Chapter 1
‘Everyone fears death. It’s natural to do so. But what nobody tells you is that life is much scarier, especially when you’ve already faced death and survived.’
I woke up surrounded by insufferable heat, my body aching in places I didn’t know could hurt. The world was bright and loud, full of unfamiliar smells and voices, and everything was… burning.
For a moment, I thought I was in Hell, standing among the flames devouring the twisted souls that were sent there to suffer. Panic clawed at my chest, trying to squeeze through my throat and escape. I struggled to breathe, the taste of ash and death feeding my terror until I was shaking like a leaf.
‘No, no, no! I can’t be dead, I can’t be in Hell!’ My thoughts spiraled as I finally forced myself to move. My vision swam, lights and shadows darting around, forming crooked, menacing shapes that loomed over me. ‘I’m not bad! I can’t go to…’
Pain exploded in my palm as I leaned on it, trying to sit up, and suddenly, everything snapped into sharper focus. My eyes burned as memories flashed through my mind, and a very different ache clutched my chest. Flames licked up the bark of the two trees in front of me, devouring their leaves, while I stared at the dark, silent square beyond them where I had last seen my family.
My mother… My father… My pack… She was going to kill them all.
A terrified sob escaped me, and I clasped a hand over my mouth. There was no time… no time to cry! I needed to get up now. I had to find my parents, find anyone who might still be alive, and… and fight!
A true wolf wouldn’t let pain or fear stop them. Even if I couldn’t shift yet, I could still help the others. I had to! The pack always stuck together… until the bitter end.
Pushing to my knees, I willed them to stop shaking when the sound of voices made me perk up. Before I could distinguish any of their words, they moved away, leaving only the crackling of the wood as long, vicious tongues of fire consumed it. The heat was getting unbearable, the thick smoke making my eyes burn.
Destroyed. She had destroyed everything.
“Isaac… Isaac…” a weak voice made my head snap left, then right.
“Mom?” I staggered toward the square while trying to avoid the blaze, but when I reached the edge of the trees, my steps faltered. Bile rose in my throat, and I shook my head in denial, retreating until I ran into the wall of flames that had closed in behind me.
Severed limbs and pools of blood covered the ground where men, women, and children lay in torn heaps. Everywhere I looked, lifeless eyes bore into me, their pale faces frozen in expressions of disbelief and terror.
My chest felt unbearably tight, as if silver blades were lodged inside, sinking deeper and deeper with each breath. Despite the pain, I forced myself to memorize every face, swearing that I’d avenge them all before joining them in the Moon Goddess’s embrace.
The fire had started devouring the bodies by the houses. When the wind shifted, the cloying scent of sweet magic mixed with burning flesh grew so overwhelming that I doubled over, retching until my stomach was empty.
She had killed them. She had killed them all.
I searched for the witch, praying that someone killed her, or at least hurt her enough so I could finish her off, but all I could see were the sacrifices lying in tribute to her bloodthirst.
“Isaac… I’m so… sorry,” my mother’s voice sobbed, weak and trembling.
I took a stumbling step forward, only to trip over the leg of a mangled body and crash to the ground. Red-streaked mud splashed up, smearing my face and soaking my clothes.
How? How could this be happening? How could they be dead?
“Goddess, save him, please… Just him… I’m so… sorry…”
I wiped the mud from my face, my vision blurring as I frantically searched for the owner of the voice. My gaze darted from one lifeless face to another until, finally, I found her.
My mother. She was alive!
Lying on her back and staring at the full moon above, she breathed in sharp, painful rasps, her body spasming with the effort. Blood soaked her clothes, her dark hair matted and heavy with sweat and grime. Her left hand pressed desperately against a gaping wound in her stomach like she was trying to stop her insides from spilling out, and tears had carved clean streaks through the dirt on her face.
I dropped to my knees beside her, letting out a low whimper that finally caught her attention. Shock filled her beautiful brown eyes before another heart-wrenching sob tore from her lips.
“Thank the Goddess!” she choked out, her bloodied fingers brushing against my cheek. “My baby, I’m so… sorry for everything.” She hiccuped, her eyelids drooping as she took a shuddering breath.
