Blood of The Beast: Revelations

Steppenwolf

Bakar- Small Town Girl

Scylla: 

    That was insane. I don't even know what to think. That was me when I was her age. My instincts were wired to inflict maximum damage to anyone no matter who they were. Naloc has Alastair's laid back attitude when it comes to his emotions. He doesn't care for conflict but Astra. It lives inside of her the same way it does me and clearly, no amount od reasoning is going change that.

    "She's crying," Alastair is sitting outside of her room. My dad was like that with me too. He never knew what to say but it was nice that he was always there. 

    "Alastair-" 

    "She's my daughter," he shook his head. 

    "I know. You forget that she's also my daughter," I squatted down in front of him. I paused for a second to gather my head. "Baby, we can't get in between them. This isn't like our mating. We can't make them jump into something they're not ready for. I know it hurts. Believe me when I say it would have been easier if she were mated to Evan, but she's not. This kid is hurting as much as she is. 

    "Can you imagine being the better half of the one thing you sought to destroy? Can you imagine how painful it is to have to become the very thing you hate the most because she's not going to let him die, Alastair? I was going to kill him the same way the Order was going to kill me. He's a kid. A kid who never got to be a kid like she did, like Naloc did. 

    "Baby, I'm not asking you to jump on the kid's bandwagon. That's my job. I kind of love him already," he laughed. "I'm just asking you to cut the kid some slack. Being here must be hell for him but he's here for her. You have to remember that this is the first time he has somewhere safe to lay his head. For him and all those other stupid kids out there with him," 

    "Why are you crying?" he asked catching my tears. 

    "He's a really strong, kid," I choked out. "He's not going to make this easy for her. Astra already hates what she can do and he's completely terrified of her. That man beat him, programmed him to hate and fear everything she is. I don't know what to do," he stood up and pulled me into him. "That's our baby," 

    "I know," he whispered onto the top of my head. "There's a tiny version of you in that room that needs reassurance," 

    "Yeah," I pulled away from him wiping my eyes on his t-shirt. 

    "You want to blow your nose on it too?" he asked sarcastically. I reached for the hem of the shirt and pulled it right off his body. 

    "Yeah, thanks," I said blowing my nose into the torn shirt. 

    "Are you wondering where she got her crazy from?" he asked. 

    "Not even a little. She gets it from you," I smacked him with the shirt as I reached for the door. He laughed before he began to walk away. 

    I opened the door and was met with low Bach playing at a background level. Astra is under a mountain of Anime plushies and her Dragon Ball Z comforter. I climbed onto the bed and tucked myself in next to her. She moved over to me burying her face into my left side. 

    "I'm not going to apologize if that's what you came here to say," she mumbled into my arm. I grinned to myself. 

    "Why would you apologize?" I asked. "You're doing amazing," 

    "What?" she sat up looking down at me. A couple of her tears landed on my cheek. she wiped them off my face before she turned away to try and her hold of herself. 

    "Astra, you got your point across. Not just to Hunter but to Evan. It was needed, but don't you think you went a little too far?" 

    "I knew he wasn't going to kill him," she started crying again. 

    "How sure were you?" 

    "Sixty-five percent. He was really pissed because Angel hugged me when he was completely naked," she cleared her throat. I didn't want to laugh but here we both are laughing. "We wouldn't have let him do it," 

    "Astra-"

    "What the hell is wrong with me?" she growled. She rarely resorts to using her wolf traits but here she is just about ready to shift. Cute.

    "When I was fifteen, I went back to Papa's pack and I challenged the alpha. Before he could shift, I took his head right off his body because he and his mate tagged me as a threat to the former Order of the Supernatural. 

    "It wasn't until much later that I found out that the man I humiliated and killed in front of all his people was my biological father. Everything he had done for me was because I was the product of a love he couldn't have. A love so deep that he was willing to die for it. Something beyond the bonds of a mating. 

    "I don't regret very many things except for that. I never talk about it with anyone because I know if Papa knew it would hurt him to hear me say that I wanted to get to know him better. I wanted to see why my mother would do that to her true mate. I don't understand it. He was all I had left of her and I killed him. 

    "Our instincts are wired differently than everyone else's. We feel more than they do. We rage harder and longer. It was the way the all-father wanted it. We were to be the most powerful beings in order to defeat the Steppenwolf," 

    "What?" she asked looking over at me. 

    "I'll tell you a story not very many know. Steppenwolf was the product of a violent assault on one of the All-father's mistresses. They tried to kill Steppenwolf as a baby. Many different ways. When his father heard of the birth of his first son, Step came for the boy. Wrecked the kingdom of Asgard to get to his son. Step looked at the boy and knew that the tiny infant in his arms would be able to one day come back to Asgard and destroy the All-father once and for all. There wouldn't be a god alive who would be able to stop him. 

    "In his skin form, Steppenwolf was beautiful but he turned into a beast. What we know as a Lycan now. See, Steppenwolf had the ability to adapt. I don't mean to his surroundings. His learning was so advanced that all he had to do was engage in a fight and his opponents would reveal their weaknesses on their own. He was able to take in the information and instantly recalculate for an automatic defeat. 

    "So, Odin created something that had no weaknesses. Something he wouldn't be able to adapt to. Something he'd never be able to become. Steppenwolf was promiscuous and loved the beauty that all women were. So, he put his creation inside of one of his daughters born from one of his mistresses. To ensure she was beautiful enough to catch his attention. 

    "Steppenwolf was at the top of his game, he peak of his prime. He had whatever he wanted except someone to share it all with. The All-Father sent her out and ordered her to bring back the head of the monster who threatened his reign.  The wolf took one look at Steppenwolf and knew that there would never be anything more beautiful to exist ever again. 

