Day 1

The dungeon underneath the palace was cold, wet, and old. No one had been down here for many years and Demonia knew that the best, after all, the last thing he did remember was that they were fighting a war against Orion and sorcerors that created such foul beasts, born out of dark magic.

The last thing he was doing before everything went dark was, he was in his office, finishing the last book of his research, he was so close, he thought he had the cure, he wanted to sleep on it, yes, he remembered that much.

What he can not remember is ever waking up, he only remembers a never-ending nightmare, stuck somewhere, when he had finally come to his senses, his body, his arms, and knees hurt like he had been crawling on all fours for the longest time.

No one had come to see him yet, he was chained against the wall, unable to move, unable to sit or stand, he was forced to remain in a position that denied both, but he did not care, he felt like he had deserved it, he had, after all, killed his mate.

He could not believe what they had said to be true, but his mate was unmoving, pale, and had no heartbeat, he could smell the blood, it was all over him, however, he had killed her, he had bit into her multiple times without his knowledge, but she had the bite marks to prove it, the marks around her neck were the cause of death, but he did not remember doing any of those things.

Demonia went over everything, again and again, none of it made sense, so what the hell happened? Had he lost his mind? No, he was of steady mind, the only thing that was bothering him was...

It had finally made sense.

It was not him but the beast inside of him, the 'gift' he was given, it must have taken control of me, it would explain the loss of time, ten years to be exact, time was taken away from him by something he fully rejected, he had hated what he turned into, his only reason for not killing himself was his mate, his beautiful Lilian was holding him together.

He had missed her so much, he felt the bond break the moment the beast disappeared, he still felt it, he will continue to feel it until the day they execute him, his whole existence felt empty, hollow, and cold, he felt like clawing at his skin just to make the pain go away, it burned, itched and reminded him that he was, in fact, alone.

Demonia knew he was going to die, he knew the customs of werewolves, to kill your mate... it would mean death or known as 'The Seven', that was how many days it took for you to lose your mind, then you would be beheaded.

To be beheaded was to never see your mate again, to never join her in the moon goddess realm, he would be lost forever with the other forsaken, to never know peace or love, he would be walking through the darkness alone, until the end.

He closes his eyes and tries to hold back the fact that his heart was shattered and his soul was no more, tears would escape like waterfalls and he would call her name in the darkness of the cold wet dungeon underneath the palace.

"Forgive me, m-my mate, I-I will always l-love you." Demonia cries out into the empty dungeon he was held in.

Not once did he get the image of his mate laying lifeless on the floor, he still could not believe what the beast had made him do.

Anger took hold of him, as he mourned the death of his sweet, gentle and beautiful mate.

Day 2

Demonia had lost all feeling in his legs now, his arms were cut deeply by the pure silver chains that held him in position against the wall, he could not sleep, nor think, for the face of his lifeless mate had haunted him the whole night.

He had woke up screaming to be heard, for someone to know the truth before his end is to be brought upon him, he wanted the world and his family to know that he loves Lilian, and would never hurt her, he just wanted someone to know.

Hours had passed and no one came, no one listened, he was all alone with no one to hear his grief, not even his own children would not believe him if he had told them the truth, Demonia had known if he were them he would call insanity at such accusations.

Demonia had no proof he did not kill Lilian, he was alone the day his beast and other side took control of his body, no one would Lilian could vouch for that, after all, I fell asleep beside her that night, after a long day in my study, close to the truth.

He wanted to rip this creature inside of him to pieces for what it had done, it was our mate he had hurt, HIS LOVE, his reason for living, she was his angel, without her beside him he was empty, she kept him going, her soft shy smiles, her delicate touches as we pass, the softness of her lips as they had touched his.

At that moment it felt as if he was dying.

The bond, in recognition of his memories, had started to take effect over Demonia, causing immense pain due to the bond-breaking without rejection, his body was on fire, he was twisting and turning, screaming out for Lilian as his skin burned hot, his heart would squeeze tightly as if he was doing it to himself, he could not breathe, the bond was tearing him apart and he could do nothing to stop it.

This was only the beginning, yet he knew he had deserved it, after all, he should have known the beast would hurt someone.

But he had hoped... not her, not Lilian.

Anyone but her.

Day 3

The pain was constant and making it a reminder of the sin he had committed.

His skin was as if it had been burned, it had long turned black during the night and he was unable to heal himself due to how weak he was, the silver shackles had also stopped him from breaking free, as they were embedded with magic, it was of his own creation, but he could have never known he would be the first to try them out.

Demonia's face was lifeless, torn in anguish and pain, his eyes were dull grey and without soul, his body was bent and broken, sore and swollen, he had never felt such pain before, and after this, he will never feel it again.

He wanted this to be over.