Sorry? What was she talking about? She was the one hurt, the one dying…
No! She wasn’t going to die! I was going to save her! I had to!
“We were weak, and we failed you… we failed you and Alice... I’m so… ashamed…”
“Mama!” The sobs I had been holding back broke free, choking me as I slid my hands over her stomach, desperate to keep her life from slipping away. I whined at the sight of all that blood, my hands trembling, utterly clueless about what to do. Was there anything I could do? “You need to get up! The fire is too close, we need to get somewhere safe so you can heal! Please!”
I tried to pull her up, but more blood spurted from the wound—dark, thick, and laced with… silver. The moment it touched my fingers, I screamed, yanking my hand back and staring in horror at the blisters spreading across it.
No, no, no! Where had the silver come from? The witch had attacked them with fire and magic, not with silver! Did she have another weapon? That wretched monster! It wasn’t enough that she killed my people so senselessly, she even used our biggest weakness to torture us! I was going to…
“Run, my boy. Run as far… and as fast as you can,” my mother whispered.
Her voice pulled me back, and I looked at her again. Blood trickled from her mouth and nose now, her eyelids fluttering closed like she didn’t have the strength to keep them open.
“You can’t… let them catch you… Live… I’m… sorry…”
‘Them?’
Her hand slipped from my cheek, dropping lifelessly to the ground.
“Mama?” I called her hesitantly. I listened for her heartbeat, searching for the familiar thud-thud-thud that had lulled me to sleep every night, but all I could hear was the distant drum of… something rising from its slumber deep inside my chest.
“No!” I screamed, shaking her. “Mama, please! You can’t die! You can’t leave…”
I sobbed, clutching her to me, ignoring the searing pain as the silver burned my exposed skin.
This wasn’t happening, couldn’t be happening. She was alive… she was healing… How…
Why? Why was this happening? Why was the world so cruel? Why was the Moon Goddess allowing this?
‘Maybe the Moon Goddess couldn’t stop this monster either,’ a dark voice hissed in my mind.
But if that was true, then who could stop her? My father, one of the strongest men I knew, had been taken down by a single spell. The others… everyone who had tried to fight her was dead. All that remained was… me. A useless boy who couldn’t shift. The witch hadn’t even bothered to kill me.
‘Live,’ my mother’s voice whispered in my ear and I looked at her with hope, but her empty eyes remained fixed on the dark sky, locked in a silent plea.
‘Run!’ my sister’s voice shouted and my hands balled into fists at the urgency in her words.
‘Fight!’ my father’s voice bellowed, and something inside me snapped until I was throwing my head back and howling, the sound ripping from my throat with raw, unrelenting fury.
A loud crash broke through my cry and I turned in time to see one of the houses collapse with a deafening rattle. I choked on the dust and sparks dancing in the air and by the time they finally settled, the flames had surrounded us from all sides.
If I stayed any longer, there would be nowhere to run, and I… I couldn’t die tonight. I had to fight… for them. I had to survive, to live. Just long enough to kill her. Then I could join my people in the Moon Goddess’s embrace forever.
We weren’t going to Hell. We hadn’t done anything to deserve that, unlike the monster who had taken everything from us. We were going to be together again.
I inhaled deeply, sorting through the choking stench of blood, fire, and death until I caught it—her scent—magic so powerful and sickeningly sweet, it was hard to mistake for anything else.
My hands shook as I gently laid my mother’s body down. It took every ounce of strength I had to step away from her, to leave her there for the flames to claim, but I knew that if I wasted any more time, it would be too late. The witch was moving—fleeing the village it seemed. After she had wrecked my entire world, there was no way I was letting her escape.
I glanced back at my mother one last time and my heart clenched at the sight of her bloodied body, her face frozen in pain. I tried to remember what she looked like smiling, laughing, scolding me, but all I could see now was the empty look in her eyes.
A sob rose in my throat, nearly choking me as I forced myself to take another step. Turning my back on her tore what was left of my heart in a way I wasn’t sure could ever be healed, but I forced myself to do it.
Screaming at the unfairness of it all, I bolted. I ran and ran, leaping over the bodies of friends and neighbors, of teachers and protectors, of the last remnants of my family. With every step, I swore to each of them that I’d kill the one who did this.
