Under the wolf's moon

tops of the village. Fields lay empty under its gaze, save for the wind that stirred lon

e night o

beyond the river, shimmered faintly in the moonlight. The same soft glow that had graced her skin the night befo

They rose like waves, one cry answered by another, then anot

dn't f

llager

-threaded herbs were hastily hung over thresholds. Children were hushed, prayers whispered.

attled Aria fro

ickly, sh

g as he rushed up the hill. Blood streaked his arm, not h

rt seized.

ower. A small crowd had already gathered by the time they arrived. Lina lay sprawled across a table, her leathe

t beside her mentor. "Clear the room," she ordered

B

he snapp

away. Tam lingered by the doo

ing sweat-matted hair from

n. "I've had worse," she rasped, tho

nd knives, drawing the salve she had

red. "Moonclan. At least a dozen wolve

s she cleaned and assessed the wound. "You

ng. "But this time... they had

fingers

ite fur with silver markings along his spine. Eyes like gold fi

tightened. "Wa

d. "Like a man gauging an opponent

hat bloomed in her chest, part fear, part wonder. The image t

under her breath, old ones, the language of root and mo

om had grown still, but not peaceful. A strange tens

ful. And unlike any creature

d remembered the eyes she'd glimpsed in the woo

her cottage, overlooking the forest. The village b

, etched long before her time. Her grandmother used to say it was a s

an Moonclan still

the sacred forest, had become monsters in the eyes of the village. Their connectio

lways felt

few fragments of Moonclan lore her grandmother had preserved. The parch

f beneath a full moon, surrounded by runes and

beasts. They are echoes of what we on

eart aching with a longi

ing, a counci

worst: the Moonclan hunted closer than ever before. The e

d Marek, the blacksmith. "The we

rritory before we even sett

ped. "They're no longer wolves, they'

a's cot, arms crossed

m fell

red her. You're talking about beasts, but you ig

s shifted u

ked with scorn. "We wait for the w

alm but firm. "But we stop p

The word sympathizer fli

d. Her voice was hoarse,

ent cease

tood. I felt it. I've hunted wolves for twenty years, and this was d

d was thick with fear an

the border of human and wolf territory. The moon was stil

It was cold, sharp against her skin. Across the

ing, a shape stepp

the moonlight. His fur shimmered silver, almost ether

didn'

rouch. He simply stood, poised

her throat. Not from

inning to glow once more. Her

rward, water lapping at h

the longing. As though some piece of her

er," she whis

olf b

r. His gaze lingered a moment longer, th

d alone bene

t unto

ng had

r, a door