Since she was little, Karin Hanazono had always watched him with curiosity.

He was very small for his age, but so was she, and he probably would have towered over her if they'd ever stood close,

Often, she would only be walking through the village, and he was being accused of stealing something.

One day, she looked at him from behind a wall and saw that he was eating something from a food stand in the middle of the village. She wanted to tell the man running the stand, who of course, had his back turned, but she couldn't find her voice. She was too far away to hear, anyway.

But, the man did turn around, and when he saw what the boy had been eating, he grabbed the boy by his silk white shirt and lifted him into the air, cursing at him and telling him it was time to pay up.

The boy looked at him – not a trace of fear on his face- with glowing red eyes full of hunger and his lips pulled back slowly to reveal almost endless rows of canine teeth, and growled before attacking the angry man at the stand.

Karin, being young at around age 8, was too scared to run and too scared to scream, so she watched in horror as the boy, the same age as her, devoured the man in minutes, leaving a terrible, bloody mess.

After he was done, the boy wiped the blood dripping from his mouth, his eyes now the same red color as the blood pooling around him, and suddenly made eye contact with her.

Karin could only gasp as his eyes widened. He didn't run at her, or try and kill her, to her surprise, he only watched her curiously, interested.

It was the way all of the villagers looked at her, because she had been born with a perfect face, and had been called a princess, or was known as the villages' "true face of beauty," and had always been kind, to anyone and everyone. But why was he looking at her like that?

Then he took a step in her direction and Karin stepped away, and the boy noticed she was afraid of him and he carefully reached out a hand to her with pleading eyes, opening his mouth to say something. But then a woman had walked out of her home to find the boy standing over the corpse of the human and had let out a piercing scream.

The villagers screamed for the boy to get away, others "warding" him off with crosses and spiritual tools and kept calling him a demon and a beast. They never got chance to touch him, however, he was gone within a blink of an eye.

Karin watched as the women wept and the men ran around to try and find the mysterious dark haired child, and was on the verge of tears herself. She'd never seen someone die before, her parents protected her from seeing things like that.

And then he was behind her. Karin whirled her head around and was going to scream before he clamped his hand over her mouth and shook his head, placing a finger to his lips.

"Shhh.." his dark red eyes stared into hers and slowly, he brought the hand down from over her mouth and her body began to tremble with fear as she pressed herself closer to the wall of the wooden house they were behind.

"Don't hurt me.." she whispered, pleading with wide eyes, but he shook his head, surprising her yet again.

Instead, the boy lifted her shirt over her body to look at her strange birthmark directly over her heart. It was black and shaped like a crescent moon. Her parents and everyone else thought it was odd, and were worried she'd been marked with a curse, but so far, nothing had happened, so now it was just another thing interesting about her.

How did he know she had a birthmark? Karin wondered, but she didn't have time to answer before he dropped her shirt, looking up at her and smiling happily.

Why was he so happy?

"I found you." he whispered, as if reading her mind.

Then a villager who had been searching for Karin to make sure she was alright found her and the child and pointed a spear at him, yelling for the other villagers to come over.

Karin stared into his red eyes once more before he disappeared into the night.

The woman who had found them shook her, asking if she was alright, if he'd hurt her or bit her, but Karin only shook her head and the woman carried her back home to her parents.

"Mama, what is he?" Karin asked before her mother had tucked her into bed.

"He's a beast, sweetheart," her mother said with a grave look, "He resembles a werewolf when he transforms – you've learned about them in school remember? But he is a monster that will eat whatever it can to survive and destroys everything it touches. It's a cold-hearted creature that will kill without mercy."
That night, all Karin could think about was the boy she'd finally met face to face that day, wondering if he'd ever come back.

And then he did- the very next night.

Karin had gone outside to dump some water for her mother and saw the boy walking down the village, next to a tall, monstrous werewolf, searching for something.

So that was the kind of beast her mother was telling her about.

