She Belongs To The Devil

Nigel knocked on the door of his mother\'s chamber without wasting a second. "Mother, it\'s me."

"Come in, Nigel," he heard his mother\'s laughter-filled voice from the other side of the door.

He took a deep breath in and put on a smile before entering the room. He saw that his father and mother were sitting by the window while the soft wind that was blowing inside was helping them to bear the summer heat.

Nigel gave a gentle bow to both of his parents. "Please excuse me for being a bone in the soup right now. I feel like I am spoiling your fun."

Dragomir gave out a chuckle and patted on the chair beside him. "We were just sharing our fond memories about you. Come, take a seat." And he playfully added, "We can make fun of you right in front of you."

Nigel smiled and lovingly gazed at the picture-perfect smile of his parents. They looked so happy that he was having second thoughts about ruining the mood.

However, Dragomir was quick to notice the sadness on his son\'s face. Nigel\'s smile had turned into a sad one without him realizing it.

So Dragomir asked his son, "What is it, Nigel? You look tensed."

Nigel was caught off guard by that question from his father. He gave a nervous laugh and tried to leave the room, "No, I was just thinking that maybe I should drop by a little later. I don\'t want to disturb the two of you."

"Don\'t be like that, Nigel. Come sit with us." Dragomir said as though he was giving an order.

And Nigel felt compelled to do as his father had asked.

"So, what is it? Is something bothering you?" Dragomir was now giving his full attention to his son.

The burden of the secret that Nigel had been keeping inside his heart felt heavier by the moment. And now that he had already ruined the happy mood, he thought that he would as well spill out his secret to his father.

He looked into his father\'s eyes and slowly and carefully began, "Father, there is something that I need to tell you… about myself."

"Sure, feel free to say anything," Dragomir now fully turned to face his son.

Claricia was also curious about what Nigel was so eager yet scared to share with his father. And she also listed to her son carefully.

Nigel took a deep breath in again and asked, "Father, have you heard of the creature called werewolf?"

"Nigel!" Claricia immediately shouted and glared at her son. She wondered why he was bringing it up when the elders hadn\'t officially agreed to reveal the secret yet. She didn\'t want her brother to be angry again.

However, Nigel quickly retaliated to her glare, "The alpha has already given me permission."

And the warning glare that Claricia was giving her son softened.

Dragomir had deep frown lines on his forehead. He looked at the mother and son and felt as though they were talking in some foreign language. "Werewolf? Alpha? What are you two talking about?"

Nigel clasped his hands together and explained everything quickly, "The Siccaldi clan is a cursed clan. And some of the members can turn into wolves when they reach of age. I am one of those. I turned for the first time on Adeline\'s birthday. And that is the reason why I had to leave for Aberdeen, so that people of Wyverndale wouldn\'t be in danger because of me."

Nigel waited for his father to give some kind of reaction – scared, disbelief, angry, betrayed, anything. But Dragomir had a vacant expression on his face as if everything Nigel just said to him went over his head.

And then Dragomir burst into laughter. "You two are trying to play a joke on me… How did you even come up with such a lame joke? But that was funny nonetheless."

He kept on laughing for quite some time but when Claricia and Nigel didn\'t join him, he controlled his laughter and glanced at both his wife and son\'s faces.

Two things crossed his mind seeing their dead serious look. Either they were really good at acting, or they were… telling the truth.

Dragomir curled his brows and asked his son, "Wait! You were not joking?"

Nigel looked down and apologized, "I am sorry that we kept such a big secret from you. But we had no choice because of the clan\'s law. Even I found out about it only after turning into a wolf myself."

Dragomir kept on looking at his son with thousands of questions looming over his face. But he didn\'t know where to start from. He didn\'t even know what would be the right questions to ask in such situations.

He didn\'t know if he should be feeling betrayed by his wife and son, or if he should be concerned about his son\'s condition. He was utterly bamboozled.

Dragomir took a deep breath in and finally asked, "Tell me everything in detail." He thought that he would decide how to feel after hearing out his son.

Nigel gladly did as his father had asked. He explained everything there was to know about the werewolf clan, about his wolf side, about the other wolves, everything.

Dragomir keenly listened to his son. By the time Nigel finished telling his story, Dragomir knew how to feel. He gave a hug to his son and whispered with glistening eyes, "I am proud of you, my son."

Nigel\'s worry and anxiety that he had been feeling for a while now subsided as soon as he heard those magical words from his father.

Dragomir looked at his son with a wide smile on his face and lovingly pressed his hand on his cheek. "I never knew I had such a special child… But I am glad that you decided to tell me now. And I am sorry that you had to go through all that pain alone."

Nigel smiled and shook his head. "I was away from home but I was never alone, father. You don\'t have to feel so sorry towards me. I had my pack and my wife and brothers. They helped me a lot."

Dragomir nodded his head. "I am glad to hear that they took good care of my son."

The room went quiet for some time. Dragomir was thinking how little he knew about the world even after living for so many years.

There were so many creatures dwelling on Earth that he didn\'t know about. There were places that he had never been to, the food he had never tasted, and so many things that he had not explored.

And he was saddened that he would never get to explore more. "Maybe in my next life…" he quietly thought to himself.

He then adjusted his eye\'s focus on Nigel and asked him, "Can you show me what your wolf form looks like? I would love to see it."

Nigel smiled and agreed without hesitating for a second. He went and stood a little further away from his parents and warned his father, "I might look like I am in pain but I have already overcome it. You don\'t need to be concerned about me no matter how difficult the turning process looks like."

Dragomir gave an eager nod and watched his son as he fell down on all his four. He could hear the sounds of bone cracking and see his son writhing. But that just lasted for a few seconds.

Dragomir\'s eyes widened and his jaw dropped as a majestic large wolf with a coat of grey and white fur stood tall in front of him. "Wow!"

Dragomir instantly got up from his chair and went to hug the wolf. The fur felt so soft against his old skin that he felt really happy. Happy that his son looked fluffy and harmless, and not like some gruesome monster.

"I don\'t think I will have any regret now. I bet there is nothing more beautiful left to see.." Dragomir thought to himself as he hugged his son once more.