In love with the werewolf

Chapter 3:Secrets and Warnings

Chapter 3: Secrets and Warnings

Aria couldn’t sleep that night.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Lucian—his intense stare, the way he’d moved through the forest like something not quite human. And the hunters. Who were they? Why were they looking for him?

By morning, the air in Silver Hollow was heavy with fog. It rolled through the streets and fields like ghostly fingers, swallowing the world in silence. Aria pushed her breakfast around her plate, ignoring the soft clink of the fork on ceramic.

Her aunt sipped her tea, her sharp green eyes flicking to her. “You look tired.”

“Didn’t sleep well,” Aria muttered.

“I told you the woods are no place for wandering.”

Aria’s fork paused mid-motion. “I didn’t say I went into the woods.”

Miriam’s gaze didn’t waver. “You didn’t have to.”

There was a long, weighted silence.

“Who’s Lucian?” Aria asked finally.

Her aunt’s face stiffened. It was only for a moment, but the change was unmistakable. “That name,” she said slowly, “shouldn’t be spoken.”

“Why?” Aria pressed. “I met him in the forest. He saved me. There were men out there—hunters. They had guns.”

Miriam stood abruptly, her chair scraping against the wood floor. “Stay away from him. Do you hear me, Aria?”

Aria stood too, her temper flaring. “Why? Why won’t anyone tell me what’s going on in this town? Everyone’s so… secretive. Scared.”

“Because we have reason to be,” Miriam snapped. Then she softened, sighing. “Silver Hollow isn’t like other places. There are things here you wouldn’t understand. Things you don’t want to understand.”

Aria crossed her arms. “Try me.”

But Miriam just shook her head. “Lucian is dangerous. That’s all you need to know.”

Aria bit back her frustration and turned away. The warning was clear, but it didn’t sit right with her. Lucian hadn’t felt dangerous. Not to her. If anything, he had seemed like the one in danger.

Later that day, she wandered into town again, drawn by the hope of learning more. She stopped at the local diner, where a teenage girl around her age stood behind the counter, wiping glasses.

“You’re the new girl,” the girl said, eyeing her. “Miriam’s niece?”

Aria nodded cautiously. “Yeah.”

“I’m Willow. You’re brave coming here.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?”

Willow leaned closer, her voice dropping. “Because Silver Hollow has a history. Especially the woods. People go missing. Animals too. And then there’s him.”

Aria’s pulse quickened. “Lucian?”

Willow glanced around, then nodded once. “They say he’s cursed. Lives in the forest. Doesn’t age. Some say he’s a ghost, others say…” She hesitated. “They say he’s a werewolf.”

Aria blinked. “A werewolf?”

Willow shrugged. “It sounds crazy. But weird things happen on full moons. Screams in the night. Huge claw marks on trees. I saw one once—long, deep, like something out of a horror movie.”

Aria’s mind reeled. A werewolf. The idea should’ve been ridiculous. But then she remembered Lucian’s eyes. The way he moved. The way the hunters tracked him.

It fit.

“And the hunters?” Aria asked.

“They come every few years. Claim they’re looking for ‘wildlife,’ but everyone knows they’re after him. No one ever talks to them. They don’t stay long.”

Aria left the diner feeling like a puzzle was slowly clicking into place. If Lucian was a werewolf, then everything made sense—the warnings, the fear, the silence.

But it also raised new questions: What had happened to him? Was he born this way? Cursed? And why did he seem so… alone?

That night, she stood by her bedroom window, staring out at the dark forest. The moon was high and nearly full, its silver light casting eerie shadows through the trees.

Despite the warnings, despite her aunt’s fear, despite the danger… Aria wanted to see him again.

Not because she didn’t believe the stories. But because some part of her did.