Meet Alpha King Xavier Black

Species – Werewolf

Hair color – brown

Eye color – green

Age – 632

Meet King Oberon Faircrown

Species – Elf

Hair color – long snow-white hair

Eye color – blue

Age – 680

***POV Zagon

age 8 – about 13 years ago

I am NOT okay.

My father, whom I call 'sir , was right. I m not okay.

I breathe so fast, it feels as if I m not breathing at all. A crisp cold wind blows through my hair from the west, hinting that something dark is coming – or maybe it s already here. Then it sweeps playfully through the trees, bringing along the cries of people long dead.

Next, it tucks on my new unfamiliar form, tickling through the thick black fur as if it s teasing me into accepting my new reality and I struggle to breathe.

So not okay!

In just a fleeting moment, I became something new, something dark, something dangerous, my true nature. The beast hiding inside me forced himself out, but I didn t sign up for this! What if it s something I don t want to be? Do I even have a choice?

But I m guessing not. Here in Creperum, everybody has to be what they re born to be – and it seems I was born from hell.

I look up at the sky, the green-and-blue planet is floating peacefully between the clouds as always, and I wonder for the millionth time what it looks like up close. Earth is what it s called and there, apparently, everybody is the same species – humans. But even though we share the same sun, I can only watch it from here, wondering, dreaming, speculating.

I try to regulate my breath and watch the dusk dawn, bringing darkness with it. The rise of twin blue moons, mute and mystic, breaks the semi-darkness with somber glints of light that pierce onto the landscape below.

This light enhances the low-lying fog that coats the two figures standing frozen next to the new grave, seemingly unaware of my piercing eyes.

The men cling to their coats, pulling them tighter around their tall bodies with each slow ticking second. They ve been standing there for a while now.

Long forgotten now is the warmth from the sun, even though it just recently disappeared behind the mountains to the south, and I take shelter behind the tree trunk, hoping to shield the bundle on my back from the harsh temperature.

This was an extra rude day, long not over by the looks of things. I watch silently, concealed in the shadows, not willing to intrude into the sadness that covers the two grievers.

Their severe mood echos mine. I look down at my unfamiliar bloodstained black paws in the snow and I wonder if this might be the reason my commoner parents are so cruel to me. Do they know what I am? Have they known the whole time? Is this the demon they re always referring to?

A single drop of red drips down onto the white powdery ice as if to torment me, proof that I ve become the monster my father always blames me to be.

All the things I had to endure, the beatings, the torture, the rejection, the hate … might not be as undeserving as I ve always thought. It seems he was right all along. I m not an innocent victim of circumstance, no, I really am the cursed child of the devil.

The pain of my fur being pulled harshly at my side quickly jolts me back to the present. I turn my big head to look at the cause of my discomfort - the tiny body cradled on my back, feet dangling down my sides while one small fist clings to my hair like shit to paper. The strange silver bracelet around her wrist shoots tiny sparks of light around as it reflects the moonlight. It s like something I ve never seen before, a delicate chain with three interlinked charms hanging from it, a wolf, a heart, and a leave.

She lets out a soft snuffle and nudges her head deeper into my neck, her long blonde hair is like a contrasting waterfall against my black fur. She s been crying for hours, the evidence of her tears still staining her cheeks.

I look back at the two men, contemplating my next step. Can I trust them? Should I move into the dim light where they can see us? I give a small step forward but then hesitate again.

Will my hound scare them? Will they judge me for being a killer or even blame me for the death of their loved one? I m not big on the trusting issue … not with my background. I can count the people I trust with one finger – Luan. But these men seem like they could be good, just like the woman they buried.

I stumbled upon the girl and her mother living here in the wilderness all alone. They happily took me in, the woman was so loving, so warm, and caring … something I don t know anything about. My home is cruel and cold, and there s no love. My mom is not very motherly - especially towards me – calling me a seed from hell, forcefully planted in her belly.

A sudden burst of wind blows snowflakes that slap my face with icy fingers and clear my thoughts, pulling my glare with it to the side where five dark body heaps break the crisp virtue of the snow. The wind plays with the loose pieces of their coats, flapping them around like mortal waves humming a soft lullaby of wrongdoing – my wrongdoing.

Then it continues to howl and whistle through the trees as if possessed leaving me to go back to my thoughts again.

Those now-silent beings attacked us, pale-faced men with great speed and sharp teeth. I don t know exactly how it happened, but I felt some pain as if every bone in my body was breaking. I heard the crunching of those shattering bones, and then I was running on all fours towards the child – a strange feeling inside drove me to destroy everything in my path, the strong need to protect the little girl overwhelmed everything else.

I close my eyes in shame and let the guilt drown over me, but it s as if I m confused, torn between regret and sin.

I killed someone … well four someones to be specific. The mother in the ground killed one before they ripped out her heart. And here s where my confusion starts, firstly I feel very bad that I could not save the girl s mom, but the fact that they were all monsters or that it was self-defense, doesn t make me feel better about taking a life.

The girl

her mom called her Angel

sniffs again and something dampens my collar, a thin dribble of warm liquid. Is she drooling on me? Yuck! Girls! But at least it s better than her peeing on me I suppose.

