Half She-Wolf, Half She-Demon

LUCE.

I was creeping down the dimly lit hallway toward the main kitchen, my footsteps completely silent against the worn wooden floorboards. I was supposed to be helping Sadie prep the evening meal for the orphanage, but the sudden, heavy thud of Mason’s boots entering through the back exit door forced me to freeze in my tracks.

I never liked Mason. He was a shifter with the work ethic of a lazy pig, yet somehow, he was mated to Sadie, one of the most wonderful females I had ever met. I tried to avoid him as much as humanly possible because we always clashed. If it weren't for Sadie acting as a buffer between us, I was absolutely certain Mason would have kicked me out of this orphanage a long time ago.

"Luce is ready for the Omega Feast. Make sure she has the proper clothing to attend the ceremony," Mason blurted out, his hostile voice echoing off the kitchen tiles.

My heart instantly slammed against my ribs. The sheer panic that washed over me was so violent I actually stumbled backward. Sadie was at the counter, preparing dishes for the night’s dinner, and I had been just seconds away from walking in there. Instead, operating on pure instinct, I desperately slipped inside the large walk-in cupboard just off the hallway, pulling the heavy door shut until only a tiny crack remained.

I leaned my back against the freezing cold wall of the cupboard, my hands flying to my chest. I clutched the fabric of my shirt tightly, as if my grip alone could physically stop my heart from beating so rapidly. I forced myself to take slow, shallow breaths. The overwhelming scent of dried oregano, sharp garlic, and heavy spices hanging in the cramped space would be enough to mask my scent from their shifter noses, but if I couldn't control my racing pulse, they would easily hear my heartbeat.

"What? What did you do?" Sadie asked, her voice dropping into a distressed whisper. I could perfectly imagine the deep frown creasing her usually gentle face.

"I listed her for the Omega Feast," Mason replied, sounding incredibly proud of his own sickening decision. "They just checked her photo and she got accepted right away."

A cold sweat broke out across the back of my neck. The Omega Feast. Just the mention of the degrading event made my stomach violently churn. It was a brutal, archaic auction where young Omega females who had just come of age—usually eighteen or nineteen—were paraded out to the public. They were put on display for wealthy Alphas and billionaire shifters to either bid on with exorbitant amounts of cash or fight for in bloody duels. Once the bidding was over, the young Omega was officially owned by the highest bidder. They were reduced to nothing more than property, turned into slaves used entirely for the Alpha's pleasure.

When I first arrived in this territory, I honestly didn't understand why an event like the Omega Feast even existed. With the massive growth of night clubs and strip clubs everywhere accommodating both humans and shifters, males could easily just purchase whatever female they wanted for a single night. But then I overheard some of Sadie’s friends gossiping. They explained that arrogant Alphas and powerful shifters used this specific event to massively boost their egos. Purchasing a highly sought-after Omega was a sick status symbol, a way for them to prove they were the most powerful and dominating men in the entire North. The organizers of the feast ruthlessly capitalized on that toxic pride.

"But she doesn’t even have a wolf," Sadie argued, desperately trying to defend me.

"But she’s eighteen already, right?" Mason fired back dismissively.

"Yes, she is. But don’t those high-ranking Alphas want an Omega with a wolf?"

"Well, she’s not the first Omega who will be chosen without a wolf in the feast's history, so I’m sure it won’t be a damn problem," Mason scoffed, shifting his weight. I could hear the fridge door open and close. "They just need to be informed before the bidding starts. And if, by some chance, no one wants her, I will throw her back here and she’s free to leave the orphanage next month. But the organizers said she’s exceptionally beautiful, like no other Omega they've seen at this year’s feast. She's a prime commodity. I'm absolutely sure she’ll be chosen."

"She’s a sweet girl, Mason..." Sadie’s voice wavered. She really liked me, and I genuinely liked her too. She was the only adult in this godforsaken place who treated me with an ounce of kindness and fairness.

"Sweet?" Mason let out a cruel, mocking laugh. "She’s reckless and she causes far too much chaos around here. It’s significantly better if she goes somewhere where she’ll actually be useful, and where we can earn a massive payout from her. Besides, the way she acts, I’m sure one day she’s going to literally grow horns and try to boss around every other wolf in this territory. Better throw her to a powerful Alpha who can finally tame her down."