A villager noticed them and ran to attack them, calling all of the men out of their homes to help. They pointed spears of fire at them and tried to kill them, but the huge werewolf lunged at them and made eye contact with the boy before lifting him atop a house, protecting him from the attacks of the villagers, and the boy continued his search.

Karin's mother snatched her inside the house and her father ran outside to join the villagers in killing the beast, others searching for the boy- who was currently hopping atop each house and tearing it apart, trying his best to find whatever he was looking for.

Karin's mother hid her inside the house and left.

"I'll be back. Stay quiet."
But her mother never came back.

The village caught on fire, and men who weren't surrounding the gigantic werewolf were trying to save anyone left in their homes.

One man came in and scooped Karin up in his arms, then ran outside. Karin struggled against him, suddenly remembering what he was searching for.

"He's looking for me! He's looking for me!" she screamed over and over, but the man tried to ignore her.

"Silence! You're parents have died and the village is in flames, so I will take responsibility for you! Now be quiet!"

Karin burst into tears, imagining her parents being torn apart from the beast and she stilled.

"Put her down."

The man holding Karin turned around to see that the "beast child" had found them.

"Get away from us, you monster!"

"I said, PUT HER DOWN!" the boy yelled before attacking him, causing him to drop Karin as he devoured this man in front of her as well.

Horrified, Karin struggled to stand and began running, hearing the screams of agony coming from behind her, and then they stopped. She turned around, and the boy was reaching out to her again, with wide eyes.

"Wait! Come back!"
A woman escaping the fires in the village noticed Karin running and lifted her into her arms as well, running off with a few others.

Karin, sobbing, turned to watch the boy as he disappeared from view, obviously upset that she was leaving, but why?
The last thing she heard before the women began crossing a river, far away from the flames of the village was the howl of agony from a werewolf, followed by a child's scream, and her stomach twisted.

He had been killed.

Karin lifted her shirt over her breasts to look at her perfect black crescent moon birthmark in the mirror and the sad memory of the boy filled her mind. That was almost 10 years ago, and both of her parents had died that night, along with hundreds of other villagers, but thankfully, they'd re-located their village – far from the pack of beasts who'd lived next to them on a huge hill.

Sighing, she dropped her shirt and splashed water in her face to try and push the thought aside. Turning around, she went to her small wardrobe to slip on a white sundress strapless sleeves and black leggings.

Stepping into her white sandals, she went over to the mirror again to run her fingers through her beautiful, dark blonde hair that she had grown all the way down to her waist, falling down in gorgeous natural curls and smiled brightly at herself in the mirror.

"Ready for a new day." she sighed, and picking up a bunch of violets she'd picked the other night, she gathered her things for work and told her aunt she was going out.

Carrying a large, empty bucket with her, Karin walked out of the house and breathed in the scent of the fresh morning air before walking down the village to the nearest lake.

A few men whistled when she walked by, others' cheeks grew red, and others waved good morning.

Beaming, Karin said hello, and skipped happily toward the lake.

Setting her things down, she filled her bucket with water and threw the flowers in. Grabbing a rock to grind the flowers in the water for dye to sell to the villager's designer, she began to hum her favorite song.

The blue color began to show in the water and Karin smiled, happy with her work.

Suddenly, there was a rustling in the bushes of the forest behind her and Karin's heart beat quickened.

Turning around, she stood up and stepped farther back.

"W-who's there?" she reached up to press a hand on her chest, grabbing a stick for protection.

The rustling ceased and there was absolute silence before someone lunged out at her.

"RAWR! RAWR, RAWR, RAWR!" Karin's best friend, Yuki, flailed his arms and bared his teeth as she let out a scream.

Realizing it was just a prank, she through the stick at the now hysterically laughing boy, infuriated.

"You jerk! Can't you go a day without having to scare me?"

Yuki pushed his black hair out of his eyes and smiled.

