No one ever told him what it was like to lose something. What did it feel like when you lost something that you cared about? Dominic remembers the day when his father died like it was only yesterday

How they had been riding back from slaughtering a village filled with humans. Their clothes were filled with blood and the stink of the red liquid wasn't pleasant. You would believe that Dominic would have accustomed the smell after so many years of smelling the rusty reek.

He was only sixteen back then when he snapped the neck of a doctor who was trying to save lives. After so many years he still remembers the look on the man's face, like he was staring at the eyes of a monster.

A low chuckle left Dominic's mouth.

He was right, after all, he was a monster. He had taken so many innocent lives with his father. Caesar deserves to be burnt in the lowest layers of hell and next to him there should be a place next to the previous king reserved for his son.

He was no better than him. If something he was even worse because Dominic was the one who killed his own father. No matter how evil Caesar was he didn't kill his own father.

Every year, at the anniversary of his father's death he walks to his grave and falls a single black rose that one of the garden keepers grows especially to him. It is a cruel reminder of how Caesar's blood turned it's color from deep red to as black as a coal. It was a curse that witches had sentenced after their pleading for him to stop killing humans.

The witches didn't care about the fact that humans were born from a luckless experiment. They were still one of their greatest creations. Caesar, of course, didn't give a damn about their warning and kept murdering humans until one more village was disposed of humans. The black blood was a poison that slowly stopped the heart of its carrier.

Even now, years later Dominic can hear the pleas of his father. Pleading someone to kill him and free him from the pain of your heart turning black. He remembers the look on his face as his own son thrust the rusty sword he once gave straight into his heart.

The Scotch in his class started to come to an end. No wine was strong enough to blur his mind. And that is what he needed more than anything, the strongest weapon against yourself is your own mind.

It can make you believe in things that aren't true and what are against your beliefs. It can make you see things you should rather forget and bury under the ground. Just like the hazel eyes that his mind creates just to annoy him even more.

He threw the glass he held against the nearest wall from annoyance.

She left and still the picture of her haunts his mind. His thoughts were on her and the child, no matter how drunk he got himself, he couldn't forget them. She was a fool for deciding to leave with his child. Not only did she put herself on danger but the future leader of werewolves also.

And that pissed him off even more.

After a few days of looking into things, he realized that she wasn't kidnapped as everyone believed. She walked using her pretty little legs out of the castle, away from him, and left. If he would have known better he would have thought that Foley would have taken her, after all, he was aware of the fact that there was a bounty on his mate's and son's head.

He needed to find her, find them before anything bad could happen.

That's when the door opened and a glaring beta walked in with a man with a small chest on his hands.

***

Maeve and her father were walking on a town that was located in no man's land. It was located next to the ocean making it be a very congested town with the harbor. It was amazing to see so much different species walk through the streets.

The houses looked so different than what Maeve had accustomed to seeing in her own small village. There were at least two floors on each of the houses and some of them were even higher. She felt Tommy squeak in her pocket when it noticed rats running in the streets. The rats were noticeably larger than the mouse in her pocket. She could see that almost none of the people who were walking down the streets didn't seem to pay attention to them. Everyone held their head high and didn't mind what other people were doing.

"FRESH FISH, CAUGHT ON THIS MORNING," she heard a young boy yell close to them. The fishes that were laid on a wooden block on the ground seemed to stare right into the eyes of Maeve. The eyes of the fishes were lifeless and red from the hematomas in their eyes.

She saw as a girl about the same age as she walked from the woods, barefooted, with a basket on her hand.

"Let's go, Maeve." Her father murmured and placed his hand on her back and led her forward. "There is one place I need to visit before dark."

His daughter didn't say anything. She kept looking at the woman with long blond locks. Maeve tried to figure out what species was she but there was no sign if she could be a witch or a werewolf or even a human, as she. But then the girl disappeared and no matter how hard Maeve tried to find her with her eyes. Not realizing why but it bothered Maeve more than she thought it would be possible when she didn't saw her face.

"Where?" Did she go? She wondered the first word aloud without her even noticing it.

