Blood.
I reek of it!
No matter how much I scrub my body. It won't go.
I hate how your blood is still devouring my mind and conscience even after death, father.
Why do you still haunt me even after five fucking years?
Rain whispered against the windshield as Athena Taylor drove through the twisting mountain road, the headlights barely piercing the mist. Tall pine trees crowd the road like they're watching her.Her GPS had died thirty minutes ago. Even the cell signal is gone.
All she had was a printed address, a duffled bag in the backseat, and a growing knot of unease in her stomach.
She glanced at the time on the dashboard 10:42 PM.
It's getting late.
Good.
Just how the client had asked her to arrive.
The offer for the job had come through the hospital's private board in her chamber. With urgent, discreet, triple the normal rate.
The patient description was written very vaguely. To treat an elder; in a private, closed off town no one seemed to know existed. When she had called on the number given below; she asked, why her?
The answer had been simple.
"Because you're brilliant… and desperate.You're our last hope, Dr. Williams. We'll pay triple if you don't ask questions."
Fun fact? They weren't wrong. After her father's suicide and the debts he had left behind for her, Athena had been clawing her way through life.
No matter how many surgeries she performed or double shifts she took. She couldn't outrun the mountain of debt he left behind.
So when the job came with a large advance wired upfront, she didn't ask questions.
She regrets that now.
Because this town… it didn't seem normal.
I wouldn't have been in this situation if it weren't for you.
She is exhausted. But still desperate to be in this god forsaken town. Where no outsiders are allowed and no tourists can explore the town.
As she passed a rusted iron gate, the forest opened up into something surreal. The rows of perfect homes, cobbled streets lined with old fashioned lamplights, gardens blooming with night flowers. It looked like a village stolen from a fairytale.
The town is surprisingly modern, yet oddly untouched. No one was outside. Not a single car. Not a voice. Not even a lit window.
A shiver slid down her spine. It is a beautiful place but then why was she feeling strange.
She parked in front of a large manor at the end of the street. A man in black stood waiting for her, with an unreadable cold expression on his face, offering no words as he opened the door.
Inside, the air was warm, the lights were dim and the smell of earth and herbs hung heavy. She was led to a tall, narrow bedroom where the Elder lay motionless.
Gray skinned and frail. Yet excluding a strange authority even in sleep. The wounds across his chest were jagged and deep claw marks carved his skin. Unmistakably beast like. No human could do this.
Athena stared at the wounds for a moment too long. She froze. These aren't from any wild animal… The wounds looked calculated. It looked like they came from something trying not to kill, but to maim.
"What exactly attacked him?"
"No questions," said a soft voice behind her.
Athena turned behind following the voice. There stood a young woman in the doorway, warped in silk robes, long dark hair cascading over her shoulders. Her eyes were… strange. Gold flecks around her eye balls. A beauty with sharp features.
Beautiful didn't even begin to describe her.
"You're the granddaughter," Athena said, instinctively.
She smiled faintly, "I am. My name is Fiora."
Athena looked back at the Elder and then again towards her, "I need to know what attacked him."
Fiora's gaze never wavered. "You're not here to ask. It was very clear from the start."
Athena frowned, "I am a doctor. I need details too…"
"Just like you said… You are a doctor. Your job is to heal him. Figure out a way to treat him as soon as possible." Saying that she turned to walk away but before going she turned one last time. "And don't go outside after dark."
Then she was gone.
After long hours of tending to the elder, Athena heard strange whispers behind closed doors. The constant feeling of being watched stayed throughout the night.
____________________________________________
The next morning, no one visited the manor but the granddaughter, Fiora. Asked her to join her for tea in the garden.
Fiora was everything.
Ethereal, graceful, and strangely commanding. She treats Athena with kindness but maintains emotional distance.
"So you're saying, you have grown up here and never left?" Athena asked, the curiosity in her is dangerous.
Such a beautiful woman, stayed in this god forsaken town? Why?
She replied, "here, always here."
"Don't you ever want to leave?"