"Come on, Karin-chan, you know I only do it for fun, I'd never seriously scare you!"
"I'm an 18 year old, a WOMAN, Yuki, I'm in a village with lots of guys with raging hormones like you who stare at me ALL the time, I have to watch my back, you know!"

Yuki walked over to give her a hug, "You know I'd never let anything happen to you, don't you, Karin-chan?"

Karin pushed him away when he suddenly kissed her on her chin – dangerously close to her lips.

"See what I mean?! I have to watch my back – especially around my best friend."

He started laughing again, " Yeah, okay."
"Get out of here, I need to finish with this dye so I can send it to Mrs. Luna." she sat down to continue her work.

"No way. I like watching you work. You're fun to watch." he grinned.

"Whatever. Just don't get in the way."
Karin went back to working, then thought of the boy again. She felt very different about him now.

How come he had intended to hurt every one else except her? She'd never find out, because the poor boy had died... But, if he was alive today, would he have come back for her? Would she leave with him back to that dark castle where the king of the beasts had lived( she found out that he had been the son of the king)?

She snapped out of her thoughts when Yuki waved his hand in front of her.

"I've been calling you for minutes now, Karin-chan! Man, you get way too lost in your work."
"Wh- what is it?" she pushed the thought aside.

"I was asking you if you remembered what today is."

"Today? It's not your birthday, is it?" she looked worried. Karin NEVER forgot birthdays, she remembered every villager's birthday, and was always sure to send them a gift, but with Yuki, he always lied about his actual birthday, just to get a present out of her, and every time she fell for it.

"Nope." Yuki smirked, but seconds later was serious, "It's the day the offering comes back and is replaced again."

Karin stopped grinding the flowers into the now violet water and looked into her friend's grave face.

"Oh, th- that's right."

The Beast King had been replaced the day the king of the beasts and his son were killed, which was very unfortunate for the villagers considering the fact that he went into heat on certain days in the year, and had finally made a contract with the villagers saying that he wouldn't harm their village if they sent him a woman for the remainder of the year. Every year, they came back, usually dressed in very pretty clothes, but marked right over their breasts with a bite just like Karin's crescent moon birthmark.

The woman that came back was replaced the following morning, and most of them were virgins- the king preferred them.

As far as she knew, Karin was probably the last virgin in the village, which scared her, but every one was very kind and would never make Karin go, considering the fact that the Beast King's kind had killed her parents and destroyed their village – how could she have sex with someone like that?

Most of her friends were the ones that went, and when they came back, they told her they had sex with him and were usually calm about it, they never cried to her like she thought they would.

"He's really scary, but never that rough.. oh, and he's very talented with his hands... giggle. But sometimes, I can't help but think he's lonely and hoping for someone else." Karin's friend Marie, the offering that had come back 2 years ago had told her.

"You shouldn't be worried." Yuki said when Karin shivered. "I'd never let you go to someone like him. I don't think he has any respect for women whatsoever."
Karin smiled sadly, even though she knew it was probable that in the future, she'd be the offering.

Maybe it was today, who knew?

That night.

Men started a fire in the center of the village and set down logs for the women who wanted to speak to the latest offering, named Julie, tonight.

Karin took her spot on the log and soon, all of the seats were filled.

A dark chariot pulled up, being led by black stallions with wild golden eyes and when it stopped, Juliet stepped out, carrying her luggage, and the carriage disappeared into the darkness.

Karin ran to hug her friend, who seemed happy to see her.
"Did you miss me that much?" Juliet asked, pulling away to look at her beautiful friend. "You seem to get prettier every year, I swear."

Karin blushed, "Come on, sit down."
Juliet told all of the women her story, actually smiling as she did so.

A few hours later, Juliet had finished her story. Karin was very tired and wanted to go home to rest, but it was time to choose the next offering.

"Here are the Beast King's requests out of the next offering." Juliet was a little solemn as she handed the village women a scroll.

A woman with short blond hair red aloud, "The prettiest woman in the village. A virgin, if you please."