I snickered quietly in the dark cupboard, my eyes narrowing into a dangerous glare. *Be careful what you wish for, asshole.*

"I don’t know why you harbor so much hatred for her," Sadie pushed back, the sound of her chopping vegetables resuming with angry, rapid thwacks against the cutting board. "She always protects the younger pups here. And if she throws a nasty attitude your way, it’s only because she’s fiercely protecting herself and those kids."

Check. Check. Sadie was spot on.

"And I don’t know what the hell she did to you to make you like her so much," Mason snapped, his voice dropping into a harsh growl. "I told you a million times, never get attached to them. Did you forget that these young pups were just handed to us to be taken care of until they come of age? Once they turn eighteen, then off they go on their own. That's the deal."

"But then, why don’t we just let her go like all the others? Why do you actively need to list her for the Feast and ruin her life?"

Check again.

"Because the orphanage is in desperate need of money! Are you stupid?" Mason yelled, his heavy fist slamming onto the countertop. "This feast only happens once every two years! We’re incredibly lucky that we have a girl turning eighteen this year who is actually considered highly valuable. We didn’t have anyone to submit for the last two feasts."

"She knows she’s supposed to be leaving this place on her own next month," Sadie sounded deeply distressed, the knife trembling as it hit the board.

"Change of plans then. I'm accelerating it," Mason declared callously. "She’ll be leaving in a week."

A fierce, burning rebellion immediately ignited deep within my chest. I pressed the back of my head hard against the cupboard shelves, my nails digging violently into the palms of my hands as I balled them into tight fists. I tightly squeezed my eyes shut, desperately fighting the tidal wave of dark emotions threatening to overpower my senses.

Why did I stupidly forget that I was technically eighteen already, according to the fake age I had given them when I first arrived here two years ago? I had claimed to be sixteen to buy myself time and secure a roof over my head. I guess I had gotten too comfortable flying under the radar, and now my own lie had bound me for doom.

My fingers twitched, a dangerous, primal urge washing over me. I reached up, my hand hovering right over my throat. I was entirely on the brink of aggressively snatching the charmed opal necklace clean off my neck, entirely willing to let the chaos unfold, but I barely managed to restrain myself.

The shifters in this orphanage and the humans in the surrounding town knew me simply as Luce, an ordinary, wolfless orphan.

But I was harboring a deadly, terrifying secret. A secret I was absolutely meant to keep hidden in the shadows for as long as I existed in this realm.

My true name is Luciana.

I was only half a werewolf. The other half of my bloodline... was pure demon.

So the horns Mason jokingly mentioned growing on my head? They would literally tear through my skull and sprout into the air at any second if I ripped this necklace off and lost control of my magic.

Two years ago, on the exact day I turned eighteen, I successfully fled the Underworld. I managed to escape the fiery pits of my home using a rare invisible cloak that I had obtained from a lovely, treacherous witch residing deep in the netherworld, paired perfectly with the enchanted opal necklace resting heavily against my collarbone. I had never once taken the necklace off since the moment I stepped foot into the human world.

The invisible cloak had effectively suppressed any of the other demons from sensing my presence as I crept past them in the dark, making it infinitely easier for me to reach the inter-dimensional portals without raising a single alarm. It was completely vital in bypassing the elite demon guards my father had explicitly ordered to watch over me day and night. But the cloak's magic was strictly tied to the Underworld—it instantly lost its power the second it crossed into other realms. Because of that, I was forced to leave it discarded somewhere near the portal I used to transport myself to this frozen human territory.

While the cloak was gone, the opal necklace remained, constantly suppressing the dark, demonic power surging within my veins.

With my demonic magic forcefully suppressed, I was physically unable to harm any living soul using the dark arts of the netherworld. But more importantly, without my power radiating into the atmosphere, my father—the notorious Prince of Darkness—would not be able to track me down in the human realm. I was completely invisible to his all-seeing gaze.

The Demon Royals might have been the absolute Gods of the Underworld, but we were still bound to follow the ancient pacts and strict rules governing the other realms. We couldn’t just casually rip living humans or shifters from their homes and drag them down into our fiery world. We could only take them if they willingly sold their souls to a demon, or if they foolishly volunteered to visit the Underworld of their own free will.

And once they crossed that threshold, they were ours entirely, body and soul.

Yes, my true identity was Luciana, the Demon Princess of Chaos.

