A Hundred years ago

The huge black wolf changed into his human form and faced his enemy, not in the least bothered by his nudity. His black hair was matted with dirt and blood, and so was his sculpted body, yet he didn’t look bothered. His glacier blue eyes glittered intently and his thin lips crooked up in a taunting smirk as he stared at the silver-haired woman in front of him.

“Time to end this for once and for all, Anastasia. You know you have already lost. Look around you. The wolves are winning while your side is losing. But it’s not too late to change your mind. Surrender to me and I will let you live, forgiving everything you have done.” 

There was a note of desperation in his voice despite his confident aura, as he urged the witch to admit defeat. 

“In your dreams, Cedric,” she snarled back at him, her silver eyes blazing with hatred. Alpha Cedric flinched at the hatred in her voice as he wondered how they had come down to this. After all, this was the woman he had once loved with all his heart and hoped to make his chosen mate. But then, her hunger for power grew day by day, making her resort to black magic and losing herself to it. And now, she was a danger to the entire world. A danger he couldn’t allow to continue…

He looked at her one last time, as if engraving her features into his memory. The shiny platinum blonde hair he had adored was now matted and covered with blood while her silver eyes that used to look at him with either love or lust were glaring at him with such absolute hatred that his heart skipped a beat. And her gorgeous red lips that he had kissed countless times were now lifted in a snarl that could rival a wolf. Where was the gentle Ana he loved? Was she lost to him forever?

He looked at her eyes one more time and, seeing no hesitation or regret there, the hope in his eyes diminished. The ruthless Alpha mask slid back into his face as he accepted the fact that he was never getting his lover back. His eyes hardened with determination as he glared at the witch, who was at the moment, muttering spells that could mean no good. He could literally sense the darkness fuming around her, getting life per moment, ready to devour everything around him. And that was enough to set him into motion.

“Goodbye Ana,” he whispered mournfully before changing back to his wolf form and leaping towards her just as she raised her hands, ready to throw the deadly dark spell at him. As the wolf took down the witch, she yelped and the darkness around her faded as she lost her grasp on it. The wolf raised its mighty paw before swiping at her face and her once marble-like skin broke, leaving an ugly slash in her cheeks. 

Anastasia snarled in rage before raising her hand and sending a minor spell at Cedric. But he was anticipating it and rolled out of the way agilely before leaping back to her. Anastasia yelped as the wolf pinned her down. She was rapidly losing her strength since most of her coven members were dead and she owed a large chunk of her strength to the ritual she did to harness their powers. She raised her head and for the first time, an emotion other than hatred flashed in her eyes; doubt. She looked at the carnage around her. Almost all of her witches were dead while the wolves nimbly avoided their spells before killing them mercilessly. And then Anastasia knew that she was going to lose…

Seeing her flustered expression, Cedric paused his attack and stared at her, remnants of the fizzled out hope stirring in him again. Maybe she would accept defeat. Then maybe he could bind her powers and lock her in the cells for a few days to teach her a lesson. And then maybe everything would go back to just like old times. Even as he thought it, he knew it was not possible. She had changed far too much to go back to being the woman he loved. But still, hope was a capricious bitch that refused to let go and he couldn’t help but hope…

But his moment of hesitation cost him because while he was lost in his thoughts, Anastasia had already gathered every bit of strength left in her. Cedric looked down at her in alarm when he felt the rising magic around him and tried to deliver the killing blow, but he was too late. Wind blew in the clearing with such force that he flew back a few steps. As he got back to his feet on shaky legs, he saw Anastasia standing there, looking like an avenging angel. Her silver hair was flying in the wind and her eyes were glowing with her power. 

Anastasia raised her hands and pointed it at Cedric and he thought she was going to kill him. But she didn’t. She did something far worse.

“You think you men are everything, don’t you? Just because gods have given you a stronger physique, you are better than us? And you can’t tolerate seeing a woman being more powerful than you? You tried to suppress me because I got powerful. You are jealous of my powers, aren’t you?” Anastasia shouted, her voice echoing in the clearing ominously and everyone paused their fighting to turn and stare at her.

Cedric looked at her with wide eyes, wondering where the hell she had gotten such an insensitive idea. When had he ever been jealous of her? He had never had any problem with her being powerful. Well, not until when he knew she was using black magic. The only thing he did was try to keep her safe, but apparently, she mistook it for his attempt to suppress her. 

“I was never jealous of you, Ana-“

“Liar!” she shouted, interrupting him and her voice sounded as if three people were talking instead of just her.

“You don’t know the value of women! I will show you what will happen to you men without women!”

The wind picked up speed, and darkness swirled around Anastasia. Cedric tried to take a step towards Ana but his feet were rooted in his spot.

“You who broke my heart, betrayed my trust,

You who see females as worthless, hear me!

I, the Dark witch of Azelea, curse you and your race!

From this day on, your race will be filled with males and only males!

As your race will wither and die,

You will know there is no prosperity without women.

Be ready to face the consequences of your actions…”

Lightning flashed in the clearing, as if in response to the witch’s curse, and as the flash of light disappeared, Anastasia was no longer standing there. 

Slowly, Cedric walked over to the spot Anastasia had stood in and wondered where she had disappeared off to. He wondered if she would be back with new plans to take over the world like she had been trying to. In his worry to find her, he dismissed her curse as the ramblings of a madwoman and sent his men in search of the Dark witch but they never found her. 

Little did he know that they had bigger problems than a rogue witch gone missing. Like trying to protect their race from going extinct. At least not until no female pups were born for years and they realised the Dark witch’s curse had come to reality. And that their race was slowly and surely dying...