Fiora paused, then looked at her. Sadness in her eyes flashed for a second. "I used to. But it's not allowed now."
Something in her voice made Athena 's skin crawl.
"You're brave to come here." Fiora asked, sipping her tea.
Athena didn't want to look threatened. "You say that like I walked into a warzone."
Fiora smiled. "Maybe you did." She added, "I'm glad it's you who is taking care of my grandfather. I can already see your hard work paid off. My grandfather is not in pain anymore."
"He still needs time to be completely fine. I'm just surprised how quickly his wounds are healing at this age. It's almost magic."
"It's better this way. The faster he is back on his feet, the quicker you can leave with your money." Fiora said standing up ready to leave.
Athena didn't understand then what she meant by. But that night everything shattered.
A scream tore through the manor, then another low and guttural howl came piercing through her room. Like an animal being torn apart.
She ran through the hallway, her heart hammering against her ribs, as shadows sprinted past the windows.
Then as a saviour, Fiora burst in, blood on her hands. "They are here."
Athena asked, grabbing her hands, "Who?"
Before she could tell her anything, a glass dropped from the top floor, shattering downstairs.
Athena saw it… On the top floor, a creature the size of a bear, furious bristling, fangs dripping red. And behind it, all the townsfolk… the men and women shifting. She heard their bones cracking, jaws distorting and under the moonlight becoming wolves.
Everyone around her transformed too.
Except her.
"What. The. Fuck!!!"
"Get out!" Fiora shouted, shoving her towards the back. The manor is now under siege.
But the wolves came fast. Fiora screamed as one slammed her into the wall, claws digging into her chest.
"Fiora!" Athena lunged forward, she tried to punch the beast with her fists, adrenaline screaming through her veins.
Despite fear, Athena charges at the attackers… even if her throat was burning, her body breaking. Her punches mean nothing against claws.
She still fought.
She bled.
And yet she lost.
A claw tore her back as she screamed in excruciating pain. Her vision blurred. She crumpled to the floor, gasping for air, the cold stone soaking up her blood.
Wounded and bleeding, Athena watches the granddaughter get slashed across the chest. Dragging her away through the front door.
Athena couldn't let them take her away. She mutters the last of her energy within her and crawls to them.
The wolves didn't care about her, they knew she couldn't stop them. It's a lost battle. They have Fiora. Their target.
Fiora, on the verge of dying, locks eyes with Athena. The world goes silent around them. Blood pools between them. Somehow the time stills.
Fiora smiled weakly, "You're a good human…"
Athena choked on her own blood. "No… stay with me. I can help you… please…"
Fiora whispers, "I hope… the moon goddess forgives me for this."
A glow began to rise from Fiora's chest. A soft blue mist. Pulsing like a heartbeat. It swirled in the air, beautiful yet terrifying. The moment it touched Athena's skin, her lungs seized.
The spirit slammed into her chest like lightning. Her vision exploded into stars.
Fire.
Forest.
A whispering laugh in her mind.
And then darkness… filled her entire world.
Before losing herself entirely, Fiora's last words faintly heard, "Don't trust the Alpha."
____________________________________________
Somewhere far away, footsteps echoed.
Xavier Thorne stood at the edge of the ruined manor, flanked by the shadowed figures. His silver flecked eyes narrowed at the sight of the bodies.
The whole town is drenched in red but something unknown pulled him here in this manor.
"This human," he growled. "What is that strange energy coming from her?'
One of his men stepped closer. "We heard that the last person ever to live from the fox clan lived here but this woman is a human Alpha Xavier."
Xavier walked forward and knelt beside the unconscious woman. Her bloodied and bruised body. But a faint glow at her heart.
His eyes widened, "Impossible. Fox spirit is inside her!"
"But she's a human!"
Xavier shook his head, "No, it's not just that. Something about her is pulling me towards her."
"But isn't your brother's mate supposed to be from the Fox clan…"
"And my mate is…" Xavier didn't complete… it's something he has been hidin
g from his clan. His people. "Take her."
"But… What about your brother?"
Xavier walks out the door declaring.
"She's mine now."