated when I heard her moving out of the water, imagining her naked. Her scent stirred everything inside me, my wolf restless.
“My decision is to stay with you.”
I turned, furious, aroused, enraged.
“Do you want to die, damn it?”
“I’ve never felt so alive, Viktor.”
She came toward me. A small, fragile human—and yet she unraveled me completely. Her eyes surrendered, her expression full of devotion. Mine, as everything inside me screamed.
When she touched me, everything else disappeared—the risks, the fear, the reason.
I grabbed her hard, kissed her hungrily.
And I fucked her desperately against the slick floor.
Like the animal I was.