Verena [Paul Lahote]

0.8

It had been days since Verena talked to Paul. None of them made the effort to fix it; they were consumed by their own egos.

Verena sat by the border of the treaty, not wanting to cross it. She was hoping that Paul would notice her. She wanted to say sorry and was hoping that she could talk to him. She missed him.

With luck on her side, Paul in his wolf form arrived. She looked at his wolf.

"I'd rather talk to you in your human form." "I'm not Edward."

The wolf went away and came back not long after as Paul, dressed in shorts only.

"What do you want?" he grumbled. "I thought you didn't want a relationship."

She fiddled with her fingers, looking down at her laps.

"I think it's time for you to know my story."

Paul walked to her, not caring that he was crossing the border, and sat down in front of her.

"Tell me."

She raised her eyes to him. This was the second time they were this close, and it still makes her nervous.

"The Drakos were a family of witches. Every woman and man in my family had magic. We were born with them, but not my mother, Dhaenyra. She was the odd one out in the family. She was the only one who did not create her own magic but instead stole it from others. They called her a siphoner.

"Growing up, she was bullied by her cousins. She was the only child of Ivar and Anelia Drakos.  Both of her parents loved her very much and taught her that it was okay to be different, but apparently that was not enough for her. So she did what she had to do to shut their mouth."

Verena stopped for a while, looking for Paul's reaction.

"She did what?" he asked.

"She killed everyone and took their magic. Her parents begged her to stop or they would kill her, so she killed them too. From there, Dhaenyra Drakos moved from her old village to a new village where no one knew about the Drakos. The villagers loved her; every man was captivated by her beauty.

"Her hair was the same colour as the cloud; having white hair was a trademark of the Drakos family. Every bachelor wanted to wed her, but she never agreed until one captured her eyes: my father, Silas. They were in love with each other. Silas knew about her history and accepted her because he loved her.

"One day, I was born. They were happy that they had been granted a daughter. 16 years after I was born, my father was killed when he went hunting. Mother was never the same after he died. She became her old self—the psychotic one, the siphoner who slaughtered her entire family. She was obsessed with being with her husband again—to save him, to bring him back to life, and to make sure I stay alive because I was all she had.

"I was born with magic, and she took it from me every time she tried to make the spell. She manipulated me into helping her create a vampire. She tested it on me, and she succeeded.

"That time I couldn't control my hunger, and with the enhanced magic I had, I slaughtered the whole village because of my hunger. My mother realised what she had done, and she regrets it. She tried to kill me, but nothing worked, so she cursed me, and I killed her. I regret it every day.

"I was alone in that world, so I turned more people into vampires, creating a new species. Continue creating havoc. I don't know what came over me, but I suddenly saw what I had become, what I had helped create, and that's why I gave your people the gift of shifting so they could protect themselves from enemies, especially me. 

"There was a day that I couldn't control myself." Not even my family knew. I make sure they don't see that part of me." 

Verena was hoping Paul wouldn't ask about her curse.  She didn't want him to know about it. She looked down at her lap, waiting for Paul's opinion. 

But he stayed quiet for a good minute and didn't say anything; he just stared at her. 

"Say something, please." She whispered, preferring for him to yell at her than give her a silent treatment. 

"Okay," he stated. 

She raised her head to look at him. "That's all?" She frowned.

"I told you about my past as a total villain, and you said, 'okay'?" She quickly stood up, raising her voice because she was furious about his answer. 

He followed her actions. "What do you want me to do? Wolfed out on you? Attack you?" 

"I wish," she scoffed. "I know who you are. You're supposed to be mad at me; yell at me."

He strode towards her, removing the distance between them. His hand barely touched her; all he wanted to do was hold her hand, telling her that everything was okay. 

"Is it weird that I'm not mad? It's in the past, right?" He asked.  He tilted her chin up so he could look into her eyes.

She nodded.  Part of her felt relieved, but another part of her felt anxious, waiting for her monster side to be unleashed.

"Then good. Because if you did it again, I would kill you myself." He joked.

Unknown to him, it's not a joke to her. He could kill her; he was the only one who could kill her. 

She took his hand into her own. "If it comes to that, do everything to protect everyone. I give you permission." She ordered him. 

He chuckled. "It was a joke; I could never kill you, Verena." 

"I have a question though," he added.

"Shoot,"

"Why don't you have white hair? I thought that was a signature of being a Drakos."

"I was a spitting image of my father. He has raven hair and fair skin; he even looks like me. The only thing I inherited from my mother was my magic and the same last name. My dad took her last name because he said hers was cooler than his." She smiled at the memories when everything was fine. 

"What was your father's last name?" 

"His name was Zeke Aètos. My name would be Verena Aètos if he didn't change it to Drakos." 

He nodded. He loved when she told him about her memories as a human and her memories with her parents. 

"You know what? Do you want to meet the pack?" He offered. Emily has been asking for him to introduce them.

"I already met the pack," she said, looking dumbfounded.

"Not properly, and I don't take no for an answer, so let's go."