-POV-The King's Sword and Shield

A man sat behind his desk, his face hidden in shadows, but the power he radiated made all men shiver in fear. He took a long drag of his cigar, a brandy in his left hand. He exhaled blowing out a ring of smoke.

"I trust you brought it, Niles?" The man asked in a bored tone, he twirled his drink enjoying the sound of ice hitting glass.

"Please...Sir...Please..." Niles begged, his face to the floor, "I need a little more time...two..no one more day...I-I need more --" The sound of glass breaking made Niles look up in fright. The man in the shadows gave a deep sigh before wiping away the glass. He raised his hand and Niles couldn't help but flinch expecting the worst. The man loosened his tie and gave a dark chuckle.

"You reek of fear, my old friend." The man said darkly; he was genuinely enjoying the smell; it was what he lived on, his drug.

"Pl-Please s-sir, I will have everything tomorrow...I swear on my life." Niles begged tears were threatening to escape his eyes.

"No need for that, my old friend." The man pleasantly said, Niles looked up surprised. The man opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a long piece of rope. He threw it at the man, and it landed in a heap by his hands.

"Tie it." The man commanded, there was glee in his voice, and Niles shook in fear.

"No, no, no...please...no, Thanatos I beg you!" Niles moaned, and the dark man gave a wicked laugh.

"Very well." Thanatos grinned, he rose, gracefully from his chair and walked over to the man sobbing for his life. Thanatos knelt and took a knife out of his pocket. The blade gleamed in the light and Niles shrank back in fear of it. Thanatos grabbed hold of Niles' hand and held it flat against the floor.

"Let's play a game..." Thanatos whispered in Niles' ear. Niles whimpered in fright, tears streaming down his face.

"I am going to write a number on here," he whispered, lightly pressing the knife on Niles' hand, " The rules are fairly simple. Would you like to hear them?" Thanatos inquired, Niles sobbed louder, Thanatos pressed harder on the knife, and Niles let out a small scream.

"Use your words." Thanatos scolded.

"Yes! Yes, sir!" Niles shrieked. Thanatos grinned.

"Excellent, Rule number 1. You cannot look at the number until I say so.

Rule number 2. Pull away, and I will cut off your hand

Rule number 3. You scream...you lose." Thanatos whispered, "Do you agree to the rules?" He taunted pressing hard on the knife, making sure not to break the skin...yet.

"Yes! Yes, I agree with you sir." Niles stammered.

"Then let's begin" Thanatos pulled back a little and took out a vile out of his pocket. He lifted the vile to Niles' face.

"Wolfsbane" Thanatos shrugged, "Just for fun." Niles' eyes widened in horror as he watched Thanatos opened the small bottle and poured it over the tip of the knife. Niles wanted to crawl away, but he remembered the rules, if he pulled away, he would lose. Thanatos caught Niles right hand and dragged it closer to him. Without warning, Thanatos began to write. Niles' gasped in pain but held his cries in. Niles turned his head away from his hand and closed his eyes. He couldn't even concentrate on what was being written on his skin, the pain was too much, and Niles began to shed silent tears. The wolfsbane burned at his open cuts and seeped into his bloodstream. Thanatos smiled when blood started spilling onto the white carpet. His maid will have fun with that when he finished. When he was done Thanatos leaned back and admired his handy work.

"Don't look yet." He cooed at Niles, who was about to pass out from the pain. Quickly, Thanatos grabbed the rope and went behind Niles

"You get three tries. What's your first guess?" Thanatos said

"One day," Niles whimpered.

"Wrong," Thanatos whispered near Niles ear, "Guess again."

"Twelve hours." Niles sobbed, tears pouring down his face, snot covering his nose. Thanatos sniffed the air, savoring this smell.

"Wrong again," he whispered, lust and hunger in his voice, "Last try." Thanatos got back up and carefully tied the noose.

"An hour." Niles yelled, "Please just one hour!" and Thanatos smiled.

"You can look now." He jeered. Niles slowly opened his eyes and stared down at his hand. Thanatos grabbed at the bottle of wolfsbane and poured it over his hand washing away the blood revealing the words. Niles let out a horrific scream of pain. He looked down and paled.