    "As she shifted and tore him to bits, her soul cried to his and his to hers. With his last breaths, he swore that he would find her again. In a different life. In a different world. But she would be his. The All-father rewarded the act by giving the wolf a sister,"

    "That's a really sad story," she whispered. "Where did you read it?" 

    "I didn't," I smiled at her. "When I was born, I wasn't meant to survive. I was the product of something forbidden and my father unleashed something that he didn't quite understand. Something I still don't really understand. The wolf inside of me is the spirit of the first battle wolf ever created. But I am not the woman he created. 

    "The night you were born. It was the most beautiful summer evening I had ever seen. When my water broke, the clear skies clouded. Thunder and lightning roared like nothing I've ever seen before. I was scared. It rained like it had never rained before. Suddenly there were reports of a Tsunami. Tornados. 

    "The daughter that bore the curse of the wolf had those abilities. She could bend the elements of any atmosphere with a simple train of thought. While the woman and the beast were very similar and very wrathful. They weren't the same. They were two different beings. I am the wolf. The embodiment of beast," 

    "You think I'm the woman?" 

    "Yes," I nodded. "When I saw that he was Domino Steppenwolf's son, that they both were. I knew they weren't here just to try and take Rogue Creek. It's crazy right?" 

    "Yes," she laughed. "Did the wolf love him?" 

    "No, the wolf had more animalistic traits. Longed for something more powerful, but she did favor him. He was beautiful, he fought like he owned the war and it was captivating. She just didn't want a warrior. She wanted a king. She also bested the warrior. He was weak and she didn't want someone that would bow to her every whim," 

    "Mom, he hates what I am," she cried. I pulled her into me, sitting her on my lap.

    "You have to understand that they made him like that, Astra. His father was turned into a vampire in order to create weapons like Hunter. Hunter survived something that twenty-three others didn't. He went in the youngest, the weakest, and emerged the strongest. 

    "He's scared of what we are because of the hardship he had to endure as a little boy. I had a crappy upbringing after my wolf came in but I had a beautiful childhood thanks to my dad. You've had a great childhood. He's never had this. His mom never held him when he was sad. No one took care of him the way daddy and I take care of you and Naloc. 

    "Maybe take a different approach?" I offered. "I'm not saying submit to him, but show him the side of you that we all love. The side that made Evan fall in love with you. The side that makes you the favorite. We all know you're the beast your mother and father created, but he needs to know the girl that your mother and father raised," 

    "And if he doesn't like her?" 

    "I can always break into his head and rewire it to make that fear go away. It'll be painful for him but I'd do that for you," 

    "That's f****d up," she chuckled. 

    "Yeah, I'm a monster. Remember?" I looked down at her. She laughed tucking herself into me again. 

    "I love you, mommy," she whispered. 

    "I love you too, my love," I held her tighter. I haven't had her in my arms like this since she was nine. 

    "Can you stay with me until I fall asleep?" 

    "Of course, I can," 

    I rocked her back and forth and hummed along to the music playing until she fell asleep. I tucked her into bed and walked out of the room feeling emotionally exhausted. I placed my forehead against her door and let out a heavy sigh. 

    "Drink?" I looked to my left to see my dad standing there. 

    "Yes, please," I nodded. 

    He took my hand and pulled me to him. We went down to the living room without saying a word. I sat back rubbing the ache around my eyes from all the crying. When did I become this f*****g sappy? I remember when I only cried out of rage. This is new to me and it's seriously a lot harder than anything I've ever had to handle. 

    "Parenting tiny God wolves is hard, huh?" my dad handed me a glass of aged brandy. 

    "She was going to let the kid kill Evan to get her point across," I shook my head. 

    "You killed anyone who had a problem with you to get your point across," he shrugged. "If we made a monument to those who fell to the wrath of Scylla Narolin in her prime. I think it would be as big as the Northern gate," 

    "Probably," I agreed.

    "I don't know what you would have done if Alastair had a lady friend when you two found one another. I do know that she wouldn't have made it very far. We're lucky she hasn't killed her or her family. I think she's known where the girl is from the moment we got the lists of his acquaintances," 

    "She has. Those pups she was playing with yesterday. The one that was sitting on her lap is Vanessa's little sister. The woman that was with them is her mother. The two boys that were watching from a distance are her brothers," 

    "f**k," he shook his head. "Are you going to tell her something?" 

    "No, should Vanessa choose to remain in Hunter's life romantically, Astra has free reign to eliminate the threat and any loose ends that can potentially threaten her. You know how this works," 

    "You don't find anything wrong with that, Scylla?" 

    "No," I answered truthfully. "Hunter has been warned. Evan was put in his place to show Hunter exactly what he means to her. It's his turn to show Astra that the same courtesy," 

    "Honey-" 

    "Dad, I don't want to fight with you. I know you don't like my parenting skills but it is what is. We're not like you. I know you want us to follow in your image but we're not. You're a vampire now. Judging my decisions the way you do doesn't just affect me and the kids. You know that right? Lilith and her brothers hear you tell me that it's wrong to raise their niece and nephew the way they were. The way they've been teaching us since they came into our lives. I know you don't want what happened to me to repeat itself. I just want you to know that I've got this and I apologize for the things that I've said out of anger," 

    "Me too," he nodded. He came closer and hugged me. "I just want what's best for all of you," 

    "Same as me. That's what I'm trying to accomplish. I want to be an example. A good role model. This isn't the world it used to be. Things are changing and I need them to be prepared," 

    "Right," he nodded. "Then, I'll try my best to keep that in mind,"

    "Thank you,"