The tall lean man suddenly moves and I instinctively pull back into the shadows. He stumbles through the thick snow to the first corpse, giving it a hard kick as if to make sure it s not going to resurrect.

"Fucking bastards!" He throws his head back, his long silver hair catches the light from the moons, giving it a blue shimmer. He sniffs hard staring up into the starless night.

"Your daughter put up one hell of a fight Oberon," says the beefy hulk walking towards his friend. So the woman was his daughter? I prick my ears, trying to figure out who they are and what side they're on. So far it seems as if they re friends not foes.

"A fortunate stroke of serendipity, getting killed by vampires twice. Five years ago they killed her with her mate, and now she s officially gone," says the one called Oberon with another loud snotty sniff.

I don t understand all the high words he s using – how can somebody die more than once? I always thought that if you re dead, you re dead. Yeh, it s not easy to kill a supernatural, but still. At least I learned the people I killed were vampires. I ve never met any supernaturals before. Growing up in the land of Communia this is not strange cause supernaturals are rarely found inside our borders.

Hell, I didn t even know I was one up to a while ago. It sure explains a few things, like why my wounds heal so quickly, or why I m stronger and faster than my older brothers. Don t get me wrong, I know about the main species found on Creperum, they teach it in school, but I just never came face to face with one.

"Something ripped these vampires to pieces," the brawny continues, squatting down next to one body. The first man, Oberon, lowers his head, wiping over his eyes with his sleeve. He looks at the body and frowns. Okay, here it comes … I m going to be locked up, thrown into a prison cell. I m a murderer and murderers go to jail – that s the law.

"It looks like wolf bites," Oberon says sounding rather surprised.

"My thoughts exactly. But Belle was a vampire, so not her doing. Do you think the kid could be a wolf?"

"She might take after her father, but even so, she can t shift yet doofus - she s five! And why do you always assume I got all the answers – I m not psychic for goodness sake," Oberon says.

"Isn t elves supposed to be smart and well-rounded?" I guess that means the pointy ear Oberon is an elf, so the little girl is also one then – since she has the same ears, as did her mother. But didn t they say that mom was a vamp? Ug, this supernatural shit is so confusing.

"Gmf! It doesn t mean we know everything. Why don t you rather start sniffing and find the girl? Or is that alpha nose too old to smell anything, Xavier?"

"Fuck you, pointy-ears."

The crackling sound of breaking bones fills the air and then as if in slow-motion the man transforms into a brown wolf. The animal shakes his big head, he s huge. Okay, so that clears up what Xavier is. What are the odds of running into three different species in one night? And what are they doing out here in the wilderness of Communia?

Maybe, like me, they also have abusive families and got thrown out here as punishment for being born, but I hardly doubt that. But what else were the girl and her mom doing way out here all alone?

I give a step forward, intrigued by the magnificent animal and I instantly freeze at the sound of a twig breaking under my paw. I blink my eyes and swear softly, eyeing the little piece of wood sticking out from under my foot with blame.

The wolf's ears twitch and then his yellow eyes penetrate the darkness where I m hiding. I know he knows I m there so I slowly move from behind the tree into the open space, my heart racing where it jumped into my throat, pushing close my windpipe and I struggle to breathe again. I m not scared but I instinctively somehow know I can t win this fight, definitely not with the package on my back. And right there is the reason for my slight panic attack. I don t want her to get hurt, but I also can t take her with where I m going.

Both beings stare at me in disbelieve, shock, skepticism, surprise … or a combination of those emotions. For a while we just stand in the cold, eyeballing each other silently.

A deep frown forms between Oberon s thick white brows and he continues as if talking to himself.

"A fucking black hound. I ve never even heard of such a thing. Grey, yes, but black? In all my years. You see it too, don t you?" He looks back at the wolf who just shakes his head while rolling his eyes. I let out a deep growl. I can t talk now can I? And I need them to focus on my problems, not my hound.

The wolf turns back into a very naked man and I must admit I ve never seen muscles and parts that size ever before. He s easily three times bigger than any man I m acquainted with.

"Ug, let me just fix this first." The elf snaps his fingers, and with a blue flash he holds out some clothes to the naked man. To say my jaw dropped is an understatement. Is that magic? It s so freaking cool! Amazing stuff. I wish Luan was here to see all this.

"Just cover that old royal dick of yours – p.l.e.a.s.e." He pulls out the last word sarcastically pouting his mouth.

The wolfman gets dressed with a sigh.

"Yeh, you re just jealous. Elves got the brains but wolves got the tools!" Xavier bumps Oberon with his shoulder almost causing him to lose his balance. These two oldies are quite funny, I must say.

The elf looks physically and mentally drained as he glares at Xavier taking an extra deep breath, softly counting by himself. When he gets to 5 he speaks again.

"You can be such an alpha sometimes."

"I AM an alpha," Xavier sniggers, "At least we know now what tore the vamps apart."

"Yeh, but he s BLACK!" Oberon shouts out with big hand gestures as if the wolf is too stupid to see the color of my fur and in the process, he wakes up the sleeping angel.