All eyes turned to Karin and her stomach dropped as the village women began to whisper, some protesting.

"Are we really going to send Karin-chan out there?!"
"But we have to have an offering, or he'll come to the village."
"This is outrageous! There are really no women left?"

"Do you think he'll take boys?"

"It's unfair! Most of us are already married! Karin really is the last virgin."

"We can't let Karin go!" one of her friends stood up from the log she was sitting on. "She may be the only one that hasn't gone to him yet, but... it's just seems unfair."

"Stop." Karin held up a hand and they all silenced. Lowering her head, she said loud enough for them all to hear, "I'll be saving everyone from being killed if I go... so.." she took a deep breath, "I will." It wasn't fair to the villagers if she was the only one they were going to protect. She could stand up for herself, she didn't need babying. She was a woman, too!
"No, you won't!"

"Don't go, beauty!"

"Come on, you don't have to do this!"

"I'm not letting you go!" all eyes turned to see Yuki, who had slipped out of his house to join into the conversation, probably to find out who the next offering was.

"Y-Yuki.." Karin started.

Suddenly, the girl who had read the scroll out loud had stood up.

"I'll go, then!" everyone gasped and turned to look at her. "I'm not a virgin, but I don't want any one to suffer or argue anymore, so I'll just go!"

Yuki dragged Karin away before she could protest that she'd go instead, and pinned her to the back of a house, far away from the women, who were preparing to go home.

"Yuki, let me go, before she does!"

"No! I'm not letting you go to that filthy asshole's castle. I'm not letting his filthy hands touch you! I'm not letting any of that happen, Karin-chan!" he leaned into kiss her and Karin flushed and brought her hand up to block him.

"I'm sorry, Yuki... I... I'll stay."

Yuki's golden eyes softened and he leaned in again to hug her instead.

"I.. I'm sorry for that just now... you know I care for you."
Karin reached up to hug him, "Yes, I know."

Karin tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. The woman, named Ushiro, had already packed her things and was on her way to the castle while she was safe and sound at home.

It just... didn't feel right to let her go when she was the only one left in the village.

She sat upin bed and sighed. Thinking harder about this, she finally made the decision and turned to her bedside to stand up.

She took a deep breath before grabbing her suitcase and stuffing all of her belongings in it. After that, she snuck into the kitchen, hoping not to wake her aunt.

Leaving her feet bare so it was easier to sneak around, she walked back to her room.

Karin put a few slices of bread and some fruit into a basket so she could eat on the way, and, dressing in a short black dress with long sleeves which she hoped was attractive, she put on a glistening red hood and closed the door behind her.

Her luggage was heavy, but she gritted her teeth through it and ran off toward the castle, saying goodbye to her Yuki.

A few hours later..

Where was that carriage? Karin staggered deeper into the forest that blocked off the castle from the village, but she couldn't find the carriage at all... Her feet were starting to hurt and she immediately regretted her stupid decision to walk around barefooted.

The carriage finally came into view after she was taking a sip of water, and excited, she wiped her mouth and darted over to the dark carriage, where the stallions were walking slowly, and opened the door. There was Ushiro, staring out of the window longingly. When she felt the cold draft of the window being open, she turned her head and gasped when she saw that Karin had jumped into the carriage.

"Karin?! What are you doing-"
"Get out, Ushiro! I'm going instead!" Karin stared at her seriously. Ushiro shook her head.

"No, Karin, I've made this decision, it's alright, I'll go instead."

Gritting her teeth again, Karin climbed further into the carriage, and grabbing Ushiro's arm, she pulled.

Ushiro was much stronger than her and snatched her arm back without struggling against her grip.

Instead, Karin reached down and tossed Ushiro's luggage out of the carriage.

Ushiro gasped and jumped up, "My teddy bear's in there!" before she could jump out of the carriage and run after it, she looked seriously at Karin.

"Tell Yuki it was my decision, please, Ushiro." Karin whispered.

Ushiro bit her lip and nodded, "Goodbye."

