Your Leash - A Cinderella Phenomenon Fanfiction

All the Better to Eat You With

Varg

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was that I no longer felt the need to bloody myself. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. It had been nice to believe it would all be over soon enough.

The second thing I noticed was her. Her hands were bloody, her skirt filthy. My Lucy looked thoroughly exhausted. And as I looked down at my chest, I knew why.

I let out a pained groan. "God dammit Princess, what did you do?"

She looked at me with those sharp eyes, clearly incredulous. "I saved you, you ingrate!" She shouted, all righteous indignation and annoyance.

I backed away from her to the far wall, seething. "Did it ever occur to you that I DIDN'T WANT TO BE SAVED?!?!?"

That seemed to throw her a bit. She tilted her head, asking with confusion evident in her voice, "Not want to be... what? What are you talking about?"

Beautiful, but clueless; of course she didn't understand. When did she ever?

"Why couldn't you just let me die in peace?" I asked in pained resignation. "Why do you have to come in here, with your big eyes and your stubborn words and your hair in those pigtails you are far too old for?"

She said nothing, her eyes glaring at me with defiance.

"I truly wish I could give you Fritz, leave you with his love," I explained brokenly. "But she destroyed him, after what happened at the gate. I'm sorry. At least it's would have been the last time I failed you!"

I grit my teeth and slammed my fist into the floor below me. "But no! Even my death you interrupt, and for what? I have nothing of him to give you! I am all that's left."

I shook my head, getting further irritated just thinking about it. "You have literally the worst sense of self-preservation I have ever seen. You shouldn't have come here alone. I am the big bad wolf! I was made to devour Little Red Riding Hood, not fall in love with her. It's my job to destroy you!"

The pain that wracked my body was not physical. My heart felt shattered. I didn't want to say anymore, but I seemed incapable of shutting the hell up.

"But this wolf can't," I sighed. "You can't destroy the person you fall in love with. The Big Bad Wolf doesn't have a happily ever after to begin with."

I put my head in my hands. "The hunter is dead now, failed in his mission. There is only me; I who long to devour you, consume you, destroy you. Just go, leave me in peace."

I indicated the door, not daring look at her face. "I'll do it myself after you're gone. Just go."

I heard the muffled sound of footsteps on the ground and waited for them to fade and disappear. But no, they were getting closer and as I looked up-

*SMACK*

Lucette

I stalked across the floor and smacked his face. HARD.

"What the hell?" He stared at me and even had the audacity to look like his feelings were hurt.

"Y-You- infuriating and stupid man!" I shouted.

I paced in front of him, throwing angry glares down in his direction, which he met with a confused stare while he rubbed his burning cheek. I bet it hurt. Good.

"I loved 'the Hunter' as you call him; my knight, my Fritz. He was my best friend and losing him, is-" I cut off with a heavy swallow, unable to finish. I took a breath, trying to stay focused.

"But the Hunter is dead now. Will you really deprive me of my Wolf and leave me so defenseless?"

I glared down at him.

His eyes were wide with surprise. "YOUR Wolf?"

"Yes, My Wolf. Mine. Not Mythros's and certainly not Mother's. I- you will not leave me! You will not abandon me!"

I was gaining momentum now, walking faster.

"Everyone- EVERYONE is gone. I have been robbed of those I cared for, made to care for more people, and then had them taken as well. My whole way of living has been destroyed, the truth I thought I knew proved false. Even my memories are not my own, shifted and defiled to suit the needs of a woman I once believed loved me; the only one I believed I did."

Varg jumped to his feet, advancing on me as he shouted. "I am compelled to devour you! Own you, destroy you, leave nothing in my wake!"

"Fine! Do it! Destroy me!" I yelled back, not giving an inch. "You can destroy me every damn day, build me back up, and we'll start all over again. What could you possibly break that hasn't already been broken? Don't you get it, Varg?!?! YOU DON'T SCARE ME."

He growled, looming as he clenched his hands into tight fists. "I SHOULD!"

I placed my hands on his chest and pushed him back against the wall, standing on my tip toes to meet his eyes. "Well, YOU DON'T! Deal with it."

He threw his head back, arms to the sky as if looking for a lightning bolt to come put him out of his misery. Filled with irritation, I clenched his hair in my fist and drug his face to mine.

I do not know where the knowledge came from, but I felt it fill me as surely as my blood pumped in my veins and there was breath in my lungs. The words came out as a counterspell and I felt a piece of my very essence breaking off to secure the power in place so as to overcome the gap my inexperience left me with. Even as I propelled myself forward irrationally and impulsively, I knew in the recesses of my mind what I was doing. This was a soul spell, and I'd never, ever be able to regain what I was about to sacrifice.

"Sanctified by my right as the true Tenebrarum Bearer," I said, voice deep and guttural in a way I have never heard my own voice sound, "with this kiss as my promise, my word as my bond; I cast this spell and break your GOD DAMN leash. I defy Mythos's claim, I deny my mother's claim. I claim you as my own."

I kissed him with everything I had, determined and aggressive, so much so that my lips throbbed back in response. I bit his bottom lip, hard, and before I knew what was happening our positions were reversed and it was Varg who was pushing me into the wall, growling low in his chest.

He kissed me back, deeply, and then pressed his forehead to mine. "You have no idea what you're asking for."

"I do know."

"Remember that if you claim me, I'll claim you." He leaned in and ran his tongue up my ear. "I'll claim all of you. And I'll never let you run from me again."

"I'm counting on it," I whispered.

He moaned quietly at my words and I could feel him getting hard against my body.

'That's what men do when they want you,' I thought. I seemed to vaguely remember the servant girls talking about it while they peeled potatoes.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Lucy," Varg murmured against the skin of my neck as he nipped at my shoulder. No one called me Lucy. No one. But it did sound lovely, rolling off his tongue. It made me shiver a little and I said nothing to dissuade him.

"And don't lie to me either," he added.

"I won't," I told him, and I meant it.

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Do you love me?"

"Yes," I answered with no hesitation, and that seemed to surprise us both.

He closed his eyes, and his arms shook just a little around me as he lifted his head. "Really?"

"Yes," I nodded, placing my hand on his cheek. "I love you, Varg."

"I love you too, Lucy."