His mind was slowly getting hazy with mixed memories of his childhood and Lilian, he had dreamed about the day he had first met her, he was mad at his father that day because he had insulted him during a game of... he could not remember, but he could see Lilian in his dream, to a distance, watching him with a beautiful smile, one she only showed him.

Then it turned into a nightmare, blood was pouring from her mouth and Demonia's hands were around her neck, squeezing hard as she clawed at him to let her go, but Demonia had felt like he could do nothing but watch, watch as this man that looked, dressed and talked like him would murder his mate.

He had not dared to sleep since the image would play back and plague his mind with regret and longing, he had cried for mercy, forgiveness and to be reunited with his mate, so he could beg for forgiveness to her directly.

He had missed her terribly, his heart breaks at the very thought of anything that reminds him of his mate, he just wanted to get his punishment so he could join her, he was nothing without her, and everyone knew it,

Day 4

Demonia was starting to lose his mind.

Shadows now surround him, they move against the walls and stare at him, they have no faces but they whisper, they whisper everything that Demonia had longed to forget, the image of his mother had come to him that morning, she looked the exact same as the last time he had seen her, she could not forget that day, no, it was the day his life turned for the better.

Her shadow would yell at him, hurl abuse, and he would close his eyes and silently hope that she would leave him to mourn in peace, but she did not go away, she would no longer whisper but yell at him.

"Nobody will ever love you!"

"I wish you were never born, you ruined my life!"

"LOOK AT ME WHEN I SPEAK TO YOU!"

"You- YOU! You will stay in this cage until you learn to obey me! Is that understood!?"

"Do not glare at me boy! You are below me, you are nothing!"

"LOOK AT ME DEMONIA, LOOK AT WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!"

The shadow of his mother would yell until he could not take it anymore, he would scream out to block her voice, he would screen, yell, shake the shackles as loud as he could until he blocked her voice out completely.

He would pass in and out of consciousness that night, as he had used all he had to block the sounds in the basement, the shadow of his mother had come to haunt him, he was sure of it, because of how she died, but she had never regretted her death, she had deserved to die, she was rotten from the inside, everyone knew, and everyone was happy with her gone.

So then why was he crying for her? For forgiveness, begging and pleading anything and everything to just leave him be, to be with his memories, the only thing that is keeping him from the inevitable, he just wanted to remember his mate for as long as possible, as much as it hurts, it was all he had that truly made him happy and his life worth something.

Day 5

Demonia was looking more and more like an empty vessel of a once-great king, father, and faithful mate.

His facial features had sunken so much that if anyone were to visit, they would not recognize the man before them. Demonia's hair had begun to turn white and his eyes had constantly glowed red, he was unable to see himself but he had known why this was happening.

The pain had been too much for anyone to handle upon losing their mate, the bond will break you long before your actual punishment, Demonia had only read about it, not paying that much attention, because he swore he would never do such a thing, he had loved his mate too much to think of what it would feel like.

But now it was happening to him, the hair was a sign of his crime, killing his mate.

The pain had only grown worse, he had now not slept for four days straight and not only was he seeing things but he was starting to talk to himself as if he was true, trapped in memory, reliving it through his own mouth, playing all parts of the memory, he would mumble them out quietly to himself.

He did not know of what he was doing, but deep down he knew that he had lost his mind, he had gone over the edge and this was punishment in its rawest of forms, to truly lose your mind is a scary thing, Demonia had hated that, a man who needed control yet, had none over his mind, not for the longest time.

He was going crazy, but as long as he was going crazy with the image of his mate in his head, as his body shook feverishly in pain, he did not care, he would cling as long as he could onto his memory with his once sweet mate.

Day 6

Demonia had started laughing to himself demonically, in the early hours of the morning, the whole palace could hear his crazed laugh at 3 AM sharp that morning.

He had stopped laughing five hours later, only to cry out for his mate, no longer self-aware of anything anymore as he shook his arms, yelled at the highest his voice could yell, he would shout in different tongues, all languages to anyone that would listen, to hear his words, to listen, anyone to take mercy on him as his soul rips from his body.

Demonia had not known what to do anymore, he was lifeless and freezing, yet his body was awake and warm, he was going crazy, the image of his mate would come and go during the day.

She was a shadow, staring at him, just like his mother's shadow, but she was silent. No matter how much Demonia would plea and beg, she would not talk to him, she would not blink or move, she would only watch him break in front of her, over and over and over again, until he wore himself out.

He would laugh, then cry, beg to the shadows then talk to himself, escaping to a distant memory, no longer of solid mind he would escape, into another time, a future was taken away from him he would think of what life would be like if he had gotten rid of his curse, how happy he would make Lilian every day, he would do anything to see her smile.

