Chapter 2
Several hundred years ago Braytek’s ancestor had gone to the market to gather supplies. It was a time when Azgeta was inhabited by many villages and towns with large populations of people. That was when the Black Ice wolves were protectors of the land and its people.
Dimetrov had been looking at wares the females of his pack had requested when his eyes fell upon the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had light brown hair that fell into curls down to her waist, a heart-shaped face, and dark lilac eyes.
Dimetrov felt himself fall in love and against the advice of the village that warned him she was a witch, he married her and brought her home. There she was introduced as the alpha female and given the highest place of honor within the pack.
The Black Ice nation prospered for many years under the guidance of Dimetrov and Liliana. Between the two, they had produced four beautiful daughters. Each was exquisite with many abilities between them.
But something had changed after his youngest had been born. Before, he had been quite content but now he felt disgruntled and annoyed whenever he was around his family.
It didn’t take him long to find contentment in the arms of another female within the pack. The nature of the wolf was one of carnal pleasures. The wolves would find mates and they knew that while they had their one true mate they would be with others in the pack.
Liliana was only human and knew only of her love for Dimetrov and felt that was enough. After several months though, Liliana began to notice her husbands tendencies to disappear. He would later reappear smelling of the woods and a heady musk. When she asked about it, he simply told her that he was out hunting with the pack and that excitement was the cause of the smell. And that it would stay on their bodies for some time.
Liliana had let it go, not wanting to keep her husband from his pack duties. She continued to try to be a good mate and alpha to the pack.
One evening, on a particularly cold night, she had gone to the linen closet to grab another blanket. As she got closer to the door she could make out two figures in the throes of passion, two omegas. Giving a slight cough, Liliana watched the two jump apart as if burned and hid her smile as the two stammered their apologies and rushed past.
As they passed, Liliana lost her smile as the scent of musk swept around her, the same smell that her husband had on him after a hunt.
Not wanting to jump to conclusions, Liliana sought her handmaiden Genevieve and asked her about the musk smell.
Genevieve smiled and told her that was the scent that appeared when two wolves mated. It was a welcomed aphrodisiac for the wolves because it made them more amorous.
Liliana stood in shock but recovered enough to thank Genevieve before she rushed to her bedroom where she could cry from heartbreak.
She had been the perfect mate, had given her husband four beautiful children, learned the ways and customs of the pack, and gave him a well-established household to rule in. She had loved Dimetrov as no other could and this was how he repaid her, by sleeping with another in the pack?
Dinner that night was an unusual affair. Everyone was far too quiet when Dimetrov entered. Giving a small frown, he stepped up to his wife to give her a passionate kiss when she turned her head away as if disgusted, “Is something wrong, my dear?”
Liliana stared up into his deceiving blue eyes, ready to bring out the truth when her eyes strayed to her four daughters. Her oldest, Mira, had caught her gaze and had shaken her head softly, almost as if she had a twitch. But Mira had the sight and had given her mother the warning she needed.
Now was not the time so Liliana gave a tight smile, “Not to worry Dim, I just have a headache tonight.”
Giving a small grunt of sympathy he moved onto his children and gave each of them a kiss on top of their heads, even ruffling the youngest hair, never noticing the dark lilac eyes that were filled with so much anger and the beginnings of hate.
Liliana closed herself inside her room after supper. She wanted to wait and see if her faithless husband would go out into the night especially with her not feeling so well. It didn’t take long for it to happen. Hearing his door close through their conjoining rooms she waited several minutes before making her way outside to follow him.
As she made her way outside, she was surprised to find him in the shape of the wolf. Dimetrov had never let her meet the wolf and she couldn’t help but study the difference between the werewolves and regular wolves she had seen prior to this.
Liliana watched as Dimetrov disappeared into the woods and calling upon her magic, she transformed herself into that of a wolf. It would be considerably smaller than any Black Ice wolf but it’d hold up against a regular wolf. Following the animal’s senses, she began to track her husband through the woods. It took her a moment to get used to the animal’s senses, black and white coloring, so many sounds and smells that seemed so intense compared to that of a human. She wondered if Black Ice wolves could only see in black and white.
Shaking her head she continued deeper into the woods and in no time at all came upon a small cabin with a lantern hanging right by the door. Liliana could tell that Dimetrov had already entered. Tilting her head she thought about what she wanted to do. Should she just go in and catch him? What if they were already having intercourse?
Wrinkling her nose in disgust she circled around the cabin. To be honest she wanted to see for herself if Dimetrov was in there. If he wasn’t, she didn’t want to interrupt someone in the middle of eating dinner. But deep in her heart, she knew what she would find.
As she made her way to the back, she found a small window that she could peek through. Shifting back into a human she peeked around the frame of the window and gasped at what she saw, her face heat up with rage and betrayal.
Inside, she could see Dimetrov was behind a voluptuous she-wolf with dark red hair. Liliana didn’t know the she-wolf and wondered how long he had been sleeping with this one and if he was sleeping with any other. The other woman was pretty, though Liliana could not see her face. The heat continued to build up as embarrassment coursed through her, why was she watching them when all she wanted to do was catch Dimetrov in the act.
Liliana was about to walk away when the she-wolf cried out, “Alpha, please!” she moaned as Dimetrov steadily pulled in and out of her, keeping a slow pace that would drive any female crazy.
“That’s right my dunishka, only I can give you this kind of pleasure!” he growled. Liliana watched as he put his arm around the woman's stomach and pulled her closer to his front as he started to pound into her harder to the point every time he slammed in she cried out in pain and exhilaration. Liliana couldn’t believe what she was seeing and even more so what she was feeling. As she watched the two together, she felt an emptiness in her core and wanted to whimper herself. Dimetrov had never claimed her this way, another mark against him in her eyes.
