The Rejected Luna and The Cursed Nephilim

The Truth

| Author POV

The sound of footsteps echoed along the streets paved with old granite stones, which were covered in moss due to the building's age which was about 200 years old. The figure's steps sounded heavy, and there was a chilling aura surrounding him.

Not long after that, he reached the end of the corridor and was greeted by a creaking wooden door.

Click.

He opened the door and stared forward. Behind the door lay stairs leading down to the underground room, who knows what lies inside there. Alaric entered the door and descended the stairs, he was making sure to close the door so no one would discover his secret hideaway–his personal playground.

The underground room was dimly lit, with only a few almost extinguished torches and broken lanterns. Nevertheless, Alaric paid no mind and confidently strode forward, as if he did not need light in a place he had explored most of his life.

Suddenly, a voice broke the silence, "Is anyone there? Please... help us! Save us! There's a psycho who intends to mmmmph–!"

"You're too loud," Alaric said, stuffing a dirty cloth he used as a handkerchief into the mouth of one of the prisoners he had tied up and blindfolded on the floor of the underground room. They looked battered and could not even sit upright properly anymore.

Alaric crouched in front of them and opened both their eye covers.

"Well? Still want to scream?" threatened Alaric with a thin grin, as if saying he would be much crueler than this. They both shook their heads spontaneously and looked scared. Even though they were hired killers who had killed many people for money, the figure in front of them was just built different, he was more cruel and cold.

He was like a predator who was ready to tear every inch of their skin and skin them alive.

"Hmmmmph, hmmph! Hmmmph!"

"Tch, stop mumbling. Say what you want," Alaric removed the cloth gag from one of the werewolf's mouths.

"S-sorry, sir! We didn't know that Lady was your acquaintance, if we knew... then we wouldn't dare to kidnap her. Please forgive us, sir, please don't kill us."

"Huh, what do you mean?" Alaric raised an eyebrow and felt confused. "What does it have to do with that werewolf girl?"

"... huh? D-didn't you save her because we were trying to kidnap her?" the werewolf asked back, making Alaric let out a short scoff and move even closer to the poor werewolf's face, scaring him to the point of wetting his pants.

Alaric tilted his head slightly. "You've got it wrong, Wolf. I didn't save her at all. In fact, I wanted to capture her, but you two happened to get in my way, and luckily, I could catch both of you. My food supply for two months is secure now. I'll also feast on the heart of that werewolf girl later, after both of yours are gone."

He grinned wickedly, making the two werewolves who initially wanted to kidnap the Lady for money now face a psychopath who eats werewolf hearts.

"No... please—we'll do anything, just don't kill us, Sir! Sir, please!" He cried until his face looked really ugly with red and swollen eyes, as well as snot coming out of both nostrils. Alaric looked at the werewolf with pity and patted his shoulder.

"I don't know if you're really that desperate to stay alive, my friend."

"So, are we—"

"In that case, I will make you my meal next month, so you won't feel pain for too long, okay? Anyway, I had to eat your heart to survive, buddy. Hmmm, it's a tough truth. Life is about being eaten or eating, right?"

Tap. Tap.

Alaric tapped twice on the shoulder of the unfortunate werewolf, realizing that he was leading himself to his own demise before the man stood up again and left the room with his hands in his pockets, whistling softly as he climbed the stairs, leaving two werewolves sinking into depression, knowing that whatever they did, they couldn't escape their dreadful fate.

The man climbed the stairs and closed the door to the underground room, locking it and putting the key with vine carvings into his pocket.

Then Alaric turned to go back up the stairs, but he was greeted by a mirror at the end of the corridor, which was a dead end, showing his silhouette in full reflection.

A man, about 187 centimeters tall, skinny–like he has not had enough food, with sunken eyes, dark circles under his eyes, and messy black hair. Alaric forgot since when he started neglecting his appearance. It might have been decades ago.

Alaric stopped caring about himself and only focused on surviving the curse that had befallen him. The curse had turned him into a cold, cruel person who did not hesitate to kill anyone. He did not know how many lives had ended because of him.

He stared at his reflection in the mirror, then clenched his hands into fists tightly. He could see the faint silhouette of his black wings in the mirror, along with thorny roots tightly surrounding him, and a faceless woman in a black dress draped over his neck, as if ready to swallow the Nephilim anytime he broke the curse.

Alaric swallowed hard, realizing that his time was running out.

Alaric had a curse called Blood Vines.

It was a curse where poisonous thorns grew in his blood, causing him constant severe pain in his body. He would not survive for more than a month if he did not eat a fresh heart from a werewolf. Werewolf hearts had special substances that supported their regenerative abilities, allowing Alaric to survive until now. However, he had to sacrifice his sanity for it.

When the curse first appeared, only small thorns emerged. But now, the faceless silhouette of a woman made Alaric realize that his curse was nearing its end—death.

No.

I couldn't die now.

Not until all my revenge was done.

The man's face hardened as he tried to avoid both harsh destiny and the curse that had haunted him for decades due to his mistakes.

However, Alaric had no regrets at all. Even if he could go back in time, he would do the same, even if it meant suffering from this curse.

"I must find a way to seek my revenge without delaying any longer."

The man had to think hard about how he could get revenge and get it before his body was destroyed by the curse.

He could not get his revenge done alone. He needed someone to be his spy and also pass on information. Alaric needed to find out a dark secret that was hidden in the supernatural world, where anyone could not just go there because there was a protection barrier that common and cursed creatures like Alaric could not cross.

"Hey, you," a voice came from the side, surprising Alaric and making him look toward the source of the sound.

The werewolf girl stood at the door, looking at Alaric with a doubtful and slightly scared face. "You... really going to take me home, aren't you?"

Alaric snapped back to reality and looked back at the girl.

He could see Isabella's appearance looked noble even though her clothes were simple, indicating she came from a high class.

Then he realized something.

Wasn't this wolf girl their future Luna or something like that in their pack?

That meant she had quite a high status, maybe high enough to pass through the barriers to that room.

I could just point her in the right direction, and she would bring that object to me.

The man then looked back at the girl and slightly smiled. "Of course, I'll take you back home. Why wouldn't I?"