When she jumped out and safely landed, the carriage suddenly picked up speed, almost knocking Karin out of the seat.

"Is that her?"

"Her scent is different from most girls."

"But why?"
"Is she the one the Beast King was hoping for?"

"Maybe it is! We must get her there immediately."
Karin could only listen, confused at the excited and cautious booming voices coming from outside and was shocked to realize they were coming from the dark stallions pulling the coach.

Where they talking about her?

"Faster, boys!"

The outside of the carriage was only a blur now as the stallions obeyed one's command and she screamed as the horses jumped into the air. She gripped her seat to keep from floating and her eyes darted from the outside of the door to see that the horses hadn't jumped, the carriage was floating over a cliff, heading toward the tall dark castle.

Her heart stopped pounding when they finally landed with a THUD back onto the ground and the wild ride turned into a more peaceful one when the stallions walked slowly down the path to the front doors.

Karin gasped at the sight in front of her – the grass surrounding the castle was perfectly cut, and a garden of white roses were arranged in a humungous crescent moon.

The moon was shining down on the castle and illuminating the castle in a glimmering blue.

She sat captivated for a moment before she came back to the real world and noticed the carriage had stop.

She struggled to swallow as her heartbeat quickened. This was it.

Was he going to greet her? Was he suddenly going to lift her up in his arms and take her to his bedroom? Were they going to have sex, just like that?

Karin really didn't want to lose her virginity so quickly and be rushed in such a way... what was she going to do?

"HUMAN GIRL."

The voice of one of the dark stallions caused her to snap out of her thoughts. "Y-yes?!"

"THE KING IS WAITING FOR YOU. I'D ADVISE YOU NOT TO MAKE HIM WAIT."

Karin didn't have to be told twice. Grabbing her luggage and her basket, she hopped out of the carriage, gently landing on quiet feet.

Taking a deep breath, Karin walked across the humungous lawn surrounding the castle, watching where her feet stepped. She didn't want to track mud onto the floors.

She walked up the steps, to the castle, feeling the eyes of the stallions on her back.

On the last step, the platform led to the door.

She sucked in a breath. If she went into the doors, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to come back out.

She jumped when the stallions let out whinnies and disappeared from view, taking the carriage with them.

When she turned around , they were of course, gone. Just like that. Was it part of the magic this cursed King was born with? Shaking the thought away, she took one last deep breath before bravely walking through the doors.

She couldn't hold back the surprised gasp as she walked into the castle – partly because of how cold the marble floor was under her feet, but the other was at how gorgeous this place was.

Was she really going to LIVE here?

The floor was covered in porcelain white marble, and a statue of a crescent moon was placed in the center. Looking around, she saw that the stairs were almost endless curls around each other as they stretched up to the second floor.. and then the third floor, and the fourth...

She wondered which one the King lived on.

Speaking of that.. where was he?

She walked around , looking for him. "Uh... y- your highness...?!" she called, and blinked as her voice echoed over and over throughout the perfectly built castle.

"W-wow.." she said under her breath. That was actually somewhat... fun.

Cupping her hands over her mouth, Karin shut her eyes as she yelled, "YAAAAHHHHH!"

Over and over, it echoed, and she felt her lips curl in a smirk. Sucking in her breath, she yelled again.

Smiling to herself, she began her walk up the steps and continued her search for the King, but he was no where to be found. She felt like she'd searched for hours before someone's voice echoed through the castle, making her yelp.

"So, you're my new offering, huh?"
She had to lean her head back far to see that the voice belonged to the man that was now staring down at her from the 5th floor of the castle.

Was it him?

Gesturing with a hand, he said loudly, "Come. I'd like to see you."
Karin's heart beat quickened again as she turned to walk up the stairs to the next 3 floors.

"Come on. I hate waiting." his voice echoed again, making her jump as she quickened her pace up the stairs.

