The ancient mansion on the outskirts of an abandoned city stood silent under the blood moon, its halls echoing with the weight of old power.

Vergil had retreated here days ago, seeking respite as the mating season gripped his demonic blood like a vice. Forcing himself away from from the urges towards you.

The Sparda heritage surged within him, amplifying every instinct with hunger and possession to the primal and raw need to claim and breed. To take you—his beloved, his lover.

For the sake of protecting your youth, to settle a life before having children—Vergil isolated himself completely with his most legendary self-control.

Another passing hour where he had remained in focused meditation, deep inhales and exhales taken to reduce the fluttering of his heart and the primal arousal low in his gut. Yamato remained planted before him where he seated himself on the floor, the sword unwavering unlike his quiet seethes through a tensing jaw.

He was trying to suppress the fire burning through his veins—because control was everything to Vergil.

But then footsteps sounded within this building from afar. The sound of you and the feeling of your presence consumed his senses immediately.

Your lover hadn't responded to a single one of your texts. Of course, you understood this... mating season or whatever it was called. Dante was going crazy too, drowning in pizza and strawberry sundaes to distract himself from the relief that Lady, impressively, denied to provide.

You recalled laughing with her, refusing the idea of birthing quarter-demon children.

Mating with a half-demon.

But, your concern beat that idea as a week passed, and Vergil didn't call you back once.

So, using the couple's tracking app you planted on Vergil's phone without him knowing—since he was horrible with technology anyway—you found his location. And here you were, absolutely breathless from the steep hike up that ragged hill because your car couldn't drive up the tattered path any further.

Wandering into a hall, you finally laid eyes on the figure you had been desperately searching for.

"Vergil," you sighed with relief, stepping into the large room.

In the blink of an eye, Vergil was on the other end of the hall in an instant.

"You dared to find me." His voice caught on dangerous, low a guttural undertone he didn't mean to speak in. Not towards you. But his veins sparked wild under the restraint you were shattering just by being here.

"I warned you." His words echoed as he spoke with his back facing you.

His very warning days ago settled like a sore reminder in your chest. How he ordered you not to follow him, not to find him. But of course, your stubborn care found a way through every time.

"I know." You sighed, feeling a little guilt take root. "But I can't leave you alone like this, honey."

That soft endearment is one he only ever allowed you to call him. Hearing it so many days later, it made his shoulder's tense as your care settled like fuzzy warmth in his chest.

Yet he demanded his soul not to give in.

"Leave." He snarled back, his voice booming lower in the hollow expanse of the room. "Before I lose what little restraint I have left."

His demand was cold. A warning.

But you still stepped forwards. Brave and stubborn despite the adrenaline rushing to your heart.

"I know you're afraid, Vergil." Your voice softened further as you took another step forth into the old, grand hall. That single footstep atop the creaking floorboards wrecked every cell in his body, drawing his senses directly towards you.

The several feet between you and himself began feeling like inches.

Vergil's grip tightened around Yamato, his every fibre battling the hot blood his heart that ordered him to take—to leave his seed buried deep inside your womb.

His composure was cracking, like a hammer to glass.

"My love."

His voice hardened within its plea.

"Please."