The pain barely registered when I dove through the flames, their hungry tongues latching onto my clothes and biting into my skin. Once the sting became too unbearable, I threw myself to the ground and rolled in the dirt to put out the flames. A few seconds later, I caught that horrible scent again and followed, my mind made up.
‘Witches are pure evil, worse even than the hunters. They kill and torture and fill the world with their hate and cursed magic. They all deserve to die!’
I wasn’t sure how long I had been running when the sound of voices reached my ears. Male voices, I realized, several of them. Their laughter and shouts of victory made me slow, my heart pounding so hard that I was certain they’d hear it if they paused for just a moment.
‘Did some of our warriors survive? Did they manage to take her down?’ I wondered as I pushed forward, eager to find them, to watch them punish her for what she’d done. It wasn’t until the wind changed and I caught their scents that I dug my heels into the ground.
Humans. They were humans, not werewolves.
My steps faltered, my heart sinking. What were humans doing this deep in the forest? And at this time of night?
Against my better judgment, I kept going. I slowed my pace and picked my way carefully, making no noise at all. A strange calm settled over my mind, keeping my raging emotions at bay. Was this what the older wolves felt during a hunt? Their focus sharp on their prey, the rest of the world disappearing?
They didn’t sense me as I drew closer, the voices only growing louder and clearer, full of triumph and a twisted sort of glee that made the hair on the back of my neck rise.
“...filthy abomination, you will never walk this earth again! We will scatter your pieces across the land so you can never return!” one man growled, his tone low and full of hate.
A female scream deafened his next words, but his laughter rose above her pain. Even through the pitch of agony in it, I recognized the timbre instantly. My step quickened.
The trees ended abruptly, and a large boulder that had sunk halfway into the earth blocked my path. Moss and rotting leaves covered its surface, muffling all the noise while I climbed on top and flattened myself against the smooth stone. Holding my breath, I peeked over the edge and waited for my sight to adjust to the brightness of torches and flashlights.
My eyes darted between the men holding them, then to the others who filled the small valley. There were maybe a dozen humans, all wearing black and armed with numerous weapons strapped to their backs and limbs. Some had hoods pulled over their heads, but most had discarded them, revealing black tattoos that snaked across their temples, foreheads, and necks.
‘Hunters!’ I gasped, and quickly clapped a palm over my mouth before I gave myself away. They were freaking hunters! By the Goddess, could this get any worse? What was I supposed to do now?
I had never seen a hunter in person, but I had heard enough stories from my father and the Elders. Those tattoos they had… they had to be runes of protection from magic and other stuff that could give them an edge against any supernatural being. Everyone insisted hunters were extremely dangerous, but they couldn’t be more dangerous than her, could they?
All the men were looking in the same direction and once the biggest of them took a step back, I finally saw her.
The witch.
Her dress was shredded, and crimson coated every inch of her skin while she struggled to stay on her feet. Her red hair, now almost black after being soaked in the blood of my people, hung limply over her face.
A snarl bubbled in my throat, but I swallowed it. I had to be smart. I had to wait. There was no way I could fight that many hunters and win. I was supposed to kill her, avenge my parents, my pack. But how could I face so many of them—and her—and win?
It should have been my father standing here. He could’ve done something. He could’ve taken some of them down. He could’ve ended her in this state.
I continued to watch the witch, afraid to blink so as not to miss any of her suffering. The wild spark in her gaze was gone, even her attempts to free herself seemed half-hearted.
How? How had she been caught by mere humans? How had they done what werewolves couldn’t? And why wasn’t she using magic to free herself?
My eyes slid down her body in search of an explanation, and my breath stuttered when I found it. Her hands… had been chopped off at the wrists and blood was dripping on the ground so fast, I was sure she’d be dead in minutes, if not sooner.
“Nothing to say for yourself?” the man from before scoffed, leaning down so his face was at her level. “I was told you had quite the mouth on you, but that must have been an exaggeration.”
“Get it over with, little man,” she croaked, looking at him without a hint of fear. “No matter what you do, it makes no… difference. I’ll come back. And when I do, pray that…” She choked and more blood seeped from the edge of her lips, but she continued with a smile. “...you are already ashes because… any way you die will be more merciful than the death… I’ll give you.”
