VIOLET
The howls began before the moon had fully risen.
They echoed through the forest like ancient war cries—raw, primal, savage. I sat curled on the edge of the bed, knees drawn to my chest, listening as the wind carried them through the cracks in the stone.
Another night of blood.
Another night I wasn't supposed to survive.
My body ached. Not from wounds, but from change. From whatever it was that had been clawing its way through my veins since the first night under this cursed moon. I hadn't shifted—I couldn't. Not fully. But something inside me had.
I felt it stirring even now. Like a second heartbeat. Like a ghost walking just beneath my skin.
The door creaked open without warning.
Inara didn't come in this time. She only peeked through, her face pale.
"They've gone deeper into the woods tonight," she said. "The bloodlust is worse. I heard one of them say Zain broke a rogue's neck for trying to touch a child."
