by Mj Pedersen
On a quiet forest settlement, Chieftain Nigel Mikaelson recalls the night his daughter Serraphina was born, a memory of warmth and new life. But the peace shatters when unknown soldiers arrive from the north, forcing Nigel to leave his family behind and investigate with his companion Zachariah. The soldiers' leader is no stranger. Klaus, Nigel's own brother, has come bearing a gift from their mother. After their encounter, Nigel returns home wracked with a mysterious burning pain he cannot explain. He tries to eat but cannot keep anything down. When his wife Ethel accidentally cuts her foot on a broken bowl, something inside Nigel snaps. In a blur of bloodlust he cannot control, he attacks the woman he loves, committing an act that will fracture his family forever.