"I- I'm sorry.." she said loud enough for him to hear and she moved quicker. Her bare feet had suddenly gotten very interesting as she got to the same floor as him, and she kept her head down.

There was a long sigh before Karin was suddenly lifted into the air and she gasped, flailing her arms as she was pulled toward him. Was this some kind of magic?

Her feet touched the floor again, but she was still being pulled, and was now painfully somersaulting across the ground, screaming.

Finally, she stopped, and the world came into focus. Now on her knees, she struggled to hold her head up right to see him. She slowly looked up at his tall figure to meet his eyes.

"Ah!" Her eyes widened with shock, surprise, terror, and a little bit of marveling as she studied his very familiar face. Backing up against the wall, she stared into his bright red eyes of eternal red flames and felt heart skip a beat.

The man in front of her was about her age, surprisingly gorgeous, and had long, shiny black hair that was pulled into a thick braid behind him, falling at his waist.

Clothing his tall figure were a pair of dark red pants and a long black robe that at the moment was unbuttoned, revealing the most gorgeous upper body muscles Karin had every seen.

Sure, she'd seen a lot of men naked from the waist up, considering the fact that more than half of the people in her village were male, but never muscles that were this beautiful. On his arms were strange, golden cuff like bands, and his skin practically glowed and was as pure white as the floors.

In more than one way, he was a god.

His eternal red flames for eyes roamed her body, looking her up and down.

"Hmm..." he smiled, "You're dressed similar to Red Riding Hood. I've met her before... she's very..." he searched for the word in his mind, "... obnoxious."
Karin blinked. Why were those eyes so familiar?! She couldn't quite place where she'd seen them before.

"Who... who are you?" she asked, staring up at him, her eyes still wide.

His lips curled into a smile, "The Beast King Kazune, of course. Who else?"
King Kazune looked her up and down, "My, you really are the prettiest one in the village. I've never seen such curves." his eyes rested on her chest and she felt the urge to cover up, feeling naked under his gaze.

Before she could speak, he'd bent down and got on his knees himself to match her height.

Karin felt her body trembling in fear, knowing they would be just minutes away from something very intimate...

"Uh... um, w-wait-"

He silenced her with a finger to her lips, shaking his head slightly and staring deeply into her eyes.

Time seemed to stop.

Where had she remembered this?

Oh, yes it was.. just like... him. The boy she'd watched curiously as a child. The beast child who'd killed most of the people in her village, including her family. The boy who was searching for her on that terrible day..

The beast child who'd been killed by the villagers in her own village.

Her heart ached again for him, but then pounded again in surprised when the Beast King placed a hand on her chest, tracing circles.

His touch scent shiver down her body and she let out a gasp as it moved lower.

No one had ever made her feel so weird just by a light touch..

"Ah!" his hand moved down to suddenly cup her right breast through the cloth of her dress and she felt her back arch slightly as she tilted her head, staring up at the ceiling.

"Don't hurt me.." she whispered, afraid again, but was only able to focus on the spot his hand was touching. He shook his head slightly, just like hedid.

The young king's hand slipped from her mouth and she let out another gasp when it cupped her other breast.

There was a light, warm kiss on her chest, just above the birthmark under her clothes, and then her dress was being pulled down.

She stiffened as her breasts were revealed to him, but when his movements stopped and he just continued to stare at her, she looked down at him.

Hearing him suck in a breath, she stared down at him. He was looking at her birthmark with shocked, wide, red eyes.

"It... it's y- you...!" he looked at her crescent moon mark over and over again, and she wondered what he meant.

He stared up into her eyes... Then, without a word, crushed his lips to hers. It was Karin's first kiss. It was sweet, and made her body feel warm and her heart went crazy.

She hadn't even realized she'd needed air until he pulled away.

Her eyes opened to stare into his and she gasped. Now she knew where those eyes were from.

The lips she's just been kissed by parted so the King could speak again.

"I found you again."

Sorry, I was being stupid and decided to just keep the chapters as they were before, I'm sorry! :(