Chapter 1: The Warning Beneath the Moon
The palace had finally grown quiet.
Cassandra sat beside Mark in the garden, wrapped in his coat. The cold night air brushed against her face, but she barely noticed it. Her thoughts were still trapped in the terrifying events of the evening.
She had transformed.
She had nearly attacked the man she loved.
And somehow, she had returned to herself.
Mark sat beside her, watching her carefully.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked.
Cassandra nodded slowly.
“A little.”
“Do you want to go inside?”
She looked toward the palace.
“Not yet.”
Mark remained silent.
Cassandra lowered her eyes to her hands. They looked completely normal now. No claws. No strange fur. No sign of the creature that had appeared beneath the full moon.
But she knew the truth.
The beast was still inside her.
“Mark,” she whispered.
“Yes?”
“What if it happens again tomorrow?”
“Then we’ll deal with it tomorrow.”
“And the day after that?”
“Then we’ll deal with it again.”
Cassandra gave him a faint smile.
“You make everything sound easy.”
“I never said it would be easy.”
“Then why do you sound so confident?”
Mark looked at her.
“Because being afraid doesn’t mean we have to surrender.”
She turned toward him, but before she could answer, a sudden shiver passed through her body.
Her crescent-shaped birthmark began to glow.
Mark immediately noticed.
“Cassandra?”
She stared at the back of her hand.
The silver light was faint at first. Then it grew brighter, spreading across her skin like moonlight over still water.
“It’s happening again,” she whispered.
Mark gently reached for her hand.
“Stay calm.”
“I am calm.”
But her voice trembled.
The mark pulsed once.
Then twice.
A strange sensation moved through her chest. It wasn’t the same pain she had experienced during the transformation. This time, it felt as though something was calling her from a great distance.
Cassandra suddenly closed her eyes.
A voice echoed inside her mind.
Find the stone.
She opened her eyes immediately.
“What happened?” Mark asked.
Cassandra looked around the garden.
“Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
She stared at him.
“Someone spoke.”
Mark’s expression became serious.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was someone standing nearby?”
“No.” She pressed a hand against her forehead. “It was inside my head.”
Mark stood up and looked toward the palace.
“Guards!”
Within moments, two security officers appeared at the garden entrance.
“Yes, sir?”
“Search the grounds. Check every entrance and report if anyone has entered the property.”
The guards nodded and hurried away.
Cassandra watched them disappear.
“Mark, I don’t think it was a person.”
“Then what do you think it was?”
She looked down at her glowing hand.
“I don’t know.”
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Cassandra heard the voice again.
The stone is not safe.
She gasped.
Mark immediately turned toward her.
“What did it say?”
Cassandra looked at him, her face pale.
“It said the stone isn’t safe.”
Mark’s expression changed.
“What stone?”
“I don’t know.”
He took a step closer.
“Cassandra, think carefully. Did you see anything?”
She closed her eyes.
A strange image appeared in her mind.
A dark forest.
A towering stone structure.
And at its center, a golden object surrounded by flickering flames.
She opened her eyes.
“I saw something.”
“What?”
“A forest. There was a large stone structure. And inside it…” She paused. “Something golden.”
Mark’s face lost its color.
“Golden?”
Cassandra nodded.
“What is it?” she asked.
Mark looked toward the palace.
“Cassandra, we need to go inside.”
“Why?”
“Now.”
His voice was so serious that she immediately stood up.
They hurried toward the palace.
The Hidden Room
Inside the palace, Mark led Cassandra through a long corridor. The servants had already retired for the night, and the dim wall lamps cast shadows across the polished floor.
Cassandra followed him closely.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
They stopped before a large wooden door at the far end of the corridor.
Mark removed a key from his pocket.
Cassandra frowned.
“I’ve never seen this door before.”
“Most people haven’t.”
He unlocked it.
The door opened with a low creak.
Beyond it lay a narrow staircase descending into darkness.
Cassandra stared down the steps.
“What is this place?”
“A room my parents used to keep private.”
“Why are you bringing me here?”
Mark looked at her.
“Because I think you need to see something.”
They descended slowly.
At the bottom, Mark switched on a series of lamps. The room was filled with old wooden cabinets, locked chests, rolled maps, and dusty books. A large table stood in the center, covered with papers and strange symbols.
Cassandra moved closer.
“What are all these things?”
“Records belonging to my family.”
“About the Alpha clan?”
“Some of them.”
Mark walked toward a cabinet and opened it. He removed a thick leather-bound book.
Cassandra noticed the golden symbol embossed on its cover.
It was a crescent moon surrounded by a circle.