My father had ruthlessly spawned hundreds of powerful demons spanning over several centuries, but they were all males. Out of all his dark offspring, I was his first and only daughter. But the rarity of my existence meant absolutely nothing to him because I had werewolf blood running through my veins—a disgusting flaw in his eyes. That filthy werewolf blood was the only remaining link I had to my deceased mother, and it was the exact reason I ran away the absolute second I turned eighteen and was finally strong enough to operate the portal alone.

My father had a horrifying, twisted plan for my eighteenth birthday. He intended to permanently cleanse my bloodline and completely purge every single trace of werewolf blood from my system. To do this, he was going to force me to endure horrific, deeply degrading demonic orgies. The dark rituals required the natural insemination of demons’ seminal fluids into my body to systematically burn out the werewolf half of my DNA. He wanted me passed around, relentlessly violated by his elite guard in a series of violent sexual orgies, all in the name of purifying his precious demon bloodline.

Although violent rituals and massive sexual orgies were a completely common sight in the depths of the Underworld, I absolutely refused to be subjected to it. I didn’t want the werewolf blood gone. It was my mother's legacy. But above all else, my body belonged to me. I would do exactly as I pleased with it, and I utterly refused to let my father control me or reduce me to a vessel for his twisted purifications.

And I sure as hell refused to let these pathetic, greedy shifters control my body now, either.

I was not going to be paraded on a stage at the Omega Feast. I was not going to be bought and sold to some arrogant Alpha to be used as a pleasure slave.

That was exactly why I needed to get moving. I had to get the hell out of this orphanage before I was thrown into a hole much deeper and darker than the one I had just crawled out of.

Refusing to let the panic paralyze me, I silently pushed the cupboard door open just enough to slip through the gap. I quietly exited the kitchen hallway, making absolutely sure the wooden floorboards didn't creak beneath my weight, and hurriedly sprinted up the stairs toward my assigned bedroom.

As soon as I slipped inside my small room and shut the door behind me, I immediately flew into action. I dragged out my faded, hand-me-down backpack from under the bed and began frantically stuffing my meager belongings inside. I tossed in a couple of worn-out sweaters, a thick pair of pants, and finally, my life savings—a small stack of crumpled bills I had carefully hoarded over the last two years. The bag definitely wasn’t big enough to hold much, but it would have to be enough to carry my basic necessities for the next few days.

I planned to run deep into the wilderness. The freezing Northern weather honestly meant absolutely nothing to me. Because of my demonic heritage, my body temperature was naturally built to withstand all extreme weather conditions. The biting frost and negative degrees wouldn't even cause me to shiver. If I couldn't find a town to hide in, I could easily just locate an empty cave to camp in for the rest of the night before continuing my journey at first light tomorrow.

I just didn't know exactly where I would go after that. I had originally chosen the North for the specific reason that this territory was completely lawless. There were no strict governing bodies keeping tabs on the shifters running around up here. As a wolfless Omega—or at least, that’s what I pretended to be—I didn’t need a pack to legally adopt me. It was perfectly acceptable that I lived in an orphanage that sheltered minors until they came of age.

With absolutely no wolf, no paper trail, and no record of me existing anywhere else in the world, no one had ever doubted my fake age. I was fully expecting to peacefully graduate from the orphanage next month and permanently transition into living off the grid as a normal human. But escaping a month earlier wouldn’t be the end of the world.

I just had to make sure I got as far away from this territory as I physically could before next week. I had to vanish entirely before the Omega Feast began, ensuring absolutely no one would ever come looking for me.

I zipped up the backpack, my heart hammering in my chest with the terrifying thrill of a sudden, desperate escape. I hoisted the strap onto my shoulder, turning toward the window.

But just as I prepared to make my move, the door to my small bedroom suddenly swung open with a violent, aggressive force.

My entire body jolted in sheer terror. I whipped around, desperately trying to shove my backpack under the thick wool blanket on my bed to conceal it. But I completely froze in my tracks as my eyes swept across the room.

It wasn't just the sudden intrusion that made my blood run cold. It was the absolute state of my room.

My small dresser had been completely yanked open. All of my clothes were aggressively scattered from the dusty floorboards all the way to the foot of my bed. Every single item I owned was violently displaced, tossed aside like garbage. The entire room had been completely ransacked, torn apart as if someone had been desperately searching for something hidden within my walls.

My escape plan was entirely compromised.

"What are you doing?"