METAMORPHOSIS • DEREK HALE [COMPLETED]

Chapter Eleven

After a long, bloody fight with her brother and the teenage boy she once knew as the love of her late niece but now the destroyer of her family, she retreated back to the sewer where she hid. Using the running water, she washed the remaining traces of blood from her face and hands as the Berserkers stood behind her, waiting for her command.

"I suppose you're hiding down here because it'll cover your scent," Peter revealed himself from his hidden stance behind the pipe-lined wall, "But I can smell a rat."

Kate stood from her crouched position, holding up a hand to ward off the Berserkers as they let out low growls.

"Even in a sewer." Defensively, Kate picked up her gun leaning again the wall, preparing to shoot. "It's getting worse, isn't it?" Peter continued, "The surges of anger, the loss of control. You know, I used to get angry." His monologue carried on, yet he never reached his point. "As a kid, I would even break my own toys in little fits of rage. And then I asked myself, 'Why break your own toys when you can break someone else's?'" He continued to walk closer to her as he talked.

"Stop pitching and just tell me what you want," Kate replied, her voice sarcastic in a monotone.

"Obviously, we're in a position of mutually assured destruction."

She laughed before saying, "Oh, I'm not so sure the scales are that balanced."

"Probably true," Peter lowered, glancing at the two menacing Berserkers standing tall. "But, I know you want to get the family back together again. The return of the Argents to their glorious power. Am I right?" She narrowed her eyes, but he pressed on, his tone growing darker. "But, you know, you can't go back unless you can exhibit absolute and total control. I can offer control. I can teach you."

"So, you're willing to teach me in order to get what you want. Which is what," she asked, her eyebrow slightly raised.

"Obviously, I want my money back."

"Mmm-mmm," she hummed, shaking her head. "That's not it. Maybe part of it. But that's not all you want."

"Okay, maybe I'm also a little curious..." He trailed off, but then he asked, "Did you know what would happen to the girl you bit?"

"She'd turn," she said, dumbfounded, "But to be honest though, I didn't think she made it."

"Oh yes, she made it," he moved closer to her as his sinister excitement as he thought of his future plans. Although, for Alex, those intentions wouldn't be good. "And she's thriving in everything: her control, her powers. The best thing is, she doesn't even know what she is capable of."

"What do you mean," she gave him a suspicious glance.

"You really don't know what she is, do you?"

Her confused look answered his question.

"Don't you recognize her name? The family ties the Chase family has with the ancient tales about what used to be called the Grief Demons? Now, I believe they are now called Demontras. Don't you remember learning about them in a hunter's history class?"

"Funny, but no," she shot back at his joking tone, but since he mentioned it, her mind started to make the connections with her name. "That can't be," she uttered in disbelief, "Demontras aren't real. They're myths, and even if they are real, they probably are extinct. No hunter would have left any creature that powerful and destructive alive."

"Myths? No. Extremely rare? Yes."

"How do you know?"

"I could tell from the moment I saw her; it's in her eyes. Besides, the real question is, what are you going to do? She's your beta."