"You will see," Oliver muttered and kept going forward.

For a while they walked forward, Maeve looking around her with admiration. For anyone else, she looked like just a normal stroller who was spending her day with a man older than her. Her father had insisted that she put on a cloak with a hood covering bits of her face. The dark brown cape was something that Maeve hated, it was stinky, dirty and a little too big for her. If she took a few steps faster than her usual rate the hood covered her eyes making her pull it back up with annoyance. But like in every other thing there was one good thing about it, it covered her baby bump.

The corset and dress that once kept her abdomen hidden had slackened making the shape of her dress seem unflattering. Still, she had not mentioned about the baby to Oliver. It was a relief that he was a human like her, or that is what Maeve at least believed if only she would have known the truth about her family, so he couldn't smell the new odor in her.

She truly wanted to tell him. Share the news of their family growing. But she couldn't shake off the feeling that she shouldn't tell him. Something in her was warning her and that creeped her out. Could her own father be the person the boy in her dream warned about?

"That is crazy," she mumbled under her breath. There is no way her own father would ever hurt her, after all, if everything he told was true she is his blood.

Maeve stumbled on her own legs making her heart beat faster, "We are here." Oliver said and lead her inside of an old looking house with a sign over its door. It said "Crying Mermaid"

Why would someone want to name their home as a crying mermaid? That didn't make sense in the human's mind.

They stepped inside and Maeve's chin dropped to the ground. Someone's home wasn't a home at all but a tavern filled with men with scarred faces.

"CINDY BRING SOME MORE BEAR!" A large man yelled across the tavern with a toothless grin. Cindy, the woman he yelled for, rolled her eyes and bought him a large mug filled with orangish liquid.

"I need you to sit there and do not talk to anyone," Oliver muttered to her ear and led her to sit next to the place where people could order their drinks.

Maeve's eyes largened. He was going to leave her with men who looked like they would eat her for breakfast? Suddenly a photo of Dominic appeared on her mind.

No, stay strong Maeve, she thought.

"I have a business I need to attend here. Stay here and do not speak with anyone I will be back before you even notice it," he looked around the tavern before whispering the final words, "do not take off your hood." After that, he left towards a wooden door and disappeared.

She looked around the room and saw a few women with the groups of men. They were dressed on dresses that showed more skin that Maeve could ever have imagined her showing. But they were pretty. One had a red hair and another a black and the list went on. Their bodies looked like they were carved from men's dreams. The woman with black hair noticed her stare and winked an eye towards her making Maeve blush.

She definitely didn't belong here with women like that. She looked like an ugly duckling compared to them.

Then her eyes wandered to a man that was sitting alone in one corner. She couldn't see his face because of the dim lighting at the corner. She could see a few women and even men stare at him with curious and envious looks. His cape, unlike her's, was deep black.

Maeve turned her eyes away from him. Oliver should be coming back soon and then they would leave this place and Maeve had to never step her foot into a place like this that screamed danger. Now she actually could understand the name of the tavern. It was so distressing that even a mermaid would cry at the sight of it.

Her eyes kept wandering around when she noticed a man staring right into her eyes, making chills run down her spine. She quickly turned around to look at her hands but she could still see as the man said something to the men next to him and they stood up. Maeve gulped.

Why couldn't she just stare at her hands for the entire time and no trouble would come to her?

"Excuse me?" She heard a woman ask close to her.

"My father asked me to deliver these," she mumbled and lifted her basket that the man behind the counter was able to see the insides of the basket.

The man looked around worried, "How many times have I asked that your father would bring those here? This is not a safe place for a woman like you, darling."

"I know but he was... busy," she muttered making Maeve look at her closely behind the hood. Her head was covered with a hood similar to hers. The woman turned to look at her making Maeve once more look at a different direction. After she did that she wished that she would never have done that.

The man that made her feel uneasy was walking towards her with a disgusting smile painted on his face. Behind him were a few other men with similar looks expect one whose face was covered with hate. All the color left her face.

