Demonia POV

The air around Lilian and I begin to feel more relaxing as we walk hand in hand out of the Palance and into the forest woods together.

I had spilled my truth in front of her, which terrified me.

No one had ever had such the pleasure to see me so vulnerable, to show my feelings and emotions so rawly in front of another, I had been so close to breaking in front of her with the thought of her leaving me once she had known the truth of the true me.

I'm afraid.

For the first time in my miserable life, I am scared of someone, not just anyone- not anymore, she's my second chance to make something out of myself, to feel something new other than hate and disgust for myself and others.

To be so vulnerable in front of her and to her to accept me, even with all I have done, which is a lot of fucking terrible things, things I see now that are.. wrong.

Yet that side of me will never lay dormant, that much I know, my Renoan true form is a beast of its own, its own thoughts and feelings, much like a werewolf and their beast, they speak to one another, not always agreeing with each other, it is the same with my beast.

The fact I had shown my true self to Lilian, it had scared me that I might've lost control and hurt her, and I really wanted to, but it's not me that wants to, it's the part of me that makes me a monster, changes me into something I do not recognize anymore, my more dominant self is not always agreeing with me, even now with Lilian, I have to protect her from myself.

At all costs, I must fight myself daily to be in control of my urges.

"Demonia, did you hear me?"

I pull back from my thoughts and focus my gaze on Lilian, who looks up at me with worry, did she say something? I was too caught up in my own thoughts to pay attention.

"What did you say?" I ask, smiling faintly.

She smiles back nervously. "I asked how old you were, I hope I didn't.. um, insult you."

My age? Why would she think such a thing would insult me, preposterous.

I snort and shake my head amused. "I stopped aging at 29, but I am far older than that now."

She looks up at me amazed. "How old are you currently?"

"I turned 367 recently." I answer her question.

Lilian looks up at me with surprise. "T-That's woah.."

Is it that bad of age? "I am within the adult age within my kind, does this perturb you?" I ask slightly confused.

Her eyes widen and she shakes her head, a blush of pink taints on her cheeks. "No no no, of course not, I just feel so.. um- insignificant compared to you."

Is that was she was worried about? What nonsense.

"I guess this means I must abandon you, you are simply out my league, after all with such a young mate, I feel too inferior to keep you." I say jokingly and she pales.

Oh, she took that seriously, how amusing.

"I'm joking." I smirk, slightly enjoying her panic expression.

She grows quiet as we walk through the forest and it's nice, different, I have never ventured out like this before unless it was for sport or hunting, this feels intimate, relaxing, and new, something I don't dislike.

"Tell me more about your wolf." I ask, breaking the silence with curiosity.

She looks up at me happily and I love when she smiles, everything around us seems to light up, especially in my black, dark, and cold heart.

She clears her throat quietly. "Um, well her name is Mira, she is different to me, she's loud but gentle, um.. it's kind of embarrassing but um, she is my best friend."

I look at her confused. "Why is that weird?"

Her cheeks redden. "Most wolves don't think that way, b-but I didn't have many friends growing up in the castle.. m-my father forbids it, so.. all I had was Mira.."

Ah.

Well this honestly doesn't surprise me, Lord Du Mont certainly thought highly of himself until he met me, I had instantly made the connection to as why his Lilian never met his eyes for too long, I recognize men like him instantly, distancing his daughter from others so he could control and manipulate her, quite boring but to as someone so young as her, I find it quite... saddening, it makes me angry for her.

I lean down and kiss her on her forehead. "Not weird, quite the opposite sweetheart, Mira sounds like she protected you and cares for you deeply, I find that wonderful, I cannot wait to meet her and thank her for being your friend."

Lilian turns her head and I see her ears and neck is flushed red from my words. "T-Thanks." She mumbles out as she hides her face with her free hand.

Laughing, I stop in our tracks and turn her to face me, I hold her chin up with my thumb. "No thanks needed."

She nods her head, still very much red in the face.

We have walked through the woods for a good forty minutes. "Is this far enough to show me?" I ask, glancing around, nothing is out here, she is quite shy despite being a wolf and wanted to walk further into the forest.

"Yeah.. sorry.. I-I'll go.. around the tree." She mumbles walking away from me.

I stop her and grab her hand and turn her to face me. "Show me here, I want to see everything, don't be scared."

I can see her pretty little head thinking, she's clearly uncomfortable but I have no reason as to why, I have seen her naked countless times now, as she has seen me naked, with that being said, I know what will make her feel comfortable.

I let go of her hand and begin to strip the jacket from my body and unbutton my white shirt, peeling it from my body, I see Lilian look at me shocked. "W-What are you doing?" She asks and I grin.

I walk over to her and unclasp the corset from the back of her dress, slowly unbuttoning each clip, I lean into her ear and kiss the mark on her neck. "It's just me and you here baby, I'm helping you relax," I whisper as I remove the corset fully from her waist.