I couldn’t see his expression, but I heard his snicker as he plunged a knife into her gut. She hissed, and despite her challenging words, pain bloomed in her eyes as her body jerked against her bindings.
A twisted sense of satisfaction rushed through me at the sight of her agony. My heart raced as I soaked it in, trying to memorize the helpless anger in her gaze, the way her body spasmed under the hunter’s knife. I imagined it was me delivering the blow, making her suffer. The moment I pictured my face in place of the hunter’s, an odd mix of guilt and horror churned in my gut.
I wanted to show her the same cruelty she showed us. I wanted to see her hurt, bleeding. I wanted her to die by my hand. So why, in the Goddess’s name, did my body rebel at the thought? Was I that weak?
The hunter stepped back, barking an order to the others, but I couldn’t bring myself to look away from her. Her chest heaved as blood oozed from the wound in her stomach, drenching the dirt beneath her. The grass around her had turned black, the circle of dark soil spreading with every drop offered to the earth.
Several hunters closed in on her, knives flashing. The one behind her yanked her hair so hard that she winced as a few strands tore free. His blade slid over her face, leaving deep gashes across her pale skin, and the air grew heavier with the scent of blood.
She didn’t scream, didn’t whimper.
The rest joined in, weapons sinking into her flesh again and again. She held out at first, teeth gritted, but at some point, she shrieked. I covered my ears, flinching with each piercing cry.
Pathetic! I couldn’t even listen to her pain!
‘She’s a murderer, a monster! She deserves this!’ I told myself, fighting against the bile rising in my throat. Still, I made myself watch them cut her into pieces.
There was no method to their torture. Just jabs after cuts after slashes while flesh and bones fell in heavy chunks. Somewhere along the way, she stopped screaming, her eyes rolling back, and part of me was glad I didn’t have to listen to her pain anymore. Still, her heart continued to beat, its rhythm growing slower yet somehow louder than everyone else’s.
When they finally untied the ropes, her insides were spilling out and her skin was hanging in strips from her arms. I could see the bones on her legs as she fell to her knees, the hunter at her back still holding her up by the hair.
I counted the beats of her heart, waiting for it to give out, only to have her eyes suddenly open. The green of her irises had dulled, crimson overtaking the whites as her gaze drifted upward, locking onto the boulder where I hid. I sucked in a panicked breath, half expecting her to call out and expose me.
Her lips parted, and I scurried back, ready to flee, but she simply stared with a look of resignation in her eyes. She was going to die, and she knew it. Even if she did have her magic, there was no way to fix all that damage to her body. Nothing could save her now.
‘She doesn’t deserve to be saved!’ I snarled at myself, wrestling with the strange pity creeping into my chest. She was a monster and just because she was tortured so viciously, she didn’t deserve my sympathy! She deserved nothing!
A blade pressed against her throat, and she closed her eyes when the man behind her sunk it into her flesh, yanking it to the side. The ease with which the knife cut through bone shocked me, though he didn’t decapitate her in one stroke. He pressed and dragged, laughing the whole time, until finally, he raised her severed head into the air.
The rest of her body crumpled to the ground.
Her mouth had fallen open, as if she was about to scream, and my stomach twisted in horror at the sight of her blood dripping from the torn neck and down the hunter’s arm. I gagged.
By the time I realized my mistake, it was too late. Several heads snapped my way and one of the men cursed, his hand sliding down to the holster on his thigh.
‘Oh, no! Oh, no!’ My instincts screamed at me to get out of there, so I obeyed without hesitation, throwing caution to the wind and jumping off the stone right as a bullet ricocheted off the spot I had been lying on.
My ankle twisted awkwardly when I landed on unsteady feet, but before the pain could register, I was already running. Their shouts followed me, the sound of pursuit growing louder while my heart pounded in my chest, climbing to my throat and making it painful to breathe.
I ran faster than I ever had in my life, my chest burning and my muscles spasming from the effort, yet somehow, they gained on me. My feet throbbed, raw from catching on protruding roots and jagged stones, but the sheer terror consuming my thoughts kept me moving.
