The Unwanted Wendigo [ManxMan]

Prologue

[This is book SIX. The books are, in order, How to Tame a Cat, How to Catch a Fish, How to Be a God, How to Save a Hero, The Scared God, and The Unwanted Wendigo. If you do not wish to read them in order, I highly suggest reading How to Catch a Fish and then The Scared God before this one, as I can guarantee that this book WILL NOT MAKE SENSE without context. Good luck if you plan to try anyway!]

[This book and chapter contains, well, a wendigo. You have been warned.]

~Prologue~

It all started with an invitation.

Humming thoughtfully under my breath, I eye the dark, seemingly empty street before me. It is lined with old, rundown apartment buildings and hole-in-the-wall stores with signs written in Mandarin, all silent and cloaked in shadows. It is late enough that most of the city is asleep, and it is raining, so only a fool would be caught dead outside right now.

The scruff of shoes slipping on wet pavement brings a smile to my face. Definitely a fool.

Licking my lips, I cross the street and enter the alley the sound came from, finding the middle-aged man I had been hunting huddled behind a dumpster, surrounded by trash. His weak, pitiful human eyes are unable to see me in the dark, even though I am standing mere feet away now, so he does not react when I stop in front of him. He just continues to cover his ears with his hands while quietly crying in the rain-soaked alleyway, as if reality will cease because he wills it not to be.

Definitely caught and definitely soon to be dead.

When I crouch down in front of him, it makes him startle, as his eyes finally notice movement, but it will do him no good at this point. I do not make a habit of letting my prey go, and he is as good as captured, having trapped himself in this alley instead of trying to escape the area. The man, unable to pinpoint exactly where I am or if I am even here, looks around wildly, as if hoping he might be able to make out a figure.

I wait until he starts to relax before leaning in and whispering, "And the point goes to the wendi-"

"Wendy the Wendigo?"

Having been so focused on my prey, I had completely missed the sound of someone approaching. My head jerks up and away from my target, and I turn to assess the unwanted third wheel to our party of two. Catching the faint scent of Mer, my lips twist downward into a scowl, as the interruption is not appreciated, and there is no reason a Mer should be seeking me out so far inland. "Yeah?"

I stiffen when the Mer reaches into a pocket of his apparently water-resistant hoodie, but what he pulls out is not a weapon, only an equally-waterproof card, which he immediately starts to read off of:

"Wendy the Wendigo, King Leander Mokosh formally requests your presence at the wedding of His Royal Highness Prince Nero Mokosh of the Pacific with Hellion Second Lieutenant Atasah of Nur Dural on the twelfth of January, 2025, at ten AM in the Pacific Palace."

That's in a two months.

My eyes narrow into slits behind the deer skull mask on the upper half of my face, but I doubt he can see my expression. "This real?" I demand, eyeing the card before staring at the Mer, who is apparently some kind of messenger.

"Indeed, sir," the messenger says, and I cannot help but smirk at the formal address.

Can't remember the last time someone mistook me for respectable.

"I'm guessing I'm supposed'ta tell you my answer," I drawl, tilting my head to the side curiously as I wait for a reaction.

When all I receive is a curt nod, I frown a little and move closer so I can start circling him, all the while considering how I want to answer. On one hand, my demon is an interesting one, and he is only proving to be more so by inviting me to his wedding, which is an odd thing to want a wendigo for – we are much better at funerals, after all. On the other hand, I hate the ocean.

"Tell your king I accept," I decide, coming to a stop directly behind the Mer. And though I get a reaction this time, it is only the slight twitch of the Mer's hand against his leg, and I withhold a sigh of dejection.

He's no fun.

The Mer nods without turning around. "Your escort to the Pacific palace will be waiting for you on the tenth of January below Santa Monica Pier at four in the afternoon. They will wait two hours. If you do not show up, they will return the next day at the same time. If you do not show up then either, it will be assumed you have changed your mind and no longer wish to attend," the Mer states. Bowing shortly, even though I am not in front of him, he adds, "Have a nice night."

With that, the Mer turns on his heels and walks down the road, presumably in the direction of the nearest beach. Sighing, I watch him leave for a moment before turning back to the prey I left in the alleyway. "Well, I guess it's just you and-" I cut myself off when I realize that it is actually just me; my prey escaped. "Coward."

Groaning quietly, I set out to find my escaped prey again, and when I catch him this time, I will not play with my food. If I am going to have to spend a few days underwater for some royal wedding, I am going to need to eat more in the meantime if I want to avoid starving. And though the hunger never really goes away, it will at least take the edge off while I am there.

And the rest, well, will go down in history.

[AN: Well, the wendigo is certainly an interesting character. This book will keep with the usual schedule of Monday (PST) updates. I hope everyone is doing well; have a great week! Also, big thanks to SamSpinelli for letting me bounce ideas off of her for this story as well as tossing ideas at me when I get stuck.]

[WARNING: Please read the ENTIRE warning before continuing! Now, this story will likely be very GORY and DARK at times, and it will contain an MPREG theme (think male seahorses) – Dead Dove: Do Not Eat. However, due to the desire to remain true to the plot, Mpreg will largely only be implied and spoken of throughout the story. For those of you interested in the Mpreg tag, there will be a few extra chapters added after the Epilogue that go into depth on the subject. For those of you who hate this theme, it will be easy enough to skip through the mpreg discussions and not read the added chapters. If the mere mention of male pregnancy sets you off, this is not the book for you, but if you don't care or even like Mpreg, then onwards to victory!]