I lift the dress from over her head and watch as her long brown hair sprawls over her soft and beautiful smooth skin as she stands, blushing.

I leave her standing there, naked with her clothes in a pile near her feet and I walk backward, slowly, until my bare back hits a tree.

I lean against a tree and watch her, she takes a deep breath and focuses on my eyes, that is when I hear the sound of breaking bones, I could recognize the sound anywhere as I zero in on Lilian's small body beginning to bend and sink to the shape of a wolf.

The fur comes through, now replacing that beautiful smooth skin of hers with light cream blond fur, her eyes are no longer hers as a beast has completely taken control of the shift, she's now on all fours and her body is transforming fast, her arms are no longer hers, her legs are no longer legs, they are replaced with slightly larger wolves legs.

As I watch in astonishment, never witnessing a wolf transform before, I couldn't tear my eyes from Lilian's as her green eyes now glow, she's no longer stood there, instead, a wolf no larger than a small horse now stands in the spot I left her.

I lean off the tree and walk over to Mira, admiring how her fur glistens and shines, it's magnificent. Her tail is wagging as I reach my hand out to her face, her wolf leans into my touch and lets me touch the side of her face as I touch her face.

"Hello, Mira." I say bending down as I admire how beautiful my girl is, with and without fur.

I can sense Lilian's and Mira's emotions as I stroke her long soft fur, liking the feel of it between my fingers as I caress her slowly, the purrs coming from Lilian's wolf tell me that she enjoys it, also the tingles from the mate bond make everything seem more personal, intimate and private.

"You're gorgeous." I say staring into the eyes of Lilian's wolf.

She looks beyond happy as her wolf nudges my hand and pushes her head into my chest as she rubs herself into my bare chest, I let her do what she pleases as I kneel in front of her, not hating the tickling from her fur is causing me, it's a new experience I'm glad I got to witness.

Mira looks to the trees then back to me and I feel her itching to run, after all Lilian had not been able to spread her legs within the castle, nor was she ever let out when she was with her father.

I stand up and watch as she blinks up at me, her tongue slightly out and she's purring at me as I take a step back from her and grin, a thought comes into mind at how I could keep up with her as she runs.

I feel my horns come free and my wings break free, forgotten all about my shirt that is now ripped from the transformation and freeing my wings from my back, I smirk down at my mate as she watches us, more confident than the first time she had witnessed my true self.

I spread my wings and look at her with a half-grin, she's eager to play so I will indulge her. "I will give you a minute heads start, starting.. now." I say slowly and Lilian's large wolf eyes widen.

She's still stood there so I begin counting. "1."

"2."

"3."

"4."

She looks at me than the trees, excitement in her tail as she begins to speed off into the woods, not looking back at me, I can feel how happy this is making her, and I will admit, I love a good chase.

"TWENTY!" I shout out loud for her to hear, I can smell her even from afar.

My beast side itching to hunt her down and take her back to the palace and fuck her is all I can think of, but I wait- patiently counting down as I sniff the air, her scent lingers, waiting for me to find her within the forest.

She isn't far from me, but that doesn't matter, I will always find her, she's mine.

"HERE I COME!" I shout out, spreading my wings wide as I jump from the ground, high up into the sky above the ground.

As I flap my wings to make it to the top of the tree's I sniff the air and her scent is all I am focused on, ignoring the smell of the creatures within the forest I begin the chase for my mate, a minute heads start will surely put her perhaps a mile from me by now.

Flying over the tree's I follow her scent, like a wild beast hunting its prey, her scent is all I crave and want to devour, the chase makes it more fun, forgotten how it feels to have 'fun'.

Is that what it feels like? Your heart beating against your chest, the feel of my blood pumping through my veins at the anticipation of finding her? I feel like I'm alive, something I haven't had the pleasure of feeling once in my life.

Lilian's scent is below me and if I listen, I can hear her paws hit the forest floor with each stomp of her paws, I doubt she has yet spotted me above the tree's but I can feel she can sense me near, the sound of my wings flapping in the air to the beating of my heart, wolves have impeccable hearing, she knows I'm here to get her.

I hover above her location and then I wrap my wings around myself, letting my body drop from the sky like a star falling to the ground, I drop fast like a bullet until I feel my feet touch the floor bed of the forest.

Pushing my wings apart so they no longer surround me, I spread them wide and look in front of me to see my beautiful little wolf-mate panting and staring at me in amazement that I had landed right in front of her.

I breathe out and stare down at my mate, smirking. "Found you."

I retract my wings and step closer to my mate, she's panting heavily and her eyes stare up at me and all I can think of is touching her skin again, the need to touch her warm skin, to wrap my arms around her and take her back to the bedroom if I ever make it that far.

The thrill of the chase has made me grow hungry with another need and I can't think straight anymore, I just need to feel her wrapped around me.

I want her so bad and I know she wants me too from her panting.

Fuck it, I want her now, right fucking now.

"Shift."