Hellhound

Chapter 1

Hellhound

My skin hissed against the silver blade pressed against my throat. The searing pain brought tears to my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I couldn’t cry - not when I was seeing my fated mate for the first time. I didn’t even know his name, but I felt that invisible thread weave itself around my heart and tighten when he stepped closer.

He was the largest wolf I’d ever laid eyes on, with pitch-dark fur blending into the shadows. Icy eyes betrayed no emotion, but I knew my mate was drinking in every tiny detail of not just me, but the demon holding the knife to my neck as well.

Valefar; the demon who had slaughtered my pack and raised me to be his own personal Hellhound. Now I was his meatshield, wielded only to protect himself. I could see that my mate wanted nothing more than to claw Valefar’s heart out of his chest, but if even one whisker twitched, Valefar would end my life in a pitiful instant.

“That’s it,” Valefar’s shrill voice sounded utterly delighted. “Good boy. Stay where you are and no one gets hurt.” 

Warm, black blood dripped from Valefar’s head into my hair. A demon’s blood is thick, hot and sticky - not that I had seen much of it despite living in Hell. Making a demon bleed was a near-impossible feat, yet my mate had almost killed Valefar effortlessly.

Unfortunately, when Valefar figured out he couldn’t win the fight fairly, he scrambled towards me. Stupid - I was so stupid! I never imagined that he’d take me hostage. I knew what Valefar was capable of, but he had never hurt me physically before and I didn’t think he would start now!

“Let my Luna go,” the wolf growled in a husky voice that was neither human nor beast.

“Oh, I will,” Valefar chuckled and the knife pressed harder. Wisps of steam rose into the moonlight as my flesh burned. “Once we’re safely back in my domain, I’ll let her go.”

“My Luna stays here,” the wolf demanded.

“Your ‘Luna’ comes with me, or she dies,” Valefar left no room for argument. 

I wished I could have done something - anything - to throw the demon off of me. Infernal iron cuffs, engraved with enchanted runes, weighed down my wrists. They controlled me. I could only shift on Valefar’s command and the magic made certain I could never lay a finger or claw on my master.

I was helpless and pathetic and I had failed my mate, who continued to growl at Valefar. The demon had won and knew it. 

While my mate was paralyzed for my sake, licks of flame began to sprout from the Earth in a circle around the demon and myself. The wolf glanced at the hellfire then locked eyes with me, understanding he only had a few precious seconds before I was ripped away from him.

“Renrik,” he whispered. “My name is Renrik Duskborne,” his voice grew louder - fearless and voracious. Valefar might have won the fight through underhanded tactics, but Renrik’s will would remain unbroken. “And I will crash the gates of Hell to win you back, my Luna!”

Oh no. That promise was enough to push my tears over the edge and the first droplets fell down my cheeks. “Seraphine Lowell,” I whispered my name back to him, but pain crippled my voice. I had to believe he’d heard it. I had to have hope that his promise wouldn’t be empty and that he’d be purring my name to himself as he truly breached Hell for me.

A second later I could taste ashes on my tongue and my lungs flooded with smoke. Valefar’s hellfire had engulfed us and dragged us beneath the Surface, back into the barren courtyard of his manor in Hell. Valefar shoved me to the ground and nearly collapsed himself.

His blonde hair was virtually black thanks to the head wound he endured from Renrik. Violet eyes were wide and full of fear, something I had never seen in Valefar before. When he noticed my staring, his lips thinned and stretched into a twisted grin.

“Don’t get too attached to Mr. Duskborne. He’ll be dead by the end of the week.”

I bowed my head as I knelt in the bone-dry sand. I managed not to flinch when Valefar came and placed his injured hand on my hair, giving me a gentle pet. “Oh, Sera,” he whispered, almost sounding regretful as he shortened my name. “My blood has stained your beautiful, silvery hair.” His palm moved down to cup my cheek and force my face up to look at him. “And your golden eyes look so sad.” He sighed. 

“Take a bath,” Valefar pushed my face away from him and turned his back to me.

As he fixed his torn clothes, he shook his head and said, “It seems as though I can’t take you to the Surface with me anymore. For a while, at least. I can’t stand having a useless Hellhound, though.” I could practically hear the cogs of his mind turning; churning through ideas on what to do with me.

Valefar’s shoulders sagged. “I was hoping to save this for when you were older and less useful in a fight, but it’s best that I start breeding you for my next batch of flawless Hellhounds now.”

“W-what?!”

Valefar didn’t answer me. He clicked his fingers, summoning the usual imps who fulfilled his whims. He muttered something to them while I sat there utterly dazed, repeating his words in my head over and over. He was going to breed me. He was going to reduce me to nothing more than a womb and have me pump out pup after pup from various Hellhounds.

Valefar walked off into the mansion without looking back.

The imps gathered around, coaxing me onto my feet, buzzing with excitement about my future as Valefar’s prized pet. I couldn’t bring myself to share in their enthusiasm. Who would want that kind of life? What was going to happen to me?