The sunlight already illuminated the room, but even so the cold that a dark night behind had not come out, one could say that this cold brings to the surface the fear that is hidden in the hearts of men, being then fought through the first rays of the sun would be hope.

But what would make this fear prevail even in the midst of light? The answer is: many things. Each and every disaster, each and every suffering.

Here it is manifested through fear of a mother, not of blood, but of affection.

A redheaded woman, with delicate features walked from one side to the other, her steps echoed in a constant rhythm and in her eyes was the anxiety, the fear of losing a loved one.

Master Luwin had been called at dusk to check on William's health, and the boy was burning with fever. Lady Catelyn was worried, as every time one of her children went through something like that, no one escaped a cold, right?

Even if the fever was normal and occasional, it was always worrying, wasn't it just the cold that would bring on the fever, maybe they were out of luck this time? They were hoping not.

Lady Catelyn's anxiety only increased with each passing hour, and William showed no improvement; on the contrary, it was noticeable that he was getting worse.

A fever so strong that it alarmed even Eddard Stark's heart, which from a first attempt to calm his wife passed to just a silent wait near the door.

Master Luwin began to think it would be a tragic day, the fever was very strong, lethal. Looking seriously at the boy, he passed his gaze to his Lady briefly, and then when his gaze crossed Ned, he signaled with his eyes to speak alone.

Ned understands and slowly leaves the room, followed by Luwin, Lady Stark approaches William and holds his hand.

"My Lord, the fever is worrying, very strong, what I could do, I did, we can only wait now," Luwin tried to warn his lord, it was very sad, but now nothing more could be done.

Ned keeps his eye on Luwin waiting for him to speak more, but nothing comes. With an affirmative nod to Maester, Ned makes his way back to his room with his wife.

Several hours passed, nearing the twilight of the new day that was already coming to an end, William begins to convulse.

Ned, seeing the situation in despair, goes to William quickly and holds him tight, preventing the boy from hurting himself.

New day.

William was sitting on his bed as he fed a soup bowl of thick broth, as if by magic the plate was clean almost instantly. Looking at the empty plate and still feeling hungry, he slowly raised his head toward Lady Stark and kept his eyes like a little puppy.

She faces him with a severe expression, but with undisguised happiness in her eyes.

"He doesn't listen to me, he goes out and does dangerous things, he's gotten sick and now he can only look at me like that? Do you think things will be easy for you young man?" Catelyn asks in such a way as to provoke her nephew, it was undisguised her motherly love, she's happy that the little devil was well.

William knew his affectionate aunt, a wolf who cared for her cubs and bit her enemies, luckily he was one of her cubs.

No mistake, Lady Stark looked at the maidservants and ordered more soup for William.

And let the girl go out William's door and stop her.

"Wait! "William calls the maid's attention with urgency.

When the maid turns to look, William keeps talking.

"I'm very hungry, bring some roast beef." William speaks with clear anxiety and a salivating mouth.

Lady Stark looks harshly before she can deny William's request, for he was in recovery and is interrupted by her husband.

"Even after worrying us so much, he woke up and is fine, a little stinky, but fine," Eddard speaks in a soft tone trying to calm the anxiety that still hides in his wife's heart.

The mood in the room was slowly recovering after William awoke to the last remnants of sadness and fear, being then thrown away with Lord de Winterfell's speech.

Robb, who was staring silently at his cousin, couldn't keep still and needed to provoke.

"Very stinking," Robb says as he dramatizes he's suffocating.

William lifts his right arm and smells it, it wouldn't take so much, just taking a deep breath would really suffocate him.

"The water in his bath has already been ordered, so it should be at the right temperature" Catelyn gently warns him.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Some time later.

William was walking slowly down the halls of the castle, being followed by two maidservants, who would be responsible for his bath, immersed in the things that happened, he had some idea about what happened.

If things were the way he imagined, he was a werewolf now, not really, so he knew werewolves would be the name given to those who couldn't be human again.

Looking at his hand he had no doubt that it would not be that, so he must be a Lycan, something more sophisticated than a werewolf, but he knew he was not exactly the same as those he knew, or at least he was not at the stage that those in the film were at.

Taking his hand to his stomach and wondering if he would vomit his food, if it was exactly like Underworld he would, but he felt that no, even if it was not completely satisfactory to eat what he ate, he felt his hunger decrease.

