“They are blood demons,” the Devil Mother said, putting her fork down.
“What do you mean? There was only one,” Kyle asked urgently, forgetting about his food. He just wanted the facts.
Ashlee sighed, placing her food aside. “There are lots of them,” she revealed, surprising everyone. Kyle stared at her in disbelief and confusion. How the hell does she know?
“I saw more than one. The other day, when my hand got wounded, I knew I wasn’t dreaming. I saw more than one in that room. They all had something metal-like within them, as if their bodies were secret safes for that sharp metal. I couldn’t run away, so I tried to pull the metal out, which somehow felt right at the moment. I couldn’t control myself. When I was trying to do that, it felt like it was stuck, and then all of a sudden, the demon moved, and I got cut.” She confessed everything.
“That explains it,” the Devil Mother said with a small smile. “Ashlee is a primordial wolf, which means she belongs to heaven, and her purpose is to hunt demons.”
“Huh?” Ashlee was stunned to hear that.
“But she can’t do it yet,” the Devil Mother added firmly.
“Why not?” Ashlee asked, curiosity piqued. She felt an odd urge to fulfill this purpose but also sensed she wasn’t ready.
“Because you aren’t trained for it yet,” the mother continued. “To get trained, they have to come and get you. This means you will be separated from the Warbiters. If you dare to fight demons alone, you will get hurt. But I’m not really sure…” The mother was interrupted by Kyle.
“Hold on. Hold on. What are they? Who needs to come and get her?” Kyle demanded, his confusion laced with an overprotective tone.
“Oh, my bad. By they, I mean her pack,” the Devil Mother said with a heartwarming smile, though it only seemed to irritate Kyle.
“Her pack?” Kyle repeated, his frustration building.
“Yes, the primordial pack. Rumors say they vanished during the last fight with the deadly demon of the inferno. But the truth is, they never vanished. Their Alpha died in the fight. However, I’m not sure it was the demon that killed him. The Alpha was stabbed with a silver knife. Demons don’t usually carry those weapons. So, in my opinion, something—or someone—else killed him,” the Devil Mother explained.
“Alpha? Silver knife? W-Was it close to his heart? What was his name?” Ashlee’s voice wavered, and everyone could sense her rising distress.
“Yes, it was near his heart. But how do you know?” The Devil Mother’s tone grew suspicious. She knew something wasn’t adding up with Ashlee’s story.
“What was his name?” Ashlee repeated, her voice breaking as tears threatened to spill.
“Mace Avril. But why do you ask?” The Devil Mother’s smile faded. She could feel there was a hidden truth Ashlee hadn’t shared.
“Mace… Avril?” Ashlee whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her silent sobs betrayed the heartbreak she felt.
“He was my father,” she admitted in a broken voice.
Kyle choked on the air. Mace Avril? Everyone knew him. He was a legend, practically a god to werewolves.
“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” Kyle asked, taking her hand gently, trying to comfort her.
“Now it all makes sense,” the Devil Mother said, standing from her chair and walking to a painting that resembled a road.
“What does?” Cassandra asked, still confused.
“If Mace Avril is her father, it explains why she wasn’t part of her pack. Mace Avril left the pack for a human woman. History says they were happy until Mace learned about the deadly demon threatening his former pack. He couldn’t ignore the deaths and eventually returned to save them. He succeeded but died in the process. However, parts of that history are missing,” she said, pulling a large chart from behind the painting.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“When he left, he had a daughter, but he never told anyone,” the Devil Mother said, laying the chart on the table. It was written in Latin, illegible to anyone but her.
“Yes, he never mentioned his daughter. His pack opposed his decision to live with a woman who wasn’t his mate, but he was so in love. After four years, he returned to save them from the deadly demon. During the fight, he said, ‘I will be your savior, but I will not guide you anymore.’ Those were his exact words.” She sighed, delving deeper into the history.
“But still, he was only blessed by Pagan. How is she blessed by two? That’s a mystery even I can’t solve,” the Devil Mother admitted, clasping her hands together.
“That day, I saw my dad get stabbed. The pain in his eyes was crystal clear, but more than that, he was scared. Scared of something unknown,” Ashlee said, wiping away her tears. She took a deep breath and looked up.
“I remember it vividly. My mom was crying so much. My dad’s smile was weak but warm. He was stabbed, but I don’t think demons were the ones who killed him,” she added, lost in thought.
“What makes you say that?” the Devil Mother asked, surprised that a four-year-old could recall such details.