Demonia did not want to close his eyes, although the shadow was not speaking, it was his beloved, his mate, the gorgeous shy girl that he had loved so strongly. He knew she was here to torment him, to face her one last time before he is to die.

Although Demonia had thought he was alone, his mind was too far gone that he did not even see or notice his son, Axel. He had visited him over the course of the six days, no matter how much Axel had tried to gain his attention, yelling abuse, screaming or shaking the cages, Demonia had simply lost his mind.

He was too far gone now, nothing would pull him back, Axel knew that but to see his father, a man he had once looked up to, in this state, he had felt somewhat sorry for him, the image alone of him looking nothing like himself, but like a mad man on the street rambling nonsense, Axel felt like crying, not knowing why, he had hated his father with such force for what he had done.

The funeral of Lilian Black was today and Axel wanted to release his anger out on the man who had taken his mother away from him, to tell him everything he was feeling deep inside, to perhaps punish him more, to gain some sense as to why he would do this, why he had to be so cruel, a monster, to take something so pure out of this world.

He had given up, Demonia Black was gone, he was no longer here and Axel knew that, as much as it hurt, he would hold his head up high and pull his eyes away from the horrible state that his father was in.

Axel would turn and leave, as Demonia was beginning to laugh at something he had spoken then he would cry, Axel would block out the loud ramblings and leave, to not see him until tomorrow, until the final day, he could not bear to see anymore, knowing that tomorrow he will have lost both of his parents.

Day 7

Demonia could feel nothing.

He felt no pain, no happiness, no sadness or regret. Demonia felt completely and utterly numb to himself and the world around him. He was no longer there, his mind was broken and taken away from him, locked deep in a coffin and thrown into the black ocean of the world, he was gone.

But the name of his mate was never gone, no. The mate bond would not let him go that easily, even broken it will tear you apart, on the very last day of 'The Seven', Demonia will feel it all at once until he is dead, the image of his mate, her scent, her smile, every single thing will torment him until the end.

The guards had come for him that day at 6 PM, he was to be executed at 7, it was the seventh day of his mate's death, and he would be set to die on the seventh hour, without a second overlapped, he will die exactly on time.

The state of their once proud and strong king had shaken the minds and spirits of many of the guards that lay their eyes upon Demonia, he was no longer a person, but a lifeless and empty bag of bones, to stare into the eyes was to stare into the abyss, it was dark and lonely, nothing was alive and nor would anything ever live again in those eyes.

Demonia was gone, he paid no attention to his surroundings, he had known what day it was, the shadows had not let him forget, the shadow of his mate would now not look at him as he struggled to keep his head up as he was escorted out of the dungeon and to the area of execution.

A gag had been placed into Demonia's mouth, he was unable to speak, not that he could, he had known his mate would not speak to him, he had tried, yelled, and screamed for hours for her to only listen, he had gone over his life in the darkness, unknowingly sharing every detail of his life, saying everything in his last moments.

He had not noticed he was now facing his people within The Vale, even people from The Shadow Lands had come to witness the death of someone they had known, respected, and hoped Demonia would do great things, afterall he had helped stop the war, no one could have known Demonia would do such a thing, they knew he was troubled as a boy, but to murder your mate? It had been shocking, bringing his people to tears at the news.

News had traveled fast to all six realms, millions of creatures had come to witness the death of King Demonia Black, even his sons with their mates had come to watch their father pay for his crime, as much as they had wanted to avoid this altogether, they did it for the man that they had once love and respected before he had lost his sanity.

It was time.

Demonia was freed from his gag and he raised his head, he had gazed at the sea of his people in front of him, faces upon faces of faceless people, he could not recognize a single one, nor could he raise his head for long.

He would lower his head and drift, drift to a happier time, together with his family, not this, he had never wanted this, this was not what was suppose to happen, he smiled and laughed to himself in front of the crowd as he pictured his children's first steps, it had made him the happiest in those moments, his mate's happy squeal at seeing her children walk, there was no pain, no fear, only happiness.

Demonia had wished to hold onto that memory forever, even in death, he had hoped and prayed that he would never forget the people he cared deeply about, even though his mind was gone, Demonia would always remember his blood, the people he cared most about, it was special to him, somebody who grew up thinking happiness was unreachable.

He was thankful that he achieved this much, to find love, have children, a life without fear, he would close his eyes and smile.

Even in the final moment, he smiled.

He was not scared, he felt blessed he had a good life, for as long as he could remember, it was all he had ever wanted, Lilian had given him hope, a life, and a family, so he did not fear death, he welcomed it, like an old friend.

In his final moments, Lilian had smiled down at her mate and extended her pale soft hand out to touch the face of Demonia Black, with a knowing smile on her face, no longer with sadness in her eyes.

Demonia died on the 7th day of the killing of his mate, unafraid and free from fear, with love in his heart and a smile on his face.

The end.