Time's up

Niles' eyes widened but before he could make a sound or even move Thanatos wrapped the rope around Niles' neck and tied it. Thanatos threw the end of the rope over the beam that was built in specifically for this joyous occasion. Niles struggled with the rope trying to pry it away from his neck, but it was too late. Thanatos began walking towards his chair dragging the rope lifting the man off his feet. Thanatos reached his chair and turned to see Niles body jerking and his face turning blue.

He let out a loud chuckle and savored the smell of death creeping out of the twitching man.

 Thanatos continued to watch until he felt a vibration in his pocket. Thanatos didn't take his eyes off Niles' face before he placed the phone to his ear.

"Time to go hunting." The King's voice sounded in Thanatos ear.

"Alive?" Thanatos grumbled.

"Alive and with each limb attached this time." The King chuckled in Thanatos ears.

"You didn't specify the last time" Thanatos reminded the King.

"Bring her back alive and well, Thanatos. I mean it." Thanatos raised an eyebrow. Female? Thanatos couldn't help but feel a little disappointment; this will be too easy.

"FIles are waiting on your Helicopter; it's ready when you are." Thanatos dropped the dead body and enjoyed the sound it made when it hit the ground.

"Understood." He confirmed and was about to hang up.

"Oh Thanatos," the king said, "Did you enjoy your gift?" He asked. Thanatos looked back at the dead body.

"I did." He said

"Well, it sounds like you didn't take your time" The king mocked, and Thanatos felt the corner of his mouth twitch.

"I got a little too excited" He muttered

"Well, maybe this assignment will keep you occupied for a little while." Thanatos doubted that, but he did like the idea of the woman kneeling and begging him for mercy.

"Enjoy." The King finished before hanging up. Thanatos sighed before placing the phone back in his pocket. He needed another drink. He walked over to his mini bar and grabbed a bottle of Scotch and an empty glass. He stepped back towards his desk and sat down staring at the body before taking a sip from the bottle. Niles dead eyes stared back at Thanatos, and they stared at each other for a couple of minutes. Eventually, Thanatos got bored and turned his chair towards the city below his feet.

"New York is beautiful." He murmured to himself before taking another drink from the bottle. He stared at the city before placing the bottle on his desk and walking out the door to the helipad. He passed a couple of guards before his eyes landed on Dan, Niles twin brother. Thanatos walked towards him and placed his hand on Dan's shoulder before giving him his best smile.

"Clean up the trash in my office by the time I get back." He ordered before walking off. When he arrived at the helipad, the Eurocopter EC135 that was worth $6.77 million was ready to go. The finest helicopter money could buy. Thanatos quickly climbed in and sat down. Waiting for him was his laptop with the picture of his prey; Anala Rozinov - height 5'1 - Blue eyes - red hair - Last seen: Ohio near Chagrin Falls. He closed the laptop and sighed.

"Everything okay sir?" The pilot asked through the headset. Thanatos shook his head. This assignment was going to end quickly and since she had to come back alive and with everything intact he saw no challenge — just another thing to waste his time.

"Let's get this over with," Thanatos said in a bored tone. The pilot nodded and headed towards Ohio. It took almost three hours to arrive near the pack house. He arrived at the break of dawn; the Alpha greeted him at the door.

"Show me her room," Thanatos ordered without making introductions. The Alpha looked away.

"The girl burned down the place where she slept." The Alpha said sheepishly rubbing his neck. Thanatos nodded.

"Show me." Without another word, they went towards the attic. When Thanatos saw the remains of what looked like the 9th floor, he began to wonder how she managed to create such damage. He looked around and saw no trace of her.

"Where are her belongings? Do you have anything with a scent?" Thanatos asked. Again the Alpha looked away.

"All we had was her blood in the interrogation room, but that was cleaned up." The Alpha replied.

"Show me" Thanatos ordered; he was beginning to feel frustrated. How was he supposed to track her with nothing to go off. They walked towards the interrogation room when he saw the control room; it was practically ripped apart. Thanatos stopped and pointed towards the room.

"She had one of her souls destroy the control room; we are currently working on getting the room repaired." The Alpha finished. Thanatos looked back at the control room and gave a wicked smile. Finally, everything was starting to make sense.

"Blood Wolf" he whispered, now things were beginning to get interesting. The girl was smart enough to destroy any evidence of herself. And she had at least one soul under her control and knew how to use it. Thanatos smile grew more extensive and the Alpha stepped back, frightened.

Finally, a challenge. Thanatos thought this might be fun after all.