Demon Pact she wolf: Now I'm the Damn Problem

The wolfsbane-laced merlot stained my lips like blood as Father clinked his glass against mine, his smile as false as the diamond cufflinks adorning his wrists. "To your new life, my dear," he purred, watching me drain the wine-oblivious that the potion would unravel my world.

To secure an investment and buy a gift for his bastard daughter, Father drugged me with wolfsbane-laced wine and delivered me to his sworn brother's bed.

The penthouse overlooked Manhattan's skyline, but I registered only the raw strength of the man beside me.

His hands on my skin, the scent of cedar and wild wolf that clung to the sheets-we burned through the night, a box of condoms strewn across the silk sheets like casualties of war.

When consciousness clawed back, sunlight seared my eyes, and a growl rumbled from the throat of the man who'd claimed me.

"I'm your father's blood brother," he snarled, his wolf eyes glowing gold with disgust.

Look at you," he sneered, tossing me a silk robe that reeked of his scent.

"So desperate for a wolf that you'd drug your father's brother. Pathetic."

His gaze raked over me like a branding iron, each word a lash.

"Tell your father he can keep his blood money. I'll never touch a cur who crawls into bed with trickery."

He flung my naked form back to the Charles manor, vowing never to see me again.

Fearful of offending the Davis pack, Father tossed me into the Silverwood Asylum that very night. There, I endured beatings with silver-tipped batons, electroshocks from silver-lined restraints, and degradation by the director and his lackeys-werewolf hunters masquerading as orderlies. When they wheeled me toward the operating table for "werwolf experimentation" on a werewolf hybrid, I leaped from the rooftop.

As my wolf's lifeblood ebbed, a disembodied growl rumbled in my mind:

"Little pup, give me your heart, and I'll grant you rebirth."

The air reeked of ozone l as my claws scraped the concrete.

I remember nothing but waking with a hollow chest, where once my werewolf heart beat.

The asylum director-who'd once relished my screams-now cowered before me.

"Miss Charles-no, mistress!" He thrust a discharge paper forward, his hands shaking. "We've called your family. Mercy, please!"

I flexed my claws, recalling the demon's pact.

He'd taken my gentle heart, the one that craved pack bonds, and left me a rabid she-wolf.

Now, clutching the asylum papers, I laughed at the approaching limousine-its windows tinted against the moon.

Finally, I could make them taste silver.

When I staggered into the Charles manor, the laughter died.

Jason instinctively shielded Annie Charles behind him, her scent cloying with victory.

Father curled his lip at my blood-stained gown-crusted with my own drying wounds and the gore of my tormentors.

"Back so soon?" he sneered.

"Wearing that ragged trash to play the martyr?"

I traced a scar on my forearm, where silver had burned me.

Jason's gaze flickered to the mark, his wolf nose catching the stench of old pain.

But he only growled: "Three years in Silverwood didn't cure your depravity. Try seducing me again, and I'll chain you there forever."

His words didn't sting-my heart was gone, replaced by a void where once love had howled.

I remembered begging him on a broken leg, his promise to protect me fading as he sent me back to the asylum.

Now, I smiled, baring half-healed fangs.

"Thank you, Jason Davis," I purred, "for teaching me what real monsters look like."

At my icy demeanor, Jason Davis shows no relief-instead, his wolf eyes flicker with annoyance,. He clears his throat, but Annie Charles slides between us, her diamond ringdug into the electrocution scar on my arm.

"Sister, I'm thrilled you're back!" she purrs, her nails pricking my skin.

"No one makes a better bridesmaid. I've been so bored without you to... play with."

I bare my teeth in a smile, fangs glinting:

"Oh, little sister, I've longed for this reunion more than you know."

Memory howls: when Mother and Father built their empire from nothing, I ran wild as a street pup, covered in grease from their factory machines.

Just as Father's business thrived-when I thought we'd finally be a real pack-Annie's mother arrived, reeking of wolfsbane and ambition.

Together, they drove Mother to her grave, using hexes and silver-tongued lies.

The day Annie stepped into our manor, she smashed Mother's memorial plaque, claiming my room as her own.

She framed me for theft, banishing me to the storeroom-stifling, reeking of mold.

Every time I emerged, Annie would sneer, pinching her nose:

"Filthy mutt-you stink of stray dog."

She forbade me from the table, so I scavenged scraps from the garbage, enduring her kicks and claw swipes when she grew bored.

Once, starving, I ate cake she'd thrown out.

She sewed my mouth shut with silver thread.

When the nanny tried to help, Father ripped the stitches free, snarling:

"You shame me! If only you were half as obedient as Annie-maybe then I could love you."

He fired the staff, leaving me to clean the manor alone, my lips throbbing with poison. Even then, I dreamed of his approval-of a birthday cake, baked with love.

Now, watching Annie's manicured hand rest on Jason's arm, I recall how she smashed my fingers with a silver mallet when I touched her piano.

"Your hands were lovely," I murmur, tracing the scars on my knuckles.

"Pity they're so... ruined now."

Annie jerks back.

"You're mad! Just because I'm mating Jason-"

"Enough!"

Jason pulls her close, his scent clouded with protectiveness.

"Annie is innocent! You'll never accept that I chose her over a monster like you."

Father's palm connects with my cheek, rings biting my skin.

"You should have died in that asylum! You're no daughter of mine-just a rabid cur!"

I bow my head, hiding a grin as blood trickles from my lip.

They're right-I did die.

The gentle Yuki who craved their love perished in that electrocage.

In her place stands a demon, born of a wolf's fury and a pact with darkness.

My hollow chest hums with anticipation-soon, they'll taste the silver they so freely gave.