Conquering His Cold Heart

He could see the subtle red color of the wine in the glass that he was holding, he could see the gloomy colors of the cold stone walls, and he could see the woman in a dirty white gown who was lying on the floor in front of him.

The woman was letting out muffled screams through her gagged mouth. While screaming, she was also struggling to untie her hands that were tied behind her back with a strong rope. Her legs were also tied so as to stop her from crawling or walking. There was evidence of struggle around her ankles; she had visible bruise marks that were bleeding freshly.

Romulus swirled the wine and took a whiff. “Aah...” he let out a pleased moan, the wine smelled strong, just as he liked it.

He took a big gulp of the red wine and then let out another moan. “Mmhh... Wine never tasted this good.” He looked at that struggling woman’s bleeding ankle and then at her face. And he mumbled, “Maybe because I am accompanied by a beautiful lady like you?”

The muffled screams of that woman got even louder. Streams of tears began to roll down the corners of her eyes and dropped on the cold floor. There was already a wet patch below her temple from all the crying that she had done earlier.

Romulus cupped over one of his ears and leaned a little closer to that woman. “What did you say?” he asked. Then a second later, he sarcastically answered, “Are you saying that you would also like to drink some wine?”

The woman closed her eyes and began to cry while gagging. She almost passed out because she was choking badly.

Romulus heard the door of the cellar creaking open and then closing again. From the sound of the footsteps, he could tell that it was his trusted beta.

.....

“Slayer, just in time for the starter.” He pointed at the bottle of wine at the side and asked, “Why don’t you pour yourself a glass of wine and prepare yourself for the main course?”

“You better not be thinking of doing that!” Slayer stood in front of his alpha and looked at him with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Oh, why not?” Romulus chugged the wine and shrugged. “Don’t try to ruin the fun, Slayer. You can share her with me, you know.”

Slayer rolled his eyes and shook his head. And he said in a monotone, “You’re disgusting. We’re not animals!”

Romulus gazed at the moonlight that cascaded inside the cellar through a small round window that sat right above that woman.

He looked through that window and gave a sly smirk. He then got up on his feet and asked as he started to unbutton his shirt, “Oh, but we are, aren’t we? Animals... superior to all the others.”

Slayer looked utterly disgusted by the alpha. He did not shy away from expressing it. “I was better off when I didn’t know this side of you. It’s a mystery to me how you’ve managed to maintain your pure persona in front of the whole world until now.”

Romulus took off his boots next and pushed the chair aside. He looked into Slayer’s dark brown eyes and replied with a crooked smile on his face. “I can maintain that persona, thanks to people like you, who like to get their hands dirty for me.”

“Well...” Slayer snapped his neck side to side. And he said while stretching his arms, “When your alpha gives an order, you don’t have much choice, do you?”

Slayer stretched his muscles further and then expressed his discontentment, “But I must say, Alpha, those last drops of poison were a waste on the King. He was going to die in a few weeks anyway.”

Romulus’ eyes were now glowing red in color. In those eyes, one could see the evil that lurked deep inside his heart.

He gave an evil smirk; his icy-cold voice echoed in the moonlit cellar, “I didn’t feel like waiting for a few more weeks, possibly a few more months, for the King to die. You do know that our fleets of weapons are waiting on the other side of the ocean.”

He sighed and further added, “The King shouldn’t have angered me by suddenly advocating the peace and ruining my business. Hopefully, his son is wiser than him and is also moldable. If not, then well... may the Moon Goddess save him from my claws.”

Slayer heaved a deep sigh, and almost instantly, his eyes glowed amber in color. His voice turned harsher than usual, almost like a low growl, when he spoke, “I don’t understand why you are so obsessed with the weapons dealings when you already have the monopoly over liquor import.”

Romulus patted Slayer’s shoulder and said proudly, “Money, my friend, money. It controls everything. It even has the power to overthrow the King.”

“Kill, you mean,” Slayer emphasized.

Romulus simply gave a crooked smile and turned his gaze at the woman on the floor. His eyes fell on her prominent unibrow and then trailed down to see her eyes.

She was looking at him with terror in her eyes. Her back was pressed against the cold stone wall, and she was trembling like a leaf. Now that she had heard the terrifyingly evil talks between the two men, she knew that they weren’t going to spare her.

As those red eyes moved up and down her body, she could only curse herself for falling victim to her greed.

The alpha slightly parted his lips and ran his tongue over his canine. He loved seeing that exact look of terror in his victim’s eyes.

“What poison did you use, by the way?” he asked with a bated breath and then protruded his sharp fangs.

Slayer’s body made a loud crack; he was already starting to transform. He let out a muffled groan and then answered in a single breath, “You know the usual, wolf’s bane extract.”

“Nice. I will be damned if he lives the night.” Romulus licked his lips while looking at the nurse.

He looked like the devil incarnate when he spoke to Slayer in a growl, “Feel free to join my meal. We have a shred of evidence to clean.”

In a flash, Romulus transformed into a large wolf with the purest white fur. He turned his head up and howled to the Moon Goddess.

His howl was followed up by the howl of Slayer, and a lot of other werewolves in and outside the manor.

The white wolf then glared at the nurse with his red haunting eyes and snarled, scaring the soul out of that poor lady. Toxic saliva was dripping down his fangs as he gawked at the fresh meal in front of him.

Before that woman could blink, the white wolf pounced on her, dug its sharp fangs into her ankle, and chomped it off of her body.

A gut-wrenching scream resounded throughout the cellar even though her mouth was gagged.