Chapter 30: Child

It was beautiful. The purity of it. His heavy breathing slowed as his lungs filled with the putrid perfume of the corpses.

Pride.

It swelled within him.

He moved in solemn restraint, taking in the magnificent tableau before him. His eyes glistened and his tongue swelled, producing wet grunts.

The assault had been vicious. The lifeless bodies still showed signs of shock. Their death masks were forever startled and snarled. They were all there and the circle was brood and deep. Black fur and scarlet streaks stained the pure pale snow; a bloodshot eye on the face of the forest floor.

The crimson ice crunched under his paws as he moved closer. He could smell him.

Finally!

The precious scent he had lost for so long.

It clung to the matted gray and black pelts of his pack. It drifted up his nostrils and the dark creature lifted his head in ecstasy. His mighty horns swayed. A symphony of delights shook his flesh and his fur bristled. A great roar tore through him and bellowed forth into the shivering trees.

The forest erupted.

The screeching of fowl and beast alike raged in the fading light of the sun. Claws and teeth gnashed. Hooves pounded and wings beat wildly. The dark one's own wolves cowered onto their bellies and pawed at the snow in fear. The creature did not hear the uproar, nor did he see. His eyes were filled with victory and his ears the distant sound of an infant's cry. The memory of the babe surged through him and he felt a dark longing.

Child.

It had been there. It had created this masterpiece for him. He rejoiced even as his mind detected something else.

When he reached the center of the circle he paused. The dark beast felt his massive heart begin to race as the scent changed. It was his child…and another. A female. Her flowery scent clung to a fallen branch. He sniffed the wood once loudly and noted skull fragments. The female had fought with aptitude and felled many of his force. One such wolf lay on his side against a tree, another at the foot of the mound.

The creature moved on.

The Old Soldier was to his right. Blackening fluid clung to his muzzle and dripped into the snow. The gray animal had been with him since the fall of the immortals. Never had he left his master's side until this battle. The dark one inspected his aged face and snarled.

Impotent wolf. Flimsy wolf.

The creature nudged the animal onto his back. Beneath him, in a diagonal sweep across his stomach and chest, was a violent gash not made by man.

The subtle tang of magic charged the air. He could smell it, taste it –and it was connected to his child.

With a swift movement, the dark beast leaped forward and onto The Old Soldier. His heavy tongue pushed through his sharp fangs and scraped across the gaping wound. Iron and salt filled his mouth. Then there was something more. The flavor sharpened past his lips and vibrated his teeth. The dark beast drooled heavily onto the creature and spat. Fury filled his eyes. The taste was familiar and impossible.

Dead. Dead.

He protested with violence.

Dead. The immortal were all dead!

Images of delicious extermination filled his fevered brain. He licked his snout and snorted. He could still feel the power squeeze between his fangs. He could hear the cries. Male, female, child—none had been spared. None. The immortals had all perished.

But here was the taste…the wounds, and the imprints in the snow. The smell. His child was not as he had been before. It had lost the sweet, sweet flavor of man meat. There had been a transformation. It was a change of flesh and bone that should not have been but was.

The dark one rested his horns on either side of The Old Solder's stiff body. His claws flexed in the snow and dug into the earth. He filled his lungs with the scent in huge gulps.

It couldn't be denied. An immortal had survived. It had lived and worse; it had altered his child.

The dark one turned his head, heedless of the damage his horns did to the fallen creature beneath him. He gazed on to another of his pack. Its stealthy form had been ripped almost in two. The immortal had given his child claws like rapiers and the strength of ten wolves. It had given him height and speed, as indicated by the tracks that led to and from the circle of death.

The creature growled again and thrust his front paws high in the air. With savage fists and claws, he beat down on the dead wolf below him. His anger poured forth in black waves and he spent it on the animal with an unbridled force.

The witnessing wolves whimpered and moved together into a tight nest of fur. They watched in fear as their master released his anger on one of their own. It was seconds only, but the remains of The Old Soldier were no longer recognizable as a wolf.

The dark one paused and turned to his pack. They trembled at the sight of him. His massive black mane gleamed with a thick red pulp and his claws stretched out to the hiding sun. His eyes twitched in madness. The pack could only bow their noses and wait.

The dark creature stepped forward and his fur left veins of blood on the snow. He sniffed the icy earth and paused.

The scent.

Then he lifted his head in triumph and began to run. His speed was jarring but the wolves soon trailed behind him. He didn't look back. He didn't acknowledge or notice them. His mind was elsewhere. It burrowed into the frozen darkness. It danced in ebony dreams. His thoughts twisted into mania, a delirium of manic joy.

His child.

So close. So altered but still his own.

An immortal.

In need of being devoured.

The female.

Would she fight him as she did his pack? He thought not. He could feel his blood thicken and his mouth salivate.

The wolves behind him ran silent, barely allowing their exhausted pants to puff into the icy air. The animals of the forest also quieted as though simultaneously filling their lungs. He was left to delight in his ruminations and one thought twisted out over and over. Still.

Mine.

Mine.

A.N. All rights to Disney

Hello readers! Well, here's a creepy one for you! Have you had your fill of gore yet? ;) Would you forgive me if I promised more Gaston in the next installment? Ha! Deal! ;)

I do wonder about you, oh lovely readers. Do you find this story too dark? Or, like me, do you find that some bitterness makes the sweet parts sweeter? Thoughts? I'm all ears! Let me know and you'll be Mine. Mine.

I hope to thank some of you awesome people for putting me back on course. Jaxtina, Bookloverdream, PastOneonta, pinkdynamite, my dear writing pal Tek Sonay, and Shiloh Grace- a true critic and ally. You are all a delight. Thank you also those of you who have private messaged me with threats and encouragement, lol, points well taken.

As always, thank you for reading, reviewing, following and/or favoriting. -S.