She tried to pull the hood to cover more of her face when the door opened and a blow of wind made the hood fell away from her head. Her panicking eyes tried to find her father with her eyes but there was no help because the men were already so close to her. No one else seemed to notice her panic.

"See? I told you that I would notice his little wench from anywhere," the man she first saw said to his friends.

No matter how anxious the situation she was in her heart filled with warmth. There was no doubt that they were meaning Dominic. Her mind filled with memories of her time when she spent it with him. A smile appeared on her lips.

But soon it disappeared when she felt a knife against her back. "Do not try to fight back, babe," someone breathed to her ear. Her eyed tried to wander back to the brunette woman but her back was towards her.

No one noticed anything, no one looked into someone else's business in a place like this that was behind God's back.

Maeve slowly stood up trying to hold her tears back praying that her father would soon return to see her in distress. The man behind he leads her out of the tavern to a quieter part of the street where he put the knife against her throat.

"You know, hussy, that you are going to make us rich," he snickered and one of the four men coughed. The panicked look at her eyes made him smirk, "No need to be afraid, you were lucky that we found you first."

The blond haired man behind him nodded, "You don't even know what lurks in the dark in a place like this."

"W-w-why-y ar-are y-you doin-ing t-thi-is?" Her voice broke down. Her hands were shaking and her stuttering was worse than ever.

"You don't know?" The man holding the knife against her neck asked with eyes full of surprise. When Maeve didn't answer the man whose eyes were and still are full of anger said the words that made her regret the decision of ever leaving the castle.

"There is a bounty on your's and your baby's head."

Every single cell inside her body froze. If she would have the courage to put her hands over her abdomen she would have done so. Maeve wanted to scream and when her throat couldn't handle it she would have yelled so loud that even Dominic could have heard her fear.

She knew it was a bad idea to leave him after all. She thought that she was doing this for her baby but because of her irresponsible actions she but hers and the baby's life in danger. She might be able to hide but she couldn't deny the fact that the person she is currently carrying is a son of the king of werewolves.

A tear finally escaped from her eyes easing the pain she was feeling inside. She closed her eyes, not wanting to seem even weaker than she already was.

"Do not shed tears, we have a long journey ahead of us." The blonde man said and signed to the man with the knife that they needed to go. The faster they leave, the faster they get the money in what they can buy whatever their hearts desire for the rest of their lives.

Before they took the first step Maeve heard a sound of something hitting something or rather someone hard. The knife that once kept her still was now gone making her open her eyes. All the men that took her were now lying on the ground.

Maeve heard someone squeak and an echo of a hard object hitting the ground.

The squeaker stood in front of her with shaking hands. Her long golden blonde hair was an outstanding contrast to her bright green eyes.

"Are you alright? She said keeping her voice as quiet as possible. Maeve only nodded looking at the girl in front of her in awe. She was so beautiful that even the god of the sun would pale next to her.

The blonde's eyes darted back to the men who were passed out on the cold ground. Maeve noticed her staring and turned to look at the ground. The knife that was held against her neck was now on the ground next to a frying pan.

Maeve blinked.

A frying pan? What on earth was a frying pan doing on there?

"Oh, that's mine," her savior said and picked it from the ground. She put it back to her basket, "I would suggest that you will leave before they wake up."

Maeve nodded again, her mind wasn't making any sense at the moment. A woman who was probably at the same age as her even if not younger saved her from men who looked like cavemen. Something inside the pregnant woman's flashed, she wanted to be as strong as her.

"Thank you," Maeve whispered and hugged the blonde woman making her stiff for a second.

One of the men moaned from the ground making both of them pale. The green-eyed girl smiled at Maeve for the last time before she walked back to the street and from there to the woods. Maeve stood there for a while before she walked back into the tavern to see if her father was back from his meeting.

The pressure was starting to form in her chest as she thought of how she could tell him that she is pregnant and she needs to go back to the place where he fetched her from. But before that, she took the knife from the ground and put it into her empty pocket. After all, Maeve just found out that she and her unborn child are in constant danger and you never know what lurks in the dark.

***