<<Meanwhile, somewhere in Everglow Coven>>

"She's not ready Alexis." The guy scoffed and folded his arms slightly annoyed at how he had wasted his precious time. "She's such an impatient girl, ugh."

From everything he has studied about this girl, Isabelle, he had doubts that she'd make a good successor on this magical quest.

"Be patient dear, after all...you owe her a life debt. Your lives are no longer in your hands anymore, but in that of Cassandra's." The woman held his chin with a small smile. He hated to see that kind of smile as it meant the 'going soon' smile and not the usual 'charming' smile. "And you do know I won't hold onto this position for long." She further said.

The guy just sighed as the strands of his hair scattered gently across his face. It's been a long day, and yet...time for all these to move on was ticking so slowly.

Most importantly, how would magic get this next heir's attention? She seemed less interested and more scared than the brave, fearless and smart girl this woman had told him. He thereafter made up his mind to never waste any efforts on any human girl again.

"She's already unconscious." He told her flatly as he tilted his head curiously at some ingredients that young woman was mixing in a neat polished pot. There were various potions surrounding the pot as she kept on turning—he could only recognize few of the contents to be black ashes, fresh blood, hard cider, black locusts, one or two forbidden fruits from the virgin dark forest and a green hair strand. The other smudged bottles that circled around him seemed very exotic and unusual as they had no labels plastered on them. He noticed that one of the bottles was exiguous and had no shuddery liquids in it—only few stuffed exquisite feathers that portrayed it's colours against the polished pot. He reached out for a dim candle and swayed his fingers over the lightings—making the fire from the firestone whoosh in response. When he was satisfied with the outcome, he returned his attention to the busy woman again, "That's the least I could do." He mumbled.

"Come and see.." The woman whispered.

Slowly, the young lad walked to her side with his knuckles touching his jawline for support.

"You've to show yourself before I die...in this very place, hmm?" The lady stated out, pointing at the view of a casket in Isabelle's room. The gloomy casket was displayed at the far end of the darkened room which seemed like the living room. The fireplace was so dimmed that it was hard to perceive if the corpse to be in it was cremated or just stuffed in it.

The lad just rolled his eyes and hissed at her for a while before licking the edge of his knuckles for comfort. He had had enough of her gibberish talks.

"And I'm serious...we made a deal." The woman stopped stirring, making the image of Isabelle's room slowly fade into mere ingredients. "More like an oath." She went on.

Ever since the young guy was captured by this strange woman, he didn't know whether he should be appreciative to her or hate her more and more.

"Witches and their promises." He spat out in anger and hopped onto the couch, hanging upside down with his tail wagging behind. "She and I are definitely not happening." He growled.

Hia ears twitched slightly at a dull sound behind the shelf, making him to turn his head to the side gently, only for him to see the vexed lady approaching with a labeled bottle in her hand.

His eyes widened as he recognised the contents in the bottle. One of his worst nightmares - a wolfsbane, probably as his other form, was in that bottle. Not only would this content inflict traumatic pains on him, but would cut off his inner wolf from within him.

He growled and leapt from the couch on his heels in defense, crouching on the ground as far as possible while glaring at her from the corner of his dark emerald eyes.

Hia ears flattened in defeat as she stood in front of him, waving the bottle to his face as a reminder of their past events. That seemed to humble him a bit.

"Seriously? Did you have to bring this again?" The guy hissed with his constricted glowing pupils staring daringly at the woman, ready to pounce on her if she dare use that thing on him. "This is abuse just so you know young lady!"

"The next time you see this in my hand again...it'd be all over your body before you know it. Now stop being lazy and help me for once." The lady instructed with a frown and reluctantly dropped the bottle back on the shabby shelf where it belonged. "You're a familiar—at least that's what I trained you to be."

"Point of correction, I'm a hybrid. So trying to force me to shift completely to that of a breed can cause some severe—" His voice went quiet when he noticed the angry look on the lady's face. The last thing he wanted from a powerful sorceress was her venomous anger.

"Fine...I'd do it." The guy sighed in defeat and squatted on his legs with his hands in front of him and his tail curling up to meet his hands. "As an exchange for the mess I caused in the past that is."

"Are you ready?" The woman asked in a firm tone.

The guy took a deep breath and laid down on the rug with his back, staring at the ceiling thoughtfully. He was only doing this to keep this woman shut but it seems like she had other plans of her own. If he doesn't follow her orders, she could go and spill the beans about his existence—and he can't let that happen, especially as his powers are not stabled and active.

"Yes." He answered unwillingly with a nod.

          <<Meanwhile, At the Hunters' Manor>>

        Foxy's POV

"A demon in disguise of a human? How pathetic!" Xander paced about the room with a vexed face, clenching and unclenching his fists by his sides. I guess it was pretty much a bad idea to announce the news to him. He hadn't taken it lightly since we got home. He slammed his fists against the wall and growled, "He dares have the nerve to show his face again!"