Her birthmark began glowing again.
She stepped backward.
“That’s the same symbol.”
Mark looked at her hand, then at the book.
“I was afraid of that.”
He placed the book on the table and opened it carefully.
The pages were filled with handwritten notes, drawings, and descriptions of ancient clans. Cassandra leaned over the table, trying to understand what she was seeing.
One illustration immediately caught her attention.
It showed a woman with long hair and a crescent-shaped mark on her hand.
Beneath the drawing were several words written in an unfamiliar language.
“What does that say?” Cassandra asked.
Mark studied the page.
“I don’t know all of it. My parents never finished translating these records.”
“Then how do you know they concern me?”
Mark turned the page.
A family tree appeared.
At the top was a symbol representing an Alpha clan. Several names had been crossed out, while others were surrounded by circles.
Near the bottom, Cassandra saw a name written in dark ink.
Cassandra.
Her breath caught.
“That’s my name.”
Mark nodded.
“I found this book years ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know whether it was safe.”
Cassandra stared at him.
“You knew my name was in here?”
“I suspected it.”
“Suspected?”
Mark closed the book halfway.
“Cassandra, when I first saw you at college, I recognized the crescent symbol. I had been searching for information about your clan for a long time.”
She looked at him in disbelief.
“Then you didn’t come there because you loved me?”
Mark immediately shook his head.
“I came because I wanted to find you. But that doesn’t mean what I feel for you isn’t real.”
Cassandra lowered her eyes.
The answer did not erase the confusion in her heart.
Mark gently touched her shoulder.
“I should have told you earlier.”
“Yes,” she replied quietly. “You should have.”
Before he could say anything else, a loud sound echoed from somewhere above them.
Bang!
Both of them froze.
Mark looked toward the staircase.
“What was that?” Cassandra whispered.
Another sound followed.
Bang! Bang!
Someone was striking the palace’s main entrance.
Mark quickly closed the book.
“Stay here.”
Cassandra grabbed his arm.
“No.”
“Cassandra, I need to see what’s happening.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Mark hesitated.
Then he nodded.
They hurried up the stairs.
The Visitor at the Gate
By the time they reached the main hall, the security guards were already moving toward the entrance.
One of them turned toward Mark.
“Sir, someone is outside.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know. The cameras stopped working a few minutes ago.”
Mark’s eyes narrowed.
“Open the security monitor.”
The guard activated the screen.
The image flickered several times before becoming clear.
A lone figure stood outside the palace gate.
He was wearing a long, dark coat.
His face was hidden beneath a hood.
Cassandra moved closer to the screen.
“Who is that?”
Mark did not answer.
The figure slowly raised one hand.
In his palm was a small golden object.
Cassandra’s birthmark suddenly burned.
She cried out and clutched her wrist.
Mark turned toward her.
“Cassandra?”
The screen went black.
Then every light in the palace flickered.
A deep voice echoed through the hall.
“Mark.”
The guards immediately raised their weapons.
Mark stepped forward.
“Who are you?”
The voice answered from beyond the gate.
“You have hidden her long enough.”
Cassandra stared at the entrance.
“Who is he?”
The voice continued.
“The daughter of the Alpha clan belongs to the bloodline. She cannot remain in your palace forever.”
Mark’s expression hardened.
“You will not come near her.”
A low laugh echoed through the hall.
“You still believe you can protect her?”
The palace doors suddenly shook.
Cassandra stepped backward.
The birthmark on her hand was now shining brighter than ever.
Then the voice spoke again.
“Ask her what she saw in the forest.”
Cassandra froze.
Mark looked at her.
“What does he mean?”
She struggled to answer.
“I… I don’t know.”
The figure outside the gate raised the golden object.
A brilliant flash of light appeared on the security monitor.
For a brief moment, Cassandra saw the same dark forest from her vision.
The stone structure.
The golden object.
And a shadow standing behind it.
Then the image vanished.
The voice spoke one final time.
“Before the next full moon, she must return.”
The screen went completely dark.
The palace fell silent.
Mark turned toward Cassandra.
She was trembling.
“What did you see?” he asked.
Cassandra looked at him with frightened eyes.
“I saw the forest again.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Mark took her hand.
“We’ll find out.”
But before either of them could move, a terrible howl rose from somewhere beyond the palace walls.
It was not Cassandra’s voice.
It was deeper.
Older.
And much closer than before.
The guards looked at one another in fear.
Mark slowly turned toward the windows.
Cassandra’s birthmark pulsed once more.
And somewhere in the darkness outside, something began walking toward the palace.
