Blood Awakening: The Strongest Hybrid and His Vampire Bride

Her face looked somewhat pale, yet with a lovely sharp nose and eyebrows like thumbprints.

'This is Uncle Ivan's home?'

Kumiko wore an Eastern-style kimono with a white base with turquoise flowers and highlights. It gave the impression of spring water in bloom with flowers. It was elegant and looked as if she were wearing armour, yet it also revealed the beautiful curves of her body and gave off a strange sensuality.

Kumiko descended the stairs and climbed into a large black limousine. Inside the back seat were refreshments and a beautiful lady with long black hair and fluffy fox ears. It was the woman who contacted her countless times in the past, a member of her mother's distant family.

"If it isn't little Kumiko, how did you find the flight? I haven't seen you in almost twenty years." Nagisa, Nikita's mother, sat with a glass of red wine in hand while Kumiko gave a polite bow and sat beside her distant aunt. 'This little girl looks as if she might die at any moment... Why does she have to suffer the same fate as Akiko did?'

Nagisa showed a rare warmth that only her family or Nikolai might glimpse at. A deep pity rose from her chest for such a beautiful and gifted child being sacrificed on the whims of old men and superstition. The look in Nagisa's eyes as she appraised the girl made Kumiko uncomfortable at first, yet she felt much better than the ice-cold stares of the silver family.

'When back at Sulley's home, their eyes felt like cold daggers piercing my skin, and the secrets behind their lies made my heart shrivel and rotten.'

"Your mother was a dear friend of mine, so please treat our estate as home. Kumiko, all I ask from you is to get better and live how you desire."

The reason she was so respectful and worried was Nagisa knew the truth. This girl's powers and her clan's speciality were akin to the Báthory clan for vampires.

'To think that the foxes people claimed to serve a divine purpose would appear before me after being wiped out in the past. This bloodline was meant to have been annihilated.'

'I can feel Aunt Nagisa's gaze—she's filled with sorrow while trying to be warm. What should I say? This woman's fate, no matter how many times I've tried to read it, only leads to devastation and death...'

"I thank you, Aunt Nagisa, then I shall do my best not to abuse your kind welcome," Kumiko said in a low voice. Unable to lift her head too much for fear, she would see those horrific visions once again.

"Oh, my? Did you use your power?!" Nagisa's eyes loosened, softer than her usual scowl. She could see the sweat dripping from Kumiko's golden brows while trying to hide her pain by biting her teeth together.

"No, don't strain yourself, dear. Don't fight whatever power you possess, and allow it to flow through you. If you reject something that comes naturally to you, how will your body endure that strain?"

Kumiko gazed at Nagisa, feeling shocked that she understood so well, but what she saw caused her chest to ache. The woman who extended a hand to help would die within a year. 'I don't wish for her to die, yet I cannot change fate. This power is but a curse!'

Nagisa's eyes softened as Kumiko fell into her chest, though she pretended not to know everything. She realised Kumiko must have seen a distressing vision upon meeting her. 'This small girl reminds me too much of that gentle boy back in the past... Can we really do nothing to help her, Ivan... Dimitri?'

Her chest felt tight when filled with concern and pitying feelings towards the golden fox who looked just like her early departed friend.

'Even though it might make me regret it, that boy. He has special blood, like this girl. Though his bloodline stems from an evil alignment, it is still fabled to be divine blood.'

The bloodlines of the Volkov and Kogetsu line were two of the few bloodlines said to come from a divine being. One was the evil wolf that swallowed countless gods and stole their powers. The other was a gentle and affectionate goddess who appeared as a fox in the harvest with a fire which could burn away all evil.

Despite past rumours stating they were mortal enemies. Through the ages, those inheriting their blood would clash and fight until the death. Yet now, through Ivan and Nagisa's desire to save Kumiko their inheritors would meet once again.

The wine was bitter and sour, yet burned her throat on the way down—Nagisa couldn't help but feel irritated at the prospect of using Nikolai to save this girl. 'Will their fate become like the others in the past?'

"Akiko... is this the right choice?" Nagisa whispered, while feeling the weight of Kumiko against her chest.

The journey was long but steady, and Kumiko had fallen asleep in her aunt's arms. The limousine drove from the western coast to the east, heading towards the private land belonging to the Fenrir clan.