A shot rang out, and the bark of a tree exploded to my left. I yelped, tripping and tumbling to the ground before scrambling back to my feet. More bullets rained down around me, splintering wood and scattering leaves, the acrid smell of gunpowder and silver making my skin crawl.
If they hit me with this… it would be all over. I would never escape. I would die.
‘Live!’ my mother’s words echoed in my head as I tripped again. I braced for the impact, but instead of hitting the ground, I kept falling. Sticks and stones jabbed at my body while I rolled down and down the steep slope, struggling to find purchase before I broke my neck.
The bottom of the ditch came out of nowhere and as I landed on my back, my head bounced off something hard. Darkness edged my vision, and I whimpered, curling into myself, but the moment the hunters’ distorted voices rang in my ears again, I forced myself to move.
My legs wobbled, and prickles of pain rose all over me. I was pretty sure I had a rib or two broken, but there was nothing I could do about that. I had to keep going, I had to escape! But how could I if I could barely walk?
Footsteps crunched closer, and the sound of sliding leaves told me some of them were coming down the slope. There was nowhere to go. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t fight them all. I was going to die!
‘Live!’ More voices screamed in my head. My mother, my father, Alice, every single member of the pack. All of those who had died at her hand. Unavenged.
A sob tore from my throat.
I wanted to live. I wanted to but…
Something stirred deep inside me, an unfamiliar presence that made every hair on my neck stand on end as I started to shake. I had no idea what it was, but the urge to surrender to it was so overwhelming that I didn’t think twice.
I let it engulf me, breathing new life and strength into my flesh despite the searing pain that stole the air from my lungs and the thoughts from my mind. I tried to scream and fight against whatever was happening to me, afraid that it would kill me, but I couldn’t feel my limbs.
I fell to my knees when a loud crack came from my back, making me arch, and then my leg snapped, bending backward. I watched with horror how splits opened along my skin like something was trying to burst from within, then the breaking started. Bone after bone shattered, twisting and elongating in front of my very eyes, until finally, I collapsed to the ground, howling and writhing in agony.
For a few moments, I couldn’t feel anything but the numbing pain, then suddenly, my body was moving on its own as if pulled by invisible strings. My legs wobbled, but with every second that passed, my strength returned and sense crept back into my body, making me painfully aware of every hard muscle, every sharp tooth, every deadly claw.
The air rippled near my head and something grazed my jaw, sending a jolt of pain through me. ‘Crap!’ I tried to curse, but only a feral snarl left my mouth. The ground felt different beneath my feet as the unfamiliar presence sent me running forward with a speed I never thought possible, but my nails dug just enough to avoid slipping.
It was like I was flying and the sensation that filled my chest was so right that before I knew it, I was tipping my head back and howling with joy.
I had done it. I had finally awakened my wolf!
The feeling of triumph lasted only a moment because I realized my parents would never know, never be proud of me, never see me running like the wind because… they were all dead. I was all alone.
Shouts broke from behind me, the voices calling to each other as they went to cut off my escape. No, I was not alone. I still had those monsters chasing after me.
The air was getting thicker with smoke from the fire that was now spreading through the forest, so I veered away, darting in the opposite direction. The hunters followed, cursing and huffing while trying to keep up, but despite their runes and training, they couldn’t match my speed. I was a werewolf.
Even as their voices faded and the fire’s heat dwindled behind me, I didn’t stop. I ran until the forest grew darker, shadows pressing in from all sides, and silence swallowed everything but the sound of my pounding footsteps.
When I finally stopped, my legs buckled, and I nearly collapsed. My mouth was so parched that, when I stumbled upon a small stream cutting through the trees like a bleeding vein, I threw myself into the cold waters without hesitation.
I wasn’t sure how long I stayed there, drinking deeply while the frigid current cradled me in its cool embrace, but when I finally dragged myself to the shore, I was shivering. The sun had risen, its light stretching over the peaks and painting the sky in shades of pink and orange, as if the darkness had been erased from the world.
But it wasn’t. It never would be because… because they were all gone.
I tried to get up, but my feet gave out. My mind was telling me I needed to keep running, to hide in case the hunters caught up, but my body refused to listen. The strange presence didn’t take over this time. Instead, it wrapped around me soothingly, and after resisting it for a single second, I closed my eyes, surrendering to whatever fate awaited me.