He felt that his body had changed, but it was not so much, maybe it was something smaller, he had no idea.

For the time being he knew that everything in his body had been strengthened, even if it was different from the human body, it was not much. He could see better, even in the dark, he smelled more, but not better.

Being silent and paying attention to the sound he could hear things with more dynamics, it was strange.

The benefits were there, but now it remained to be seen what to do to strengthen him.

Looking at the young servant who was accompanying him on his left side, looking more specifically at his neck, he knew he wanted blood, he needed it.

Looking down with doubt, he wasn't right, better off, but he knew he must have been angry, he couldn't understand why it was different, the GOT universe was the same until now, why would it be different?

A glow of understanding appears in his eyes, GOT is the same then, perhaps, the rules that the bloodline Corvinus follows a new rule.

It had to be that way, taking it as a probability, William starts thinking about how to discover his limits.

Looking again at the young servant.

"Maybe drinking a little blood will help me find out more.

The young servant notices the young William's gaze fixed on her body and starts to get agitated, her face gets traces of pink.

William doesn't realize from being immersed in his thoughts that the people around him were beginning to think wrong about his look.

As she gets to the bath the older servant will check the water while the young woman tries to undress William.

"It's not necessary, I'm fine, I'm not weak, I can do it myself," William speaks with a light smile.

The young maid looks with doubt at William's behavior, with some sadness in her eyes, she sees William walking toward the bath.

Leaving the bath, William places his hand on his stomach.

I'm hungry.

Side of Winterfell.

William, Jon and Robb were walking towards Ser Rodrik.

"I can't believe Mother let you out today." Robb.

"Very strange indeed," Jon.

William almost tripped.

"Truly, a surprise" William talks with evasive looks.

The training of the soldiers was in progress, the activities consisted basically of preparing the soldiers for defense and disciplining them, making the work of whoever leads them, in case of need, easier.

The role of the boys in the training was not to stay with the soldiers in the operations, but to understand what should be said to the soldiers, the things that should be done in case of siege and the like. They were trained to be leaders.

Robb showed interest in commanding the cavalry, as expected. Jon was closer to the infantry. William was watching everyone.

William observed that Theon was training with the archers. Theon was William's regret, the boy's fate was tragic, and his decisions were heinous, but it seemed nothing would change unless he suffered.

Of course William had plans for him, even if at the time everyone in Winterfell mattered, Theon was the least William cared.

A born traitor after all, only after all his suffering did he achieve any redemption.

Night.

William must have been asleep, but something about him was no longer normal, even after a sumptuous dinner the famine followed. With the thought of finding out more about his present condition, he began to wander the dark corridors.

He wanted to test his limits, nothing better than the night for it; no one would witness his actions.

I can see well in that darkness, that's very useful,' William thought.

Leaving Winterfell slowly, he headed for the forests that surround him.

Standing with his eyes closed. Taking a deep breath. Feeling the air, the new smells.

There was so much new information, so many different things.

Opening their eyes again and trying to see as far away as possible.

I certainly see almost as well at night as by day, but it's still not comparable to day vision, however, it's easier to guide me through the sounds.

Paying attention to all the sounds that surround him, William could almost see things happening on his back, the wind swaying the branches, the faint sounds of small animals' footsteps.

Bending his muscles and then running, he was faster, not over human, not yet, but he was very fast. His footsteps were quieter, even when he ran almost imperceptibly.

A predator in training, this was him.

William felt like running over things, walls, houses, using his improved agility to play ninja, but he couldn't, he would alert the guards, and then he'd get a tantrum.

It's time for the last step of today's tests, blood.

William wanted to try blood, his body forced him to go on this path, out of fear for what might happen, to lose control and kill in anger, like his namesake Underworld, even if he didn't turn into a monster with no chance of returning to human form, he knew he might end up entering a bloodbath. It could end up devouring its prey.

"It's just a test, doesn't mean I'm a cannibal... just the blood, nothing more.

To get the blood, what is the easiest and most morally acceptable way? Bandits, of course.

But the problem is that the North is too rigid, bandits have short lives around here, not to mention it's not a rich enough region to attract them.

William knew someone who was evil, knew someone who could be his guinea pig.

Sometime later.

With black eyes looking up at the sky, his mouth filled with blood flowing to his chest, a beastly body, part man and part wolf, William was howling at the moon.

Things went wrong.