Shifting at her own discomfort, she continued to watch the two wolves go faster and grow higher in ecstasy. Liliana was confused as she felt her own pleasure rising and it was starting to become harder to keep quiet because she wanted to whimper too.
Growling low in frustration, she immediately froze when both Dimetrov and the she-wolf looked directly towards her. Liliana hadn’t realized that both would have heard her growl. Crying out in embarrassment and rage, she ran away from the cabin and back towards home.
“Liliana!!!" she heard Dimetrov shout as he came out of the cabin door. Not wanting to be caught in the middle of the woods, Liliana moved faster.
Chills rose up her spine as a howl rose up from behind her and she knew Dimetrov had shifted and was coming after her. Fear was deep within her soul as she heard branches snapping and deep huffs of breath not far behind. He was going to catch her!
Using the wolf’s instincts, she slid to the side so she wouldn’t have to climb over a crop of boulders and was able to feel Dimetrov glide over the top of her and into the rocks. Deep inside the wolf, Liliana smiled as she heard her husband’s yelp of pain and continued to run to the keep.
Liliana never paused when the doors of the keep came upon her, instead, she used her magic to fling the doors open and rushing in she instantly closed them. She had no time to enjoy the hard thud Dimetrov had made when he rammed into the door, so sure he had her. Instead, she changed back into her human self and picking up the ends of her dress she ran up the stairs. Her destination was simple, get to her bedroom, lock the door and pile whatever furniture she could against it.
As she turned the corner on the stairs, she heard the door being broke down and a roar followed her as she fled, “Wife!”
Liliana’s lungs were heaving in the air as she made it to her bedroom door and locked it. Her legs felt like jelly and there were so many stitches in her sides that she was going to throw up. Instead of pausing though she started to shove as many things as she could in front of her door. Liliana was finally able to pause for a moment and felt sobs come upon her as terror and adrenaline finally caught up to her. What kind of monster had she married?
At the time she didn’t know what had caused her to freeze but suddenly every hair on her body stood on end. In the quiet of the room, she heard the distinctive growl of her husband behind her. Closing her eyes she slumped her shoulders as she realized she never even blocked the door that joined her and Dimetrov rooms.
“Wife,” the dark growl washed over her and before Liliana could move, Dimetrov was on her, tearing at her clothes and bending her over the bed where he promptly shoved into her channel with no prelude to her comfort.
Shrieking as pain rippled through her, she tried to fight but it just seemed to egg him on further to the point he was going faster and harder than when he was in the she-wolf. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared across the room. She could see pieces of her dress everywhere and knew her hair was going to be a mess but how did any of that matter when the monster above her made her feel nothing but emptiness.
Liliana flinched as Dimetrov finished abruptly and started to stroke her hair and back, “Liliana?” he asked, expecting her to acknowledge him but when he received no comment he continued, “That was an extremely reckless thing you did. You must never run from a wolf. We enjoy the hunt and become raving beasts. You could have gotten hurt if I hadn’t wrestled control!”
Liliana mumbled something but it was too low for Dimetrov to hear with her face shoved into the bed, “What was that?” he asked, looking over her to make sure she wasn’t bleeding or hurt. Dimetrov knew he had been rough but the truth was he had quite enjoyed what had just happened. Never had he thought he’d be able to be himself with his wife. Dimetrov did not want Liliana to really know of his wolf and its tendencies but once she had fled there was nothing he had wanted more than that of his mate.
“As if you care!” she growled and turned to glare at him, “You call that control; you’re nothing but a rutting beast!” Giving a warrior shriek she launched herself at Dimetrov as rage took control, “How dare you touch a daughter of the Fengari coven of old!” she yelled as she started to hit Dimetrov wherever she could land a blow, all but forgetting the volatile nature of the wolf.
Roaring in suppressed rage, Dimetrov went to subdue Liliana when she landed a particularly stinging blow to his left cheek, causing him to bleed due to her nails, “Enough!” he growled, “You will show respect to your Alpha!”
Hissing in rage, Liliana shoved against him, trying to get away, “You are not my Alpha! You’re not even the man I married. I respected him but the moment he betrayed me I disavowed our marriage rites!”
“Woman, I have done nothing wrong!” he growled but Liliana interrupted him, “You did everything wrong the moment you left our marriage bed to be with that she-wolf slut! I have done everything to please you. I learned pack laws and ran your household. I was faithful and bared you four beautiful children!”
Liliana stiffened when she heard him scoff and narrowing her eyes she growled, “What?”
“Everything you have said my dear is true, but you have yet to give me what I truly want,” he sneered and looked at her with contempt and loathing, “You have yet to give me a son!”
Liliana frowned in confusion and shook her head, “Why would you have need of a son when you have our lovely daughters?”
“Daughters cannot lead a pack,” he sneered, “They are only good for producing heirs, bargaining tools between packs and running a household. A son would follow in my footsteps whereas a daughter cannot.” Moving slowly towards Liliana he continued to sneer, “In fact my dear, I believe now is as good of a time as any for you to give me that son I want.”
Liliana screeched in outrage as he tried to subdue her again. Using her magic she blasted him back into a wall which caused him to lose consciousness. But Liliana kneeled down and whispered softly into his ear, knowing when he awoke, Dimetrov would know her words.
“You believe daughters to be genuinely useless, but it’ll be a daughter that saves your wolf nation. It won’t be that easy though my love, because no female will be born until a human woman falls in love with the beast that ravages her. Until such a time the bloodlines will grow weaker, the wolf will become dormant and blood will spill blood within the pack. This is your curse, may you be able to live with it,” she snarled