When their car arrived, it was when Nikita arrived back from patrolling the slums and their family's properties and clubs. Armed with a baseball bat covered in blood. Like a gangster, she swaggered into the front gate, noticing the black car and her mother climbing out.

"Mom?"

"Hmmm? Oh, it's you, darling. You look pleased. Did you have a good night?"

"Of course, Mom! We collected interest from those losers who missed payments. Not only that, but we also found someone else trafficking drugs on our territory! Hehe, so I smashed their testicles!"

Nikita spoke excitedly while speaking, yet became more focused when the person in the passenger seat exited. Her golden eyes widened, looking at the lovely girl who screamed princess. "M-Mom... did you have an affair? Dad will cry, you know?"

"I didn't cheat, you idiot. This child is related to the eastern branch of our family. Well, in fact, they are the head family who used to be our allies in the east before the wars ended."

"I've never seen a more adorable fox lady than me before! Ah...? Mom, she gives off a strange scent. It's a little like Nikolai. But it makes me feel a little irritated." Nikita lowered her baseball bat as the woman before, who looked like a painting, began to stir.

'Why does my chest feel noisy? It's nothing like when I met Selene or those other women who hang around him. Yet, I feel strange. This girl makes me feel... inferior.'

The moment Kumiko's eyes opened, that pure golden iris brighter and sparkling like a pair of stars, Nikita's chest tightened; it was a feeling that she understood in her mind. 'This girl is my rival.' It wasn't based on logic or knowledge. She felt it instinctively. The girl smelt too much like her beloved and was her ideal image of a princess.

When their eyes met, both the golden-haired fox and the white-haired werewolf felt a sense of rivalry. There seemed to be a spark flying between them. It wasn't friendship but rivalry from the start. The hostility of each other was so strong they seemed ready to attack one another at any second.

"Nikita?!" Nagisa, who felt the tingle in the air and saw her daughter's ears, tail and arms transform, realised that something wasn't quite right.

But Kumiko, who normally seemed docile and weak, also changed. Her lips lifted, revealing her lovely white fangs, with long golden ears and two fluffy tails swaying. She faced up to Nikita without backing down.

The two girls began to make animalistic sounds, growling as they circled each other in the Fenrir yard.

However, before anything could get worse, Nagisa's shadow enveloped the two and sealed their vision.

"Don't be such naughty children!"

***

The commotion that happened outside caused no sound in the house. Dimitri watched from the second floor with a stern face. He understood only that he should beat that little bastard Nikolai.

Finally, the Nagisa dragged the two girls into the mansion, holding their tails as they both slept. Eventually, the scent of jasmine and mint filled the room, and the pair began to wake up.

"What just happened?! Hey, Mom...?" Nikita, still with her ears, tail and hands transformed, turned to glance at the mysterious golden fox, then back to her mother.

"Haa... Nikita, do you feel more danger from this girl than Selene? Really?"

"No, I don't feel danger or anything. It's just..."

"Just what? You were about to attack the poor girl and kill her if she didn't carry the power of foresight and defend herself..."

Nikita felt a little guilty—even though she could tell the golden fox wasn't healthy, her pale face now covered in sticky sweat and her breathing heavy. 'Yet, why... her beauty and how perfect her manners makes me feel so angry and unsettled?!'

"Sorry, Kumiko. It's a natural feeling when two females of similar ranked bloodlines meet..."

"Do not worry... haa... Aunt Nagisa, I felt it and saw it. Nikita isn't a bad person—we just happen to share a certain destiny."

Nikita tilted her head, wondering what Kumiko meant by she saw it. But after hearing her speak, the irritating feeling became smaller, though it didn't vanish. She no longer felt the desire to attack her and maul her.

'Though I never expected that sickly girl to resist the violent aura of my daughter. Maybe this could become an excellent lesson for Nikita, teach her to be more ladylike to win Nikolai's heart from that damn Tepes girl.'

"Oh, Nikita, do you mind helping Kumiko settle? Consider it your way of apology." Nagisa spoke sweetly, causing her daughter to stiffen. That tone and her soft voice meant trouble! Nikita felt her spine tingle as all her hair began to stand on edge.

"Y-yes, Mother..." She stood to attention, knowing there must have been something that would involve her if she heard such a tone.

And so, the two girls left the drawing room, unaware of Ivan changing the hands of fate with his subtle actions.

The blood of the divine beast would one day grant his earnest wish.