Moon Bounded

Chapter 3 Azrein POV

The forest was alive tonight. Every shadow moved, every branch creaked, and the air hummed with a tension I couldn't ignore. The full moon hung heavy in the sky, casting its silver light over Black Hollow like a spotlight on the secrets we all tried to bury.

And tonight, those secrets wouldn't stay hidden.

I hadn't planned to leave Elara so abruptly, but the pull of the moon was stronger than I'd anticipated. The curse had been thrumming under my skin all day, growing louder and more insistent as the sun sank lower. By the time I left her cabin, it was a roar in my veins, and I'd barely made it to the forest before the first wave of heat washed over me.

The transformation was already starting.

I staggered into the clearing, the familiar ancient oak towering in the center, its roots twisting into the earth like veins. This was my sanctuary—or as close to one as I could get on nights like this. The curse didn't care about where I was or what I wanted, but at least out here, there were fewer things to destroy.

The pain hit me in a rush, sharp and relentless, and I dropped to my knees, clawing at the ground as my body began to change. Bones shifted, skin stretched, and the primal side of me clawed its way to the surface.

The wolf.

It was always there, lurking beneath my skin, waiting for the moon to give it permission to take over. No matter how much I fought it, no matter how hard I tried to hold on to the scraps of my humanity, the wolf always won on nights like this.

And tonight, it wasn't just the curse driving me—it was her.

Elara.

Her scent still lingered in my mind, a mix of pine and something warmer, something uniquely hers. Seeing her again after all these years had shaken something loose inside me, something I couldn't quite name. She didn't know what this place really was, what it demanded of the people who stayed. She didn't know what I was—or what I could do.

I couldn't let her find out.

The transformation finished with a final, gut-wrenching snap, and I let out a low growl, my breath misting in the cold air. The wolf had taken over completely now, but my thoughts were still my own, at least for the moment.

I lifted my head, my heightened senses reaching out into the night. The forest was alive with sound—the rustle of leaves, the distant howl of another wolf, the heartbeat of a deer somewhere far off. But it wasn't the deer I was hunting.

I was hunting for answers.

The curse was changing, growing stronger, more volatile. It wasn't just me feeling the shift—others in Black Hollow had noticed it too. The full moons were getting harder to endure, the transformations more painful. And with Elara back in town, I couldn't shake the feeling that her return wasn't a coincidence.

The forest called to her, just as it called to me.

A sound broke through my thoughts—a twig snapping, sharp and deliberate. My ears twitched, and I turned toward the noise, my body tense and ready.

"Come out," I growled, my voice rough and guttural in this form.

A figure stepped out of the shadows, his pale eyes gleaming in the moonlight.

"Dorian," I snarled, baring my teeth.

"Always so dramatic," he said, his tone mocking. "You really should learn to relax, Azerin. This curse isn't going anywhere, no matter how much you brood about it."

I stalked toward him, my claws digging into the earth with every step. "What do you want?"

Dorian smirked, crossing his arms as if he wasn't the least bit threatened. "Just checking in. Word is, Elara's back in town."

My growl deepened, a warning.

"Oh, don't look at me like that," Dorian said, laughing. "I'm not the one who brought her here. But you should know, the curse has a way of drawing people in. She won't be able to leave, not now."

"She doesn't know anything," I said, forcing the words through clenched teeth.

"Not yet," Dorian agreed, his smirk widening. "But she will. And when she does, what do you think she'll do? Run? Fight? Or maybe she'll just end up like the rest of us."

"Stay away from her," I snarled, lunging forward until I was mere inches from him.

Dorian didn't flinch, his grin never faltering. "Relax, Azerin. I'm not the one she needs to be afraid of. You are."

With that, he turned and disappeared into the shadows, his laughter echoing through the forest.

I stood there for a long time, the weight of his words sinking in. He was right, of course. I was the real danger.

And if I couldn't figure out how to stop this curse from taking over completely, Elara would be the one to pay the price.