“That day, my dad told my mom to run and specifically to hide me in a safe place. I was standing behind the wall, watching and listening. The night was so dark, and the lightning lit up the sky like flames. When my dad took his last breath, I saw it.” She paused, shivering before clenching her fists and continuing.
“I saw the demon. He wasn’t like the ones I’ve seen lately. Back then, I thought I was imagining things. But now, thinking about it, he was smirking at me. I was terrified and couldn’t move. His eyes weren’t black. They were red, with blood streaming down constantly. Strangely, he didn’t seem to be in pain. I think he let me live on purpose,” she confessed.
Kyle swallowed hard. She experienced all this at just four years old? He felt ashamed to complain about his own tough childhood.
“That was a deadly demon,” the Devil Mother said, shivering. Goosebumps rose on her skin.
“No one who faces him survives. Not even Mace Avril. But why would a deadly demon let you live?” she pondered, puzzled.
“Maybe he was afraid to enter the house?” Zelda suggested, joining the conversation. Everyone stared at her in shock. She gave an awkward smile. “Maybe not.”
“Actually, he could’ve been afraid of something,” the Devil Mother agreed.
“Primordials are heavenly beings, so things like wolfsbane or parsley don’t affect them. But that’s not the case for other underworld beings,” she explained.
“We had parsley in our garden. My dad grew a lot of it, though he never told us where he got the roots,” Ashlee recalled.
“They can only be found where Primordials live. Mace Avril once gave me some,” the Devil Mother said, sharing another fact.
“You met my father?” Ashlee was stunned. She couldn’t believe this had never been mentioned.
“Yes, just once. They were fighting demons nearby, so we gave them shelter. The room you slept in last night? That’s where your father stayed. To thank us, Mace gave me parsley, saying, ‘in case you ever need it,’” she said, lost in nostalgia.
“But now, the most important thing is to protect her. Ashlee, you must protect yourself. Never fight demons alone. Control yourself until your pack finds you,” the Devil Mother warned.
“Anyways, I’m sorry to wake you up in the early sunrise. But Cassandra told me you all would be leaving today. So the best time to cross this forest is during the daytime. Demons never attack in the sunlight,” she briefed them on their advantage.
“Can’t we just find out where the Primordial pack is?” Kyle asked, his tone betraying his growing anxiety.
“No. They have hidden themselves. The Lightcrest pack is where she belongs. Only they can help her. And they will be the ones to come and find her. We can never know their location,” the mother replied, smiling warmly as before.
----------------------------------------
Derion sighed. He hadn’t seen them coming back from any side. He had been keeping track since yesterday because it was making Esyn anxious, which was not good for her.
“Still nothing?” Esyn asked, watching Derion enter the kitchen with a big frown on his face. He shook his head and opened the fridge, pulling out a bottle of water for himself.
“Don’t worry. They’ll be fine. I got a message from Kyle earlier. He said they’re on their way back and will be here by the evening,” Derion spoke, stroking Esyn’s head gently.
“Alright. Are you hungry?” Esyn asked, placing an assuring smile on her face. She couldn’t forget Ashlee and Kyle’s condition from that night. Both had been pretty injured, and then suddenly Ashlee had cut herself without any visible sharp object in the room.
“I think we actually underestimated Ashlee. If only you had seen her that day, you wouldn’t believe your own eyes,” Derion told Esyn, his voice filled with awe as he stuffed his mouth with beef. Ever since the day Hagatha died and Ashlee transformed into a werewolf, Derion had not stopped praising her.
“That’s exactly what worries me,” Esyn sighed, fiddling with her food.
“Hey, why? What happened?” Derion asked, growing concerned as he gently caressed her cheek.
“Nothing. It’s just weird how long it took for her to realize she was a werewolf. I don’t really think she didn’t know that already. When I looked into her eyes, it always felt like she was hiding something. Something she was scared of,” Esyn confessed, her frown deepening.
“Maybe it’s just an illusion,” Derion tried to change her mind, even though he knew there was truth in her words.
“Yeah, it could be. I mean, why would Ashlee want to hide something from us, right? Maybe she really didn’t know all along,” Esyn said in a sharp tone that hinted at lingering doubt.
“Yeah,” Derion agreed with a half-hearted smile.
“I convinced myself of that too,” she sighed deeply again. “But is that really it?” Esyn looked outside the open doors of the mansion, her gaze fixed on the bright blue sky.