"Xander, calm down or you'd lose control over your thaumaturgy and hurt yourself in the process." I pointed out and walked to his front, motioning him to stop with the swift movements but he simply chose to ignore me completely. I growled, "Hey, I said stop!" Before I knew it, he had grasped another alcoholic drink—the munich beer from the nearest sideboard, carelessly popping the bottle's cork with the edge of his tooth.

This was the seventh beer he had drank in a minute, and still, he wasn't affected by the consumption at the slightest. If he was to win any contest, it would be that of consuming beers and alcohols in less than a minute. He's not a drinker neither the toper but he usually drinks when he has one or two overwhelming issues. I'm beginning to get worried about this attitude of his. It's not like it'd change anything either.

"Drinking won't reverse everything!" I grasped the remaining bottles from within his reach and tossed them into the trash can. "We just need a plan that's all."

His eyes were getting bloodshot and weak, and from the way he was staggering, I already predicted what would happen next.

"Who cares if I'm dead, Foxy?" He muttered in a husky breath, swaying to my front. And he finally got himself drunk, how nice.

Before I could reply, he had collapsed in my open arms with ease. "Stop crying and be a man!" I cooed as he buried his head into my shirt. Seeing him this vulnerable broke my heart, what even broke my heart more was that, this demon in particular was the least creature I'd meet or find!

I thought he was done for good the moment the Hunters sent their eyes on him centuries ago! I thought he was no more! How was he still alive? Of course - he's been aided by a witch the whole time and here, I ended up being sworn in by the current hunter's ancestors to dedicate my life to the next seed, which ended up being Alexander.

It's better if this dark ancestral secret remains a secret, especially as Xander is involved. He thinks I'm just a mere maid that his parents got for him as a guardian, and I'm glad it's remains that way. He shouldn't know anything about me, my identity or the creature's. Who knows the catastrophe these huge secrets would create?

"For how long Foxy?"

"How long would you block off mate!"

My inner wolf, Emma, growled from within me. I could gradually feel her trying to resurface and take over my body - contracting of my pupils and retracting of my fangs - for dramatic measures.

"Mate my foot! I'd continue blocking him over and over again."

"Mate is in bondage! Go find him!"

"I'm in bondage too, get over him because I've renounced our bond!"

Emma whimpered at my scold and more of my rejection, and went strangely silent.

Hearing my inner wolf whimper made me feel sad and hurt, but it's probably for the best after all, especially as I've to go against him, my ex mate.

"I promised your parents to be at your service and make your enemies pay." I mumbled with a sigh at the end of my statement, earning a groan from the young hunter.

"So, are you ready for the initiations?"

"Yes." His voice came out hoarse and determined. I nodded at his consent. "I guess it's about time, hunters."

{A/N: Heya! It's me again, The mystical queen! Just wanted to drop by and see if you all are going along with the story lines perfectly. Lately, I've been filled with a lot of inspirations that I didn't really realize that Isabelle was somehow related to me 🙂...I guess you could say she's my other form too, lol. Also, if you see an italicized statement like this ➡️ "I'd get you soon", please note that it's a mindlink - mental talkings. Now about Foxy, you'd get to know more about her soon. Yup! Foxy is in captive too! You'd find out why pretty soon, now-
Viola!
Your Writer,
Themysticalqueen 👸}

Meanings:

Hybrids: Offspring(s) that are produced from the crossbreeding or intercrossing of different breeds and species. Example in animals: A donkey crossbreeds with a horse to produce a mule. Example of a hybrid in fantasy: Twilight - Bella & Edward {Werewolf & Vampire}. Example of such in my story: Minuet.

Mate: Husband, wife or other sexual partner. This is mostly used between Werewolves.

Wolfsbane/Wolfbane: "A flowering plant or herb, purple, yellow, pink, or white, in color, known as Aconitum, that in literature has been used in a number of different ways in reference to werewolves. Ironically, in some literature, wolfsbane can kill the werewolf, in others, it changes a human into a werewolf, in even others, it keeps the human part of the werewolf equation from turning into his wolf form. Which goes to show that authors use wolfsbane for whatever happens to suit their werewolf story best. And here when I went to research it, I thought wolfsbane kept the werewolf from shifting into his beastly form. So beware, depending on what tale you read, wolfsbane might have the opposite effect from what you had always believed!”.

Familiar: A close friend, or a spirit in the shape of a cat, bird, or other animal that is the close companion of a witch.

Shift: This is the process when a human werewolf transforms or changes completely into a wolf - his inner wolf. But in the fantasy world, shift is magical transformation of a creature into another.