In the ALPHA'S CLAWS

My worst nightmare.

They say that wolves can only love once in their life. And that they remain in love with their moon forever. A wolf's moon is their greatest weakness, and hunters knew that. That's why, before trying to defeat Samael, they killed Lilah. But even so, they couldn't finish him off, as he managed to escape with the corpse of his love. Despite surviving that day, Samael feels like he died with his moon.

His heart stopped beating that night, he thought there was no return, and he believed that he could never feel anything again in his life. After finishing his revenge, he would continue to feel the emptiness he lives with today. But fate had very different plans for his life.

Can a werewolf fall deeply in love twice? Can a simple human make the heart of that wounded wolf beat again?

They say there is only one step from love to hate, but will that same distance be the one that one must travel to go from hate to love?

Since she was a child, Abby Hamilton had heard thousands of stories about the terrifying creatures that inhabited the forest of the "lost souls". Every time her family came back from hunting, she used to hear how they had fought with witches or werewolves, had fought with vampires or giants of the earth. From a very young age, they trained her so that she could face all those beasts, just like every member of her family did. However, Abby never had the gift of fighting, much less of hurting others. That's why, at the age of 12, when she had to enter the forest for the first time, she felt so much fear that she failed miserably when it came to hunting.

Her father used to repeat over and over again, "If you enter with fear, they will devour you." "The beasts can smell your fear."

The first day the Hamilton family took Abby hunting, all the beasts approached her and wanted to devour her. That day they almost didn't leave the forest. And that angered her father so much that he locked her up without food for several days. And every night of her confinement, they forced her to practice techniques to not feel fear, but she failed in every one of them, since she was the youngest of the family and always ended up scared. Abby really tried hard to don´t feel afraid, but she couldn't help it.

Her father didn´t want to send her back to the forest since she put them in great danger, but that was when they decided to start using the young girl's weakness as a benefit and began using her as bait.

Every night they went to the forbidden forest and locked Abby in a cage. Then they waited for her fear to attract the beasts so that the other members of her family could catch or sometimes just kill them, depending on the mission.

The memories of that night used to make her shudder; little Abby was only 20 and had already experienced too much pain in her life. Why did everyone act so differently towards her? It wasn't her fault to feel fear. It was never her fault to be that weak; the gods had punished her with such torture, and now she was only seeking a little freedom, but that freedom lay on the other side of the forest.

The silver-haired young woman hugged herself as the cold began to freeze her limbs. She had barely managed to put on a jacket, but Vermont usually had very low temperatures, and she couldn't go back for more warmth. She diverted her gaze back to where she had come from, barely able to believe what she had done.

"This is wrong, I have to go back," she said to herself as she looked again at the path through the trees. She was right at the gate of the Forbidden Forest, and she had to go through it if she wanted to get to the other town, but that path was practically suicide. However, she had no other choice. It would be the only way her family wouldn't find her. Going on the road or perhaps walking towards the center of her village was not an option, as those were the first places her father would look for her, no one could imagine that she would come to the forest of the "lost souls".

"You must go back," she repeated to herself. The forest seemed to emit a certain creepy music that made the already scared young girl tremble. That's why she suddenly turned around and started walking back home.

Suddenly, she stopped and put one of her hands on her chest, feeling her breath beginning to run out. As she struggled to breathe, she realized that the forest of the lost souls was no longer as frightening as going back home.

"No," she yelled, trying to find courage. "Come on, Abby, don't be a coward."

The moon seemed to shine in a special way, and suddenly she felt a strong breeze that began to guide her towards the Forbidden Forest.

That was when she knew, perhaps the freedom she sought was not a better life, but the ability to end the miserable life she had today. For if she was honest with herself, something told her that once she entered that forest, she would never leave, at least not alive.

She had to accept the painful truth, she had not fled to be free, but to finally end her life. This was not a mission of escape, but of suicide, and with tears in her eyes, she entered the darkness of the forest. It was time to find her own freedom, the only one she believed she could accept.

As she progressed, she felt the noises around her becoming even louder. She tried not to fear, she really struggled not to, but fear was the only feeling that seemed to accompany her throughout her life, and tonight was no exception. Right now, Abby Hamilton and her fear were walking down the dark path. She didn't know where she was headed, but she knew who she was running away from.

Suddenly she stopped, feeling as though someone was watching her. Her heart raced so fast she thought it would burst out of her chest and her breathing seemed to be leaving her. Abby frantically looked around, something was watching her. She couldn't see it, but she felt it. Someone was lurking in the darkness.

"Who's there?" she asked the air, the sound of a branch breaking caught her attention. Fear paralyzed her as footsteps were heard all around her.

But everything stopped when a few simple yet profound words escaped from the girl's mouth.

"Please, kill me," Abby said, closing her eyes as tears began to fall one after another. A breath collided with her neck, and as she opened her eyes, she found herself staring into the almost red eyes of a tall, strong man. Due to the darkness, she could barely see him.

"It will be a pleasure," the man whispered, showing a small, wicked smile. Abby was about to speak when the man's hands took hold of her shoulders and lifted her up.

"You're a..." she started to say, but was interrupted by the howl that came from the man's full lips.

"I am your worst nightmare," he said as his eyes turned even redder and hair began to grow on his face. Abby felt the werewolf's claws begin to dig into her skin as she felt herself being lifted up as the creature grew. That was when she knew, she was at the mercy of the claws of that werewolf. Her life was about to end, but for the first time, she did not feel afraid. Perhaps because that had always been her destiny, or at least the only freedom she could resort to. Or maybe because she had always imagined that her father would be the one to murder her, and at least this way, he wouldn't have the satisfaction of having done so.

"No, you're not," the girl replied, catching the attention of the werewolf. "You're not my worst nightmare," she said, closing her eyes and accepting her fate.

"You're my liberation," she thought to herself as a faint smile appeared on her face.

Finally, she would be free.